Some links of note

If you’re interested in reading more about Dennis Potter and how his own life fits into The Singing Detective, there’s a wealth of information on the official Dennis Potter site, as well as his Wikipedia page. And here’s an interesting site analyzing the series in light of Potter’s work.

And if you want to read more from David Bordwell on narration, his blog (which he co-authors with his wife & collaborator Kristin Thompson) is quite excellent. Some posts of relevance: on subjective narration, and on technology & storytelling.

Narrative Wiki

I’ve kept meaning to link to this, the TV Tropes Wiki. It’s not just for TV, but also film, animation, videogames, etc. Basically, it’s a compendium of techniques, conventions, plot devices, structures, and anything else that can be catalogued about how media tell stories. And as a wiki, you can add your own examples and ideas throughout! It might be helpful for you as you look for examples & ideas for your final papers.

Warning: might suck up hours of your life, so surf cautiously…

Discussion Leaders

Here are the scheduled leaders for discussion – sorry I couldn’t give everyone your choices:

Week 3:    Week of Sept. 22 – Character
Kyle & Jared

Week 4:    Week of Sept. 29 – Narrative Comprehension & Cognition
Allen & James

Week 5:    Week of Oct. 6 – Narrative Temporality and Spatiality
Alex & Luisa (1/2 week)

Week 6:    Week of Oct. 13 (No class 10/14) – Focalization & Point of View
Alex & Luisa (1/2 week)

Week 7:     Week of Oct. 20 – Narration & Voice-Over
David & JJ

Week 8:    Week of Oct. 27 – Authorship
Nick & Waylon

Week 9:    Week of Nov. 3 – Classical vs. Art-Cinema Narration
Brett & Charlie

Week 10:    Week of Nov. 10 – Experimental Modes of Narration
Jason & Leslie

Week 11:    Week of Nov. 17 – Television & Serial Form
Scott & Ioana

Week 12:    Week of Nov. 24– New Media Narratives
Aaron (1/2 week)

Week 13:    Week of Dec. 1 – Videogame Narrative Logics
Matt & Andrew

How to read

Last week, a number of you complained about the density factor in the chapters from Herman’s book. Hopefully subsequent readings will be easier to comprehend, but certainly we’ll be reading a fair amount of tough stuff throughout the semester – it is your “capstone” major course, after all!

As a helpful tool for reading academic books and articles, I highly recommend “How to Read a Book,” a brief strategy for comprehending advanced non-fiction written by University of Michigan professor Paul Edwards. Even if you can’t adopt all of his strategies, there should be some tips that will help out. Good luck & happy reading!