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ARLT 100G: Los Angeles Stories (35232)

Dr. Chris Freeman Spring 2014/VKC 201cefreema@usc.edu T/TH 12:30-1:50Office Hours: Tues 10-11, Thurs 2-3 & by appt. .

Office: Taper 410

“Los Angeles is the most beautiful city in the world, as long as it is seen at night

and from a distance.”— Roman Polanski

“Who we are today is entangled with what we were. The past is always slipping away, nowhere more

quickly than in Los Angeles, but the past isn’t always distant.”—D.J. Waldie, Holy Land

“I learned to drive in order to read Los Angeles in the original.”—Reyner Banham

The Course and Its Goals

“Los Angeles Stories” is a course intended to develop your critical thinking and writing skills as well as your discussion skills. To that end, you will be encouraged to keep a journal, write several formal papers, and actively participate in our daily discussions. You will also do some brief presentations during the semester. Your essays will be mostly from topics you generate, as coming up with good, viable topics of interest to you is a key to writing good papers. I will provide suggested prompts. Your project presentations, which will be done in pairs, will be important for our broad coverage of the history and culture of L.A. Of course, we’ll be discussing all these writing matters on an ongoing basis.

We will be exploring images of Los Angeles in various forms over the past seventy-five or so years. We’ll be reading fiction and nonfiction and will watch several films to help us understand the many versions of Los Angeles (its history, culture, mythologies, terrain, etc.) at play in representations of our fair city. LA has a long and complex genealogy, and as USC student and LA resident, you should consider yourself in “lab” for this class 24/7.

The Contract

In accepting this syllabus and becoming a member of this class, each student agrees to complete all assignments in a timely and

Freeman, Los Angeles Stories

serious fashion. You also affirm your commitment to the exploration of ideas in the liberal arts tradition, an exploration which is intellectual, creative, and respectful of others in the classroom. Your commitment to the quality and integrity of your work during the semester means that all work you hand in will be your own; any outside sources will be properly cited; and your work will be of the highest quality that you can produce. Plagiarism will have severe ramifications, and I will spot-check anything suspicious to ensure against it. If you have any questions about using outside sources, please ask me to help you.

As the instructor, my commitment to each student is that I have put considerable thought into developing this course; that I will work hard to invigorate and challenge you during the semester; that I will read your work carefully and with an open mind and will value it accordingly; that I will be prepared for class but that my agenda won’t get in the way of your input; and that I will be available to help you in your writing and thinking about the texts and issues we will be exploring.

The Texts

John Fante, Ask the Dust (1939; Ecco, 1980)

Chester Himes, If He Hollers Let Him Go (1947; Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002)

D. J. Waldie, Holy Land (Norton, 1996, 2005)

Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man (1964; Minnesota, 2001)

Joan Didion, Play It As It Lays (1970; FSG, 1990)

Dana Johnson, Elsewhere, California (Counterpoint, 2012)

We will also have occasional handouts/posting on Blackboard or via email.

Grading

Essay One and Two (4-6 pp.) 200 points each

Research Presentation/Essay Three (10-12 mins/5-7 pp.)300 points*

Take Home Final Exam/Essay Four (5-7 pp.) 200 points

Class Participation 100 points**

NOTES:

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*Projects will be presented in pairs; both partners are expected to work hard and to collaborate effectively; each partner will submit an essay based on the research for the presentation. Those papers are due THE THURSDAY AFTER YOUR PRESENTATION.

** After your THIRD absence, you will forfeit 100 class participation points

A: 930-1000; A-: 929-895; B+: 894-870; B: 869-830; B-: 829-795; C+: 794-770, etc.

Schedule of Assignments (subject to change)

Part One: LA Noir

Week One

T (1/14): Introductions; Syllabus; overview of LA history/culture

TH: (1/16) Blackboard: Ulin introduction, Fante: Bukowski; 5-39; watch clips from Ask the Dust (Robert Towne, 2006); projects chosen/assigned

Week Two

T (1/21): Finish Fante; begin Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974) and discuss Noir

TH (1/23): Ulin, LA Times essay (handout); continue Chinatown; Discuss projects and presentations

Week Three

T (1/28): Discussion on noir; discuss presentations

TH (1/30): Thompson, from Beneath Mulholland; discuss essay one topics; PRESENTATION ONE: ANGELS FLIGHT

Weekend Movies: The Big Sleep; To Have and Have Not; The Long Goodbye; Farewell, My Lovely

Part TWO: Black LA

Week Four

T (2/4): Begin reading Himes, 1-68 and Hilton Als, preface; PRESENTATION TWO: LA COLISEUM AND 1932 OLYMPICS

TH (2/6): Continue Himes, 68-111; excerpts (Blackboard) from Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns; PRESENTATION THREE: ZOOT SUIT RIOTS or JAPANESE INTERNMENT

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Week Five

T (2/11): Continue Himes; visit California African American History Museum on your own; excerpts from “The Eastsiders” documentary on Black LA

TH (2/13): Essay One due (4-6 pp.); finish Himes; PRESENTATION FOUR: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Part Three: Mid-Century LA

Week Six

T (2/18): midterm conferences this week; Waldie; begin Isherwood, A Single Man; watch Chris & Don

TH (2/20): Waldie and Isherwood; Chris and Don (part one); PRESENTATION FIVE: DODGERS/CHAVEZ RAVINE

Week Seven

T (2/25): Finish Waldie; Isherwood, continued; finish Chris & Don; PRESENTATION SIX: WATTS TOWERS/WATTS RIOTS

TH (2/27): Wrap up unit; possible guest speakers this week

Part Four: Playing LA

Week Eight

T (3/4): Begin Didion, Play It As It Lays; PRESENTATION SEVEN: DISNEY/DISNEYLAND

TH (3/6): continue Didion; PRESENTATION EIGHTS: THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN

Week Nine

T (3/11): Didion; discuss essay two topics (field work; urban anthropology); PRESENTATION NINE: SURF CULTURE OR LAUREL CANYON/SUNSET STRIP MUSIC SCENE

TH (3/13): finish Didion continued; handout: Didion from The Year of Magical Thinking; PRESENTATION TEN: MANSON FAMILY MURDERS

SPRING BREAK (Read Elsewhere, California)

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Part Five: Slaying LA/21st Century LA

Week Ten

T (3/25): watch part one of Boyz N the Hood (John Singleton 1991)

TH (3/27): finish Boyz; read excerpts from Twilight, Los Angeles

Week Eleven

T (4/1): watch clips from Twilight: Los Angeles; watch opening of Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992); PRESENTATION ELEVEN: MAYOR TOM BRADLEY

TH (4/3): finish Twilight discussion; read excerpts from Twilight: LA; writing workshop on essay two

Week Twelve

T (4/8): Begin Johnson; PRESENTATION TWELVE: 1984 OLYMPICS

TH (4/10): continue Johnson

Week Thirteen

T (4/15): Continue Johnson; PRESENTATION THIRTEEN: SKID ROW

TH (4/17): Continue Johnson; possible guest speaker this week; Essay Two due (4-6 pp.)

Week Fourteen

T (4/22): Finish Johnson; ALL PRESENTATIONS FINISHED BY THIS DAY

TH (4/24): screen Boys in Peril (Graham Streeter, 2012)

Week Fifteen

T (4/29): finish film and discuss with Streeter (guest)

TH (5/1): wrap-up discussion; final exam assigned; in-class electronic evaluation time

FINAL EXAM/ESSAY NOTE: Take Home Final Exam/Essay (5-7 pp.) due Wednesday, 5/14, 2pm (submit to cefreema@usc.edu; use your last name and arlt100 in file name; Microsoft WORD only).

ARLT 100 projects suggestions: 10-12 minute presentation (in pairs) and 5-7 page

paper due THE THURSDAY after your presentation. You will pair up for the

presentations; you will write your essay separately.

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Up to 1970:

Angels Flight

1932 Olympics/Coliseum

LAPD corruption

Early/Classic Hollywood

Noir/Chandler

Zoot Suit Riots

(1942)/Japanese Internment

Chavez Ravine/Dodger

Stadium

Reyner Banham/Greene and

Greene/architecture

Watts Towers/Riots

Disney

The Hollywood Sign

The LA River

Laurel Canyon/music scene

Post-1970:

Gay LA/Jewish LA/Black

LA/Latino LA/Asian

LA/Persian LA, etc.

Skid Row

Surfing/Beach Boy culture

David Hockney’s Art

Mayor Tom Bradley

Major Earthquakes

1984 Olympics

LA Lakers/Sports

Economy/LA LIVE/Forum

Pacific Standard Time/Getty

Art exhibition/Art in Los

Angeles

Charles Manson

NOTES

If you need any accommodation due to a learning disability or any other circumstance, please speak to me during week one of the semester so that appropriate arrangements can be made

Attendance is required and roll is taken daily. More than three unexcused absences will be reflected in your final course grade, as you forfeit 100 class participation points

You MUST come to class having done your reading and prepared to DISCUSS the day’s reading assignment. BRING your texts to class—Underline and mark your copies with notes and tab passages that seem important to you; make notes about readings and “LA observations” in your journal

Late papers will ONLY be accepted by pre-arrangement. Papers must be word-processed in 12-point font size, with 1-inch margins, double spaced, and stapled. Please don’t put them in folders or binders

Plagiarism will result in failure—work MUST be your own; it should be original. If you do research (including Wikipedia, Google, etc.), cite it within your essay and in a works cited/references list

Legal statements for USC syllabi

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Student Behavior that persistently or grossly interferes with classroom activities is considered disruptive behavior and may be subject to disciplinary action. Such behavior inhibits other students’ ability to learn and an instructor’s ability to teach. A student responsible for disruptive behavior may be required to leave class pending discussion and resolution of the problem and may be reported to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs for disciplinary action. These strictures may extend to behaviors outside the classroom that are related to the course.

Students with Disabilities requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

Academic Integrity. USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one's own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another's work as one's own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. SCampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A:

http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/.

Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/.

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