Stephen King is one of those rare cultural phenomenons whose work is not only representative of American culture, but in 40 years of writing, has also influenced American culture. And it is arguably his films where this influence has been most potent. We'll look at the best of the adaptations: CARRIE, THE SHINING, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, DOLORES CLAIBORNE, among others TBA. One required book for the course: THE FILMS OF STEPHEN KING (Palgrave), ISBN: 9780230338302.

Attendance at individual film screenings is not required, but students will be expected to have viewed each film prior to EVERY film discussion session. Because this is a summer school class, attendance at these class discussions is mandatory and there are exceptions except for medical emergencies and death.

Two essays. The first, an analysis of two minutes from one of the films under discussion that may include treatment of technical features?such as camera angles, point of view, dialogue, color, lighting, etc?as well as a justification for the unique importance of this scene on its own and in relation to the rest of the movie. Figure somewhere around 5 typed pages. The final exam will be a take home distributed on the last day of class.