REAR WINDOW Opening (Cinematography) - for student response before class & class discussion

Here's the opening of Rear Window.  How is Hitchcock using the camera here?  What types of shots, angles, and movement do you see here?  How would you describe the editing -- continuity, montage, a little bit of each?



These are the elements of the language of cinema.  Now also consider the language of literature (word, paragraph, description, dialogue, character, mood)  How does Hitchcock use his camera to "translate" Woolwrich's story to the screen?

Reading Response: 'It Had to Be Murder'

After reading "It Had to Be Murder" the question of "Is this considered literature?" was proposed in class, & a few of us were puzzled when attempting to answer. We all assume, "well if its being read in an atmosphere of learning- well then why wouldn't it be literature",  right?
But literature doesn't consist of just words on a paper. Literature in the context of this college level English course is defined as written works, especially those of superior or lasting merit, that include the prominent literally elements and devices.

In my opinion, "In Had to Be Murder" is indeed literature due to the fact that the story posses a few key literary devices. Through these literary devices and tools the story is easy for the reader to follow, and even more tempting for the reader to dive into.

A few literary devices used by;
Satire: The story has a slight satirical element to it. Its overall surface read portrays a man who is basically a peeping tom, but could the nuclear objective of the piece be to really bring awareness to how much we assume when watching others? Could it be a poke at the idea of peeping? What was Whoolwrich trying to tell us is the real question! Either way the story invites you to even consider the possibilities- that's literature.
Situational Irony: The casual tone of the narrative leads the reader to believe that this is a mundane story about a man watching people and then suddenly you can see that Jeff was consistently poking fun at the way in which Mr. T was assumably  killing his wife all while he himself was in an unfortunate space in his life as well(not able to be mobile)
 Description: so eloquently provided examples of writing for literature through short story. One example is the way in which woolwrich is able to deliver descriptive suspenseful sentences. Each line of description invites the reader deeper and deeper in to the story. The scene when Jeff describes pulling the dresses and packing his wife's clothes so much descriptions is provided. Even the "heaping" of Mr. T He gives notice to placement as well, while telling the story he also reminds the reader of his own presence and location in the situation.- that's good descriptive literature, I was there.

All and all the ending was a tad bit corny, but when reading this piece through a lens of literary knowledge it is clear to see that its make up is an example of literature. A writer can learn from the way in which Whoolwrich structures his story and that I feel is the craft of literature. Is it possible this piece is a nontraditional one, yes- but literature non the less.

Necessary Changes

Cornell's short story saw a lot of changes when adapted to Alfred Hitchcock's film version. As it is common for film to create a love story to appeal to more viewers, the film version lost the character Sam. However, this changed much of what makes Jeffrey the character he is. In the story, the relationship between Jeffrey and Sam is strange and unclear. This is just one aspect that makes Jeffrey seem more creepy in the story. In the story he was read to be slightly creepy as he seemed to be obsessed with his neighbors rather than just be curious. In the movie, his career as a photographer makes it a lot more understandable as he is used to making stories out of what he sees. In order to create a believable love story, Jeffrey had to be an interesting person with a good motive for his spying. Therefore, the scrapping of the character Sam and making him a photographer was necessary.

It Had to be Murder

"It Had To Be Murder" was fairly interesting. Although it was somewhat confusing at times, I don't to discredit it by saying it was not written well. Similar to Mr. Kane, the protagonist has more to him than what's on the surface. People tend to be obsessed with watching other people.  For example "reality tv" has taken over television these days.  This seems to be all in his head but I'm not sure what to believe.  This reminds me of an episode of Law and Order.  Did he really kill her for the insurance money?  Did any of this really happen?  These are the questions I kept asking myself as I read this.  I don't want to say that this isn't a true literary work because in my opinion, literature can be many things.  Literature is generally used to inform people of things but I feel like this author made me really think while I was reading this so I'm not going to say that this isn't literature.

In the story, the protagonist Jeff observes his neighborhoods’ life from the window. And he found that a devoted husband, Thorwald always waits on his ill wife, but Jeff doubts why the husband can keep his wife shut up in that hot apartment and never calls a doctor. One day, Jeff found that Thorwald’s behavior is weird. Thorwald lies in the living room but never falls in asleep. His glowing cigarette is a reminder of his wakefulness. Jeff realizes that Thorwald’s ill wife is dead and Torwald is the murder. So Jeff asks his Boyne to find out the evidence, but after perfunctory check, there is no evidence to show Thorwald killed his wife. Jeff doesn’t believe it and he finds another way to prove Thorwald as a killer. The whole story doesn’t tell us texplicitly why Jeff insists that Thorhald should be the murder. Jeff thinks Thorwald is a murder, and murder it is. Readers don’t have the opportunity to share Jeff’s journey of discovering. We don’t watch with him. We’re just told the fact and conclusion by Jeff’s view. Besides, our overlook and view towards Jeff’s neighbors is manly gaining from Jeff’s thought and view. Jeff seems to dominate the view of the other characters in the story except himself. And we don’t even know what Jeff’s injury is until the last page and we never learn more than his name. It looks like Jeff is a mysterious person throughout the story and his mystery is not revealed at the end of story.

I think the short study "It had to be murder" was very suspenseful because it had you thinking what was going to happen next. Since the main character is in a wheelchair he is limited on what he can do and what he can look at. This makes him linger out the window and looking at the daily lives of his neighbors. He becomes intrigued with the lives of a married couple. Days go on and the wife later disappears and Jeff starts to wonder why. Jeff starts to think that the husband is the murderer with no facts. Is the husband really a murderer or are these just thoughts in his head.

It Had To Be Murder

The short story "It Had To Be Murder" was an interesting read. I think it was written well--it was very suspenseful throughout due to the mood Woolrich set and the descriptions. The protagonist was a well-written character. We get the sense that there is more to him than meets the eye, but we get enough information about him from the story and can make a few inferences from his emotional connections with some of the people he watches. Due to his apparent expertise in this area and his amazing descriptions, everything he knows we know, which lends us to trust him somewhat, even to the point where we're willing to dismiss him people-watching in the first place.  I believe that the inferences he made from watching the man was logical--had I been in the same situation I might have done the same. However, I can see how this could all be in his head. People watch others and make up stories about their lives, which is what Jefferies was doing at the end of the story. He was trying to figure out why he killed his wife. I don't agree with the conclusion he made about the mistress and him killing her for the insurance money. In the beginning, he noticed that the wife had been sick for a while. I think that Lars Thornwald killed her because she had been suffering from her sickness for a long time. He had a mistress because, in situations where spouses have an incurable disease or a disease that prevents them from doing ordinary things, it's a normal circumstance. It's not excusable, but understandable in a sense.
I don't believe that this story was literature. Literature means that there is something important about the work, something that can influence people's lives or change the world in some way. Jane Austen's works gives an insight to how life was during her time and how people were during her day. Langston Hughes poems brings us to into the Harlem Renaissance and being black in America. This story is an interesting and fun read and Woolrich is definitely talented, but I would not consider it to be literature.

Cornell Woolwrich's It Had To Be Murder

I think the story “It Had to be Murder” is very suspenseful throughout it because you never know what’s going to happen next. This man was temporally cripple and was only able to access two spots of his room. He could go from his bed to the window and back so the only thing he could do was to stare out the window. He began to watch this guy in another apartment by looking through his window. I personally think he was wrong for looking through the man’s window because the guy was in his house. Watching someone in the streets or walking around outside I think is one thing but when there in there house I feel like your invading on their privacy. Why should someone feel scared to walk around there house thinking oh someone’s watching me through my windows? From him watching this man through his window he assumes this man has committed a murder. This story reminds me of this movie called Disturbia where this boy is on house arrest and he can’t leave his house so he watches the guy next door through his binoculars and witnesses a murder.