Here are steps to get you started:
Choose a film that you are interested in examining closely. (Make sure that you have received my approval if you propose a film other than Salt of the Earth or Night of the Living Dead). View the film carefully and be sure take notes as you view.
Choose a critical lens that you think fits the film. NOTE: not every lens will work with every text we work with in this class. You’ll need to use your critical thinking and reading skills to help determine what lenses are a good fit for examining a given text.
Chose ONE key question from the critical lens that you feel gives you a good starting point to examine the film. Use the answer to the key question you choose as the starting point for your thesis statement for the paper. From there, begin gathering evidence from the poem and drafting the paper. As a reminder, here are the key questions we’re working with for this paper:
Feminist Criticism & Gender Studies
How are the sexes depicted in the text and how does this depiction influence the texts meaning?
What are the power relations between the sexes depicted in the text and how does this depiction influence the texts meaning?
How is sex and sexual identity depicted in the text and how does this depiction influence the texts meaning?
What sorts of dualisms are present in the text (man/woman, straight/gay) and how do they influence the texts meaning?
Does the text present identities that are alternative to the gendered or sexual norms and are these depictions influence our understanding of these norms? (NOTE: Norms is in quotations because it can vary depending on the text and the social and cultural elements of the texts setting and/or creation. In other words, dont presume to examine an ancient Greek epic with the same norms you would for a novel in the 21st century.)
Ethnic Literary Studies
How does the texts depiction of an ethnic identity influence the texts meaning?
How does the text reflect or undermine dominant cultural perceptions of race?
How does the text depict the lived experience of an ethnic identity in American society? (NOTE: Be sure to take into account things like setting in this type of investigation.)
How does the text depict racism and reflect the experiences of victims of racism and how does that depiction influence the texts meaning?
Paper Requirements
Include an introductory paragraph and a conclusion paragraph.
Be guided by a single thesis that makes an arguable claim about an interpretation of the film you’ve chosen.
Prove the papers thesis to be true through the use of specific evidence – particularly direct quotations from the film – and analysis.
Engage in the analysis of the visual features of at least ONE scene from the film. See the Writing About Film & Visual Media lesson for more information.
When necessary, practice proper quotation formatting and in-text citations (See the bottom of this page for specific instructions).
A works cited listing is required for any source other than our course lectures used in the paper – including the film itself. (See the bottom of this page for specific instructions).
Practice strong paragraph structure including clear topic sentences.
Practice using transition techniques between paragraphs.
The paper should be grammatically correct and free of typos.
The paper should significantly engage with the literary lenses we are using for this essay cycle. This means using a key question and the lens as a means of furthering our understanding of the text. NOTE: No outside research is required about the critical lens. Use the information from our lectures as your starting point. We are simply exploring these lenses and you are not expected to do additional research.
Follow general Formatting Requirements:
Papers should be 3-5 pages in length (a minimum of 1000-1500 words).
All work should be typed and double-spaced in size 12 Times New Roman font.
All work should be left aligned.
All work should have one-inch margins.
Your paper should include the following at the top of the first page
Name
Date
English 103 Online
Word Count
In-text Citations for Films & Works Cited Instructions:
A works cited listing is REQUIRED for this paper. Below is the general format that we’ll be using for Paper 3.
For Paper 3, we are working with film and visual media. This can make for added challenges when citing and creating the works cited listing. Below you will find specific instructions for how to cite the films. Please note that you should take advantage of the resources available through the Kanopy film database including the film transcripts AND the citation tool available there. Both tools can be found under the “…More” menu item that shows up under the video window when you are viewing Kanopy on a laptop or pc.
In Text Citations for Films
When quoting or closely paraphrasing a film, you need to include the title (or a shortened version of the title) and the time range for the quotation. NOTE: For the purposes
