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Response Papers.

You will be writing response papers on films that you watch outside of the assigned movies for this course. You will analyze an aspect of the film (listed below), in these short papers. Please note, to receive points for this assignment, DO NOT choose a film that is assigned for this course, OR one that is discussed at length in the textbook. Visit the Film Database, to see what films will be assigned this session.

Consult with me before you start to write your papers, so that I can approve your film choices.

Choose a film that has a release date of 2000 or later. 

For each paper, you must choose a different aspect of film: for example, do not write two papers on mise-en-scene, or two papers on editing. The second paper on the same topic will receive a “0.”

 

 

Film Choice

As you can imagine, it is important to choose a film that has been recognized as outstanding in the category you will critique. 

Choose a film that was nominated or won either an Oscar or an Independent Spirit Award:

For mise-en-scene, choose Best Production Design.

For cinematography, choose Best Cinematography.

For editing, choose Best Film Editing.

For sound, choose Best Sound Editing.

 

 

These papers will be short: three – four pages in length, double-spaced (750-word minimum).

Use Times New-Roman, 12-point font, and one-inch margins. Due to the nature of a summer course, it will require you to read ahead, to be able to write these papers in a timely fashion.

 

Analysis Topics

These are the elements from which to choose your response topics:

            • mise-en-scene

            • cinematography

            • editing

            • sound

Note: do not write on film form, narrative structure, or acting.

As a way to think of this assignment, try this: “My paper is about the element in Film Title.”  For example, “My paper is about the cinematography in The Pianist.”

It is important that you are able to watch the film, or parts of the film, multiple times, in order to write successful response papers.

 

 Paper Parameters

Essay Form

These analyses follow traditional essay format: you will need a clear thesis statement in the first paragraph.  You will then develop your “argument” in a number of paragraphs that begin with topic sentences and contain one main idea each; and you will complete the essay with a summative closing paragraph.

Here is a link to basic information on essay writing: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/01/

After reading the few instructive paragraphs here, click on the last link on the page, Argumentative (Persuasive) Essays: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/

 

PLEASE NOTE: while this page discusses a familiar form, the “five-paragraph essay,” your writings will probably have more than five paragraphs. Remember, one paragraph per topic/idea.

You may only write one critique per element. For example, do not write two critiques on editing. Use only one film per paper.

As an example: you may choose for one paper to write on themise-en-scene in Film Title,

then, for the next paper, choose to write on the editing inDifferent Film Title.

 

Scholarly Writing, or How to Avoid Losing Points for Your Papers

As you know, scholarly essays involve a formal level of writing. Here are mistakes to avoid:

1) Do not include “I” statements in a scholarly essay, such as “I loved the film.” Do not refer to yourself at all in these papers; rather, focus on analysis.

2) Just as you will refrain from slang or casual language (“so awesome!,” for example) be sure also to refrain from “rating” the films (“it is a great film,” for example). These papers are not about writing a review way, but rather analyzing how the elment under examination is creating meaning in the film.

3) Description vs. Analysis: this class is about both critical thinking and writing. If your paper includes superlatives (“masterpiece;” “so amazing;” “incredible;” and so on), this is a clue that you are not analyzing the cinematography, or editing, etc, but rather describing your reaction to it. Descriptive papers typically receive a failing grade.

4) In your thesis paragraph, DO NOT include any of the followning:

any mention of awards the film received, or for which it was nominated;

why you chose the film;

any personal relationship to the film (see 1. above).

The thesis statement is your overview, written last, after you have performed your analysis. 

5) At no point in your paper do you need to define anything. I am your audience, and I am familiar with the definitions related to your analyses (of cinematography, or editing, or anything else related to the course). I consider definitions to be filler. These are sophisticated papers; you don’t need to prove that you can define the terms, you need to apply them. 

6) As writing is part of the course requirement, I will be evaluating your writing skills. It is in your best interest to proofread your work and revise as needed. Essays with many “mechanical errors” –those of grammar, spelling and punctuation — may not receive a passing grade.

Citations/Plagiarism. The only sources you are allowed to use are the film you analyze and the textbook. DO NOT use outside sources.  I will be looking for how you apply the lessons of the text to the film you have chosen to analyze in each paper. You may use very short quotes from Looking at Movies, but you must make correct use of in-text citations. The OWL Writing Lab provides comprehensive information for how to do this correctly: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/2/ . Be sure to do your own work; your paper should include minimal references to the text. This is about your critical “reading” of the film.

 To avoid plagiarism, both in-text citations and a “Works Cited” page must be used, and used correctly. For help with this, visit the OWL’s page on this topic,

for books:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/

and for films:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/09/

 

I want to underscore how seriously I consider plagiarism. As indicated in the syllabus, any instance of uncited work, of improperly cited work, or of ideas/language taken from a source outside the textbook or film, will be met with a grade of “0” in the course. There are no exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, students might claim that they accidentally forgot to upload the “Works Cited” page, or that they didn’t understand that you have to cite every instance in which you are using an idea or language from the textbook (not just at the end of a paragraph). Make sure that you do understand, and that you don’t forget to upload anything. I don’t want to fail anyone! but if you plagiarize, it will happen.

 

Saving and Uploading Your Papers

Save your papers as PDFs, not as .doc, .docx, or other kind of file. Only PDF files will be read and graded.

Do not write your papers in the text field on the Upload page, as they will not be accepted.

Use this naming convention: Lastname_Element.pdf

For example: Doe_Editing.pdf

Upload your papers to the corresponding upload pages; for Response Paper 1, upload to the “Response Paper 1 Upload” link, for example.

 

 

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