Assignment:
Assume that you have been hired to write an article for a film journal analyzing one of the following:
Film aficionados, but they may not be familiar with the films you're discussing.
Tone:
You should be both entertaining and informative. You must come across as an expert—knowledgeable but not didactic or boring—and as a good writer who knows how to entertain the audience and turn a good phrase while informing your audience about your topic.
Format:
I am not requiring outside sources (though I recommend you use the sources on the syllabus when appropriate). However, if you use outside sources or even sources like the interviews and articles on the syllabus, be sure to credit them within the text.
That said, I do not want this to read like an academic paper and have the narrative broken up by your documentation. I am not requiring parenthetical documentation with page numbers. Instead, make it read like the following example:
If you use an outside source that is not on the syllabus, include a Works Cited at the end of your paper. You do not need to include any sources on the syllabus in your Works Cited. If you do not use any outside sources, no Works Cited is required.
Assume that you have been hired to write an article for a film journal analyzing one of the following:
- an analysis of family in Bicycle Thieves, Tokyo Story, and Fanny & Alexander.
- an analysis of the theme of sex/love in A Matter of Life and Death, The Rules of the Game, and 8 1/2.
- an analysis the theme of religion in The Seventh Seal, La Dolce Vita, and The Passion of Joan of Arc.
- an analysis of the cinematography of Tokyo Story, Breathless, and The Passion of Joan of Arc.
- an analysis of Peeping Tom and 8 1/2 in regards to Martin Scorsese's quote that these two films contain all there is to be said about directing.
- an analysis/comparison of Patricia of Breathless and Lulu of Pandora's Box.
- an analysis of the theme of obsession/madness in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Peeping Tom.
- an analysis/comparison of Alexander of Fanny & Alexander and Oskar of Let the Right One In.
- an analysis of the cinematography of Battleship Potemkin, The Rules of the Game, and Seven Samurai.
- a topic of your choice (however, you must get my approval for the topic at least two weeks before the due date).
Film aficionados, but they may not be familiar with the films you're discussing.
Tone:
You should be both entertaining and informative. You must come across as an expert—knowledgeable but not didactic or boring—and as a good writer who knows how to entertain the audience and turn a good phrase while informing your audience about your topic.
Format:
- Write a 4 to 6 page (or approximately 2000 to 3000 word) paper using an 11 or 12 point font.
- Use 1 inch top and bottom margins and 3/4 inch left and right side margins. The paper should be in two columns (with .5 inches between columns).
- Your text should be right and left justified so it looks like a journal article.
- Single-space the paper. Indent five spaces when you begin a new paragraph. Do not double-space between paragraphs.
- Be sure to include page numbers so that if I print out your paper, there's no confusion if the pages get out of order.
I am not requiring outside sources (though I recommend you use the sources on the syllabus when appropriate). However, if you use outside sources or even sources like the interviews and articles on the syllabus, be sure to credit them within the text.
That said, I do not want this to read like an academic paper and have the narrative broken up by your documentation. I am not requiring parenthetical documentation with page numbers. Instead, make it read like the following example:
Modern filmmaking begins with Breathless. In fact, noted critic Roger Ebert writes that no film debut since Orson Welles' Citizen Kane has been as influential.
If you use an outside source that is not on the syllabus, include a Works Cited at the end of your paper. You do not need to include any sources on the syllabus in your Works Cited. If you do not use any outside sources, no Works Cited is required.
