Essay-summarize how the professional film critics view the issue
Choosing any film (rated R or lower) and consulting at least two published reviews of it, take an ethical position on its depiction of race, gender, or class. Your essay should make three basic moves: • First, summarize how the professional film critics view the issue you’ve identified. You may find it helpful to think about the following aspects of their commentary as you analyze it: o the themes or messages they identify in the film o how they discuss the portrayal of individual characters or groups of characters o what they condemn or condone o what you can observe about their stance on the issue even when they don’t directly comment on it • Next, explain how the critics’ opinions (and possibly tone) differ from one another. • Then, using those opinions as a springboard, explain and defend your own perspective on this topic. To find published film reviews, explore “External Reviews” on imdb.com or “Critic Reviews” on rottentomatoes.com. A successful essay will: • Focus on one primary ethical issue. Narrow your topic to something manageable and explore it in depth. You may find that aspects of race, gender, and class overlap with one another in ways that are hard to ignore, but we will talk in class about how to negotiate this intersectionality. • Summarize, analyze, and compare/contrast relevant commentary in two film reviews. Keep in mind that you will need to zero in on what the reviewers have to say about your chosen ethical topic, not get distracted by everything else they discuss. You may also find it instructive to pay attention to what they don’t comment on—what they ignore or gloss over. • Synthesize your sources and take a clear stance. Drawing on the reviews, define your own position on or interpretation of the issue you’ve identified in the film. • Incorporate one image. Carefully select a visual—a still, publicity shot, production photo, movie poster, or the like—that relates to or supports your discussion, and reference it in your writing. Be sure to properly caption and cite this image (called a figure). For guidance, see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/14/for MLA conventions or https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/20/ for APA conventions. You may find it useful to consult Chapter 13 Writing a Synthesis of Ideas Essay in The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing, with particular attention to the following sections: • p. 253 Questions to Ask to Examine Rhetorical Features in Each Text • p. 256 Questions to Ask to Help You Explore Similarities and Differences in Your Texts • p. 258 Questions to Help You Develop Your Own Views • pp. 259-60 Questions to Help You Formulate and Develop Your Synthesis Views Rationale: Drawing on the skills of summary and analysis that you practiced in Essays 1 and 2, you will now join a conversation on a topic, taking responsibility for your own ideas and demonstrating respect for others’ points of view. Ethics: For a short introduction to ethics from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, see http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html. Length: 1000-1200 words (roughly 3-4 pages) Format: Format your essay according to MLA or APA style. In other words, present the document with appropriate header, margins, font size, in-text citations, and Works Cited or References page. Refer to Chapter 24 in your textbook for specifics, or consult the Purdue OWL Research and Citation Resources (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/). Due Dates: Rough draft due Wednesday, November 29 • Submit electronically before class begins via the Turnitin link on Blackboard. • Bring a hard copy with you to class. Final draft due Wednesday, December 6 • Submit electronically by 11:59pm via the Turnitin link on Blackboard.
