It never hurts to have the assignment written in more than one place, right?
Research Paper: Film Analysis
Requirements:
*Note- This means that the paper must be at least 3 pages from the top to the bottom with the correct spacing.
Main Question
Does the film accurately depict American life and/or the main issue addressed?
Topic
This paper is an analysis, just like you did for your Literary Essay, and will have a traditional thesis that states whether or not the film accurately portrays an aspect of American society and a challenge/social issue.
As you consider the film, think about how it portrays one social issue. (Possibilities are listed on the movie list, but you may have a different idea.) Then consider how this film addresses that issue in contemporary American life. (Some movies appear in more than one category. Choose one issue for the movie you watched.)
Once you have researched the social issue, decide whether or not the movie portrays it realistically. Use your research and the movie to show this.
Begin the paper with a brief summary of the movie. This will be your introduction. It shouldn't be more than 5 sentences + the thesis.
Note - If your movie is an older movie or is about a time in history, you may discuss one of these two things:
--whether or not the issues in it are the same today or if they have changed
or
--whether or not the issues are accurate for when the movie was produced or for when it takes place
Support/Research
In order to fully understand the issue, you will need to conduct research. You should use a mix of academic/scholarly research and, if you’d like, magazines that might contain movie reviews or commentary. You will probably not find direct research. For example, you may not find an article about poverty in Precious. It will be up to you to research poverty for young women and apply it to the movie yourself.
You must use at least two scholarly sources (journals) from the GSU databases/Galileo. Your other sources must be reliable.
Remember- you are not assessing whether or not this is a good movie, nor are you summarizing what happens. You are explaining if it accurately depicts American life.
Questions You Might Consider to Get You Started
Audience
The tone and language of your paper should be for a group of thoughtful, educated, and well-informed people who might read publications such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, the New York Times, or The Washington Post. Assume that the reader has not seen the movie, so you have to explain each example.
Research
Sources
I hope that you will be able to use the sources that you used in your Annotated Bibliography. However, you are not required to use those sources, nor are you required to do a new bibliography if the sources change.
Also, for the paper, your Works Cited has only the publication information, not the summaries.
Mechanics (see check-list for more help)
Use an informative, interesting, and suggestive title for your essay. Do not underline or use quotation marks for your own title.
Be original! Do not begin your paper with a definition or with phrases such as “In our society today…”
3-4 pages, more than 5 paragraphs
Introduction includes the title of the movie and basic production information, including the names of leading actors, year, and director
Use correct form for parenthetical documentation and for the Works Cited page.
*Don’t forget to add the movie as a source in addition to your 3 sources.*
Submit your paper in the Assignments area of iCollege. The Works Cited page must be a separate page the end of the paper, NOT in a separate file.
Remember that reference librarians can guide you with your research, and I can guide you with content.