This take-home exam (or essay, view it as you will) is due by end of the week. Late papers without a legitimate, documented excuse may have the paper’s grade reduced on a pro-rated basis.
Format:
Essays must be submitted in Word format. If you send it in some other format there is no guarantee I’ll be able to open the file to read it.
File name: YOURLASTNAME_Exam2 example: Wilt_Exam2
a) your NAME should appear in the document as well
b) 4-page essay, double-spaced, font size 12, normal margins.
c) If you cite any sources, you must append a bibliography, which does not count as one of the 4 pages
In other words, we want 4 full pages of TEXT, not counting any bibliography (if you use one).
Additional important notes:
1) this is not a research paper. However, you may use quotes from other sources to support your ideas. This is not required and in fact is not especially encouraged. The nature of these essays is such that no outside sources are really needed. We are interested in your analysis of a film or films.
2) however, if you do use any sources, be sure to cite them. Using the words OR thoughts of another person without attribution is plagiarism, which is taken very seriously by the instructors and the university. You may not simply “re-write” someone else’s conclusion and pass it off as your own work. It might even be advisable to avoid reading someone else’s analysis of your topic/film.
[Note: quotes of dialogue from films do NOT need to be foot-noted.]
3) Organization, spelling, and grammar count (not a lot, but a paper with a lot of typos suggests you didn’t bother to proof-read it). Try to write in an academic (serious) style. This paper is not the same as a blog, a newspaper movie review, etc.
4) Your paper should have an introduction (or a “topic sentence”), a body, and a conclusion. 4 pages is not long, but you would be advised to think about what you want to say. You must have a point of view!
A sample topic sentence would be something like: “McCabe & Mrs. Miller applies the major themes of feminism to a traditionally male-oriented genre” or “This paper will examine how Blade Runner uses the concept of ‘technology run amuck’ to paint a bleak image of the future.”
5) This paper is not a movie review, not a plot synopsis, not a research paper or historical study. You may need to briefly use elements of these as you elaborate your thesis, but it is not necessary to say “This film can be enjoyed by all ages,” or to describe the film from a to z, or to go into great detail about the time period when the film was made.
6) USE EXAMPLES!!! For all of the essays, regardless of topic:
You MUST give concrete examples from the film(s) you discuss.
For example: Don’t just say “Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly was a brutal person.” Say, “he smashed one man’s phonograph record, crushed another guy’s hand in a desk drawer, beat up a man on the street,” etc. If you say “McCabe & Mrs. Miller is not a traditional Western,” you need to define “traditional Western” and/or say “…like High Noon, because…[examples]”
7) Unless you are concentrating on a particular aspect (photography, acting, sets, editing, plot, etc.), your analysis may/should utilize examples from various facets of the film to make your point. “The gloomy photography emphasizes the ideas in the script about the cruel nature of the world,” for instance.
THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS WE ENCOUNTER IN THESE ESSAYS:
- poor organization, no clear idea of what you want to say, poor logic
- padding out the essay with unnecessary, detailed plot descriptions
- bad writing, including grammatical/spelling errors, sentence fragments, etc.
- overly-broad generalizations about society, history, politics, film and film genres (such as “assertive women did not appear in 1950s movies”)
IMPORTANT POINTS:
(a) do NOT write about something that you don’t know. In other words, if you have seen hardly any Westerns, don’t analyse McCabe & Mrs. Miller as an example of the “anti-Western.” Don’t analyse The Third Man in terms of post-World War II politics if you don’t know anything about post-WWII politics.
(b) this paper is supposed to be analysis, NOT DESCRIPTION. You must give concrete examples from the film(s) you are discussing, but we do not want a complete re-telling of the plot. Nor do we want a list of things and nothing else. We want a well-crafted essay that is logically organised and has been proof-read for obvious spelling and grammar errors.
(c ) you are strongly encouraged to select a film/topic that interests you! If you wish to discuss a film from a country/director/genre we didn’t cover in class (because we obviously can’t cover everything), fine. The only caveat: the film must have been made after 1945 (you may, however, compare an older film with a newer film if you wish). However, it is also fine if you want to write about one of the films we screened in class.
FILM 2154 ESSAY EXAM QUESTIONS SPRING 2024
CLASS FILMS ***You will choose one film from here***
Film 1 THE THIRD MAN
Film 2 REAR WINDOW
Film 3 RASHOMON
Film 4 BELLE DE JOUR
Film 5 McCABE & MRS. MILLER
Film 6 THE CONFORMIST
Film 7 CHINATOWN
Film 8 BLADE RUNNER
Film 9 MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN
Film 10 MULHOLLAND DRIVE
Film 11 PAN’S LABYRINTH
Film 12 IN BRUGES
You may discuss a film of your own choosing. MAKE SURE you THINK about what you are doing. You need to pick a film that has substance that you can discuss.
POSSIBLE TOPICS:
***You can decide to go for options (1), (2), (3) OR (4)***
(1) Choose a film. Pick a topic, a point of view, an “angle,” and do a close reading analysis.
Choose a specific topic that you can clearly identify and phrase in a topic sentence, and which has enough “substance” to allow you to write 4 pages on it (but isn’t too ambitious–you’re not writing a book).
Some possible suggestions of areas you could analyse:
socio-political content
literary adaptation (you would have to read the story/novel/play the film was based on)
the “national” character of a film as reflected in its form and content (Is The Third Man “British?” Is Belle de jour “French”? Would the film have worked if made/set in another country/culture? Why?)
film form (overall, in a film) or a particular technical aspect (music, photography, etc.).
Other examples of topics you could discuss include:
sexual “deviance” in Belle de Jour, the flawed hero (The Third Man, Rear Window, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, etc.), political themes, religious ideas and imagery, the effect of technology on society in Blade Runner, religious imagery in Blade Runner (or Belle de Jour or any other film), racial or national representation in a film (images of people of colour, images of “foreigners,” etc.), and so on. You may use one of these or make up your own topic.
If you already know something about feminism, or Marxism, or semiotics, or anything else and would like to apply this to a film or films, fine!
(2) Analyze and compare an aspect of two of the films we’ve seen this semester (OR, one of the films from class and any other film you choose).
For example, the roles of women in film X and film Y. Do NOT just describe the characters, you must analyze what you have seen! Also consider when/where the film was made (and the time period in which it is set), does the film contain traditional stereotypes or are the women depicted in a manner which seems to break with or subvert the standard media image of women. You might say something like “Mrs. Miller, although cast as a prostitute, is actually a strong figure because…”
Or write about the image of the police, or the government, or the “hero,” or any other specific topic that interests you.
Compare & contrast” does NOT just mean “list the differences.”
(3) Choose a film and discuss it in terms of film form — this could be photography, editing, non-linear narrative, costumes, color, sets, music, etc. How does the form of the film affect the content and the impact of the movie. You can concentrate on one aspect or write about how the film uses more than one aspect (editing + photography + sets) to accomplish its purpose (which would be…? For example, how does the film form reinforce the post-war theme of The Third Man?).
You may wish to compare a film shown in class this semester with another film (not from class) on a similar topic, in a similar genre, etc., and analyse the FORMAL differences. For example: compare how each filmmaker deals with/depicts the concept of “reality” in Belle de Jour and Inception.
You may also wish to select a certain aspect (design, photography, editing, sound, music) of one or two films to discuss in depth. Only do this IF you feel confident you have enough to say and you know enough about the topic.
(4) Choose one (or two) films and discuss in terms of genre. For instance, McCabe & Mrs. Miller as a “Western,” Chinatown as a “detective film,” Blade Runner as “science fiction,” etc. Is this film a traditional example of the genre or not, and why. Is this (following or breaking genre “rules”) good or bad? What about audience expectations: if you go to see a “Western,” and the film doesn’t follow the genre conventions, what does this do?
NOTE: do not choose this unless you are already familiar with the genre you choose. Do NOT write about Westerns if you have only seen 1 Western in your life! As noted above, if you think McCabe & Mrs. Miller is a non-traditional Western, you need to provide specific examples of films that are traditional Westerns and show how McCabe… differs.
FINAL COMMENTS:
- if you wish to ask about a particular topic you are considering, or about a particular film, etc., fine. Send me an email or ask before class.
- However, we will not read a rough draft of your paper and make comments on it. There is not enough time in the day to read 58 drafts AND 58 final versions.
- There is no penalty if you choose one of the films shown for this course. If one of these has something that interests you enough to write your essay on it, great! But if you want to pick a film on your own, that is also absolutely fine. The important thing is you write about a film that interests you.