Cinematic Spectacle and the Genre Film

Midterm Handout

The 5-7 page midterm paper is due in class on Monday October 19. I will gladly give comments to drafts, outlines, or first paragraphs that you give me in office hours or through e-mail. If you'd like to request an extension it should be before the deadline.

The following instructions will help you organize your time, and explain how to go about researching and writing your paper.
This handout has six parts:

Part 1: The Writing process
Part 2: Format
Part 3: Structure
Part 4: Editing Test Case
Part 5: References
Part 6: Your Notes

Part 1: The Writing process

This paper is an opportunity for you to propose a specific new way of understanding the film/s of your choice. You are writing as a critic, not as a reviewer. You should have a clear persuasive argument, involve the film intimately in your discussion, show your expository writing abilities, and keep your reader in mind. Your writing is what will enable the communication between you and your reader.

There are two parts in this writing event:

First, you have to figure out your connection to the film and to your topic, conduct your research (watching the film again, taking notes, doing close readings of certain parts of the film, reading articles, reviews, historical background or theoretical essays). At the end of this research process you should have an organized outline with the arguments and conclusions of your thinking.

Second comes the writing process. It may seem like just a short and easy reporting of your conclusions, but it has challenges of its own. You should do justice to your thinking and to your research by presenting it in the best format: appropriate writing style, flowing argumentative structure, good transitions, connected arguments, full exploration of each point, and a strong conclusion.

You should imagine a reader who reads your paper and says: "I didn't realize that focusing on this point could have such an effect on how we understand the film... I have to think more about this now... "

In order for this to work you have to allow yourself enough time for both parts of the process. You also have to act as your own editor (or ask someone to be your editor) before turning the paper in. The editor would proofread for grammar and spelling, and make sure your points make sense as you have written them (not only as you have imagined them). Ask someone to read the paper when you still have plenty of time. In the discussion that may follow you'll find that a reader's questions allow you to expand or clarify your points.

Part 2: Format

1. The paper has to be typed and double-spaced, with one-inch T/B & L/R margins.
2. Have a separate title page, with your name and the title of your paper, and also the course number, date, and the name of the instructor.
3. Choose an interesting title that reflects your topic. Avoid clich� or random titles.
4. Include page numbers (but do not paginate title page).
5. Keep a hard copy and a disk copy of your paper.

Part 3: Structure

This is what you are trying to do in this paper:

*** Propose an issue or question
*** Explore it
*** Use evidence from the film to create and support an argument
*** Think about the implications of this argument
*** Connect your thoughts, textual references, and visual evidence
*** Have a clearly structured persuasive account of your exploration
*** Have a conclusion

Part 4: Editing Test Case

This testcase can help you, or your editor, re-read your paper and provide constructive comments.

You should be able to answer

---Yes to these questions

---No to these questions

Part 5: References

1. Use consistent reference style for quotations and references. Use endnotes or footnotes for points that seem relevant in general but are not part of your topic.
2. Always refer the source of the material you are using. Use full publication information, and page numbers. For example: Charles Musser. The Emergence of Cinema: The American Screen to 1907. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994) 76.
3. A full notation the first time you use a book source is enough. After that, you can have abbreviations, or just page numbers. (Musser, 97-99)
4. The first time you mention a film title you should have a reference, too. For example: Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941).
5. Both film titles, and book titles are underlined. Essay titles are in quotation marks, with the book or journal source following: "Sythesis: Citizen Kane" in Louis Giannetti Understanding Movies (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1996) 467-503.

Part 6: Your Notes

Finally, after this paper is complete, take notes on the specific problems or challenges you encountered in preparation for the writing assignment. These notes will help us address your questions in class, and will be a good guideline for your future papers.

Try to think of your writing challenges in "sets." Instead of grouping your impressions under a general feeling ("This paper was hard to write"), try to be more specific.

What problems did you really encounter?
What categories or headings would you put them under?
Selection of a Topic?
Editing?
First Paragraph?
Language?

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