LIT227 and ENG111/Major Paper Number 2 Assignment: 100 Points

LIT227 AND ENG111 Major Paper Number 2 Assignment: 100 points Instructors: Hill and Ketchum

Due Date______

Background During the semester, our coverage of film has been broad. Writing activities have often focused on controversial issues, such as the treatment of child actors (It’s a Wonderful Life, Powder, The Bad Seed), on film technique, such as the editing of Memento, and in some cases, the political intentions of moviemakers (Supersize Me).

Major Paper 1 required you to address an argumentative issue directly related to American film, such as the appropriateness of smoking in film or the use/misuse of the documentary format. For this paper, you were handed topics to explore and on which to take a position.

Major Paper 2 will allow you to continue to discuss issues that are directly related to American film from a specific position and to break new ground. Here’s how.

Your film text supplement, Writing About Movies by Karen Gocsik and Richard Barsam, divides film papers into the following categories: Formal Analysis, Film History, Ideological Papers, Cultural Studies/National Cinemas, and Auteur Criticism (8-11). You will now have an opportunity to write one of these types of papers.

Assignment Write a 4-5 page paper on an American film topic or issue that falls within one of the following categories: formal analysis, film history, ideological papers, cultural studies/national cinemas or auteur criticism.  Your topic does not have to fit perfectly into one of these categories, but you must identify it as one of these types of papers.  Your paper must include at least one film we have covered in this FYE.  Follow the basic MLA format described in your handbook. Use “signal phrases” when citing sources but limit your use of this technique. It’s okay for you to use tools such as citationmachine.net and other resources listed under “Writing Resources” on the class wiki help format your paper.  Must include at least one outside source (not counting class texts/class movie).  Limit your reference to no more than a total of three (3) unique outside sources.  Additional paper criteria for this assignment are the same as Major Paper 1. The same rubric will be used to determine your final grade earned for this assignment. Refer to the first assignment’s criteria for additional information.  Make sure your paper is well-edited and lacks technical errors. See pages 29-41 of your film text supplement, Writing About Movies, by Gocsik and Barsam, for a very good discussion on writing papers as well as using the class text Easy Writer, 3rd edition, by Andrea Lundsford to correct errors.  You will be required to use Turnitin.com as part of the draft process for this paper. Beginning the Process 1. Closely review the discussion of “Kinds of Papers” on pages 8-11 of Writing About Movies. If you have any questions, please ask one of your instructors for clarification. 2. Conduct preliminary reading on your topic. Brainstorm. Exchange ideas with your peers. Get feedback from your instructors. Freewrite. Do anything to get your juices flowing on this assignment. 3. Develop a topic and hypothesis. A good example can be found on page 169 of your handbook, Easy Writer.

Examples and Ideas Below are examples of how The Color Purple could be applied to these types of film papers. You can develop better topics, but please note that these ideas:

 DO MORE than ask the journalistic questions Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? They require you to engage in your subject matter and to think more critically than to simply write a report.  Ask an interesting question that involves something more substantive than a “Yes” or “No” response.  Will lead to your being able to take a position on the issue being raised while still leaving room to consider alternative points of view.

Formal Analysis Compare and contrast Alice Walker’s novel to Steven Spielberg’s screen adaptation of The Color Purple. Although Walker and Spielberg closely collaborated on the making her novel, does their work do her novel justice?

Film History Discuss Stephen Spielberg and Alice Walker’s collaboration on The Color Purple and the controversy they generated in the making of the film. What were/are some of the day’s burning issues surrounding the film and how (well) have they addressed them?

Ideological Papers Discuss the portrayal of black men in The Color Purple. Is the portrayal of black men in this film fair?

Cultural Studies/National Cinemas The Color Purple was published in 1982. A year later it won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award. In 1985, Steven Spielberg closely collaborated with author Alice Walker to adapt her work to t he screen. According to Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia:  The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards but won none. Some critics, including the influential Roger Ebert, considered it the best picture of the year.  Some people were offended by what they thought was a negative portrayal of black men as abusive and uncaring, among other things.  Some critics said that Spielberg “was a poor choice for such a complex drama” and altered the book’s treatment of lesbianism. Discuss some aspect of the affect of Spielberg’s Color Purple on society and or movies. Limit your focus to one or two major themes, such as the management of controversial themes, the portrayal of African American life, casting of black actors, etc.

Auteur Criticism In 1998, film critic Roger Ebert said this about Steven Spielberg in Time Magazine: “No director or producer has ever put together a more popular body of work. That’s why the movies we’re now seeing are made in his image.” Spielberg has made a wide range of movies, from E.T. The Extraterrestrial to Schindler’s List to Minority Report. How does The Color Purple rate as a “Spielberg” film? Rather than try to look at all of his films (which would take a lifetime), narrow your topic down to some aspect of his work: subject matter, photography, storytelling, and so on.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Good luck!