DOCSLIB.ORG

Research and Analysis Essay

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Research and Analysis Essay Research and Analysis Essay OBJECTIVES The purpose of this essay is for you to: a) broaden your knowledge of 1970s American cinema and society and b) hone skills of writing and critical analysis. GUIDELINES You will choose one of the general topics provided below and carve out of it your own specific analysis. Try to be specific and focused. Construct a thesis in your introduction that outlines what you will argue and focus on; then, continually reinforce, point back to, and illustrate this thesis in the body; and wrap up your paper and thesis in the conclusion. Regardless of which topic you choose, this essay requires you to combine the following: A) research, whereby you will locate and cite scholarly writings that strengthen your study; and B) analysis, in which you will make sense of and think critically about the subject matter. Be sure, as well – again, regardless of topic – to examine in some way the relationship between American cinema and society in the 1970s. TOPICS Choose one of these below. Be careful not to tackle the entire topic, which would not be advisable in such a short paper. Instead find a topic below that interests you and go about finding a particular area within it that will permit you to accomplish the objectives and follow the guidelines. 1. New genres — Pick one of the new genres that came out of the 1970s. Consider why this genre and movie (could be as many as two movies) emerge during the 1970s. How does it generically address issues particularly relevant to 1970s America? And, in turn, how does the film generically determine its aesthetics, themes, and/or ideology? How is the film representative of that genre and of the decade? The films below are mere suggestions; you may find others. A) DISASTER: Poseidon Adventure (1972); Towering Inferno (1974); Earthquake (1974) B) SLASHER: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974); Halloween (1978); Driller Killer (1979) C) KUNG FU/MARTIAL ARTS: Five Fingers of Death (1972); Game of Death (1972); Enter the Dragon (1973); Way of the Dragon (1973) D) COP: French Connection (1971); Klute (1971); Dirty Harry (1971); Magnum Force (1973) E) ROCK MUSICAL/OPERA: Jesus Christ Superstar (1973); Tommy (1975); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975); The Wiz (1978); Hair (1979) 2. Film analysis — Pick one film that you feel is representative of the 1970s and analyze its relevance, whether historical, cultural, societal, etc. What does it tell us about 1970s America? How is it a distinct product of 1970s America, rather than any other decade, for instance? 3. Filmmaker or actor analysis — Pick a director or actor that you feel is important to and indicative of the 1970s. What is s/he contributing to the period? How is s/he’s work reflective of and/or shaped by the decade? How does this person respond to or engage 1970s America? That is, how does s/he speak to 1970s America in a way that would not have been as possible before or after the decade? (If you choose this topic, you will need to screen at least 2-3 films.) 4. Documentary — Study the development of the documentary format in the 1970s. Because of the emphasis upon social movement, and the willingness of TV to purchase documentaries, the form blossomed in this decade. Pick one or two docs and analyze their function in 1970s America. 5. Choose your own topic — Be sure to run this topic by me. (In fact, I encourage all of you to run your topic by me, either by email or in person during my office hours.) SOURCES & CITATIONS You must cite at least three scholarly, “hard” texts (not originating from the Web, unless accessed through a library search engine) that illuminate your topic and analysis. These could include any journal articles you find through the article search engines available to you through the King Library website or books from the catalog. You may use “soft” sources, such as Imdb.com, but they have to be in addition to the three scholarly ones. Please use parenthetical citations and, at the end of your paper, a Works Cited page. After you quote or paraphrase a text, parenthetically list the author’s last name and the page number only, followed by the period to close out the sentence. So, for instance: According to Maximilian Todd, “the relationship between object and subject is a testament to the struggle between the sexes” (Todd 94). Note that in this case, contrary to most cases, the period is outside the closing quotation mark. For guidelines on how to cite the full texts in your Works Cited page, refer to the following website: <http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm>. FRIENDLY WARNINGS Maintain your focus as much as possible. Do not attempt to explain every facet of the film or person or genre in question. Stay on-topic. Note that this essay is not a film review (‘thumbs up’/’thumbs down’), but instead an analytical and research-oriented paper. Leave out all plot description, except as it may very briefly contextualize your analysis. Length: 5-7 pages (not including your Works Cited page) Formatting: Double-spaced, numbered, titled, stapled, and normal margins Worth: 20% of your overall grade Due dates: 1st page w/ thesis: Thursday, November 18 (you will bring this printed page to class and exchange it with a fellow student to give one another feedback) 2nd draft of 1st page w/ thesis: Friday, November 19, by 5 p.m. (email me your 2nd draft, with improvements/suggestions/edits from 1st draft and I’ll respond with my own feedback) Complete final draft: Tuesday, December 14, by 5 p.m. (place your paper, complete with original 1st page/thesis with fellow student’s comments and second draft of 1st page/thesis with my comments attached, in the box to the left of my office door, Hugh Gillis Hall 212) .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Dead Zone Back to the Beach I Scored! the 250 Greatest
    Volume 10, Number 4 Original Music Soundtracks for Movies and Television FAN MADE MONSTER! Elfman Goes Wonky Exclusive interview on Charlie and Corpse Bride, too! Dead Zone Klimek and Heil meet Romero Back to the Beach John Williams’ Jaws at 30 I Scored! Confessions of a fi rst-time fi lm composer The 250 Greatest AFI’s Film Score Nominees New Feature: Composer’s Corner PLUS: Dozens of CD & DVD Reviews $7.95 U.S. • $8.95 Canada �������������������������������������������� ����������������������� ���������������������� contents ���������������������� �������� ����� ��������� �������� ������ ���� ���������������������������� ������������������������� ��������������� �������������������������������������������������� ����� ��� ��������� ����������� ���� ������������ ������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������� ��������������������� �������������������� ���������������������������������������������� ����������� ����������� ���������� �������� ������������������������������� ���������������������������������� ������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������� ����� ������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������� ������������������������������� �������������������������� ���������� ���������������������������� ��������������������������������� �������������� ��������������������������������������������� ������������������������� �������������������������������������������� ������������������������������ ��������������������������
    [Show full text]
  • “Quiet Please, It's a Bloody Opera”!
    UNIVERSITETET I OSLO “Quiet Please, it’s a bloody opera”! How is Tommy a part of the Opera History? Martin Nordahl Andersen [27.10.11] A theatre/performance/popular musicology master thesis on the rock opera Tommy by The Who ”Quiet please, it’s a bloody opera!” Martin Nordahl Andersen 2011 “Quiet please, it’s a bloody opera!” How is Tommy part of the Opera History? Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo All photos by Ross Halfin © All photos used with written permission. 1 ”Quiet please, it’s a bloody opera!” Aknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors Ståle Wikshåland and Stan Hawkins for superb support and patience during the three years it took me to get my head around to finally finish this thesis. Thank you both for not giving up on me even when things were moving very slow. I am especially thankful for your support in my work in the combination of popular music/performance studies. A big thank you goes to Siren Leirvåg for guidance in the literature of theatre studies. Everybody at the Institute of Music at UiO for helping me when I came back after my student hiatus in 2007. I cannot over-exaggerate my gratitude towards Rob Lee, webmaster at www.thewho.com for helping me with finding important information on that site and his attempts at getting me an interview with one of the boys. The work being done on that site is fantastic. Also, a big thank you to my fellow Who fans. Discussing Who with you makes liking the band more fun.
    [Show full text]
  • Allen Rostron, the Law and Order Theme in Political and Popular Culture
    OCULREV Fall 2012 Rostron 323-395 (Do Not Delete) 12/17/2012 10:59 AM OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW VOLUME 37 FALL 2012 NUMBER 3 ARTICLES THE LAW AND ORDER THEME IN POLITICAL AND POPULAR CULTURE Allen Rostron I. INTRODUCTION “Law and order” became a potent theme in American politics in the 1960s. With that simple phrase, politicians evoked a litany of troubles plaguing the country, from street crime to racial unrest, urban riots, and unruly student protests. Calling for law and order became a shorthand way of expressing contempt for everything that was wrong with the modern permissive society and calling for a return to the discipline and values of the past. The law and order rallying cry also signified intense opposition to the Supreme Court’s expansion of the constitutional rights of accused criminals. In the eyes of law and order conservatives, judges needed to stop coddling criminals and letting them go free on legal technicalities. In 1968, Richard Nixon made himself the law and order candidate and won the White House, and his administration continued to trumpet the law and order theme and blame weak-kneed liberals, The William R. Jacques Constitutional Law Scholar and Professor of Law, University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law. B.A. 1991, University of Virginia; J.D. 1994, Yale Law School. The UMKC Law Foundation generously supported the research and writing of this Article. 323 OCULREV Fall 2012 Rostron 323-395 (Do Not Delete) 12/17/2012 10:59 AM 324 Oklahoma City University Law Review [Vol. 37 particularly judges, for society’s ills.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Tommy,' New Insights Into Pete Townshend
    What about the boy? In 'Tommy,' new insights into Pete Townshend Chris Jones CHICAGO TRIBUNE cjon es5​@chicagotribune.com JANUARY 22, 2015, 6:00 AM hen, in 1975, the movie director Ken Russell turned "Tommy," an album by The Who, into a film, W catapulting the Pinball Wizard to further glory, he made one particularly notable change: He switched the period of the rock opera from the years following World War I to the years following World War II. This necessitated changing the title of one of Pete Townshend's rock numbers ("1921" became "1951"), but the benefit was not just a more contemporary milieu (back in '75, at least) but a period that more closely charted Townshend's own life. That change was continued when "Tommy" became a Broadway musical in 1993, directed by Des McAnuff. (The stage version of "Tommy" has played the Chicago area many times over the years, including productions by the Circle Theatre and now-defunct White Horse Theatre, as well as a memorable stint for McAnuff's road show at the Auditorium Theatre in 1999.) The stage musical, adapted from what always has been a very loose plot, is set in the years after World War II, suggesting that the conflict ripped families and marriages apart. In the case of "Tommy," we see a husband and father shot down by the enemy. His wife thinks he is dead and takes another lover. When her husband returns, he violently confronts the lover, which is what sets his little boy, Tommy, off on his trajectory. Told that he saw, heard and felt nothing, he takes those instructions to heart.
    [Show full text]
  • 1-Abdul Haseeb Ansari
    Journal of Criminal Justice and Law Review : Vol. 1 • No. 1 • June 2009 IDENTIFYING LARGE REPLICABLE FILM POPULATIONS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE FILM RESEARCH: A UNIFIED FILM POPULATION IDENTIFICATION METHODOLOGY FRANKLIN T. WILSON Indiana State University ABSTRACT: Historically, a dominant proportion of academic studies of social science issues in theatrically released films have focused on issues surrounding crime and the criminal justice system. Additionally, a dominant proportion has utilized non-probability sampling methods in identifying the films to be analyzed. Arguably one of the primary reasons film studies of social science issues have used non-probability samples may be that no one has established definitive operational definitions of populations of films, let alone develop datasets from which researchers can draw. In this article a new methodology for establishing film populations for both qualitative and quantitative research–the Unified Film Population Identification Methodology–is both described and demonstrated. This methodology was created and is presented here in hopes of expand the types of film studies utilized in the examination of social science issues to those communication theories that require the examination of large blocks of media. Further, it is anticipated that this methodology will help unify film studies of social science issues in the future and, as a result, increase the reliability, validity, and replicability of the said studies. Keywords: UFPIM, Film, Core Cop, Methodology, probability. Mass media research conducted in the academic realm has generally been theoretical in nature, utilizing public data, with research agendas emanating from the academic researchers themselves. Academic studies cover a gambit of areas including, but not limited to, antisocial and prosocial effects of specific media content, uses and gratifications, agenda setting by the media, and the cultivation of perceptions of social reality (Wimmer & Dominick, 2003).
    [Show full text]
  • Serie S. T He Early Days of R Oc K
    By Emmanuel Fromage, Vincent Camus, Quentin Bourguillault, and Corentin Bruneau. Credits :Wikipedia, (Queen, The Who) Recherche d’images Google. Dee- zer, And Ms BAARD !! Queen is the most famous group of the world. Basically composed of Brian May, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, and John Deacon the group started to be known in the 1970s. That was the beginning of an incredible internationnal success. Series. TheSeries. Early days of Rock. – The Who is a group, formed in 1964. Belongs to The Times, the band sold over 100 millions records. It influenced Rock’n’Roll, and its suc- cess fastly reached America, before conquering the whole planet, and making fans all over the world. Special OffSpecial Queen. Queen is one of the most famous rock group of the world. At the beginning of the suc- cess, in the 1970s, they were a group of 4 (The name of the group was “Smile “ ). Brian May, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, and then, John Deacon. They had the best com- mercial success of these last 30 years Influenced by other groups of their time, (from Progressive Rock ) Queen started to have an audience when they released the album “Queen II “ The music quickly became a success, and a music tour began in America, even though the sales of the album were not that good. Their next album, Sheer Heart Attack, made the begin to sold increase faster. Queen’s success reached Europe, (especially the United Kingdom ) and A Night At The Opera, which was the most expensive album which ever made, became gold disc. After an incredible free concert in Hyde Park, London in 1976 ( 200 000 people were attended during this event ) the album News Of The World was not well received by the listeners.
    [Show full text]
  • The Peer Review Process-The Good Bad and Ugly
    The Hospital Medical Staff Peer Review Process: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Presented by: www.TheHealthLawFirm.com © Copyright 2017. George F. Indest III. All rights reserved. SUBTITLE: “Practical Matters the Physician Must Know When Confronted by a Medical Staff Peer Review/ Clinical Privileges/Fair Hearing Proceeding” Originally presented by George F. Indest III at an annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons Presented by: www.TheHealthLawFirm.com © Copyright 2017. George F. Indest III. All rights reserved. George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M. Board Certified by the Florida Bar in the Legal Specialty of Health Law Website: www.TheHealthLawFirm.com Main Office: 1101 Douglas Avenue Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714 Phone: (407) 331-6620 Fax: (407) 331-3030 Website: www.TheHealthLawFirm.com “In the next fifteen minutes we have to create enough confusion to get out of here alive.” -Smith [Clint Eastwood] in “Where Eagles Dare” “If you want to play the game, you’d better know the rules….” -Inspector Harry Callahan [Clint Eastwood] in “The Dead Pool” TERMINOLOGY “Peer Review Hearing” a/k/a – Privileges Hearing – Fair Hearing – Medical Review Hearing – Credentials Hearing – Medical Staff Hearing – Disciplinary Hearing – Credentials Committee Hearing – Ad Hoc Committee Hearing The “Private Practice Physician” We are Discussing 1. Not a Hospital employee. 2. Does not have a direct contract with the Hospital. 3. Not a member of a group with an exclusive contract. 4. Does have clinical privileges at the Hospital. Two components of a physician’s medical staff relationship in a Hospital (often used interchangeably & incorrectly): 1.
    [Show full text]
  • News Release
    For Immediate Release NEWS RELEASE 11TH ANNUAL MUSICARES MAP FUND® BENEFIT CONCERT TO HONOR PETE TOWNSHEND AND BILL CURBISHLEY ON MAY 28 Event Moves to New York City for the First Time, and Will Raise Funds for MusiCares®' Addiction Recovery Services SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Feb. 6, 2015) — The 11th annual MusiCares MAP Fund® benefit concert will honor The Who's GRAMMY®-winning singer/songwriter Pete Townshend, and The Who's longtime manager, music and film producer Bill Curbishley at the Best Buy Theater in New York on May 28. Townshend will be honored with the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award for his dedication and support of the MusiCares MAP Fund. He is being recognized for his commitment to helping other addicts with the addiction recovery process. Curbishley will be the recipient of MusiCares®' From the Heart Award for his unconditional friendship and dedication to the mission and goals of the organization. All proceeds from the benefit, which is sponsored in part by RBC Capital Markets, will benefit the MusiCares MAP Fund, which provides members of the music community access to addiction recovery treatment regardless of their financial situation. Tickets will go on sale in February and additional performers will be announced shortly. "This year, the MAP Fund is traveling to New York City to broaden the visibility of MusiCares' services on the East Coast," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy® and MusiCares. "Throughout the year, MusiCares offers comprehensive addiction recovery programs to people in need, and the opportunity to showcase the annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit in that great music city should underscore that our resources are available to members of the music community nationwide.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Introduction Crime Film and the Messy City Many a commercial film or television production is a genuine achievement besides being a commodity. Germs of new beginnings may develop within a thoroughly alienated environment. —Siegfried Kracauer, Theory of Film ❧ n 1974, Vincent Canby wrote a piece for the New York Times, titled “New York Woes Are Good For Box Office,” that puzzled over the Ispate of films that had been made in the city over the last few years. What confused Canby was why so many recent films that portrayed New York so unfavorably—he cites Serpico (1973), The Super Cops (1974), Law and Disorder (1974), Mean Streets (1973), Death Wish (1974), For Pete’s Sake (1974), and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)—were seemingly so popular: New York is a mess, say these films. It’s run by fools. Its citi- zens are at the mercy of its criminals who, as often as not, are protected by an unholy alliance of civil libertarians and crooked cops. The air is foul. The traffic is impossible. Services are diminishing and the morale is such that ordering a cup of coffee in a diner can turn into a request for a fat lip. (1) 1 © 2018 State University of New York Press, Albany 2 Welcome to Fear City Pointing out that New York has been a mess for much of its history, Canby was less fretful about the negative portrayal of the city in these films than curious as to why, at this moment, the mess of the city had become a subject of interest.
    [Show full text]
  • Original Cast Member Peter Straker Returns to the Who's Tommy After
    PRESS RELEASE 27 th February 2017 Original cast member Peter Straker returns to The Who’s Tommy after 38 years UK Tour 30 th March to 1 st July PRESS NIGHT: New Wolsey Theatre, 4 th April, 7pm After playing the Narrator in the original West End production in 1979, Peter Straker returns to the iconic rock opera as the Acid Queen. Peter Straker is known across TV, theatre and music, starting his career as Hud in the original London production of Hair and notably working with Freddie Mercury on two solo albums. His hit solo show Peter Straker Sings Brel played the Famous Spiegeltent at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Tommy is part of Ramps On The Moon , a ground-breaking project which signals a change in the UK’s disability arts provision, and Straker will be joined on stage by an inclusive cast of Deaf and disabled and non-disabled actors including Lukus Alexander, Alim Jayda, Donna Mullings, Garry Robson, Max Runham, Amy Trigg, and William Grint in the title role. The show is produced by the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, who leads the Ramps on the Moon consortium, and directed by artistic director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, Kerry Michael. Garry Robson takes on the controversial role of Uncle Ernie. One of the most respected names in disability arts with more than thirty years in the industry, Garry Robson is an actor, writer, director, one half of the singing duo Blind Gurl and the Cripz, and is currently Artistic Director at Birds of Paradise . Tommy’s mother, Mrs Walker, will be played by Magic Hands presenter Donna Mullings , and Max Runham (A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer ) takes on the role of Captain Walker.
    [Show full text]
  • The Working-Class and Post-War Britain in Pete Townshend's
    Class, Youth, and Dirty Jobs: the working-class and post-war Britain in Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia This chapter examines Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia (1973) and the way in which it depicts continuity and change in the lives of the British working-class in the period that the album documents (1964/5), the political milieu in which it was written (1972/3), and the legacy of the concept that was depicted in the screen version directed by Franc Roddam (1978/9).1 Quadrophenia was recorded and released in a fraught period of industrial militancy in Britain that had not been witnessed since the general strike of 1926.2 The album can be ‘read’ as both a social history of an element of youth culture in the mid-1960s, but also a reflection on contemporary anxieties relating to youth, class, race, and national identity in the period 1972/3.3 Similarly, the cinematic version of Quadrophenia was conceived and directed in 1978/9 in the months prior to and after Margaret Thatcher was swept to power, ushering in a long period of Conservative politics that economically, socially, and culturally reshaped British society.4 Quadrophenia is a significant historical source for ‘reading’ these pivotal years and providing a sense of how musicians and writers were both reflecting and dramatizing a sense of ‘crisis’, ‘continuity’, and ‘change’ in working-class Britain.5 Along with the novels and films of the English ‘new wave’ and contemporary sociological examinations of working-class communities and youth culture, Quadrophenia represents a classic slice of ‘social realism’, social history, and political commentary.
    [Show full text]
  • Inventory to Archival Boxes in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress
    INVENTORY TO ARCHIVAL BOXES IN THE MOTION PICTURE, BROADCASTING, AND RECORDED SOUND DIVISION OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Compiled by MBRS Staff (Last Update December 2017) Introduction The following is an inventory of film and television related paper and manuscript materials held by the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress. Our collection of paper materials includes continuities, scripts, tie-in-books, scrapbooks, press releases, newsreel summaries, publicity notebooks, press books, lobby cards, theater programs, production notes, and much more. These items have been acquired through copyright deposit, purchased, or gifted to the division. How to Use this Inventory The inventory is organized by box number with each letter representing a specific box type. The majority of the boxes listed include content information. Please note that over the years, the content of the boxes has been described in different ways and are not consistent. The “card” column used to refer to a set of card catalogs that documented our holdings of particular paper materials: press book, posters, continuity, reviews, and other. The majority of this information has been entered into our Merged Audiovisual Information System (MAVIS) database. Boxes indicating “MAVIS” in the last column have catalog records within the new database. To locate material, use the CTRL-F function to search the document by keyword, title, or format. Paper and manuscript materials are also listed in the MAVIS database. This database is only accessible on-site in the Moving Image Research Center. If you are unable to locate a specific item in this inventory, please contact the reading room.
    [Show full text]