Essay Instructions: Midterm Short Essay Assignment
Choose 2 films that you watched for Modules 1, 2 or 3 (our current Module) to write about. Develop a specific theme/thesis that ties together the movies and a concept/idea from Movie Made America (Chapters 1- 12).
You've got a lot of freedom in this assignment! You can write about anything that interested you in the movies and the readings in Modules 1, 2 and 3 as long as you make a connection between the films and the ideas in the textbook.
There are some basic structural requirements that you must follow in order to get a passing grade on the assignment. Please review the grading rubric below.
1) Essay uses examples from 2 different films from modules 1,2,or 3 to support your thesis. Use specific scenes from the 2 movies to illustrate your thesis. Do not write summaries of the plots of the films. 15 points
2) Writing displays creative thinking that makes connections between the films and the readings by using at least one correctly formatted quote from the textbook, Movie Made America 10 points
3) Thesis is stated clearly 5 points
4) Sentence structure is grammatical 5 points
5) Spelling is correct 5 points
6) Word count is within assigned range (400 - 700 words.) 5 points
An essay shorter than 375 words will recieve 0 points i.e. an "F".
7) Language is analytical and academic 5 point
Movies you can choose from:
Module 1 The Rise of Movie Culture (Weeks 1 and 2)
Landmarks of Early Film (#1) 1997 OR: Landmarks of Early Film (#2) Magic Melies (1930)
The Mark of Zorro, 1920 (Niblo)
Mary Pickford a Life on Film, 1999 OR: Mary Pickford, American Experience, 2005
The Birth of A Nation 1915 (Griffith) This one is long, but worth it! An important (and disturbing) film.
Module 2 The Movies in the Age of Mass Culture (Weeks 3 and 4)
You will see that there are 6 categories of films for this module. You only need to watch a total of 4 (2 each week). Obviously this means that you won't watch all the films listed here. You choose which 4 you want to watch!
The General, 1927 (Keaton) OR: Comedy Legend: Buster Keaton, 2005 (EITHER Disc 1, 2, or 3) OR: Seven Chances, 1925 (Keaton) OR: College, 1927 (Horne)
Battleship Potemkin, 1925 (Eisenstein)
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing 2004
Modern Times, 1936 (Chaplin) OR: The Kid, 1921 (Chaplin) OR: City Lights, 1931(Chaplin) OR: the Gold Rush, 1925 (Chaplin)
The Artist, 2011 Hazanavicius
Hugo, 2011 Scorsese
Highly Recommended (but not required!) Chaplin, 1992 "Through flashbacks and other nonlinear devices, this story recounts comic icon Charlie Chaplin's (Robert Downey Jr.) poignant journey through triumph, failure, infamy and government persecution. Downey's performance earned both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. " (Watch the Chaplin films, then watch this...Downey is amazing! May not be available on Netflix. )
Module 3 Mass Culture in the Age of Movies (Weeks 5 and 6)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939 (Capra) OR: You Can't Take It With You, 1938 (Capra) OR: It Happened One Night, 1934 (Capra)
The Public Enemy, 1931 (Wellman) OR: Little Caesar, 1931 (LeRoy) OR: Scarface, 1932 (Hawks) (DO NOT watch Scarface with Al Pacino 1983!) May not be available on Netfilx
Dumbo, 1941 (Disney) OR: Bambi, 1942 (Disney) OR: Snow White, 1937 (Disney) May not be available on Netfilx OR: Fantasia, 1940 (Disney) May not be available on Netfilx **Please note the years on these films. There have been remakes of many of them. You want to watch the originals!**
Freaks, 1932 (Browning) OR: King Kong, 1933 (Cooper) OR: Dracula, 1931(Browning) OR: Frankenstein, 1931 (Whale)
Highly Recommended (but not required!) Gods and Monsters, 1998 " Ian McKellen gives a brilliant performance as film director James Whale, the genius behind Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. As his life draws to a close, the openly gay Whale befriends a gardener (Brendan Fraser), and both men learn from their platonic, unexpected bond. The disc's many extras offer a fascinating look at a lost era of Hollywood history."