Movie Essay Assignment Instructions
For this assignment, students are required to select a movie that involves a topic pertaining to Sociology (the study of human behavior). It should be a movie made for entertainment, not a documentary. The purpose of the assignment is to have the students use the movies as a heuristic tool (window to the world) wherein they observe and analyze the cinematic portrayal from the perceptive of sociologists. The papers should be type-written, double-spaced, 12-point Times News Roman font, and consist of no more than three pages in length. The components of grammar, usage of the English language and readability are as important as the content of the papers as this is a writing assignment in addition to being a substantive analysis. The paper is worth a maximum potential of 10 points toward students’ final grade.
Papers must be written in the following 5 paragraph format:
1. Introduction: Provide the reader with a road map of what it is you intend to cover in your paper as well as the purpose for the writing assignment. In this paragraph, you will want to briefly introduce the topic, the facts, the issues, and state that you will analyze from a sociological perspective and provide a conclusion. One sentence each should suffice.
2. Facts: Paragraph 2 should provide a recitation of the facts of the movie that are relevant to the issues and analysis to be provided in paragraphs 3 and 4. Again, a single paragraph wherein you provide the reader with enough information to provide a foundation for the issues, analysis and conclusion in subsequent paragraphs. In other words, do not recite the entire movie, but rather synopsize it for the reader providing him/her with enough information assuming s/he did not watch the movie.
3. Issues: In this paragraph, the student should provide the relevant issues or circumstances to be addressed in subsequent paragraphs. What you are looking to do with this paragraph is similar to what you did with the facts in the previous paragraph – provide specific issues/observations/phenomena from the movie that you believe warrant such further discussion and analysis.
4. Analysis: This paragraph does not call for conclusions just yet. The student should attempt to “think through” the process of analyzing the issues addressed in context of the larger picture/backdrop of social influences. In other words, looking at the issues you raised in the previous paragraph, provide your independent analysis to explain how and why the issues are significant to the study of human behavior and society writ large. In effect, you are explaining human behavior, its influences and reactions in the context of the movie and what you have learned in this course. Do not draw a conclusion, but rather explore all avenues that may be applicable in the form of discussion.
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