General Instructions: For each of the two papers, you will be responsible for watching a film and writing a 3 to 5 page essay (double spaced, Calibri 11 font, 1″ margins) in which you respond to prompts which will be provided for each paper (this means at least 3 full pages of written essay, plus the “My Criteria for Quality in Film” page). These assignments are reaction papers, not plot summaries or research papers. The key element here is that you will be telling the instructor what you have to say about the film, not what others have said.
In a 100-level course, you would perhaps be asked to write about what you saw on the screen. In a 200-level course, you would be asked to say what you think about what you saw. In this 300-level course, you are expected to explain why you think the way you do about the film, and to justify your explanation (using references to subjects found in the weekly content in the LEO classroom.
You will be responsible for turning in these assignments to the proper assignment folder in LEO.
Putting these assignments off until the last possible moment probably will not work very well. Each of them requires you to view an additional film besides the ones you will be watching for the week’s discussion, so you should be sure to leave yourself enough time to view the necessary film, think about it, write a first draft, and then edit and revise.
Part of your responsibility in this course is to make any and all arrangements necessary to allow you to view the films, think and write about them, and turn your assignments in by their respective due dates. Some of the films you watch may be available for streaming via Netflix or another online content provider; others may be available for checkout from your local public library, while others may need to be rented.
Be sure to spell the names of directors, actors, screenwriters, and other people correctly (this can cause “points” to be taken off of the final grade for that paper). Any name that is not listed in the credits that begin or end the film is a name you do not need to mention.
The papers will be graded based on such elements as evidence that you are reading and viewing the material the course content, references and comparisons to other films you have seen (in or out of class and throughout your lifetime as a movie watcher), and especially to films you have previously written about; use of the film vocabulary introduced in class; clear presentation of your opinions; reasonable explanations and justifications to support those opinions; and college-level writing skills (spelling, punctuation, and grammar). Other criteria will be presented to you as appropriate.
You are better off watching these films on the largest possible screen, and at the highest possible resolution.
