Emotionally Intense Topic Matter Career Colleges
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World of Cinema:
Prof.
Summer
2019
Short Essay #1: Interpretive Claim (100 pts)
DUE:
Monday, June 24th (by midnight)
Late
papers will be accepted until Friday 6/28 but will result in a 10pt
penalty.
Format: 3-4
pages, typed, double-spaced, MLA format is preferred, but other
formats are fine if used correctly (although
citations should not be necessary for this one, as you are relying
only on your own interpretation
of the film, not
researching and quoting!)
Submission:
Upload the electronic copy of your paper to the appropriate Turnitin
submission point under the Assessments/Assignments tab of our course
website on Brightspace. Review the originality report and
revise/resubmit as you choose, up until the due date.
Watch
ONE film from the attached list. They are organized by decade and
correspond (loosely) to the different genres we are exploring in this
class on American Cinema, filling in gaps and deepening our course
material. They are available at most rental places, at the public
library, and online (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) Use www.imdb.com
to find out more about each film and research its availability before
your choose! You can work on a film you’ve seen before, but watch
it again! Trust me, you will now start to see new things in it…
For
your paper, use what you have learned so far about American Cinema to
reflect on the film’s overall impact, its expressive power, its
messages, its visual style, its relationship to ideology, and
especially how/what it says about Hollywood, American-ness, and the
genre it embraces.
1. Write an interpretive claim for the film,
answering one or more of the following questions: what does the film
SAY to you? What messages, themes, symbols comprise the film’s
overall impact? What MEANING do you draw from it?
2. Use this interpretive claim as your thesis statement, and
support it using at least three specific examples from the film
(scenes, symbolism, narrative, visual elements, etc.) Be sure
to fully explain your ideas and write as smoothly as you can!
Evaluation
will be based on: development of your interpretive claim,
thoroughness, engagement with the film and material, analysis of the
film’s major elements and characteristics, support of your main
ideas, and writing quality.
CHOOSE
ONE OF THESE GREAT FILMS OF AMERICAN CINEMA to screen for your
interpretive essay! There should be something for everyone here (I
think), but you may propose a film that does not appear on the list –
via e-mail to Amanda no later than 3/1 with a few sentences about why
you would like to work on it (its genre and how it speaks
to/for/about Hollywood). If I have not seen the film, I will likely
say no, but I will consider your justification otherwise and respond
with my decision.
Trigger
Warnings: Please keep in mind that many of these films
contain graphic, explicit, disturbing and/or emotionally intense
topic matter! Research your film ahead of time and made a selection
that is healthy for you.
Christopher Strong (Dorothy Arzner, 1933)
Bringing
Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)
Citizen
Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
Casablanca
(Michael Kurtiz, 1942)
Sunset
Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
Touch
of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
2001:
A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1967)
Bonnie
and Clyde (Penn, 1967)
Night
of the Living Dead (George Romero, 1968)
Chinatown
(Roman Polanski, 1974)
The
Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
The
Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
Apocalypse
Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)*
Taxi
Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)* * Please Note that this
should NOT be the same film you choose screen for Week 11!
The
Shining (Kubrick, 1980)
Blade
Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
Brother
from Another Planet (John Sales, 1984)
The
Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985)
Brazil
(Terry Gilliam, 1985)
Labyrinth
(Jim Henson, 1986)
When
Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner, 1989)
Dead
Poets Society (Peter Weir, 1989)
Edward
Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990)
Daughters
of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991)
A
League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992)
Orlando
(Sally Potter, 1992)
Schindler’s
List (Steven Spielberg, 1994)
Clerks
(Kevin Smith, 1994)
Pulp
Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
The
Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
The Piano (Jane Campion, 1997)
Good
Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant, 1997)
Smoke
Signals (Chris
Eyre, 1998)
Rushmore
(Wes Anderson, 1998)
Fight
Club
(David Fincher, 1999)
Magnolia
(Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
Almost
Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)
Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
Love
and Basketball (Prince-Blythewood, 2000)
Mullholland
Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
Frida
(Julie Taymor/Salma Hayek, 2002)
My
Big Fat Greek Wedding (Joel Zwik, 2002)
Real
Women Have Curves (Patricia Cardoso, 2002)
Lost
in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
Brokeback
Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton/Farris, 2006)
Babel
(Iñarritu, 2006)
Juno
(Jason Reitman, 2007)
La
Misma Luna (Patricia Riggen, 2007)
Across
the Universe (Julie Taymor, 2007)* – unless this was your
selection for Week 5!
Cadillac
Records (Darnell Martin, 2008)
Frozen
River (Hunt, 2008)
Winter’s
Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)
The
Namesake (Mira Nair, 2006)
Avatar
(Cameron, 2009)
Zero
Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
Twelve
Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2012)
Selma
(Ava DuVernay, 2015)
Moonlight
(Barry Jenkins, 2016)
Hidden
Figures (Theodore Melfi, 2016)
Black
Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018)
Other
Options:
One
of the Bourne movies (your choice)
One
of the Lord of the Rings (your choice)
One
of the Westerns from our folder of trailers (Week 7)
One
of the Musicals listed in our course schedule, that you are NOT
watching for your Week 5 assigned film
Any
other Coen Brothers film of your choice
A
Blaxploitation film of your choice
A
Wachowksi sisters film of your choice
An
Oscar Micheaux film of your choice (and pending availability)
Another
Alfred Hitchock film of your choice
Another
Spike Lee film of your choice (not a documentary)
A
Darren Aranofsky film of your choosing (brace yourself!)
You
may propose your own film that fits our course theme, if you think
you have something meaningful to say about it – prior approval
is required at least on week in advance!
Approval is not guaranteed. Also, just a tip: sometimes it is
harder to write about a film you already know and love. Branch out!
Expand your repertoire!
Some
of these films contain triggering scenes of violence, sex, war,
trauma, oppression… Check them out before you watch… and with
whom!