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Writing a Film or Literature
Analysis Essay
Sample Film Essay
See below for "What Makes Writing Good"
Writing Prompts:
Because these papers are short (3-4 pages; see Requirements button) they must be very clearly focused.
Create a strong interpretive or analytical claim/thesis. Provide details from
the film to illustrate and support your claim. Guide the reader carefully. Be
sure you are making a point and illustrating and supporting it. Are you making
an argument about characterization, theme, plot, underlying ideology? You can go
to the Writing Center in the Commons and work with a tutor in order to make sure
your ideas, evidence and communication are strong. Proofread carefully. Papers
must be typed, double-spaced, and in MLA format. See the above link to a guide
for writing a film and/or literary essay.
Paper 1: The Searchers
1.
Choose an important idea or
claim in "Double Vision: Miscegenation and Point of View in The Searchers"
to explore.
2. Analyze the representation of Native women in The Searchers, or
analyze the representation of white women in contrast to Native women
in The Searchers.
3. Analyze the racism or anti-racism of The Searchers.
4. Analyze one or two characters in The Searchers (e.g. Ethan and/or
Scar, Debby and Laurie, Look and Charlie).
Paper 2: AIM/Indian
Mascots/Indian Humor
3-4 pages, typed,
double-spaced, MLA format, with title reflecting your topic and thesis,
and a Works Cited page. Incorporate at least ONE scholarly source into your
essay. Either quote or paraphrase (be sure to cite the source and author either
way) a source that provides important support to your ideas.
You may choose between
three film categories: American Indian Movement films, Indian Mascots,
or Indian Humor
AIM films include
Pow Wow Highway, Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee, and "Wounded
Knee" (the documentary), Episode 5 of We Shall Remain. You have essays
from Eric Anderson on Pow Wow Highway, T.V. Reed writes about 3 AIM films
including Highway and Lakota Woman, and I have posted lots of
great background material and questions on the PBS "Wounded Knee" episode on the
class schedule page. You can watch this episode again online if you wish.
Writing Prompts:
1. Create your own thesis on one or more of the films.
2. Which AIM film or films does the best job at expressing the changes
going on in Indian country?
3. Why was the turn to militancy necessary and do the films address and
portray this issue?
4. For the documentary, Wounded Knee," discuss the significance of the events on
Pine Ridge. Were its leaders patriotic? Was violence necessary? Do you agree or
disagree with this statement?: "Without centuries of active resistance,
Native American people and their culture would be extinct." Also, how does this
document illuminate the AIM feature films we viewed?
4. How important was the media and mainstream press to getting AIM-era
Indians' concerns heard? Discuss how the films address this issue.
5. How are women portrayed in these AIM films? What is significant in
these portrayals?
6. Discuss the importance and power of humor for Indian people, and
especially in how it is conveyed in On and Off the Rez with Charlie Hill
and Harold of Orange (on Reserve for this class at the
Library). You can talk about the use of humor you've noticed in the AIM films as
well.
Paper 3: Choose a scene or two from Smoke Signals and analyze it very
closely. What themes does it engage? What story does it tell and how does it
tell it? What is the filmmaker trying to express through it? Does it refer to
history? Popular culture? Values? Look at this website for our discussion of
Native values, themes and aesthetics for help. Describe the scene clearly and
succinctly and conduct your analysis in no more than 2 pages double-spaced.
Paper 4: A written version of your group project.
What Makes Writing Good
Main Idea/Thesis: The essay makes an argument, a
reading,
and/or interpretation of literature/film in its historical setting. This
idea is clear to readers and is kept before readers.
Strong Support for the Idea. Development of ideas in
support
of the main idea: from authorities, statistics, scholars and critics.
Use both primary sources (the literary/filmic sources) and secondary sources
(essays and information about your topic and the literature/film).
Organization: Paragraphs are focused and serve to
support
the main idea/thesis. Essay is arranged deliberately and
thoughtfully with the audience’s needs in mind.
Language: Writing uses standard English correctly
(spelling,
punctuation, word forms, verb tense, subject/verb agreement,
mechanics) and has been proofread carefully. Sentences are
varied and mature.
Style/Formatting: MLA style is used, paper is in 12
font,
double-spaced, heading in upper left corner, one inch margins,
Creative title is centered.
American Holocaust: When It's All Over I'll Still Be Indian,
A Century of Genocide in the Americas: The Residential School Experience
and readings on Native American historical trauma.
In this paper you'll
first explore your understanding of the above films. American Holocaust is concerned
with our country's historical amnesia about the genocide of American Indians and
the legacy of Manifest Destiny. The makers of the film on the Canadian boarding
school experience believe that telling the story is necessary for healing and
forgiveness to occur. What techniques do these filmmakers employ to
express their ideas? Because most of us are non-Native, we'll need to
do background reading on historical trauma and oppression in order to understand
the significance of these films (see website for Historical Trauma/Oppression
readings).
The second issue your paper should address is, why do you think the dominant culture (both
institutions and some individuals) is ignorant of, or insensitive to, the
serious issues and painful life experiences contemporary Native filmmakers
raise. Why is the dominant culture unable or unwilling to face this part of our
history? How have these films affected your understanding of Indian/white
relations?
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