Research Paper
Due Fri., Apr. 17, 2009
Possible Points: 55
READ ALL DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY
Watch and write a research paper about a film by one of the major directors we are studying this semester. It must be a film other than one which we will view in class.
You can analyze it thematically, by character development, by cinematography, etc. You may include ideas from reviews of published critics as part of your analysis. You can compare the work to other works of the genre or other films of that particular director. The paper must be at least six pages, single side, double spaced. This does not include the bibliography.
You must use at least six sources. Only two of the sources may be from web pages (unless you use references from full-text versions of newspapers, journals, etc. which may be available online). Two of your sources must be actual bound books from the Hewes Library. Failure to include these will result in a 4-point reduction for each missing source. There are several places in the library you can browse. We will have a tour of the library on Oct. 20 in order to familiarize yourself with the location of sources. You will need to include the call numbers in your bibliography.
You will be graded on depth of detail as well as quality of work including grammar, spelling and presentation.
Please note, this is not a movie review assignment. This should not be like your play review paper. Do NOT use space in your paper writing a synopsis of a film. Writing more than a paragraph or so of the synopsis will automatically result in a 10-point deduction. Also, do not use lengthy quotes. All quotes of more than a couple of sentences must be single spaced and indented. Avoid cutting and pasting. If turnitin.com finds your paper contains more than 30% of someone else's words, your paper will not be accepted. You may NOT submit a paper you previously wrote for another class or which you wrote prior to the beginning of this semester.
This is to be a scholarly research paper focusing on one aspect of the film. It should use arguments by experts in the field--not your own opinion. You should begin the paper with an arguable assertion (thesis) and reassert the thesis in your conclusion. It is fine to make conclusions of your beliefs but back them up with good evidence. One good strategy for writing this paper would be to begin with an outline structure such as one used in CATA 101. A persuasive speech outline might work or AMTOBUL depending on the topic. To be an effective paper, you SHOULD begin with an outline.
This is a research paper and counts for more than 10% of your grade. The time spent writing it should be commensurate with it's point value.
Footnotes should be used throughout the paper and the bibliography must be included within the paper. The word count (not including bibliography) should probably be at least 1500 but may likely be considerably more. The six-page minimum assumes no larger than 12 point type and 1" margins..
It must be submitted to Turnitin.com no later than midnight on Friday, April 17 to be graded.
One further point: this goes without saying, but don't even attempt to use either a paper purchased online or a previous student's paper--even as a starting point. Turnitin.com will find it. Even using someone else's bibliography as a starting point is considered plagiarism and will result in an F on the assignment, a possible failure of the course, and a meeting with the Dean. DO YOUR OWN WORK.