Final Tips

You have recently been hired as a producer for Halecom Pictures, one of the newest and most innovative studios producing movies today.  Halecom has made such blockbusters as Wordsworth:  Studpoet of the Romantic Period, The Wild Adventures of Briscoe and Louie: Labradors in Space, Barbara III: Tale of a Terrorist Toddler, and The Vacuumator:  Eddie Rules the World! 

Your first assignment from Chairman and CEO of Halecom Pictures, Robert C. Hale, is to speculate about the causes of the recent decline in movie theater attendance.  Hale would like you to limit your report to 3 pages (around 750 words).  The chief purpose of the essay is to convince Hale of what the primary cause for this trend is.  He is providing you with a fairly rigid framework to organize your essay.

  • Paragraph I: Introduce and define the subject.  Use an outside source (Hale will provide a mini-research packet) to demonstrate that movie attendance is indeed declining. Briefly discuss several of the likely causes/reasons for why people don't attend movies at theaters like they used to before narrowing your focus to one primary cause (your thesis statement). 

  • Paragraph II: Refute one of the causes as the primary cause.  In other words, explain why some people might think a certain cause is primary, but you think it is only a secondary cause or not a cause at all. 

  • Paragraphs III and IV: Argue with two reasons for why you think your cause is primary.   You'll need to explain WHY/HOW your cause has led to the decline AND WHY your cause is the most significant of the causes that contribute to the decline.  Make sure to use examples, anecdotes, or other evidence as well as your own clear explanation to support your argument.  Briefly consider readers' likely objections. 

  • Paragraph V: Briefly speculate about some possible solutions to the problem of declining movie attendance.  Is there anything the studio can do (in light of what you think is the primary cause) to stem the decline?

SPECIAL NOTE ON SOURCES:  YOU MAY USE PERSONAL INTERVIEWS FOR THIS ESSAY BUT YOU MAY NOT USE, READ, OR CONSULT ANY OTHER OUTSIDE SOURCES (WEB SITES, ARTICLES, BOOKS) UNLESS IT IS AN ARTICLE I HAVE PROVIDED FOR YOU. 

A few more suggestions:

  • Be inventive with your causes.  Do not state the obvious but instead go beyond your first thoughts.   Don’t tell your audience what it already knows – the King and Pollack essays are good examples of arguing for causes that an audience may not have considered before.

  • You will need to use a variety of specific evidence to support your causes.  Do not simply give us generalizations and assumptions.  Look at CGW chapter 11 for types of evidence.

  • To use personal interviews, you will need to talk to people who will be appropriate and believable.  Keep in mind that having your roommate confirm what you think is not necessarily adequate support.  Look at pp. 381-85 in CGW for help with interviews.  Feel free to talk to faculty, administration, parents, former teachers, but try to demonstrate that this person has a particular expertise and credibility on this topic.

  • Be aware of your audience as you organize your argument and also as you adopt a tone: be aware of how your audience may react to your argument so you know how accommodating or how confrontational to be. What tone is appropriate for a CEO of a movie studio?

    Click here for formatting information.

     

    		•