For this final checkpoint in the Analysis Project assignment sequence, you will write an analysis essay that fully supports your revised thesis by breaking the film down into 4 different filmmaking components (which are the titles of your textbook chapters and the topics of our lectures and activities this semester) and describe how each supports the conclusion you have drawn about this film. The components are listed below under “Selecting Components.” As you explain and illustrate how the film uses each of the 4 components you have chosen, don’t forget that your whole purpose is to prove your thesis! Make sure each sub-section directly supports your thesis statement.
Throughout your essay, you must use technical terminology deliberately, frequently, and accurately to support your thesis. You must demonstrate through this essay that you can identify techniques used in films and understand how they generate meaning, and to do this, you must actually use the terms we have discussed in this class and use them accurately. If you have a sub-section on “Writing” for example, I will expect that subsection to discuss figurative techniques (motifs, symbols, and metaphors), point of view, and/or allusions/homages that help to prove your thesis. Your ability to use terms accurately to support your thesis is a major component of your work that I will be assessing (see Assessment criteria below), so ask for help if you need assistance using technical terms!
Your analysis will take shape as a 1500-2000-word (6-8 complete pages) essay published in Microsoft Sway. You will be required to complete Microsoft Sway training as a separate checkpoint assignment before you complete this essay. Until that time, simply start drafting in Word or another word processing program. You can easily move content to Sway as we get closer to the due date.
The essay must be organized following the guidelines below. Paragraphs should be well structured with clear topic sentences and use of transitions to connect ideas, and the essay should be carefully proofread so that errors in style, grammar, or punctuation do not obscure meaning.
Begin with an introduction that briefly summarizes the plot of the film, transitions to the topic of the essay, and ends with your analytical thesis statement. The summary should be long enough to give me a sense that you understand the plot of this film, and it should be in your own words (not taken from an internet plot description). You must transition to your thesis statement; do not simply tack the thesis onto the end of the summary! This introduction should take up no more than 250 words of the essay.
Continue with a 4-6 page cultural, thematic, or genre analysis of the film, using 4 distinct filmmaking components (of those listed in the assignment overview and below) to support your thesis. Each of these distinct components should be separated with subheadings indicating which analysis component is under discussion in that section.
Each sub-section should be distinct and focus only on the component you have chosen and should include the following:
TERMINOLOGY: Each sub-section should use multiple analysis terms associated with that component deliberately and accurately. While you may mention other components aside from the one that is the topic of the subsection, those should be used only to support or reinforce what you are saying about the component that is the focus of that section!
MEDIA: Each sub-section must be supported with screen shots, images, video clips, dialogue quotes, and hyperlinks to scenes described (as possible). Some form of media — either images or video clips — is required in each sub-section for full credit. Microsoft Sway offers an easy way to embed links and media into a document, which is why you are using this program for this assignment. Embedded media will not count toward the page requirement, so use as needed to support your argument (not just to fill up space). You must include any screenshots or promotional images you didn’t take yourself and clips drawn from web sources like YouTube in a “References” section at the end of your Sway.
DEPTH: Your analysis must discuss several scenes from the film to support your thesis, and each subsection should give several examples from the film to support your thesis, drawn from throughout the film. Each sub-section must therefore be more than one paragraph long.
End with a 250 words conclusion, divided into multiple paragraphs, that explores the significance of the film in terms of the analysis you have undertaken. For example, you might answer the following questions: What does this film ultimately express about the culture that produced it? What is its place in its culture or as an example of its genre? What conclusions can be drawn about the film, our fears, etc through its development of the theme you have uncovered? In short, so what? Your conclusion must be a logical extension of the analysis you have undertaken, and must be supported by the evidence produced in the analysis. Your conclusion should NOT repeat the information in your introduction, should not be a review or personal response to the film, and should not end with a weak claim that the film did a “great job.”
Finally, include a sub-section titled “Sources” or “References” listing any works you referenced for this project. This section should include the film you are analyzing. It should also include sources for any clips or stills from that film that you include in your essay but that you did not make yourself (ex. YouTube videos of scenes or screenshots from websites discussing the film). Finally, it should include any sources you used to help develop your claim (though keep in mind that your claim must be your own – see “A Reminder about Academic Integrity” below). Since you will be composing in Sway, these sources can simply be listed alphabetically by author and title, then hyperlinked.
Given the information above, your essay will be outlined as follows:
Introduction
Summarize the plot of the film in less than 250 words.
Transition to and include your thesis statement at the end of the summary.
Component 1
Discuss how this technique or component emphasizes or supports your thesis statement in multiple paragraphs
Include media that illustrate your argument
Component 2
Discuss how this technique or component emphasizes or supports your thesis statement in multiple paragraphs
Include media that illustrate your argument
Component 3
Discuss how this technique or component emphasizes or supports your thesis statement in multiple paragraphs
Include media that illustrate your argument
Component 4
Discuss how this technique or component emphasizes or supports your thesis statement in multiple paragraphs
Include media that illustrate your argument
Conclusions
Discuss the implications of your analysis in a multi-paragraph conclusion of about 250 words
References/Sources
You should select the four filmmaking components that best help you prove your point, not just the 4 you understand the best or that are most obvious upon first viewing. Those components are:
Writing (Figurative Comparisons, POV)
Photography
Mise en Scene
Movement
Editing
Sound
Acting
Drama (Setting and Costume
Story
Ideology
Thesis Statement should be ” The Thing (1982) reflects Cold War anxieties between America and the USSR by touching upon the themes of infiltration, betrayal, and the erosion of trust.”
