you are asked to draw connections between what you have learned in the first five weeks with scenes or details in the film that you find relevant. Start with strong, obvious connections, and from there, feel free to be more ambitious/creative.
The assignment should be 6-10 pages, though I won’t be upset if you exceed this allotment (within reason!). It would be great to include an argument (e.g., “Some of the scenes in the film can be explained/analyzed/understood from a political sociology standpoint,” etc.). The argument, along with a paper overview, would be part of the brief introduction (which, much like the conclusion, should be in your paper assignment and, as I suspect, should take you no more than half a page, respectively). You are then encouraged to provide a film summary in the beginning (~1-2 pages). After this, you will arrive at the meat of the assignment: you will describe a pertinent scene or detail you have selected and then draw (and explain) connections to what you have learned — and preferably do this in separate paragraphs, with a strong topic sentence for each of the points you make. Although the lecture material (notes, PowerPoint slides) may help draw connections (at least initially), the corresponding (and/or other) sections in the textbook chapters should assist in enabling stronger links.
You do not need to cite the lecture slides unless there’s a direct quote, which in that case is referencing a textbook chapter, and anything you directly quote from the textbook chapter should be cited. Anytime you reference (but not directly quote) from the bulk of the textbook chapter, casually indicate it as so in your writing (e.g., “According to the textbook, … “). In this scenario, a formal citation is not needed. As you may already know, the textbook chapters cite different works, and if you reference these specific aspects, you will likely need to cite those specific works that are referenced. A good indicator of when you should cite depends on whether the textbook provides a citation for the reference. If yes, you should follow suit and cite them, too (which is as easy as copying the citation they provided).
You are more than welcome to delve deeper into the items beyond what the authors referenced if you find them particularly relevant to an aspect of the film. You are also welcome to supplement what you have (the connections drawn between the course materials and the film) with new ideas from external materials (political sociology or even sociology in general!). For both cases, please casually indicate in the paper whenever you decide to do either.
The assignment format should be double-spaced, Times New Roman, and size 12 font. If there are citations, there should be a bibliography/works cited page. The citation style is up to you, but I suspect using the one used by the textbook authors would be the easiest because it would be a simple matter of copying and pasting.
