Film Analysis

For Essay 2, you must:
• Analyze a documentary film of your choice. (It must be a documentary that seeks to persuade the viewer on a matter of political or social significance. Use the document titled “Possible Documentary Films for Essay 2” (linked in the essay assignment Canvas Page) for help with choosing a film, if needed.)

• The essay must be a minimum of 750 words.

• Only third person POV accepted (he, she, it, they); NO FIRST PERSON POV (“I”).

• Your essay must include three sources:
o One documentary film (your primary source)
o Two additional sources must be either academic or professional (can be online, book, magazine, etc.). No Wikipedia!
Guidelines for Essay 2:
• Write an analysis of a documentary film of your choice in which you use material from two additional sources as either support or rebuttal to your analysis. An analysis would include the following:

o Discuss the film’s subject (what the film is about) and position (what the film is trying to convince you of).

o Discuss how the filmmaker tries to convince you of the position that the film supports (i.e. use of logical appeals: logos, pathos, ethos).
 To re-review use of logical appeals re-read textbook pages included in Module One’s Discussion Forum Two readings. You may also watch this short YouTube clip for further clarification: https://youtu.be/TwYzN0tj4ks.

• Your essay must avoid a lengthy summary but instead focus on:

o How the film is presented

o Whether or not it was successful in its argument

o Why the film is politically or socially significant.

• In the introductory paragraph, you must also identify the title of the film and the year it was released, as well as the narrator and the director of the film. Then briefly describe what the film is about and the position that it advocates. This should then lead into your thesis statement, which should include the overall claim of the film (a more specific/deeper statement on the position the film advocates).

Additional Guidelines for Essay 2:
In your essay you must quote or paraphrase at least one source in each body paragraph. These references must be tied into the content of the paragraph and not merely inserted.
For the film and secondary sources you use, your essay must have a blend of paraphrases (two minimum) and quotations (two minimum) for a total of four citations (you may use more).
Do not use sources (other than the film) in the introduction or conclusion, but do not use a citation in either.
**Copies of both secondary sources used for the essay must be submitted with the essay. These sources need to be uploaded into the Essay 2 Source Material assignment box, which can be found on Canvas: Module Two. When uploading these documents, do NOT submit a link to a source. Copy and paste your source material into a Word Document, or you may save your document as a PDF file and upload this material.
Follow the MLA guidelines (Purdue OWL) to correctly use in text citations for a movie source and online sources and to create a Works Cited page.
Strict and correct adherence to MLA format is expected and required.
Notice that film titles are italicized.