Hoop Dreams

This paper should be a four paragraph argument that you generate from your own viewing of the film “hoop dreams”

Your thesis should be a point you want to make about any character or event of the film, as long as that point ties into some larger topic or issue. In other words, I want you to generate your own topic from watching the movie.

For example, you could focus on Sheila Agee and think about what we see of her life during the filming of the documentary. Maybe you think that she is the kind of person who was deserving of more help from government-funded social welfare programs; in your view, perhaps you feel that the government let her down.

You can get a thesis from that:

Over the course of Hoop Dreams, it becomes clear that government assistance programs for the poor are not adequate to really help people escape from poverty.

Note: this thesis is NOT about Sheila individually. She’s just an example of the larger point you’re going to explore.

To support this proposition, I would research government assistance for the poor, possibly focusing on the 90s, when the movie took place. I can use examples from the film to help support my point too, but I’ll need outside research as well. Since this is a four paragraph paper (introduction, two body paragraphs, conclusion), I’ll need to make two separate points that argue for my thesis.

What you want to avoid is coming up with an argument idea that does not lend itself to any research. For example:

The main problem with Curtis Gates and his lack of progress in life was his own laziness.

That’s an argument topic, but it’s not one that connects to any kind of larger issue. As a result, it can only be supported with film examples and suppositions. You want to come up with something more substantial.