GEND 1040: Depictions of Gender in Literature and Film
Assignment: For this assignment you will be writing about connections that you see between our class readings and discussion and the presentation of gender within a film (or films).
You may find it helpful to organize your argument around the identification of a central idea (a theme or pair of themes) and then connect that to what you see as the director's cultural messages about gender within the world of that film.
For this assignment you are to write about a theme found in a literary work (poem or short story) that we've read thus far this term and its connection to cultural messages about the social construction of gender within a film (The Color Purple or The Hours).
When identifying a theme, it is important to reduce it to a one word idea (i.e, loss, hope, forgiveness, etc.)
NOTE: THE IDEAS FOUND IN THIS PAPER MUST BE YOUR OWN. HOWEVER, YOU SHOULD (AND ARE REQUIRED) TO USE THE COURSE READINGS THAT WE HAVE COMPLETED THUS FAR TO STRENGTHEN AND FURTHER SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENT BEYOND A SIMPLE DESCRIPTION OF THE EVIDENCE FOUND IN THE SCENE. YOU MANY NOT USE SOURCES OTHER THAN THESE.
At its very basic definition, your literary and film analysis is a written evaluation of a work of art (in this case film) that attempts to enlighten/communicate to a reader the underlying meaning of the film and literary text and, in this instance, their relationship to the socially constructed nature of gender. The focus of your argument should be why the film director or the writer of the short story or poem made the artistic choices that they did to comment on gender in some way.
Purpose
In this type of paper a writer is forming an academic argument about the texts (literature and film) and what they reveal about societal gender norms. As the writer you are arguing your interpretation of the work (what you see as a theme) and are arguing what you see as important cultural messages about the socially constructed nature of gender that are attached to this theme in some way. The goal is for your reader, who has also seen the film and read the literary text, to view your argument as a valid one (not the only interpretation) and to aid them in viewing ("seeing”) these texts in a new light or from a different perspective that perhaps may be different from their own.
Audience
Your audience is made up of academics, scholars, film critics, professors, and students (who are academics, scholars, and film critics in training much like yourselves). You should assume that they have seen the film and read the literary texts and are familiar with their contents. Because of this you would never merely summarize the plot of the narrative because your audience is already familiar with it. This would also conflict with the purpose of this type of paper. You are to discuss underlying meaning (or potential impact), not retell the events of the story.
Because your audience is a scholarly one, your paper must be presented in a formal manner. You should use high diction and avoid first person, personal pronouns, and contractions.
NOTE: When relating events in a story/poem or a film, use words such as present tense verbs (the literary present tense). "Spielberg develops the major characters in the story..." Notice the use of the active verb "develops." Try to stick with using active verbs as you analyze the scene and sequence of events within it.
Format
•Your essay should have a title. It should also be typed, double-spaced, with one inch margins all around, Times New Roman Font, & 12 pt. See OWL PURDUE for other questions about format. Your essay should be a minimum of 4 FULL pages and no more than 6 FULL PAGES.
Your grade for this assignment will be determined as follows:
Total Possible Points: 80/
Final Draft, evaluated on the following criteria:
Focus (22 points): Does essay have a clear purpose? Overall claim stated in intro and restated in conclusion? Focus on a single idea or aspect of the literature? Is it clear how examples in body are related to the overall claim? Does the writer explain the broader implications of this claim to the text as a whole? Are the subclaims clearly related to the claim? When read together, do the intro and conclusion form one idea?
Development (22 points): Does writer support interpretation with evidence from text? Avoid giving a plot summary? Does writer explain for the reader how the evidence supports interpretation (and as a result the claim)?
Organization (22 points): Do first few sentences arouse the reader’s interest and focus their attention on the subject? Are readers expectations set and clearly met? Do paragraphs have clear focus, unity and coherence? Effective transitions? Does the writer guide the reader from beginning to end?
Style (7 points): Is language clear direct and readable? Are sentences clear, concise, and easily read by intended audience? Is word choice appropriate for audience? Do sentences reveal and sustain appropriate voice and tone? Does writer use the literary present tense to describe events in the story?
Mechanics (7 points): Are there obvious errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar? Are there patterns of error?
NO PEER CRITQUE (-7 POINTS)
NO 1ST DRAFT ON DUE DATE (-7 POINTS)
NO ST REPORT AND REVISION PLAN (-7 POINTS)
NO REFLECTION (-7 POINTS)
Grading scale:
A 72-80
B 64-71
C 56-63
D 48-55
F 0-47
