Author: admin

For this 3-5 page essay (Times New Roman, double-spaced, 1 inch margins), you will focus on ONE of the FOUR movies we recently watched and discussed in its historical context: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Man with a Movie Camera, The Battleship Potemkin (if you have watched the whole thing), Un Chien Andoulu or Rules of the Game (although you may use other films as evidence to support your thesis).  Part of our goal in this class is to reflect on the national and international forces influencing the development of film’s language and messages. Your goal is to discuss how your chosen film’s formal structural patterns, technical developments and/or meanings relate to its historical and/or material and/or economic and/or political circumstances. In what ways does the way the film presents its story (the structure of its plot, its mise-en-scène, settings, character, editing, camera work, sound) work with what its story says, and how does that, in turn, relate to the context in which it was created and exhibited?
Your paper must include at least one detailed close reading of a single scene working as evidence in support of your thesis. Always remember that film is a VISUAL medium, and close readings ought to include interpretations of the relationship between visual/cinematographic strategies and the themes of the film you’ve chosen to focus on.
I encourage you to support your readings with secondary research and citations. You are welcome to use any of the readings from class, including the textbook, as well as independent research (remember our research guide! https://guides.stetson.edu/filmLinks to an external site.). Be sure to cite research using MLA formatting.
An A paper will have an original thesis (an interpretation of the film against which reasonable people might offer counterarguments or alternative interpretations); it will provide appropriate, properly-cited evidence in establishing its context and supporting its interpretations, and its close reading will go beyond narrative-driven evidence, taking into account cinematographic elements (the stuff we learn about in class: composition, sound, editing, camera angles, etc). Your goal is not to discuss WHAT happened, but to offer a unified explanation and interpretation of the primary effect and/or meaning the film or the film’s technique generates.
Breakdown:
Format: 1 inch margins, 12pt Times New Roman font, 3-5 pages (min/max), an effective title
Goal: Discuss how your chosen film’s formal structural patterns, technical strategies and/or meanings relate to its historical/material/economic/political circumstances (you don’t have to fit ALL of these issues/approaches in your paper – but the result should in some way address form, meaning, and context).
Required Elements:
A genuine thesis addressing form, meaning, and context
One detailed, close reading of a single scene
Visual/cinematographic interpretations

You will select one of the following Ancient Cultures upon which to write a brief research report (This must NOT be the same dance form as your Favorite Dance Form): 
Egyptian Culture and Dance (from 3000 B.C. – 0)
Greek Culture and Dance (450 B.C. – 0)
Roman Culture and Dance (100 B.C. – 400 A.D.) 
1.  Use the learning module material, and conduct an online search of the assigned culture. Summarize (in your own words) what you learned under each of the following headings:
What is unique about the culture you research?
What did the culture you research accomplish in the arts and science?
What was their belief system (religion, mythology, philosophy)?
What did the culture you research teach to the Western world?
Why did the people of the culture you research dance/or perform dance rituals?
What place did dance take in their culture?
Conclusion: Compare and Contrast
How can you relate what you learned to our culture today?
How can you relate their dance style to the favorite dance form you discussed in your “Journal”?
Can you find similarities in the reasons why they danced?
Similarities in the political aspects of their dance?
2. Please include:
A Brief description and definition of your dance form;
A brief discussion of its origins;
A brief outline of its development through the ages;
A brief discussion on its relevance, use, and presence today