Assignment
The documentary paper should review four documentaries that we haven't seen in class.
Each review should be app. 3 pages, double-spaced, 12 point font, for a total of around 12 pages for the total paper.
Using this five point scale---Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, Absent---I will rate the following categories after reviewing your papers:
I. Content
(Introduction, Thesis and Preview of how the paper is organized; thesis---what you're going to discuss---is appropriate, insightful analysis that is well-expressed)
II. Argument
(does the paper refer to specific scenes and/or dialogue in the film to make a point? Is the point clear that you're trying to make, and do the scenes chosen back up your claim/argument?)
III. Overall Organization and Conclusion
(do you follow the thesis you chose and your preview throughout the whole paper? Do you sum up and connect your ideas in the conclusion?)
IV. Writing
(spelling, grammar, appropriate use of formal vocabulary rather than informal, appropriate use of citations if/when used)
V. Use of Film Theory
(appropriate use of concepts from Nichols and/or class, showing clear understanding of that theory when applying it to the films you chose)
VI. Use of Class Films
(appropriate selection and discussion about class films, if used as a means of comparison to your chosen documentaries).
VII. Presentation
(typed, double-spaced, 12 point or less font, submitted on time, completeness, etc.)
Documentaries can be watched in the Media Studies Room (cannot circulate without permission)
These include:
The Corporation
Control Room
The End of Suburbia
Farmingville
Naqoyqatsi
Salesman
Don't Look Back
Two Days in October
Trouble the Water
Born into Brothels
The Act of Killing
Twenty Feet from Stardom
Searching for Sugarman
Fahrenheit 911
Where to Invade Next
Bowling for Columbine
Blackfish
The Central Park Five
The Invisible War
Escape Fire
Night and Fog
The Atomic Café
51 Birch Street
The Kids Grow Up (update on people featured in 51 Birch Street)
Citizen 4
Bus 174
Soundtrack For A Revolution
Burma VJ
The War You Don't See
Inside Job
Tarnation
A Grin Without A Cat
Capturing the Friedmans
Our Brand Is Crisis
Life In A Day
The House I Live In
Code Black
Last Days in Vietnam
Regret to Inform
March of the Penguins
Super Size Me
Hoop Dreams
Waiting for Superman
Good Hair
An Inconvenient Truth
Catfish.