Review: Midterm Essay Exam instructions

Now that we are at the conclusion of this week's module, I wanted to share with the instructions for the midterm essay exam early. The midterm isn't due for about a month, but I wanted to share the directions now so you can begin thinking and planning how you will complete this assignment. Consider working on it throughout the next few modules. 

For the Midterm Essay Exam, you will be conveying your comprehension of film terminology and analysis skills by composing two short analyses of scenes from films that we have viewed so far in our course, in response to two prompts below.

 

AssessmentDirections:

  1. Choose two of the prompts listed below.
  2. Choose scenes from the films you are writing about. Carefully review and take notes on the scenes you are writing about to use these as supporting details.
  3. Copy and paste each question you've selected to at the top of the page, followed by your response. 
  4. Submit your two analyses through webcourses. It will be run through Turnitin.com to check for originality of the material. The exam is due by 11:59pm on March 4th.

In order to earn high scores, you will need respond to each prompt making an argument with a straightforward thesis statement. Defend your argument using ideas from the readings and examples from the films and clips seen in class, providing specific analysis of ideas or scenes. Be as specific as possible in your answers. Demonstrate that you know the material and can synthesize it into a developed argument (about three paragraphs per prompt).

 

AnnouncementsRequirements:

  • Double-spaced, MLA Format
  • The response to each question should be at least 1.5 double-spaced pages, no more than 3 pages per response. The exam cannot be longer than 6 double-spaced pages.
  • Copy the number of the prompt and the question and paste it at the top of each of your responses.
  • Each argument or response should be distinct; you may refer to or draw from points you’ve made in the other prompt, but make sure that you are writing two separate responses. 
  • Do not copy or re-use analyses of scenes done for classwork already. 
  • If any additional sources are cited, please include an MLA Works Cited page at the end of the exam. 

 

ReviewPrompts:

Choose and respond to two prompts only!

  1. Carefully review a scene from Sherlock Jr., Brazil or M. Describe the mise-en-scene and the development and use of cinematic space, including details about some of the following: the use of off-screen space, lighting, blocking, costume, positions of the actors relative to the camera. Demonstrate how the film’s use of space coincides with its theme or motifs by making a concise argument.

 

  1. Of the films seen in class, which one best exemplifies the ideas in Andre Bazin’s “Ontology of the Photographic Image?” In your response you must summarize and outline the main ideas in the article; you must also briefly summarize the plot and main characters of the film. Then, analyze a scene that you have selected from the film to show how its cinematography, lighting and mise-en-scene exemplify Andre Bazin’s ideas about the nature of photography and cinema.

 

  1. Compare and contrast Brazil and The Truman Show/The Conformist by considering how the ideas in Edward Branigan’s “Apparatus Theory” can be applied to analyzing the spectator’s position in cinema. Be sure to make an overarching argument about whether these two films can be considered more alike or more different on the basis of your comparisons.

 

  1. At the beginning of the course, we spent time discussing the concept of film diegesis. Choose one example of diegetic sound that represents or symbolizes a thematic aspect of a film we have viewed in class. How does the use of this diegetic sound structure, strengthen, complicate, or perhaps detract, from the film’s expression and meaning?

 

  1. Choose one of the assigned chapters in Filmish: The Eye, The Body, Sets and Architecture, Voice and Language, or Time. In essay form, summarize the main ideas and the supporting details/ideas in the chapter. Apply three main or supporting ideas in that chapter to films viewed in class. These cannot be scenes that we have already analyzed in the class but may include other scenes that have not already been examined. Keep in mind that you should use this question as a prompt for writing a specific argument about how the ideas in a chapter in Filmish are applicable to the film you’ve chosen.

 

Does this assignment sound familiar? If it does, that's because the Brazil Writing Assignment was designed with your mid-term essay exam in mind. Consider using the worksheet that you just completed to guide you through the completion of your essay exam. 

Also, do not worry if you see readings or films that we haven't gotten to yet! That's because we will overview these concepts soon. As I mentioned at the top of this page, although the assignment isn't due until March 4th, you should be thinking about and completing drafts of this assignment in the coming weeks. More specific instructions for the mid-term essay exam, including a rubric, can be found here. 

On the next page, you'll find a summary of the module. 

--->