Representations of Disability & Diversity in U.S. Film
Writing Assignments

 

"I think that these ideas about control and chaos stem from
my upbringing, which was unbelievably lax."
Lars von Trier, interview w/ Christian Braad Thomsen (1996)

general writing guidelines

Path 1: impassioned pleas / screenshot analyses / point responses

Path 2: path 2 groups / term outline & peer edit / term paper

General Composition Guidelines for: Screenshot Analyses, Point Responses, and Term Papers (not Impassioned Pleas or Oral Reflections)

• employ the same format: use a Times New Roman, 12-point font; double-space your text and alter all four margins to 1".
  
• deliver a structured argument: text should be tightly organized, with main points logically ordered.
• evince creativity: writing within the humanities is all about effective, persuasive argumentation, and not at all about giving the instructor the easiest, most obvious answer.
• pursue a narrowly argued, debatable thesis: your essays should move in a very specific direction; do not attempt to touch on all tangentially related ideas, and make sure to forward a debatable position.
• provide adequate evidence: support your argument using your own observations, closely reasoned points, and textual evidence. Whether I happen to agree with your thesis or not matters not at all--just ensure that it is sufficiently supported and logically, persuasively rendered.
• citation: Use MLA-style citation format. When referencing an essay in the Disabillity Studies Reader (DSR), point to the relevant page(s) like this: (DSR 182-83). When citing a specific scene from a film, indicate the hours, minutes, and seconds of the scene in parentheses. For example, (1:32:30-50) [which means 1 hr, 32 minutes, seconds 30-50].
• demonstrate familiarity with assigned texts: your essays should indicate intimate, comprehensive awareness of the essays and/or films involved in your argument.
• evince polish: essays should show signs of careful revision.
• Marchbanks' Pet Peeves
  • when recounting events from a story, please use the present (not past) verb tense to bring the events to life; definitely do not switch back and forth between present and past verb tenses without good reason
  • avoid such vague, nondescript adjectives as the following, since they add nothing specific to your claim: "interesting," "unique," "incredible," "fascinating," etc.
  • avoid references to yourself (no first-person singular or plural pronouns), except when generating impassioned pleas that respond to one of Dr. M's YouTube videos; allow your claims to sell themselves to the reader
  • the titles of films should be italicized, and you should include the year of release in parentheses the first time you provide the film's title
  • place the period following a quoted passage after the page citation in parentheses, not before the parentheses. By the same token, never place a comma at the end of a quoted passage unless the structure of the sentence demands one.
  • spell correctly all names (characters, authors, artists, etc.).
  • use "who" instead of "that" or "which" when referring to people
  • employ a hyphen between two adjectives working together as a single modifier of a noun
• Go here for help deciphering Dr. M's color-coded comments on returned writing assignments.
  

Path 1 Impassioned Pleas (5 pts each, 50 pts total) [consider, in future, having students watch the films before writing their Impassioned Pleas]

Prior to watching each assigned film, but after watching my 10-15 min. introduction to that film (housed at Digging in the Dirt), students will post a 75-100 word response under my introductory video which tackles some specific idea in the video. My entries tend to make observations about North American culture (medicine, disability, the Arts, education, etc.) in addition to preparing viewers to watch the film in question. Each post is due by 9 p.m. on the due date. Write something which elaborates on a couple ideas I've raised without bringing in the film itself.

When assigning grades to students' brief responses, I will primarily consider voice and tone, so try to evoke feeling in your audience by writing with passion (pathos). You can earnestly plead, humorously regale, or angrily castigate, but take hold of some idea raised in my video about attitudes towards disability and/or difference, and express a decided opinion--one bolstered by an idea found in the relevant DSR essay (you needn't agree with the idea to reference it).

For this assignment, you may use first-person singular or plural pronouns (you may, that is, refer to yourself--for this assignment only).

Note: This is the single most difficult type of writing assignment in this course, as it requires students to accomplish a number of things without going over the world limit. Do not be deceived by its brevity into thinking the task easy.

• grade A: such a response will address specific ideas in Dr. M's video, and will express a clear and cogent opinion using: 1) grammatically correct prose, 2) precise diction, and 3) lively language enriched by figures of speech (e.g. metaphor, hyperbole, etc.) and/or powerful modifiers (i.e. adjectives, adverbs).
• grade B pts: this response covers all requirements of an A, but its structure could be tighter and its creativity edgier. Its diction could be more precise, and its phrasing more spare and exacting.
• grade C: this response conveys a particular opinion about Dr. M's video, and employs an idea from the DSR essay, but include notable problems with expression (grammar, diction, etc.).
• grades D and F: these responses do not include all elements identified by the guidelines above. Whether it passes will depend on the writer's skill.

Sample Impassioned Pleas from other courses:

• strong impassioned pleas: examples
• weak impassioned pleas: examples

Path 1 Screenshot Analyses (10 pts each, 90 pts total)

Students will write a pair of 75-125 word screenshot analyses (150-250 words total) for nine of our ten films--excluding the film for which they write a Point Response (see below). Please make sure the paragraph you generate and the image to which it refers are on the same page of your Word doc.

If you only rent the film--instead of choosing to purchase it--be sure to create many screen captures of pivotal scenes before you close the film! Do not use your cell phone to create screen captures. Watch films using Firefox if Safari or Chrome don't allow screen capturing. If you wish to use Chrome and it's not working, try these instructions for disabling hardware acceleration:

• open Chrome
• click the horizontal ellipsis menu button in the top-right corner and click on "Settings"
• click on the three horizontal bars to the left
• click on "System"
• turn off "Use hardware acceleration when available" toggle switch
• click the "Relaunch" button

Screenshot Analyses should be written after you have: 1) watched my intro. video on Digging in the Dirt, 2) looked over my Points for Reflection for the film (linked from the Path 1 calendar), 3) watched the film itself, and 4) watched my video lecture about the film (linked from the Path 1 calendar). Do not reproduce analyses I have provided in either my YouTube video or my lecture, so view both carefully. Repeating what I already said will lead to a failing grade. You are invited, however, to pull ideas from the study questions (i.e. "Points for Reflection") that I have generated.

For each film, students will provide a pair of brief analyses which each include a screenshot from the film. (Wrap text around each image to ensure both analysis and image appear on the same page: in Word, right-click on the image, click on "wrap text," and select "square.") One analysis should pull from the first half of the film, and the second analysis from the second half of the film. You may make the technical analysis your first or second analysis--either is fine. Identify each scene with the appropriate parenthetical citation. Example: (1:23:04-15).

One analysis will investigate one technical element of the film (e.g. lighting, camera work, sound, etc.) and employ concepts and terminology from The Rhetoric of Film. (You will find free chapters from this OER text linked from the Path 1 calendar.) At the top of this analysis, please indicate which element you will analyze. (e.g. Lighting, Camera Angle, Costuming, Sound, Composition/Mise en Scène, etc.) Only discuss the musical score if you're familiar with musical terminology (instrumentation, dynamics, tempo, major or minor keyes, etc.).

The other analysis will apply a specific idea from the DSR essay paired with this film. I highly recommend pulling a very brief but specific quote or paraphrase from the essay--with an appropriate page citation--into your analysis. Use MLA format, so a page citation should look like this: (DSR 237).

For this assignment, do not refer to yourself: let the power of your structured, well-reasoned analysis carry your argument.

Be sure to embed the two captured images into your assignment, and turn the essays in as a Word doc (not a PDF) via email by 9 p.m. on the due date.

• grade A: this pair of analyses follows all guidelines above. This analysis is original, and steers clear of observations made by Dr. M in his intro. and lecture videos. This essay boasts expert phrasing, grammar, and diction.
• grade B: this pair of original analyses includes minor missteps in grammar and/or diction.
• grade C: this pair of original analyses struggles to be specific, clear, and/or compelling in its assertions.
• grades D and F: this pair of analyses appears incomplete--it does not incorporate all the elements required by the assignment, and may repeat observations made by Dr. M in his intro. and lecture videos.

Sample Screenshot Analyses from other courses:

• strong screenshot analyses: examples
• weak screenshot analyses: examples

Path 1 Point Response Essay (25 pts)

At one point during the quarter (see schedule below), each student will forego writing a pair of screenshot analyses, and instead write a 400-500 word essay responding to one of the thirty or so Points for Reflection generated for the film--study questions linked from the path 1 calendar. Bold-faced questions are OFF LIMITS, as they will be addressed through Dr. M in lecture. To be on time, turn your essay in as a Word doc via email by 9 p.m. on the due date.

Students will send me their top three prompt preferences at least two days before their essay is due so I can assign them one of the three options--and place their name next to the question online so others know that prompt has been taken.

• R, 8-3 (Freaks) / surname A-B
• T, 8-8 (Gaslight) / surname C-F
• R, 8-10 (Johnny Belinda) / surname G-H
• T, 8-15 (The Lost Weekend) / surname I-L
• R, 8-17 (A Patch of Blue) / surname M-O
• T, 8-22 (Being There) / surname P-S
• R, 8-24 (Children of a Lesser God) / surname T-Z

Before writing this essay, students should: 1) read the Disability Studies Reader (DSR) questions generated for the DSR reading that I've paired with the film and 2) read the DSR essay itself (trying to answer the questions as you read). Write an essay responding to one of the film-specific points for reflection in a way that creatively incorporates ideas from the DSR reading.

Avoid first-person pronouns for this assignment, and employ whatever admixture of logos, pathos, and ethos you think appropriate. Please paste the prompt to which you're responding at the head of your essay--below the MLA-style info. (name, prof name, course name, date); in fact, place it immediately below your essay's chosen title.

• grade A: this highly effective, creative essay will draw from the student's familiarity with the entire film while simultaneously narrowing its focus: topical depth, not narrative breadth, will characterize this argument. It will expertly incorporate one or more observations drawn from the assigned DSR article. It will also employ precise and well-polished phrasing and diction, displaying an enviable style unmarred by grammatical errors.
• grade B: this creative, topically focused, tightly structured, and well-supported essay will sport occasional errors in grammar and diction, but follow all assignment guidelines.
• grade C: this well-organized essay may lack a narrow focus and include errors in grammar and diction, though it answers the question and incorporates ideas drawn from the DSR essay.
• Grade D: this essay attempts to answer the chosen prompt but contains enough grammatical errors and missteps in phrasing and/or diction to make it difficult to read.
• Grade F: this essay does not follow all assignment guidelines

Path 2 Term Paper Outline & Peer Edit (25 pts)

Students will construct a 2-3 page, single-spaced outline of their term paper argument (details below) which identifies a working thesis statement, each of their main points, and supporting claims and evidence. Outlines should be submitted to both Dr. M and your Path 2 groupmates as Word doc attachments via email. Dr. M and students will separately provide feedback about your outlines, and all students will return their comments on other Path 2 group members' outlines to the author and to Dr. M (via email). Path 2 group members are in a perfect position to suggest additional claims and scenes the author might consider incorporating. Please, make many suggestions! Do not use Google docs or other shared formats for this assignment, as students will provide feedback separately--without being influenced by their peers' feedback.

• Sample outlines from other courses, with grades earned, can be found here. Due Fri., Aug. 25 at noon.
• Sample peer feedback, with grades earned, can be found here. Due Sat., Aug. 26 at noon.

Path 2 Term Paper (50 pts)

Purpose: to determine whether the two Path 2 films reach similar or divergent conclusions concerning the representation of disability in film    
Audience: readers and viewers familiar with the films you consider (do not provide plot summaries!)
Writing foci: organization at the paragraph and essay level; convincing reasoning and evidence; appropriate diction

This assignment requires you to consider the ways in which the two films (which you should purchase) assisgned to your Path 2 group engage a similar topic or theme. Do their individual approaches constitute a meeting of the minds, or do they differ widely in their agendas and conclusions? You must find some creative way of weaving these films together into a tightly organized, narrowly defined, debatable position--one which concludes that the two works achieve something either similar or dissimilar. Even if you decide that they move in a similar direction, you must illuminate key differences between the two films in terms of style, tone, focus, and/or agenda. 

Your argument, due midnight the evening of Sat., Sept. 2, should include each of the following ingredients:

• a specific, debatable thesis statement about both Path 2 films and their representation of disability concerns. This should appear in your opening paragraph.
• an opening paragraph and a concluding paragraph that together bookend your argument with a cinematic context that makes brief reference to Path 1 films assigned in this course. (You may also weave references to Path 1 films into body paragraphs to provide counterpoints to claims made about your Path 2 films.) You should mention at least three Path 1 films somewhere along the way.
• inclusion of ideas paraphrased and/or quoted from three different essays in The Disability Studies Reader (any of those assigned, or others).
• analysis of two screenshots per Path 2 film (4 total: no more, no less) which:
  • incorporates the screenshots themselves within the body of your essay, next to their discussion, with text wrapping. (In Word, right click on the image, then "wrap text," and select "square.")
  • employ screenshots precisely three inches in height, regardless of the film's aspect ratio
  • demonstrate familiarity with film techniques and concepts covered in The Rhetoric of Film, and discuss the selected shots' significance. (Employ cinematic terminology, but you need not cite A Rhetoric, as all the terms it employs commonly appear in film studies.) Always tie conclusions back to your debatable thesis.
• citation of 1-2 of Dr. M's Digging in the Dirt videos on Path 1 films.
• A Works Cited page that lists the 3+ essays used from the DSR (listed by author, not editor), both Path 2 films, and any Path 1 films referenced in the essay.
• Employ MLA formatting for headers, title, citations, and Works Cited page. Please note the correct MLA formatting in this shorter, sample paper. 

Essays should be 5-6 pages in length--not including Appendix and Works Cited page. Follow MLA guidelines for formatting and creating appropriate citation entries. Do NOT reference or allude to secondary sources outside the DSR, especially film reviews. Your own analysis should underpin your thesis and every claim you make.

Recall that to earn GWR credit in this course, you must earn at least 75% on the term paper, and earn at least a 75% in the course as a whole.

Send Word document directly to Dr. M via email. Late term papers will lose two points per day.

Self-Portrait with the Portrait of Doctor Farill (1951)
Frida Kahlo

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu