Choose ONE of the following two questions to answer in an essay between 4 full pages, word count at least 1300 (double-spaced, 12-point font). For each essay, use any 3 objects in my pdf files and readings (from weeks 6 to 10) to support your answers.

Question 1. Originality, Reproducibility, Authenticity

Ingredients: 3 works/objects, Winnie Wong on Dafen Village, Roland Barthes on fashion

In the everyday context, we tend to consider the original “authentic” and “unique” and its copies inauthentic. Problematize this cliché by analyzing any three (3) works/objects we looked at in the second half of the course (weeks 6-10). In addition, how does Winnie Wong’s ethnography of the Chinese painters in Dafen Village challenge this cliché? How does Roland Barthes’s essays on fashion complicate our understanding of originality? Cite both authors (Wong and Barthes) to support your answer.

Question 2. Vision & Modernity

Ingredients: 3 works/objects, Jonathan Crary on “Modernizing Vision,” Anne Friedberg on flâneur/flâneuse

What is unique about modern or modernized vision that sets it apart from classical ways of seeing? Answer by analyzing any three (3) works/objects we looked at in the second half of the course (weeks 6 to 10). How do we learn from Jonathan Crary and Anne Friedberg in regards to how vision relates to mobility in modern times? Cite both authors (Crary and Friedberg) to support your answer.

YOUR FINAL ARGUMENT ESSAY WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Based on Taylor Swift’s “Calm Down”

Your task: Analyze and to synthesize the lyrics of the song with the corresponding petition composed by Swift (e.g. the petition that the music video encourages viewers to sign via call-to-action at the video’s end), OR you can do a compare contrast to another Taylor Swift song, such as “Look What You Made Me Do,” in which case this Rhetorical Analysis Notes for “Look What You Made me Do” might be very useful. Rhetorical Analysis Handout for “Look What You Made me Do.” You are not confined to 100% rhetorical analysis. I leave you free to compare/contrast other elements of the songs as you see fit.

This will certainly get interesting!

Here are some student papers for “Look What You Made Me Do”: however, it was a different assignment, so be careful what you choose as (Student example, see attached file)

Page Requirement: 1000-2000 words

Other features I will be looking for:

1. A compare/contrast thesis sentence
2. An introduction paragraph that leads up to and presents your argument thesis sentence as the last sentence.
3. 4-6 paragraphs that present the “evidence” that back up your point of view in your thesis. A good basic paragraph shape for this kind of paper is:
   1. Topic sentence
   2. Restriction sentence that says more
   3. The lines you are quoting or a description of a still frame you are going to discuss
   4. Two or three sentences analyzing or discussion your evidence
   5. Then a concluding paragraph that just doesn’t repeat the thesis: Ideas for Conclusions here
4. A counter argument--usually the last paragraph before the conclusion
5. Development using one of two ways to develop compare/contrast.
6. A Works Cited page. This will be your Annotated Bibliography trimmed down to only the “Works” you end up “Citing” in your paper.
7. You know how I feel about immaculate editing.

RESEARCH COMPONENT

In this class, you aren’t really writing a “research paper” so much as using some research as “evidence” to back up your points.

●To begin your paper, first decide what you will do in terms of a project; for example, “I will compare and contrast Swift’s “Calm Down” to her “Look What You Made Me Do.”

●Then put together an outline. The most useful kind of outline–even a scratch outline, is a full question outline instead of just keywords. That is because the brain likes to answer full questions and it tends not to do much with keywords. This is a formal example of a full question outline, just to give you the concept. Like I said, you can adjust it to fit your style.

●For research, you aren’t looking for facts (common knowledge–no citation needed). You’re looking for commentaries, arguments, opinions, or discussions in the Lane Online Library.

●When you open that page, don’t look at the top at “books” because you don’t have time for books.

●Look for the section “Start Your Research.” Use those videos to inform yourself. People come into WR 122 with different levels of library experience, so find what you need at the level you are at.

●Then use the Gale database Academic OneFile or something similar and do a search. For example, I did a search for “Taylor Swift Women in Music” and got a good article from Billboard with several possible quotes I might use. I scroll to the bottom of the page, and I see a citation that I can “copy to NoodleTools.”

●When I typed in “Kaepernick + Nike,” I got a good National Review article that might have a quote I can use. Make sure all your citations copy into ONE NoodleTool list–you only want one for all your sources. You will use it for your Google searches, too.

Final Short Paper: Thinking Theoretically About Film

Objective: This requirement will allow you to put into conversation one of the theoretical readings in the class with a film of your own choosing. You will explore how a theoretical insight is true or applicable to a specific film that you will be analyzing by close reading three specific moments/scenes/sequences in the film.

Instructions:

1. Choose one from among the articles/readings in the attached file. Find the idea on cinema that is most fascinating to you. It could be the main argument of the article or a sub-argument within that article:

(a) Siegfried Kracauer, “Basic Concepts”

(b) Siegfried Kracauer, “The Establishment of Physical Existence”

(c) Cesare Zavatinni, “Some Ideas on the Cinema”

(d) Brian Henderson, “The Long Take”

(e) Christian Metz, “Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema”

(f) Jean-Louis Baudry, “Ideological Effects of the Basic Cinematic Apparatus”

(g) Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”

(h) Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas, “Toward a Third Cinema”

(i) Julio Garcia Espinosa, “For an Imperfect Cinema”

(j) Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on Control Societies”

(k) Jodi Dean, “Why the Net is not a Public Sphere”

(l) Lev Manovich, “Trending: The Promises and the Challenges of Big Social Data”

2. Choose a film not shown in the class and allow the idea/insight you’ve picked up from the reading to elucidate/clarify/guide your understanding of that film.

3. Formulate or clarify to yourself the main question or argument that you will answer in your paper.

4. Look for moments/scenes/sequences in the film that you can read closely to be able to illustrate the theory that you’ve picked out. These three close readings will serve as your evidence for the main point/thesis/question that you are exploring.

What are the important parts that should be included in your paper:

1. Give an introductory paragraph that

(a) states the main argument of your paper and explains why your argument is important to explore

(b) mentions the article you have chosen and gives a short summary of the article, highlights and explains its main argument and elaborates on the idea that you have chosen

(c) provides a short summary of the film you have chosen to read, the film’s context, and explains why you have chosen the film apart from just saying that you like it or that it is referred to or mentioned in your theoretical text

2. Two to three paragraphs that will discuss your supporting evidence

(a) Your main question or argument must be supported by evidence. Your evidence will come in the form of close readings of at least three scenes or sequences. Describe each scene/sequence, discuss how the aesthetic elements set-up or work to spell out the idea or theory you are exploring.

(b) While you explain how the theory is true through your chosen film, explain how the film pushes the theory to its limit. Meaning to say, how can your main thesis or argument be counter-argued? What particular details in the film show the limits or refute the theory that you have chosen. This way, you will allow your thinking some openings and possibilities and illustrate how you are ready to accommodate readings that may challenge your point.

3. Paste a screenshot for each specific moment in the film that you are reading. Label them in ways that are informative and creative. These three screenshots must be pasted in the order that they are discussed in the paper. This should constitute the fourth page of your paper and is not counted as part of three page minimum/maximum. Links will not be accepted–you have to make clear screenshots and provide them in your paper’s last page.

Length:

A paper of only three pages , word count at least 950. requires precision of language and brevity; you will want to accomplish conveying complex thoughts while trying to be succinct. Strive to turn in a polished writing by paying attention to grammar, diction, punctuation, and style. Write coherent paragraphs by making sure that the topic sentence signals what the paragraph is talking about. Do not exceed three pages (not including the screenshot page) and strive to turn in a full four-page paper in total.

Sources:

I do not require outside sources for this paper. You can make use of our class conversations, your film journal, the film of your own choosing and our class readings to enrich your discussion.

Format:

Your paper must be double-spaced, in 12 Times New Roman, with one-inch margin on all sides.

Submission:

Submit your paper as PDF via Canvas. Submission beyond the deadline will not be accepted.

What does it take to get an A for this requirement?

1. Ideas are complex, nuanced, and well-developed

2. All parts of the prompt are addressed

2. Analysis exhibits strong grasp of film material

3. Organization makes the central idea(s) and details very clear

4. Order is strong and moves the reader through the writing

5. Smooth, effective transitions

6. Paragraphs are effectively organized around main points

7. Grammar is excellent

8. Sentences are clear and precise

9. Writing is highly polished

10. Paper meets the required length

YOUR FINAL ARGUMENT ESSAY WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Based on Taylor Swift’s “Calm Down”

Your task: Analyze and to synthesize the lyrics of the song with the corresponding petition composed by Swift (e.g. the petition that the music video encourages viewers to sign via call-to-action at the video’s end), OR you can do a compare contrast to another Taylor Swift song, such as “Look What You Made Me Do,” in which case this Rhetorical Analysis Notes for “Look What You Made me Do” might be very useful. Rhetorical Analysis Handout for “Look What You Made me Do.” You are not confined to 100% rhetorical analysis. I leave you free to compare/contrast other elements of the songs as you see fit.

This will certainly get interesting!

Here are some student papers for “Look What You Made Me Do”: however, it was a different assignment, so be careful what you choose as (Student example, see attached file)

Page Requirement: 1000-2000 words

Other features I will be looking for:

1. A compare/contrast thesis sentence
2. An introduction paragraph that leads up to and presents your argument thesis sentence as the last sentence.
3. 4-6 paragraphs that present the “evidence” that back up your point of view in your thesis. A good basic paragraph shape for this kind of paper is:
   1. Topic sentence
   2. Restriction sentence that says more
   3. The lines you are quoting or a description of a still frame you are going to discuss
   4. Two or three sentences analyzing or discussion your evidence
   5. Then a concluding paragraph that just doesn’t repeat the thesis: Ideas for Conclusions here
4. A counter argument--usually the last paragraph before the conclusion
5. Development using one of two ways to develop compare/contrast.
6. A Works Cited page. This will be your Annotated Bibliography trimmed down to only the “Works” you end up “Citing” in your paper.
7. You know how I feel about immaculate editing.

RESEARCH COMPONENT

In this class, you aren’t really writing a “research paper” so much as using some research as “evidence” to back up your points.

●To begin your paper, first decide what you will do in terms of a project; for example, “I will compare and contrast Swift’s “Calm Down” to her “Look What You Made Me Do.”

●Then put together an outline. The most useful kind of outline–even a scratch outline, is a full question outline instead of just keywords. That is because the brain likes to answer full questions and it tends not to do much with keywords. This is a formal example of a full question outline, just to give you the concept. Like I said, you can adjust it to fit your style.

●For research, you aren’t looking for facts (common knowledge–no citation needed). You’re looking for commentaries, arguments, opinions, or discussions in the Lane Online Library.

●When you open that page, don’t look at the top at “books” because you don’t have time for books.

●Look for the section “Start Your Research.” Use those videos to inform yourself. People come into WR 122 with different levels of library experience, so find what you need at the level you are at.

●Then use the Gale database Academic OneFile or something similar and do a search. For example, I did a search for “Taylor Swift Women in Music” and got a good article from Billboard with several possible quotes I might use. I scroll to the bottom of the page, and I see a citation that I can “copy to NoodleTools.”

●When I typed in “Kaepernick + Nike,” I got a good National Review article that might have a quote I can use. Make sure all your citations copy into ONE NoodleTool list–you only want one for all your sources. You will use it for your Google searches, too.