GUIDELINES FOR WRITING FILM RESPONSE PAPERS

(1) The point of any good movie is not the action, but the message. Hence, do not just summarize the film. If there is no analysis involved, then you have not responded, only regurgitated. If the movie is based on true events, you should evaluate the level of analogy and either justify or criticize any differences the movie exhibits with respect to the original story it is based on.

(II) Do not try to be a film critic. Do not worry about the actors’ performances (except insofar as they might be relevant in evaluating the film’s success in making its point) or the subtleties of direction and editing. The issues are what count. Your target is a particular theme, not filmmaking.

(III) Your first paragraph should be an introduction to your topic—that is, the issue or issues on which you are going to focus. It should be a brief paragraph—maybe four or five sentences. Be sure to say which aspect of the movie, specifically, will be discussed in the paper. If you want to emphasize and discuss issues that are secondary in the movie, still try to mention the movie’s central theme or themes.

(IV) The main body of your essay should be the exploration of your theme or themes, using characters, scenes, symbols, and situations in the movie to show how the movie supports or contradicts your understanding of a particular topic. It should be composed of, preferably, three distinct paragraphs – each of them discussing your impressions and thoughts as related to the film in question.

(V) Pay close attention to basics like grammar and punctuation. Proofread your essays.

(VI) Your conclusion should contain a short summary of all points comprised in your

argumentation.  

Your response paper will be evaluated by the following Your response paper will be evaluated by the following criteria:criteria:

1. Introduction – 20%Does the introduction contain a clearly defined thesis stating an arguable point? Does the introduction provide 2-3 general points that will be offered as proof to be defended in the body of the essay?

2. Body - 40% Do the body paragraphs take the 2 -3 points mentioned in the introduction and analyze (rather than narrate) them, making good use of reasons and evidence drawn from the text book as well as other research sources? Are sources (at least 2) properly quoted?

3. Structure, grammar, style – 30% (while the content and structure of the essay form the basis of the grade, mistakes such as spelling errors and faulty punctuation can and will have a negative impact on the grade of the essay exam).

4. Conclusion – 10%Does the conclusion restate the thesis, summing up the essay in a clear and concise way?

SampleSample

Battle of Neretva is a 1969 a Yugoslav partisan film. The film was

directed by Veljko Bulajić and depicts a massive Axis offensive against the Yugoslav Partisans in 1943. The offensive was also known as the “Fourth Enemy Offensive” and occurred in the area of the Neretva-River in Bosnia-Herzegovina (I/146-147).

The film is based on the true events of World War II although it conveys the impression that the Partisans as well as their enemies were ideologically motivated. In reality, the bulk of the population in wartime Yugoslavia held no rigid political loyalties. Instead, they were forced to survive as best they could and their allegiances shifted according to the situation. For example, the Chetniks, who are portrayed as the inveterate enemies of the Partisans, were not a single unified force, but initially fought alongside the Partisans against the Germans and then joined the Germans against the Partisans (I/45-51).

Bosnia-Herzegovina especially represented a contentious mix of political ideologies, ethnicities, and religious beliefs – including nationalism and communism, and Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslim denominations – and consequently, the war there was particularly cruel (II/13-18). The film crafts a fascinating narrative of rival radical ideologies, particularly between the multinational vision of the Communist Partisans versus the xenophobic nationalism of the Serbian Chetniks and the Croatian Ustaše. Although the film emphasizes the battle between the Partisans and the Axis powers, Bulajić stresses its local dimension – the conflict between the citizens of the former Yugoslavia. As Commissar Stole says “hatred between the same people is the most vicious.’”

The film correctly shows that the Partisans fought for much more than mere survival – from the beginning Tito envisioned the war against the Axis powers mutating into a revolutionary struggle and turning Yugoslavia into a communist state (II/64-68). Although most Serbs initially joined the Partisans to survive the Ustaše genocide, the Partisan leadership from the beginning emphasized the importance of social revolution that would change the country’s political and socio-economic landscape. In other words, the unique conditions of the Axis occupation and the bitter ethnic and ideological conflicts engendered the revolutionary movement united in its primary objectives.

To sum up, the Partisans never viewed the armed struggle against the Axis powers from a purely military prospective, but were determined to transform this struggle into a political battle to create a “genuinely multinational socialist society.” This fact alone helps explain why the Partisans were much better organized than the Chetniks, particularly in creating the so-called “free zones” – the Neretva basin was but one – in which they set up the small replicas of revolutionary society, later superimposed upon the entire Yugoslavia (II-221-223).

Sources:Sources:

I. I. Jozo Tomasevich. War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: The Chetniks. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1975.

II. John K. Cox, The History of Serbia. Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Identification essay provides information about an individual, a place, or a historical event on the basis of the following questions:

•Who or What? •When? •Where? •What significant role did this individual/place/event play in history? Sample:

Mohammed The founder of Islam, Mohammed (Mahomet) was born about 570AD in Mecca in

what today is Saudi Arabia. When he was 40 years old, outside of Mecca he had visions of the angel Gabriel calling him to “recite” in the name of God the creator. He received revelations that were to become the first part of the Koran (Qua’ran) – the holy book of Islam. The Koran teaches faith in God, the coming judgment against unbelief, and the ideas of heaven and hell; it also describes duties appropriate to marriage, the family, and social life. Mohammed’s followers were called Muslims (Moslems) – “surrendered men,” since they had “surrendered” or submitted to one God (Allah).

By 630AD, Mohammed had raised a powerful army and had captured Mecca. After the death of Mohammed in 632, his successors were able to conquer all of the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, and North Africa, and Spain establishing one of the greatest empires of the Middle Ages. Although the empire soon fell apart, Islam has continued its victorious rise in the Middle East and Asia and becoming the fastest growing religion in the world with about one billion followers.