ENGL 1302 Essay 2 Prompt

Write a 5 page, double-spaced essay in which you evaluate the success of one of the movies listed. What makes the movie particularly good or bad? Are there any logical flaws in the movie? What plot points are particularly weak or strong in the movie? What could have been done (if anything) to make it better?

In order to catch weak points, ask yourself “What, if anything, do I dislike about this movie?” Trust your intuition to tell you what needs improvement – your critical thinking skills will come into play as you figure out why those parts need improvement. Plot points that are strong are more difficult to “catch” as part of what (should) make them strong is their ability to weave seamlessly into the plot to provide a solid foundation without calling undue attention to themselves.

It may help you to consider a movie to be an essay (albeit a visual one) and therefore needing to conform to all the rules of good writing. ENGL 1301 introduced you to the guidelines for producing quality writing. What were they? (To get you started, how about clarity? Writing that effectively conveys its message to its reader does so in a manner that is fairly straightforward. What it does NOT do is confuse the reader. Everytime you stop, scratch your head, and think 'What the? What is going ON? I am SO lost', you have been confused.)

This is not a comprehensive list of elements you can focus on:

• Audience: who did the movie-maker expect to watch this film? Are all elements in the film appropriate for that audience?
• Thesis Statement: what is the main point(s) of the movie? Can you describe it in a single, clear sentence?
• Purpose: Does the movie actually achieve what you believe it set out to achieve? Does is support its thesis statement and develop it without straying from the topic?
• Essential elements: Does the movie have an introduction, thesis statement, plot points, and a conclusion that ALL do what they are “supposed” to do?
• Transitions: How does the movie “flow”?
• Characters: Are the characters fully developed and believable? Why or why not?
• Setting: If the setting is different from the one we experience on a daily basis, is it successful?

It is up to you to figure out how best to organize the main points of your essay. I suggest creating a list of all of the ideas you wish to cover in your paper, then grouping your ideas according to relevance to find your main points.

The following is a list of the movies from which you may choose for this paper: