Video Traces Grading

The preparation and evaluation components of the video trace receive points on credit/partial credit/no credit basis.  Students will receive full points if they submit work on time, meet length requirements, seriously engage the preparation questions and answer all of the evaluation questions.

For the annotation component, I will assign 0-14 points in each of the following categories, with 0 representing a missing component and 14 representing exceptional execution of the criterion.  The total number of points comprises the grade on the annotation section.

• Focus:  The group proffers an argument about the ideologies the film promotes, complicates, or subverts.  Group members develop the argument throughout the trace.
• Complexity: Group members present an interpretation that advances the class’s understanding of the scene and film.  They do not simply list the formal elements at work in the scene, summarize the plot, pronounce aesthetic or moral judgments, or treat the scene reductively.  Instead, they analyze how the scene’s narrative, visuals, and contextual references produce ideological effects.
• Support:  Presenters support their reading of the scene by commenting on particular visual and narrative elements of the clip, referring to the contemporary context informing the film, or referring to class readings.
• Completeness:  Within the scope of the argument, the group offers a thorough analysis of the scene. Commentators do not ignore elements of the scene that contradict their argument. 
• Delivery:  Group members have coordinated their commentary.  Speakers convey points smoothly and audibly.   Group members identify themselves before speaking, and each group member speaks for roughly the same amount of time.

Page Last Updated 10/17/03
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