Essay #2:  Assignment and Guidelines

Length and Due Dates

Length:  3-4 pages, formatted like this
First Draft Due:  Wednesday, March 1; bring three copies to class
Final Draft Due:  Wednesday, March 6, with all drafts, reviews and conference materials attached

Assignment

You may write your essay on one of the following topics: 

1) The authors of your Film Art textbook claim that "a film does not simply stop; it ends.  The narrative will typically resolve its causal issues by bringing the development to a high point, or climax."  Many Hitchcock films have clearly defined climax points--usually some type of deadly struggle between characters: Guy Haines fighting it out with Bruno on the merry-go-round; Thorwald wrestling with L.B. Jefferies near the "rear" window; Roger Thornhill and Eve Kendall struggling for survival on the Mt. Rushmore monument; Norman-Mother wrestling with Sam in the fruit cellar.  For Hitchcock, however, the climax is rarely the final word.  Instead, Hitchcock's films tend to offer concluding scenes that function as formal resolutions.  In this essay, examine the formal resolution scene(s) of two of the films described above.  Do these endings neatly resolve the questions the respective films have raised?  How do these conclusions comment on/add to the larger narrative form?

2) At the height of his career in the 1950s Hitchcock develops a trio of films (Rear Window; Vertigo; Psycho) that could be considered meditations on vision, on the act of looking.  And the central character who does most of the looking/gazing/peeping in these films is always a male protagonist.  In this paper, you will analyze the motif of looking as it functions in two of the three films mentioned above.  How does this motif define each central character?   In what ways are these "men who look" similar to one another?  In what ways are they different?  What kind of men are they?  Remember to choose specific details of film form and film style to support any claim you wish to make.

3) You may propose your own topic for Essay #2, but you must submit the topic to me for approval before writing your essay.

Guidelines

1) Because your audience has viewed the film(s), you do not need to summarize plot.  Instead, concentrate on analyzing the film and offering examples of editing, cinematography, narrative structure, or mise-en-scene that support your claims.

2) Although you may write on the same film you wrote about for the Web project or Essay #1, you must take a different approach to the film in Essay #2.  For example, you may have written about narrative structure in Vertigo for the Web project.  For Essay #2, you may write about meditations on vision or another topic that does not address narrative structure.

3) Like the other film analyses you have completed, Essay #2 requires you to make an argument about the films.  A successful essay will pose a clear, defendable argument regarding the chosen topic and develop that argument over the course of the essay.  All summary, paraphrase, quotation, or description of images should be offered as part of an analysis.  Each reference to the film should support your argument.

Grading 

To view grading criteria for this assignment, click here.