Length and Due Dates

Length: 4 pages, titled, paginated, and formatted as described in the “Essays” section of the syllabus
First Draft Due:  Friday, March 8 by 3:00 p.m. in hard copy at Padelford A305 or as email text (no attachments).  Failure to submit a draft will result in a .5 deduction from the final grade.
Final Draft Due: Tuesday, March 19, by 3:00 p.m. in hard copy at Padelford A305, with commented draft and self-addressed, stamped envelope attached (if you want the essay returned).  Late final drafts will receive a .3 deduction per day, including weekends and holidays.

Topics

You may write on one of the following topics:

1. In Yellow Earth, The Secret Garden, and The Color of Paradise, the natural environment plays a key role in children’s lives.  Focusing on one or two of the above films, analyze the significance of children’s relationships with nature.  In addressing this topic, you may highlight how gender, class, ideological, or national differences influence cinematic representations of the child/nature relationship, or you may choose to concentrate on narrative and style.

2. Although Yellow Earth, The Secret Garden, The Color of Paradise, and A.I. explore multiple themes, they arguably serve as critiques of the adult world.  What is the nature and purpose of the adult-world critique in one or two of these films?  How is the critique articulated through narrative and cinematic techniques?

3. Yellow Earth, The Secret Garden, The Color of Paradise and A.I. feature children interacting with fathers or surrogate fathers.  How does the father/child relationship function within one or two of these films?  In shaping your analysis, consider how the relationship underscores particular themes, highlights parallels or contrasts, introduces tensions, or conveys or complicates notions of masculinity.

4. While both The Secret Garden and A.I. are based upon twentieth-century literary texts, the films incorporate the conventions of a much older source, the fairy tale.  How do fairy-tale motifs shape the narrative, mise-en-scene, cinematography and/or sound of both films?  Why do these films draw upon fairy-tale patterns?  For background on the fairy tale, follow this link to an electronic reserve article that discusses the history, themes, and conventions of the literary fairy tale.  For a chapter outline of the original Adventures of Pinocchio and a summary of Disney's Pinocchio, click here.

5. The child characters in The Secret Garden and The Color of Paradise “see” differently than their adult counterparts.  Mohammad attempts to see Allah through his hands, and Mary contends that “if you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”  How is children’s ability to “look the right way” represented in both films?  How is the theme of unique vision connected to particular values and beliefs surrounding childhood?

6. What does childhood mean in two of the following films:  Yellow Earth, The Secret Garden, The Color of Paradise and A.I.?  How do the films use narrative and cinematic techniques to convey childhood’s meanings, and how do these meanings reflect values and beliefs surrounding childhood?  In developing your response to the topic, you should review the large-scale film comparison we did before our screening of Yellow Earth, considering whether the meanings, techniques and ideologies we discussed emerge in these films as well.

Guidelines and Expectations

1. Although I’ve posed a series of questions and suggested potential ways of developing responses to particular topics, you must formulate a thesis that proposes an argument focused on the topic.  In developing your argument, you will need to move beyond noting the existence of certain themes, relationships, patterns, or meanings, stating that the film uses particular narrative and cinematic techniques, or judging characters or beliefs as bad.  Instead, evaluate the purpose and significance of themes, relationships, patterns, meanings, techniques, characters and ideologies.  Consider why the reader should care about the topic and your argument.

2. While the essay topics generally ask you to analyze the “what,” “how,” and “why” behind key themes, relationships, structures, and meanings, your essay does not have to answer the questions in the order I’ve posed them.  Instead, organize your paper around an argument that incorporates your response to all of the questions or that focuses on one of the questions.  If you do the latter, you will need to integrate responses to the other questions into your introduction and reading of evidence. 

3. As you develop your essay, think about the purpose of each paragraph, and provide readers with the information they will need to understand your purpose.  In general, you’ll have three types of paragraphs:

• Thesis Paragraph:  Typically, the thesis paragraph presents the main argument and provides a roadmap of the paper’s analytical moves. 
• Body Paragraphs:  Body paragraphs present focused analyses of sub-arguments related to the thesis.  In each body paragraph, readers will need to know what the sub-argument is and how it’s connected to the thesis.  They will also need you to persuade them of the sub-argument’s validity.  What narrative details or cinematic techniques led you to a particular interpretation?  Discuss those details, letting the reader know how they illustrate your point.
• Concluding Paragraph:  While most conclusions often reiterate the thesis, the best conclusions go beyond a summary of points made in the essay.  Moreover, extensive summary isn’t necessary in a short paper—your points are fairly fresh in your reader’s mind.  Instead of repeating the introduction, consider underscoring a final point raised by the argument or highlighting the significance of your analysis.  What insight has your analysis given the reader?  How might your discussion of the film(s) help the reader to understand the issues at stake in films about childhood?

5. Although the topics require you to examine the significance of large-scale themes, patterns, relationships, and meanings, close textual analysis will serve as your main source of evidence.  In supporting your interpretation of the film(s), you will need to pay attention to how the film(s) communicate their meanings through narrative and cinematic techniques.

6. If you’re having difficulty devising an approach to the essay, or if you want to discuss ideas-in-progress, come to my office hours or email me to set up an appointment.

Grading and Late Penalities

I will use this scale to evaluate your essay.  Failure to submit a first draft will result in a .5 deduction in the final grade for the essay.  Late final drafts will receive a .3 grade deduction per day late, including weekends and holidays.