Academic Writing about Film

(1 Credit Hour) · Undergraduate

Writing papers can be stressful. It is not always easy to know what's expected. The standards for writing in college are different than in high school, and the bar gets raised again as one enters upper-level courses. Sometimes it is hard to know what counts as a good paper or why one paper receives an A and another a B or C. How does one write a good paper? What is the difference between a reflection and a research paper? What is a good topic? How much plot summary is enough or too much? How should readings be incorporated? What does the teacher really want? This course aims to help students write better academic papers on film (and TV or other screen material). It is for students who struggle with writing; students who just want to feel more comfortable writing papers in class; students who write well, but want to improve or understand what they are doing better; students writing a thesis, or thinking of graduate school: any student who wants to focus on their writing. This course will teach students how to write academic film papers. It is not a class in film reviewing. We will discuss how to develop a topic that is arguable and compelling; how to imagine and address your reader; how to write an introduction that makes clear why your topic matters; how to organize and structure your paper; how to make transitions (and how not to); how to find, evaluate, and engage with sources; how to cite sources; what counts as evidence; how to make your writing clear; the importance of titles; and more. Students will use prompts and papers they are writing in other classes as material. Students will be expected to attend every session, submit writing and/or revisions every week, and review a peer's work every week. Individual papers will not be graded: our focus is on process. Course grades will be based on improvement. This one-credit course will meet for twelve one-hour sessions.