For your take home final exam you must select a pre-approved film to study closely. Please give me the film title and a brief synopsis including the year it was produced, original language and director/producer. Submit your choice of film to me via Canvas message or email for approval. Once approved, you may begin the assignment. You should submit your final exam as a WORD document in Canvas.

This exam will measure the following course objectives:

Identify and apply concepts related to issues of aesthetics, creativity, humanism, meaning and/or invention
Incorporate or identify innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into analysis using narrative storytelling
Pose and address questions related to the confluence of creative and humanistic expression with social and cultural contexts of the human condition
Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze the role of creative humanistic expression in illuminating the human condition and search for meaning
Requirements:

Length: Minimum of 3 but no more than 5 pages, MLA format for short papers
Refer directly to specific moments in the film in your answer to illustrate your thinking
Question and challenge social, cultural, and aesthetic issues in the film
Reflect on the role of creative expression in communicating what it means to be human
Please remember that this assignment will be submitted to Turnitin.com – it is important that you submit your own, honest work
Prompt:

In the beginning of your essay, identify what you perceive as the creative goals of the film and its desired impact upon you as a viewer. What were your expectations coming in after viewing the trailer? What do you think the writer/producer/director hopes to say or accomplish? In what specific ways does it succeed or fall short?

In the body of your essay, discuss in what ways this film takes risks and challenges us, both as individuals and as contemporary humans? With what ethical and/or social issues does the film engage? How has your understanding of these issues been affected by the film? Also in the body of your essay, identify what three challenging and thoughtful questions you would ask the film director if you could. Why do you think these questions matter?

In your conclusion, reflect upon the meaning of this film to you. How does it help you understand yourself and/or other people better or differently?

Adapted from Angela Gulick, Parkland College Writing Lab, July 2016

Citing and Citation: To “cite” a source is to tell where you found the information you are borrowing, such as details from a television program, motion picture, DVD, CD, song, or online video. A citation is the collection of details about where you found your information. The details of a media source citation include 1) a signal phrase, 2) an action verb, and 3) a parenthetical citation.

Citing a Movie

Signal Phrase: A signal phrase is a formal way you alert your reader to the source of your borrowed information. The signal phrase is also an opportunity to give credibility to your source, by providing details such as the source’s title, additional performers or artistic contributors, or any other details that would show your source’s expertise. Here are two common details to include in a signal phrase for a media source:
 The name of the source itself – the movie. Italicize the title. Example: Her not “Her”