Analysis of a Film

Discussion

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The appproximate time needed to complete this assignment is 15-30 hours.

DIRECTIONS
In this assignment you will watch a documentary film and read an article and then answer questions about the film and article.

To prepare for this assignment, watch one of the following films either on the PBS Frontline website or on Netflix.

PBS Frontline
Lies, Politics, and Democracy
Afganistan Undercover
Ukraine: Life Under Russian Attack
Facing Eviction
Police on Trial
Plot to Overturn the Election
Putin’s Road to War
Shots Fired
Pandora Papers
Boeing’s Fatal Flaw
The Healthcare Divide
The Virus That Shook the World
American Insurrection
Death Is Our Business
Trump’s American Carnage
Whose Vote Counts
Growing Up Poor in America
United States of Conspiracy
Opioids, Inc.
The Virus: What Went Wrong
Plastic Wars
NRA Under fire
Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos
Targeting El Paso
Kids Caught in the Crackdown
In the Age of AI
Fire in Paradise
Flint’s Deadly Water
Sex Trafficking in America
Right to Fail
Coal’s Deadly Dust
Documenting Hate: New American Nazis
The Facebook Dilemma
Documenting Hate: Charlottesville
UN Sex Abuse Scandal
Poor Kids
War on the EPA
Poverty, Politics and Profit
Netflix
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
Into the Inferno
How to Change Your Mind
My Octopus Teacher
The Social Dilemma
The Edge of Democracy

Additionally, find an online article that compliments the documentary you choose. The article should come from a reputable source and contain at least eight paragraphs and should include a serious, lengthy, well-researched argument about one of the main topics of the documentary film you chose to watch. For example, if you chose the film The Healthcare Divide you might consider finding an article about health insurance. If you watch Plastic Wars you might find an article about corporate pollution or recycling. The article’s main topic should relate strongly to one of the main topics of the film. Here are some examples of credible sources where you can find good articles.

The Wilson Quarterly
Esquire
Vanity Fair
The Atlantic
Wired
AEON
The New Yorker
Virginia Quarterly Review
The Intercept
Council on Foreign Relations

Approach both the film and the article with an interest that puts aside any emotions or ideas you might have about the topic and instead try to analyze the content objectively. Part of this assignment requires you to analyze the evidence and credibility of the sources presented in the film and doing so requires that you put aside any bias that might involve your own political, philosophical, or religious beliefs.

Answer the following questions and remember to include the number of the question in your answer. Avoid writing in an essay format, and instead just put the number (such as 1) and then your answer.

1. Reflect on how a critical reader examines a text with a healthy skepticism. Drawing upon the strategies discussed in Chapter 1 and Chapter 4, what questions might be most important to ask when reading an argumentative text? Identify a specific genre of argumentative writing (such as an editorial, movie review, or position paper) and explain some of the questions you should ask as a critical reader.
   Answer in 4-6 sentences.
2. Write a one-paragraph summary of the film you chose to analyze. Provide the title of the film at the beginning of your paragraph.
   Answer in one paragraph that includes 4-6 sentences
3. Regarding the film, what information or features cue you in to the fact that this is a documentary film about a newsworthy issue? In other words, how does the way in which this director uses elements such as cinematography, music, narration, interviews, etc., indicate the genre of the film?
   Answer in one paragraph that includes 4-6 sentences
4. Which moments in the film did you find most intriguing? Did you have strong reactions to any particular scenes or stories? Which ones and why?
   Answer in one paragraph that includes 5-8 sentences
5. Most documentary films try to present a problem (or problems) and potential solutions. Describe in your own words the problem presented in the film. What needs correcting in our environment or our society? Use examples from the film to illustrate.
   Answer in one paragraph that includes 5-8 sentences
6. Do you agree with the solutions presented? Describe why or why not. If no solutions are presented, what solutions would you present? Use examples from the film to illustrate.
   Answer in one paragraph that includes 4-6 sentences
7. Describe your overall impression of this film as well as your position in regards to the issue as presented in the film. Use examples from the film to illustrate.
   Answer in one paragraph that includes 4-6 sentences
8. Write a one-paragraph summary of the article you chose to analyze. Provide the title of the title at the beginning of your paragraph.
   Answer in one paragraph that includes 4-6 sentences
9. How does the article support, illuminate, or contradict any of the information or opinions expressed in the film?
   Answer in one paragraph that includes 5-8 sentences
10. What is outstanding (good, bad, outrageous, noteworthy, unusual) about the piece of writing? What is engaging? Boring? Fascinating?
    Answer in one paragraph that includes 4-6 sentences
11. How would you describe the author’s voice? Consider the rhetorical situation. How does the author craft the article in such a way as to communicate an idea or mood?
    Answer in 1-2 sentences
12. Consider both formats (the film that you watched and the article that you read) in which the same topic is discussed. Which format do you consider more effective for communicating the urgency or importance of the issue? Why do you feel this way?
    Answer in one paragraph that includes 4-6 sentences

In addition, you need to respond to one other student’s post in which you add your own thoughts to one of their answers. Write between two and four sentences for this post.