Length, etc.: at least 600 words, MLA format (Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced, with proper heading/page numbers);
Here is how to make your papers MLA formatted in MS Word: (and, after you follow directions in this video, compose this paper, and save it—then, all you need to do for the rest of your papers this semester is call this one up and then delete all the old paper’s info.) Here is a tutorial video for MLA formatting in MS Word (ignore the stuff about “page break” from 2:06-3:00; just focus on doing your heading and page #s correctly):
Your training for this course begins with a bit of reverse engineering, since you’ll be dissecting the argument (and argument strategies) of a video essay about the film Us. (By dissect I mean take apart and examine something for the sake of understanding how it works.) More specifically, you will explain 1) how the video essay’s author (The Film Theorist) structures and develops his argument about Us over the course of the video; 2)what evidence from Us The Film Theorist uses to support his argument that Us is “really” about the failure of the American Dream (in other words, those parts/aspects of Us that form the basis of their argument/thesis in the video essay, and 3) the extent to whichyou find The Film Theorist’s overall argument in “What is Us REALLY About?” convincing and effective, so wrap things up here with some kind of concluding statement (do not give a re-cap/summary of what you just wrote in this paper, because that’s not concluding anything).
The Film Theorist’s video essay provides a great example/model for how you will be writing about literature this semester. It is structured exactly like the effective academic essays we read/assign in college literature courses. So, keep The Film Theorist’s argumentative approach in mind–even after this Response Paper–and remember that this is what you’re aiming for in your own papers about literature (in the style and structure of the argument).
How to structure your paper: probably the smartest way to structure this Response Paper is to make it three paragraphs long, at about 200-300 words per paragraph. (DO NOT MAKE THIS PAPER A SINGLE, LONG-ASS PARAGRAPH–in fact, never do that for any papers…unless the directions say to). You may also simply number the parts 1-3 and compose this as three separate sections. Just don’t make it one long paragraph…ever.
References/Works Cited entries–for your paper’s MLA-formatted Works Cited page (at the very end), so don’t forget to include these two entries on a separate/final page, along with ANY other outside sources that I definitely did not assign:
“Film Theory: What is Us Really About?” YouTube, uploaded by The Film Theorist, 6 April 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSmEn1qfhnU&t=4s.
Us. Directed by Jordan Peele, performances by Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Tim Heidecker, and Elizabeth Moss, Universal Pictures, Monkeypaw Productions, 2019.
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