ESSAY2: JUSTIFYING AN EVALUATION (FILM)

Word Count: 1000 word minimum not counting the works cited page or headings. (Essays shorter than this will see a deduction in the essay grade)

Be aware:

When an assignment is given, it will not include every aspect of what is expected. For example, my instructions don’t state that words must be spelled correctly or that periods must be included. These are also important elements when writing. A five-paragraph essay belongs in middle school and high school and not in college. An essay the length of 1000 words is too long for the basic format of the five-paragraph essay because paragraphs should not be pages long. In addition, as one advances through one’s education, essays get longer, and it is important to know how to organize an even longer essay. Could you imagine reading a 12 page essay containing only five paragraphs? It would get confusing and convoluted; the same thing happens on a smaller scale with 1000 words, so it is important to have at least eight paragraphs.

· Write a 1000 word minimum evaluation (a review) of Night of the Living Dead. The paper will include a works cited page for the movie and an optional review from Roger Ebert Film Reviews or the documentary Birth of the Living Dead; no other sources will be used. Choosing to use additional sources will result in lowering of the essay grade. Be aware that the works cited page and headings DO NOT COUNT TOWARD WORD COUNT. Word count only includes the body of the paper.

· Link to movie:

Night of the Living Dead

. You may need to click on “open this content in a new window.” Other options include opening the movie directly in YouTube, or if you are subscribed to Amazon Prime, the movie is also available there as of this posting. If viewing on YouTube, make sure you are watching the black and white version uploaded by American Film Institute published on Aug 26, 2014 and is the only approved source for the assignment. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER SOURCES for the works cited entry for the film.

· If you would like to view a documentary on the film, Amazon Prime also has Birth of the Living Dead. This documentary may be used as a secondary source in place of the Roger Ebert review; use one or the other, but not both.

· No. You may not substitute any other movie or alternative topic for this paper.

ESSAY 2: JUSTIFYING AN EVALUATION (

Night of the Living Dead

)

Length: Minimum of 1000 words not counting the Works Cited page or headings. Questions? Please ask.

OVERVIEW

The Justifying an Evaluation essay offers an evaluation of a specific subject. The author attempts to persuade the audience to examine a subject under a specific lens, one that the author outlines through carefully selected CRITERIA. The purpose of this essay is to
persuade
the audience to see the author’s point of view on the subject. For this essay, your task is to evaluate Night of the Living Dead. All students will evaluate Night of the Living Dead, so don’t ask to write about another film. Be aware that using any other film will result in a zero for the assignment. You must use the film as uploaded to YouTube by American Film Institute, and you will answer one of the following questions: WHAT MAKES Night of the Living Dead A GREAT FILM? OR WHAT MAKES Night of the Living Dead A TERRIBLE FILM? Other films or television shows will not be discussed in your essay so do not compare or contrast the assigned film with any films or television shows; discuss only what you believe makes Night of the Living Dead a good or bad film.

Be aware of the following policy in the syllabus concerning content:

Curriculum Requirements:

All courses, especially once one gets to the university level, may contain information that could be considered controversial and perhaps personally objectionable. The course content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Motlow, the English Department, or your instructor. It is worth adding that academic discourse requires a broad range of knowledge and information, and this does not mean one has to agree with it. Assignments do not cater to opinions or personal beliefs and focus on what can be learned from the process. As a result, I do not offer alternative assignments.

In the words of Aristotle, “It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

OPTIONAL SECONDARY SOURCES

You may use
ONE secondary source from the following website:

Roger Ebert Film Reviews

. No other sources will be used. Keep in mind that if you use dialogue from the film or any material from the review (secondary source), you’ll need to include in-text citations and a Work Cited page (see MLA section in your Rules for Writers or Purdue Owl).

OR (NOT BOTH)

You may use Birth of the Living Dead from Amazon Prime. No other sources will be used, and other films or television shows will not be discussed in your essay. Keep in mind that, if you use dialogue from the film or any material from the documentary (secondary source), you’ll need to include in-text citations and a Work Cited page (see MLA section in your Rules for Writers or Purdue Owl).

OUTLINE / ORGANIZATION / FORMALITY

The “

Sample Outline

” may help you organize your essay. You don’t have to use this outline; however, ensure you avoid the “and then this happened” trap mentioned in the PowerPoint. Avoid simply telling the audience what happens in the film (summary). You need to have clearly defined criteria, and you need to build your body paragraphs around that criteria. Since this is an academic essay, you should avoid the following as any of these will result in an automatic half letter grade deduction (Yes, one.):

· Casual words (YOU, WE, OUR, US, ME, MY, etc.)

· They are permitted within direct quotes ONLY.

· Contractions

· They are permitted within direct quotes ONLY.

· Rhetorical questions

· No questions will be used in my 1010 course.

Be aware that the essay MUST be properly formatted in 8th edition MLA Failure to do so will result in an automatic half letter grade deduction. As per the syllabus, all borrowed materials must be properly cited within the text and on a properly formatted works cited page. Remember that this is required and is not optional. Failure to give credit to a source is plagiarism and will be graded as such. Know that I am aware that there is a learning curve, and this will be taken into consideration; however, any material that is borrowed with no attempt at correct citation will be considered plagiarism. If you have questions, please send me your questions using the

Specific Questions Protocol

. You can do this!

SAMPLE ESSAY

The “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: A Hell of a Ride” by William Akana (page 292) is a well-written sample essay. It’s discussed throughout Chapter 8. Pay attention to the highlighted parts in the text that demonstrate how Akana constructs his argument. Be aware that this essay does contain elements that I do not want to see in your essay; DO NOT include these elements in your work.

FORMATTING and GUIDELINES

As with all your major paper assignments, you should follow the

Paper Formatting Guidelines

posted in the Grade Rubric folder. Refer to the MLA section in your Rules for Writers. Also, per the Paper Formatting Guidelines, “Each writing assignment for this class must be your original work.” Therefore, this paper should be original work you’ve created for the first time after having read this assignment sheet. You cannot use a paper you have previously written. Doing so constitutes self-plagiarism and will receive a zero. In addition, the introduction must contain a

three-point thesis statement

at the end of the introduction; it is a requirement that the three-point thesis be the last sentence within the introduction and that all topic sentences refer directly back to the thesis statement.

“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”

Since Scott Pilgrim is the film discussed in the Akana essay, this film cannot be reviewed for this assignment. The only film that can be evaluated for this assignment is Night of the Living Dead, so do not ask to use an alternate film.