Be A Social
Sciences Movie Critic
Viewing a film with a critical eye is an essential skill as a social scientist. In many ways movies are a reflection of the world around us and serve as a good medium to educate, criticize and evaluate what we see around us. For this assignment you need to put on your sociological lens.
The Task:
Over the course of the past couple of weeks we have watched Pleasantville, American History X, Cry Freedom, (or Crash). After viewing the films, write a social sciences movie review on ONE of the movies watched in class. Your review should include but is not limited to the following:
- offer a brief (VERY BRIEF) synopsis of the film (200 words max)
- a description of how the characters are portrayed and their significance to the film
- What groups or attitudes are represented by the various characters? What does the film achieve by this?
- describe the central themes / messages the film is trying to convey…….Here, you would want to back up your claim with evidence, so show a certain scene or interactions between characters that represents the theme you discussed
- What questions (social, political, historical, economic etc.) does this film raise?
- Were there any stereotypes in the movie? Were they intentional?
- How is this film linked to the course? ……be sure to incorporate social science terminology as much as possible
- Your overall general impression of the film. How did you like the film? What do you feel was strong about the film? What needed improvement?
NOTES:
1) You can
select other issues, or raise other questions, as long as they are substantive
in nature.
2) Do NOT write a paper that simply lists a bunch of answers to the above questions. A review should follow general essay organizational form. Make sure you include an introduction and conclusion that outlines and / or sums up the main points in your review. Show me you have thought about the film and made connections between the film and what you’ve learned in class.
Be A
Social Sciences Movie Critic
|
Criteria |
Level 4 (80-100%) |
Level 3 (70-79%) |
Level 2 (60-69%) |
Level 1 (50-59%) |
|
Knowledge - Knowledge &
Understanding of film and the Time Period & Events within which it is
set. - - - Understanding of concepts
being dealt with |
clearly explaining the
relationship between the film’s portrayal of the issues and real life - Information presented is
informative, organized and original in scope |
- explaining the
relationship between the film’s portrayal of the issues and real life - Information presented is
informative organized and develops the topic |
-making some effort to
explain the relationship between the film’s portrayal of the issues and real
life - Answers are mostly complete, informative
and some evidence supports the topic |
-making a limited effort to
explain the relationship between the film’s portrayal of the issues and real
life - Answers are not complete as information is
unfocussed |
|
Application - Ranking and Critique of
Film |
providing a clear and
justified critique of the film |
-providing a justified critique
of the film |
-providing a critique of the
film |
-does not provide a critique
of the film |
|
Thinking / Inquiry - clear analysis of
research, questioning and reflecting upon the film |
-making excellent connections
to social issues, terminology and historical events with evidence and/or
current events |
-making considerable connections
to social issues, terminology and
historical events with evidence and/or current events |
-Lacking a varied use of connections
to social issues, terminology and
historical events with some evidence and/or current events |
-making little use of connections
to social issues, terminology and
historical events with weak evidence |
|
Communication -Volume, language, fluency
and physical expression |
-begins with a clear intro.
that sets the scene -providing clear
descriptions of segments and their relation to society in a highly
effective presentation style -ending with a clear and
effective conclusion, summing up the evidence |
-begins with an intro. the
sets the scene -providing descriptions of
segments and their relation to society in an effective
presentation style -ending with a clear
conclusion, summing up the evidence |
-begins with an intro. that
attempts to set the scene
-ending with a conclusion
and attempts to sum up the evidence |
-Begins with an intro. that
does not set the scene -providing clear descriptions
segments and their relation to society in a poor presentation style -ending with a conclusion
and makes little attempt to sum up the evidence |