Film Paper Rubric:

The first paper must be 5 pages double spaced, standard margins, size 12 Times
New Roman font. The paper must be 5 full length pages. Also include a separate
cover page with your name, the class, the date, and paper title.

Paper guidelines:

Students may write on any pair of films they choose. In writing the paper, you will
include two sections. The first will explore the political relevance of the first film
you watched; the second section will explore the political relevance of the second
film.

Any good paper typically adheres to a standard outline. The student’s paper should
include a brief introduction (no more than a page), with some sort of attention
grabber. The use of some interesting fact or scene from the film, or some other
“hook” is helpful and will improve the paper’s quality.

The introduction should be immediately followed with the student’s first thesis
statement, which must be in italics. Students who do not provide their thesis in
italics will lose points. The thesis should include the “what” and the “why” of your
argument. It often helps to say explicitly what the point of your paper is (for
example, “In this paper, I will argue that…”). This constitutes the “what” of your
paper. What is your specific argument? The “why” includes a very, very brief
discussion of the main two or three points in the paper you will include in making
your argument. The “what” and the “why” of your paper’s thesis should be no
longer than one sentence. Since you will be writing your paper in two separate
parts, you will need two separate theses, one at the start of each section (which
both must be italicized).

Every other part of your paper should flow tightly from your introduction and thesis.
Ask yourself one simple question when writing your paper: does each and every
sentence in the work relate directly back to my thesis, and if so, how? You should
always, always, always, construct a basic paper outline before you begin writing, so
that you know where you are going in the paper and so that you make sure you
have enough space to make your arguments. Your outline should include things
such as the topical sentence of each paragraph (which should relate directly back to
your thesis), and the supporting sentences for each paragraph, which should
include the statistics, main points, quotations, or other points you will employ that
relate directly back to your thesis. As mentioned in class, I am willing to look over
any thesis, outline, or draft up to one week before the paper is due (no exceptions).

Finally, you should include a conclusion in your paper, no longer than a page, which
takes the work in a new direction. You should not simply restate the points of your
paper. I don’t need to read that again, since you’ve already just made those
arguments! Your thesis should focus on a more general theme or the more general
implications of your research for the area of political science, or simply the
implications for democracy. What is the main lesson to be learned from your paper?
Make sure this is more than just a simple summary.

I have included below some examples of a good versus bad thesis. Remember, a
good thesis includes what you will argue and why you feel that way.

A bad thesis: “In this paper, I will discuss the political relevance of the film Hotel
Rwanda and its importance for international politics and human rights.”

A good thesis: “In this paper, I will argue that the film Hotel Rwanda demonstrates
the continued inability of the United Nations and international law, in its current
form, to protect basic human rights.”

A bad thesis: “In this paper, I will discuss the relevance of Wall-E to the study of
environmental sustainability. I will examine why the issues of litter and pollution
are important today.”

A good thesis: “In this paper, I will discuss the implications of the film Wall-E for
sustainable development; the film is powerful because it demonstrates that the
current levels of consumption in the U.S. and throughout the rest of the world are
unsustainable and may threaten our very existence in the future.”

Remember, a specific thesis is always a better thesis. If you have any additional
questions, please contact me via email, in class, or stop by during office hours:

adimagg@ilstu.edu