English 120, Spring 2015
Project 1
Perspectives on Education in Popular Media: A Rhetorical Analysis
POINTS: 25
LENGTH: aprx. 4 pp, double-spaced.MLA manuscript and documentation rules:
DUE DATES
1st draft due SEPT. 16
2nd draft due at scheduled conference, between SEPT. 21 and SEPT. 28
Final draft due OCT. 2
Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.
― Mahatma Gandhi
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
― Mark Twain
The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”
― T.H. White, The Once and Future King
Background
Since, for many students, English 120 is one of their first or earliest college courses, and because "education" is the thing that is happening (or not—ha) right in front of us, our first general subject for this course will actually be "education." It’s a subject of much concern in recent years, because the U.S. has been steadily lagging far behind other industrialized nations in terms of test scores and quality of learning.
Having been a student for most of your life, how do you feel, so far, about your own education? What have been its strengths and weaknesses? Who were your good and not-so-good teachers? What qualities make a teacher or a class "good"? What is the best environment for learning? Why are you now at SU—why are you spending so much of your own or your parents' money on "higher learning"? What foundation do you believe was laid or not laid for your experience here? What is meant by the "education crisis," how, if at all, have you experienced it personally, and what efforts have been made to solve it?
For this project we will begin by examining a few general approaches to learning (e.g., "classical" vs. "progressive"), investigate some of our culturally received and/or unconscious assumptions about education, recall learning experiences we've had ourselves, and read some sharply contrasting perspectives. This is the "get the juices flowing" segment of the project. You will also be introduced at this point to an expository genre called "rhetorical analysis."
We will then begin to think about how learning is represented in popular media. We can learn about the education crisis, of course, in books, magazine articles, websites, even courses in Education right here at NDSU—but our personal views in fact are often largely shaped by entertainment media, and film is arguably one of its most powerful forms. Films about students, teachers, classrooms et al are very common and even constitute a whole genre or category of film.
For Project #1, our class will watch a sample film and analyze its rhetoric together, and then you will repeat the same process independently with your choice of movie.
The central question of this assignment is basically: what does the film you will watch say about education? What argument is it making about teachers, students, school environments, curricula, key problems, methods, etc.
Instructions
Choose a film which is clearly about education or the learning process in some way. Using the tools of rhetorical analysis practiced in class and the ideas presented in Writing Today, write an essay which dispassionately examines the film's explicit and implicit claims and appeals about education. Develop a central controlling idea (thesis) which will help tie your analysis together.
Note: this is primarily an objective analysis, but it should contain some critique as well. That is, at the end of your essay, you can offer a brief assessment of the film's argument and whether or not it is convincing.
Audience and Purpose
Imagine that you are a member of a local PTA, and your group of teachers and concernedparents have lately been discussing what messages are being conveyed to kids and the general population through popular films. Many of these PTA members are particularly concerned about films having to do with education—schools, students, teachers—and what those movies are telling us about what it means to learn in the 21st century in America. Our schools are not functioning as well as they might, and many of these parents and teachers suspect that popular culture is conditioning all of us to think about education in harmful ways.
Several of the parents, then, and you of course, are going to watch their choice of such films, analyze its argument and messages, and then write up their objective findings in a rhetorical analysis.
Your purpose is to better understand the ideas being conveyed by the film you’ve chosen, and also to encourage an audience of parents and teachers to critically examine messages we are all receiving about education in popular media.
Some Movie Suggestions
- Whiplash
- Dead Poet's Society
- Higher Education
- Wonder Boys
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips
- The Miracle Worker
- Blackboard Jungle
- To Sir, With Love
- The Breakfast Club
- School of Rock
- Stand and Deliver
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- The Man Without a Face
- Mr. Holland's Opus
- Mona Lisa Smile
- Educating Rita
- School Ties
- Boys N the Hood
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
- The Paper Chase
Evaluation Criteria and Rubric
Each item below is worth a possible 5 points:
_____ Focus and Thesis
The essay should have a clear focus related to the unit topic of education, apparent early on and emphasized consistently throughout. This is not a heavily thesis-centered essay, but it’s good to have a broad central point, even if it’s something rather non-controversial like, “The film Dead Poet’s Society presents a clear argument about education and can easily be rhetorically analyzed.”
_____ Support and Development
The essay uses the methods of rhetorical analysis which we’ve discussed in class. It also shows understanding and appropriate application of the chief terms used in this unit:
- Rhetorical situation
- Rhetorical stance
- Rhetorical appeals
- Ethos (ethical character of the argument—the overall tone of the argument and its ethical appeals; also the character and credibility of the person making the argument, including how that person handles opposing viewpoints and sources
- Pathos (emotional appeals—what the writer [or filmmaker] wants the audience to feel, such as sorrow, fear, hope, anxiety, horror, etc.) This should include examination of the film's visual appeals.
- Logos (logical appeals in defense of the film’s argument—fact, principle, first-hand account, expert sources, common-sense reasoning. logical cause and effect events, etc.
The essay discusses each of these elements with ample specific detail (examples, descriptions, quotations) from the film in question.
_____ Organization and Coherence
The essay’s paragraphs are focused and developed with helpful transitions. Also, the various segments of the essay (one for rhetorical situation, one for rhetorical stance, etc.) are clearly distinguished, with helpful transitions between those sections.
_____ Editing, Proofreading, and Genre Conventions
The essay shows conscientious editing to eliminate mechanical errors such as comma splices, incomplete sentences, fused sentences, typos, etc. It also shows conscientious editing for smooth, concise, lucid sentence style. All sources are documented according to MLA format and the essay is formatted according to MLA manuscript guidelines.
_____ Attention to Class Discussion, Readings, and Resources
The essay shows attention to, and effectively applies, the readings, presentations, lectures and discussions for this project.
Grade Scale
A = outstanding = 22-25 pts. Fulfills all assignment criteria with distinction; creative and insightful (thesis is genuinely illuminating and fresh); paragraphs are extra-well crafted; sentences show standard editing and proofreading, and also demonstrate elegance, varied length and structure, and smoothness. Essay may have a minor flaw or two, but these are overshadowed by the strengths.
B = very good = 18.5-21.5 pts. Fulfills all or nearly all assignment criteria; may lack creative spark or flare, or may have an undistinguished or somewhat obvious thesis, but otherwise presents a well-written argument. Paragraphs are focused and developed with good transitons. Sentences are edited and proofread.
C = ok = 15-18 pts. Fulfills most assignment criteria at least marginally, or may fulfill some criteria very well and others with noticeable weakness. Some paragraphs may be unfocused and undeveloped, and/or some sentences may lack proofreading and editing.
D = poor = 11.5-14.5 pts. Fulfills only some of the criteria, or, while fulfilling one or two reasonably well, is conspicuously lacking for most others. Likely shows very weak paragraphing. Likely shows poor editing and proofreading.
F = unacceptable = 0 pts. Does not fulfill any or a reasonable number of criteria.
Helpful Resources(some of these may be integrated into your essay, and more can be found in our Major Project Assignments folder in Bb!)
Interesting piece about high school dress codes in North Dakota!
Article about how teachers are represented in popular movies
PBS Survey of Student Views of Education (video)
Representations of Teachers in 60 Years of Film
The 10 Worst Teachers in Movie History
Schools and Teachers in the Movies (excellent bibliography)
Teachers on the Big Screen
Camera work in cinematography: “To help you further understand how to analyze a film using these three rhetorical appeals, you will need to know some cinematography film terms. While in the editing process of a film, the selected editors use a 'cut' or change from one shot to another without using a fade or other type of transition to move onto the next shot. For example, in Twilight, the editors cut away from Edward to Bella during their conversation he saves her in the parking lot. Other transition techniques are fade, wipe, and dissolve. All of these are used to create the effects that writers, producers and editors want you to see. Lastly, long shots, medium shots, and close-ups are used to show things like the emotion in a characters face(close-up), or the atmosphere around them (medium shot) or the entire ship while its in warp speed while in space (long shot).”
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