Larkin/English 120 Movie Review Assignment Sheet Important Dates Day Seven: Movie Review Assignment first full

draft due via email to Mr. Larkin before class. Bring one clean, typed, and stapled copy of your complete draft with you to class for peer review. Day Eight: Movie Review Assignment pencil grade due. This should be a clean, typed, and stapled copy of your complete assignment.

The Assignment and Rationale This unit introduces students to genre awareness by using something with which they are already familiar: movies and TV shows. Through the assigned readings, in-class activities and homework, students will become familiar with writing within genres and for different audiences. The assignment requires students to write three reviews of either movies or individual episodes of TV shows situated within a particular genre (e.g. if writing reviews about superhero TV shows, the student could write about an individual episode of Arrow, Smallville and Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) In order to demonstrate genre awareness and understanding of genre flexibility/stability, each review will need to include the expectations of the particular genre and the ways in which the movie/TV show meets, or doesnt meet, those expectations. While genre discussions arent always relevant to a review, it will provide students with an opportunity to explore stability/flexibility within genres. Another important part of the unit is introducing students to writing for different audiences. Often, first-year students enter college having only written for their teachers, but its vital for them to identify real-world audiences for their writing and understand the ways in which the audience informs the style. In order to explore audience and style, students will be required to write each review for an increasingly formal audience as follows: 1. one review written for a personal blog -- audience is mostly peers (e.g. Skinny Sofa Spud) 2. one review written for a professional site -- audience is general public (e.g. Rotten Tomatoes, IGN) 3. one review written for a major publication -- audience is educated and savvy to technical movie/TV elements (e.g. Roger Ebert) At the end of the semesterafter students have had the opportunity to revise their reviewsI will post all the reviews on a website to create a living document that students can visit to read their and other student reviews. Ultimately, this unit provides students with a fun, non-intimidating introduction to writing in different genres for a variety of audiences and styles. Developing and Designing your Reviews Rather than a required page limit, each review should be 300-350 words (a little less than two pages) and written in MLA style. Each review will also include a Works Cited page for the movie or TV show you are reviewing, as well as any other sources you use in your discussion of genre expectations. We will use the information presented in Chapter 6 of Writing Today as our guide for developing a review. Refer to the At-A-Glance on page 85. Each review will include: Introduction: Your introduction will identify the genre you are working within and your expectations for that genre, as well as the three movies/TV shows being reviewed. Each review should include a description of the movie/TV show. Each review needs to include a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of

Description: Discussion:

the movie/TV show, as well as a discussion about whether or not the movie/TV show meets the expectations of the genre. Conclusion: Works Cited: Your overall judgment of the movie/TV show. Would you recommend it? How many stars/points/etc. would you give it? Create a Works Cited list where you cite the movie/TV show you reviewed and any other sources you used.

Rhetorical Situation/The Five Factors As a critical reader of genres, you need to consider the rhetorical situation/the five factors that inform the intention of the text/document. Equally, then, as a writer of genres, you need to pay close attention to these same considerations in order to communicate effectively. For this report, use these five factors as your guide: Genre: Purpose: Movie/TV show review To review three movie/TV shows within a particular genre so your readers understand their strengths, limitations, and adherence to its genre expectations. Audience: one review written for a personal blog -- audience is mostly peers (e.g. Skinny Sofa Spud); one review written for a professional site -- audience is general public (e.g. Rotten Tomatoes, IGN); and one review written for a major publication -- audience is educated and savvy to technical movie/TV elements (e.g. Roger Ebert) Style/Voice: Writing Today, Chapter 12 and 16, details something called plain style, which is a combination of both first-person prose and a more objective, straightforward delivery of content. Social Context: Your audience and topic exists in the right now, the current moment. Your review is aimed at reaching into the general public, beyond the academic settings of our classroom. Evaluation/Rubric: 100 points: A= 100-90 B= 89-80 C= 79-70 D= 69-60 F= 59-0 Evaluation Criteria: Movie Review Project A Review/Genre Requirements: All elements/features of the review are present. There is a clear awareness of the goals and requirements of the review genre and the document fulfills the basic expectations of such a genre. There is evidence of attention to delivery appropriate to the review genre. Development and Detail in Service of Purpose: The content presented in the review is meaningful, thoughtful, and thorough. Ideas, observations, insights, and conclusions are well-developed and closely detailed, particularly in light of the overall purpose of a review. Audience/Style and Voice: The review is written in plain style throughout, and there is clear attention to appropriate audience consideration regarding voice/tone. MLA Citation/End Materials: Proper MLA style is employed throughout the document, including in-text citations and Works Cited pages. Mechanics, Grammar, Spelling: Standard edited English is used throughout the review. Proofreading is evident. B C D F