ENGL 101 English Composition 1 (Weller)

Use this research guide as you work through the Informative Essay assignment.

Your Essay Assignments & Research Logs

Critiquing the Critics

Write a 1000 to 1250 word critical discussion with at least two critics who have written scholarly articles on your chosen film or five online reviews focusing on their best critical commentary of your selected film (a combination of scholarly articles, reviews and interviews is preferred).

Your Essay Assignment:

Your Library Research Log:

Evaluation of a Film 

Write a 1750 -2000 word paper in which you write a critical evaluation of a film. You are evaluating the film based on the rhetorical appeals it makes to the audience’s: 

  • emotions (pathos)-the methods the film makers employ to emotionally engage or manipulate the audience, or which seem particularly creative or particularly contrived
  • morality (ethos)-the provocative or concerning social issues which the film either exploits or translates through a moral lens 
  • reason (logos)-the constructive and/or problematic use of  scene design, character development or plot construction.

You will also engage with the critics you critiqued in your first essay.

Keep in mind your source requirements for this essay: at least two critics who have written scholarly articles on your chosen film or five online reviews focusing on their best critical commentary of your selected film (a combination of scholarly articles, reviews and interviews is preferred).

Library Research Log

Getting Started with Research

Step into the Conversation on Film

You are stepping into ongoing conversations on film and culture. Those conversations take place everywhere! For this class, look for informed, thoughtful, analysis of the films you write about. There's lots out there that is too brief to be useful for academic work.

Here are a few general things to keep in mind.

RESEARH is a PROCESS. Give yourself time to explore and think about what others write and what YOU want to say in your writing.

Be STRATEGIC , FLEXIBLE, and PERSISTENT:

  • Try a range of search terms, or keywords, to find relevant sources on your films. Try synonyms or related words, as well as keywords about your film, filmmaker, the genre, a theme, type of information, etc.

  • try broad searches first, then narrow searches because search tools require different strategies
  • Keep an eye out for concepts (you can try them as search terms), names, and ideas. Use this new search vocabulary for your next search.
  • Look in more than one place. Use all the search tools available to you, such as the
    • library databases and our One Search
    • other libraries
    • the internet 

LEARN AS YOU do your research.

Be ETHICAL: give credit to others when you refer to or incorporate their ideas in your discussion

ASK FOR HELP when you need it!