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Port 129A - Portuguese Cinema

How to write a cinema essay

 1. The Topic

Write a sentence – in your own words – summarizing the theory, idea or


problem you are going to discuss. It may very well be the film or the topic we
studied you liked the most.

 2. The Film

You should pick a film to write on. Your choice of film needs to make sense in
light of the topic. In this class you can choose which film do you want to write
on, and you can even compare with a film other than the ones that you studied
in class, but you should ask your professor’s opinion first (during your oral
exposition, the professor will/can also advice you). Be sure you understand what
is expected of you from your film choice. If you are not sure if your chosen film
works with the topic: a) you have chosen the wrong topic (because you do not
understand it sufficiently) and/or b) you have chosen the wrong film to study.
You should not have any doubt about the topic or the film you have chosen. You
should be confident about your choices.

 3. The Arguments

In the film, find three examples which reflect your summation of the topic itself.
Think about taking some screengrabs from the film. Ask yourself “Why does
this image suggest that João de Deus is a controversy’s character?” or “What is
it about the mise-en-scene that says “German Romanticism’?, or “What is it
about this particularly moment in the film which reflects the ideas you are trying
to discuss?”

 4. The Essay

You should pick one of your four reaction papers and take your first relevant
screengrab/point in the movie, and just start writing – freestyle. Explain to
me why this image/point is relevant to the topic. Once you’ve finished your first
point, move on to the second, etc. At this stage, just freestyle it; don’t worry
about quotes (yet). If your discussion is only two or three sentences long, then
write those and then move on. Once this is done, leave off writing for a moment

 5. The Quotations

Secondary sources: use these to back your analysis. Don’t use your analysis to
prove someone else’s theory/idea. Your essay should be about your ideas, not
theirs. Read/research the points you have made. (Although this does assume
you have done some reading on the topic already.) Find quotes which support
what you are saying. Then stick them in where appropriate. Use your
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knowledge from other fields or from your actual major, like psychology,
sociology, to support your opinion.

 6. The Readings

What do we mean by “appropriate readings”? Each topic you could write on will
have a required reading list attached to it, in your gaucho space. You will
need a very good reason for not including these in your essay. Beyond the
required reading list, you still need to find more “stuff”. Use the bibliographies
and references to the articles and chapters from the required readings. This
should not take more than 10-15 minutes to do. And this is all without using
internet pages or websites (which in most cases, we would advise against using
in the first place).

The introduction

1. Your summary sentence of the topic;

2. A single sentence plot description of the film you have chosen to discuss;
and

3. A summary sentence of your three points.

And that’s all for your introduction. That’s all you need. Assuming you’ve done
Steps 4-6, your essay is now, pretty much, done. If you are stuck writing your
conclusion, just reverse your introduction: Restate your three points, note how it
works within the film, and then restate the topic.

 Final information

Your final essay should have 8 – 10 pages, double spaced, 12 Times New
Roman.

You should cite every time you:

 Quote

 Paraphrase

 make a passing reference to someone else’s work

When in doubt, cite! And remember to always include page numbers in your
citations.

Good Luck!

Marta Mendes Braga


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(adapted from Dr. Mikel J. Koven, Senior Lecturer, Film Studies, September 2017)

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