Video Essay: MLA Citation Help

The Purdue Owl is the best place to go for help with citing other types of sources.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/09/

Here are some example citations for common types of video essay sources:

Music/Audio
AC/DC. "Highway to Hell." Highway to Hell. Atlantic Records, 1979. CD.

Personal Interviews
Schiffman, Roger. Personal Interview. 11 Nov. 2009.

*Furby inventor

Cuckoo's Nest Film Response **Optional**

For up to five points, you have the option of writing a response discussing one significant difference between the film and novel versions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Video Essay Project Help and Hints

As you define and refine your topic and work to articulate your claim, focus on how best to communicate your message to your audience. The techniques employed by documentarians effectively manipulate images and music to enhance the emotional appeals of their arguments. What images and music will make your claim more convincing? Moreover, how can you weave the different media together to create a coherent, compelling argument? Many websites offer tips on all aspects of documentary making, but you should work with your group to limit the scope of your project to what you can reasonably accomplish before Nov. 18.

Morgan and the "McGurgles"

Morgan Spurlock's extreme diet demonstrates the hazards of consuming too much fast food. Since so much of the American diet contains processed, fatty items, obesity has become a significant, widespread epidemic. Does Spurlock's documentary effectively identify the problem and offer a solution? Is his experiment a valid one, and does he treat the issue fairly? Who is responsible for the negative health outcomes that fast food causes?

Spurlock uses an expository direct address in his documentary. How does this compare or contrast with Michael Moore's interactive approach? Which part of Supersize Me did you find most effective? Did one particular track (audio, visual or text) have a greater impact on you than the others?

Are there any issues that you would be willing to make sacrifices for as Spurlock did in making this film? What would you be willing to give up in order to make a difference for a cause that you support?

Advertising or Gender Essay

Using the pieces in Mirror on America as models, compose an essay that focuses on the way gender roles or advertising informs your daily life. You may choose something serious (impact of Barbie or unrealistic female body images on girls' self-esteem; impact of excessive commercialization on mental and physical health) or something lighter (differences between boys and girls; why funny commercials are so successful). Develop your discussion using specific details from your own personal experience/observations and at least one outside source (an article, research study, etc.). Use the following guidelines as you develop your paper:

• 500 - 1000 words (roughly 2 - 4 pages)


• clear, controlling thesis (refer to the 'Thesis Statement Basics' handout) in the introduction


• body paragraphs that support the thesis, develop the discussion with specific, supporting details, and link logically to the thesis


• engages at least one outside source (either supporting or refuting your claim)


• demonstrates mature diction and sentence structure


• demonstrates control over grammar, usage, and mechanics
  

Have a complete first draft completed by Thursday, Oct. 22.
A final, revised version of the paper is due Thursday, Oct. 29.

"Reptilian Hot Buttons" Ad Analysis

In The Persuaders, Clotaire Rapaille claims that consumers respond to unconscious cues that push "reptilian hot buttons" in our brain and bypass rational decision-making. Select an ad (from TV, print, radio, or the internet) and analyze its subrational content. What does the ad tell you about American culture in general and the target consumers in particular? What "reptilian hot buttons" does the ad push? Develop a short, well-reasoned essay that discusses your insights and present your findings to the class (you can either print or post on your group blog). You can find clips to many television commercials at advertisementave.com.

You also may find it helpful to consider Maslow's hierarchy in analyzing your ad's appeals to individual desires for fulfillment. Do you see any evidence in your ad for rational appeals to consumers?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

As you read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, consider the targets of Ken Kesey's narrative: the hospital, with its emasculating nurse and sadistic orderlies, stifles individual expression (read male urges) and renders the patients both figuratively and literally impotent. The novel's "Combine," an allegorical representation of the oppressive forces of conformity in Kesey's world, and its main enforcer, Nurse Ratched, systematically prey on the men's neuroses and alienate them from their own free-spirited natures.

The book has received much criticism (and been banned in many schools) for its apparent misogyny (the female characters are either castrating nurses or prostitutes) and racism (the African American orderlies are charicatured as cartoonishly sadistic "black boys"). Do you think such criticisms are fair? What challenges does having a narrator who is a paranoid schizophrenic, often divorced from reality, present for the reader?

After the novel won wide acclaim, Kesey became a cultural icon, traveling around the country in a bus with a group called the Merry Pranksters. How did the novel help usher in the cultural changes that defined the 1960's?

Gender Identity: Using research to support your argument

Many of the essays on gender that we read cited research findings to support their arguments. Spend some time looking through research on gender differences. Next, post a well-constructed paragraph that uses research to present your findings about gender differences. Be sure to list specific, relevant details in addition to linking your post to your research findings.

You may want to refer back to "Men Just Want Mommy" by Maureen Dowd or "Math is Hard, Barbie said" by Sharon Begley. Both authors use research to develop their arguments about gender differences.

As you proceed, here are some ideas to keep in mind: Nature versus nurture, hard-wired versus plastic (pertaining to brain development, not the plastics from Mean Girls), gender achievement gaps, etc.

Gender Identity and Culture

Do the gender stereotypes reflected (and exploited) in popular culture define and codify gender identity, or do they derive from fundamental, innate gender differences? To what extent do the messages about what it means to be male and female that we see in television, film, print, and web media influence our gender identities?

As you reflect on the gender stereotypes that pervade our culture, consider their implications: are they dangerous pigeonholes that limit understanding and personal growth (as many strident writers have noted), or are they less insidious charicatures, more deserving of playful mocking and armchair speculation (Dave Barry and Maureen Dowd) than passionate rebuke (Sut Jahlly and Jackson Katz in Tough Guise)? Additionally, what gender issues does screenwriter Tina Fey explore (and lampoon) in Mean Girls?

College Writing

The ability to think on your feet, to read a rich piece of prose, glean its purpose and message, and reflect that understanding in a well-reasoned, fully-developed essay defines much of the writing you'll be asked to do after high school. As you work to develop your skill at composing impromptu essays, consider the following elements of good writing:

• Clarity - Have you written a focused, controlling thesis?


• Specificity - Are your supporting examples specific enough?


• Coherence - Do your transitions allow your reader to follow your thinking easily?


• Concision - Have you said what you have to say in as few words as possible?


• Interest - Does your writing offer the reader any compelling insights?


• Stylistic Maturity - Does your writing demonstrate the control of language and basic adherence to rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics that college professors will expect?

Strive to enhance your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Good writing need not be perfect writing. Above all, have something to say, and say it well.

Melting Pot or Salad Bowl?

As we continue our cultural identity discussions, be sure to look around you as you move through the hallways and pass through the commons. Is Groves a melting pot or a salad bowl? Does our school climate allow expression of cultural differences or are cultural differences minimized in order to highlight similarities between students? What are the benefits and potential drawbacks of "melting pots" and "salad bowls"? What pressures do students encounter to fit within the school's culture? Are there any costs for fitting in?

Does Groves reflect anything in larger American culture? You may consider Billy Collin's poem, "The Names," which includes many surnames of different ethnicities in a memorial for victims of September 11th or Lorraine Ali's essay, "Do I Look Like Public Enemy Number One," in which her father changes his name to "Allen" when he makes dinner reservations. What role does language play in preserving and establishing a cultural identity?

Fahrenheit 9/11: Persuasion or Propaganda?

Moore's controversial film attacks and ridicules President Bush and his administration for the failure to anticipate and respond effectively to the events of 9/11/01. Consider the message and methods of the film. Does it amount to a valid piece of rational discourse, mere ad hominem (argumentation through personal attack) propaganda, or something in between? How accurate is the evidence Moore presents in the film?

In his scathing critique of the film, writer Christopher Hitchens challenges Moore's film for its misrepresentation of facts and the manipulative way it presents information. After viewing the film and reading Hitchens' essay, begin a blog group discussion about the controversy. Brendan Nyhan's Spinsanity website also analyzes the film for factual distortions (and provides links to others who do as well). Still, Moore defends his facts and techniques on his own website. How can you determine who's right here?

Blog Beginnings: 9/11 and Popular Culture

Once you have sent Mr. Inloes the link to your blog, start a discussion thread among your group members concerning the impact that the events of 9/11/01 have had on popular culture. Was Wiltz right in discounting the dramatic pronouncements of pundits immediately following the event, or will daily American life be forever altered in a fundamental way? You may also want to respond to Sontag’s concerns about the “infantilization” of public discourse.

Has viewing the disturbing images from On Native Soil changed your perspective on the impact of 9/11 on our culture? The film’s stark editing and dramatic soundtrack evoke a visceral response to the documented events. I found myself watching with a lump in my throat, a factor of both the memories of the day and the style of the film.