Writing Homework Help

Choose one film scene from the following film list:

Film list:

1. Smoke Signals (dir. Chris Eyre) 

2.  Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (dir. Stephen Daldry). 

3. Fight Club

4.  A River Runs through It. 

This is a film literature class, do not summary the film, need to choose one scene and analysis its specific details. 

One example essay is post in attached file. 

A  definition of close reading:

Close reading is a technique of textual analysis that describes the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text (or in the case of film, a scene). It consists of observation, analysis, and argument. Such a reading places emphasis on the particular over the general, paying attention to individual words, syntax, genre conventions, and the order in which sentences and ideas unfold (translated for close reading a film: pay close attention to image, sound, editing, dialogue, body language of actors, transitions, shots, etc.). Attention to these details often supports arguments about a text overall, though this is not always the case. Close reading is a fundamental method of literary scholarship. 

1. Observation: 

Watch a particular scene that strikes you as significant slowly and carefully. Take notes, paying attention to the details of the film, noting especially things about the scene that create patterns or that seem odd. Note how the scene feels overall, and what particular details help to compose this feeling. Note if there are any shifts in tone or mood. Note any details that seem to suggest significant ideas, analogies, or allusions to other texts. Consider choices the filmmakers have made in crafting the particular scene. It is important to linger in this stage for as long as possible so you can really take in as much about your chosen scene as you can. You can always come back to this stage if you get stuck in the analysis stage. 

2. Analysis: 

Explain what work each textual trait you have observed does in your chosen passage/scene. Explain how each textual trait you have observed creates or contributes to the meaning of the passage/scene. Do the textual traits you have observed work together to create meaning? Do they create conflicting meanings? 

3. Argument: 

Look at your observations and analysis and determine whether they come together to make or support an argument. Do the details you’ve noticed point to a subtext below the surface content of the text? Does this passage respond to particular events, texts or historical, social, economic, and political circumstances? Based on your observations and analysis, develop a specific interpretative argument about your passage. Consider positioning your argument in relationship to that of other literary scholars (totally optional for this course—unless you plan to complete the advanced labor projects). Say how the passage illuminates the text as a whole. Ask yourself how the passage provides insight into the text and its contexts. Use your observations and analysis as evidence for your argument.