A. All titles must be SPECIFIC and FOCUSED. A title is not the same as the name of the assignment. Your title should be yours alone. Thus, a title like "My English Paper" or "Film Review" is never appropriate because these titles could be on anybody else's paper and still provide as little information about the paper's content. Admittedly, "Film Review" gives a sense of the paper's content, but it is not specific enough. A better direction for the title of a film review might be "What Went Wrong with Wayne's World." Here, the title indicates that the paper is a film review by giving the exact title of the film being considered and shows the author's focus or direction or slant in the review as well.II. Concerning Introductions
B. A little CREATIVITY wouldn't hurt either. It never hurts to have a little fun with titles. Authors and editors spend time thinking about appropriate titles because it is the first thing readers have to go by in deciding what is worth reading and what is not. A good, catchy title may take as much thought and revision as a complete draft of a piece of writing. Yet students are often reluctant to put any effort into creating good titles. Sometimes, you can find a good bit of phrasing from the content of your paper to fashion into an excellent title; sometimes, you can borrow phrasing from another source. In either case, you might need to reform the phrase to fit the content of your paper a little better. For example, if the author found the film Wayne's World to be riddled with continuity errors, he might borrow the song phrase "We got five thousand dollars..." from the film, and rework it to fit his main idea in the review:
"We Got Five Thousand...," Um-m, Errors? A Review of Wayne's World.
Notice that in this title, quotation marks are used to indicate quoted material from the film, and italics are used to indicate the film's title. And the title is specific, focused, and creative.
A. Each introduction should begin with an interest-engaging statement or question. Even a film review can benefit from this approach.III. Concerning Body Paragraphs
B. Most introductions benefit from additional interest-engaging material--brief real-life examples, a short personal anecdote, effective quotations, a single dramatic question or series of questions. In the case of your film review, giving specific identifying information for the film is appropriate: title, director, release date, studio or production team, and main actors would be enough.
C. Introductions should not include announcements of what the writer intends to do; they should simply begin to do it. Rather than saying "I am reviewing the film...," you should simply start describing the film: "State of Fear is a string of intense, terrifying episodes leading to a massive, heart-attack-producing climax."
D. Introductions should clearly indicate the general subject matter, the specific aspect of the subject matter, and the directed focus the discussion will take.
E. Introductions should include a thesis statement or other general sentence that summarizes the gist of one's argument, focus, or main point. If you were basically dissatisfied with the film, let your reader know in the introduction. If you were thrilled by the film, let that message come through right away.
A. Each body paragraph should either provide specific, detailed support of one or another aspect of the discussion, argument, or analysis; or provide a transitional pivot or mini-introduction for the next segment of the presentation.IV. Concerning Conclusions
B. The discussion, argument, or analysis should proceed in an orderly and focused manner from point to point, ever mindful of the need to afford specific, detailed support (accurate information, relevant laws, definitions, axioms and proven knowledge, expert testimony) for each general point made. In other words, give the reader plenty of objective, specific information about the film, not your opinions. Instead of saying things like "The acting was good all the way through the film," write specifics like "When Matt Damon's character called the CIA field office in Berlin and Catherine Zeta-Jones's character realized he could see her in the office, the look of horror and realization that gripped her face was Academy Award-winning material. It was typical of the acting throughout the film."
C. Each body paragraph should flow smoothly from sentence to sentence, providing sufficient transitional and unifying elements along the way to minimize confusion for the reader. Avoid jumping loosely from one subject to another. A paragraph about acting shouldn't suddenly change into a paragraph about set design.
D. All sentences throughout the presentation should be eminently coherent and flawlessly edited. Read your work aloud to someone else. Better yet, have someone else read your work aloud to you, and listen for the smoothness of flow from one idea to the next.
E. If the body section is long, it should be interspersed with interest-sustaining material--illustrative examples or anecdotes, text breaks and section headings, mini-introduction paragraphs, interesting quotations, or short segments of dialogue, for example, from interviews. Graphs, tables, diagrams, maps, and photographs may help to relieve monotony and also to aid the reader's comprehension.
A. Besides meaning "ending," conclusion means "result or finding." It is important that a conclusion brings the reader back to confronting the main point or thesis offered in the introduction. Your film critique should conclude with an overall evaluation of the film, summarizing the main points you have made throughout the paper. You might want to add a recommendation for the type of audience the film seems best suited for, and perhaps an explanation of the MPA rating of the film: "The film was rated R by the MPA because of brief nudity and violence, but the violence is actually minimal and if the two-second clip of a naked rear end had been left out, the film could easily have been rated PG-13."V. Concerning Editing
B. If the discussion, argument, or analysis has been lengthy, then revisiting each of the general sub-points or topics of the body paragraphs will help the reader see the framework of the presentation more clearly.
C. In some situations, particularly persuasive writing, providing a practical application or specific recommendations for action might help the reader respond to the presentation.
D. In some other situations, it might be useful to reinforce the discussion or analysis with something memorable, such as an especially well crafted statement, a dramatic quotation, or a brief anecdote illustrating the main point.
A. Writers concerned about presenting a quality message take every precaution to avoid misunderstanding. They do not "struggle to be brief" if it means becoming ambiguous or obscure. They provide all the explanation needed for a specific audience.VI. Concerning Proofreading
B. Good writers avoid errors in syntax, usage, punctuation, and spelling as much as possible because these things cause misunderstanding.
C. Good writers are also concerned about misunderstandings that arise when their sentence structure and word choices are too general, too vague, or too downright confusing.
D. Most writers work closely with a writing group, a peer, or an editor to craft their writing.
E. A personal style and "voice" are welcome additions to a writer's toolbox, but should never be offered as lame excuses for rejecting good advice.
F. Specific editing requirements include:
1) No use of contractions except in direct quotes.
2) No use of the words/phrases THERE, VERY, REALLY (or substandard REAL as an adverb), QUITE, NICE, CUTE, NEAT, FUN as an adjective, PRETTY as an adverb, (A)LOT(S) OF, BABE, CHICK, DUDE, GUY, GONNA (or GOING TO) to signify intention, KINDA (or KIND OF) as an adverb, LIKE as an interjection or an adverb, SO as an unjustified intensifier, and STUFF as a noun. Additional prohibitions for the film review include KID (for CHILD), COP, (A) BUNCH(ES) OF, (A) TON(S) OF, EXTREMELY, SWEET or COOL (for GOOD), and THIS or SOME (for A/AN).
3) Whole numbers under twenty, or larger whole numbers that are expressed by a single, unhyphenated word, or any number at the beginning of a sentence, must be spelled out.
4) Symbols [EXCEPT for a currency symbol before a numeric amount, a percent sign in a statistically-laden report, or a variable, coefficient, chemical symbol, or operation symbol in a scientific or mathematical paper] and abbreviations [EXCEPT for generally recognized titles before or degrees, honors, and distinctions after a name, or standard acronyms like FBI and CIA] are not allowed.
5) Book, newspaper, magazine, and film titles are italicized; an unpublished manuscript, a short shory, an essay, an article, an editorial, a poem, and a chapter title are in quotation marks. NOTICE that throughout your paper, when you refer to the title of the fim you are reviewing, it is always in italics, without quotation marks (unless they are part of the original title) and without underlining.
A. If you are not gifted as a speller, use all the help you can get, including (but not limited to) spell-checkers, dictionaries, friends, and neighbors. It "ain't no crime" to admit you need help.VII. Concerning Format
B. Punctuation, grammar, usage, and capitalization issues are explained in your textbook. I am also available to assist you. You have NO EXCUSE for turning in a poorly proofed document.
A. The directions for format include minimum length (500 words), mandatory use of margins (default = 1"), font ( Times New Roman), pitch (size 12 for text and size 14 for titles), line spacing (double), and heading (Title centered four line spaces above text, bold-faced, size 14; name and block number in upper right-hand corner, above title).
B. Fancy fonts, varied sizes, colored text, and multi-featured text are not appreciated and will not be rewarded.
C. Final submissions will be printed cleanly for an evaluation copy and will be submitted to this website for an archive copy. Both submissions must be identical in form and content.