Writing Assignment: Media Analysis
You are required to submit the FINAL copy of this
assignment, but you may first submit an optional
DRAFT. This will allow you to receive qualitative feedback
that can inform your revision. You should
always avoid focusing solely on the grader’s DRAFT feedback;
use the feedback as a supplement to the
course lessons and your own revision ideas. Always expect to
revise beyond what the DRAFT grader
specifically notes if you want to improve your score.
For this media analysis, you will analyze how one part
affects the whole media production.
Note that you should select only a single piece of media;
you should not be discussing more
than one film, for example. You should choose one1 of the
following parts to explore:
? Genre: Explain how the production you
chose fits into its genre.
? Camera: Analyze how the camera’s use
(camera angles, for instance) affects the
overall production.
? Lighting: Describe how lighting is used
to enhance or detract from the production.
? Actors/Characters: Analyze how
the actors OR the characters themselves enhance or
detract from the production.
? Symbols: Explain what the symbols are
and how their usage affects the overall
production.
? Music: Describe how the music enhances
or detracts from the media production.
? Sound Effects: Analyze how the sound
effects enhance or detract from the
production.
? Special Effects: Explain what special
effects are used and how they affect the viewing
experience.
? Comparison to a Literary Work: (Note:
This option may only be chosen if the film you
chose is also in print form.) How are the book and film
similar? How are they
different? Which is better, and why?
Your purpose in this assignment is to explain how or why
something works; therefore, you
should not include a full summary of the media production.
Instead, you can provide context
where needed so the reader understands what is happening.
The body of the essay must
1 Please review the rubric and note that you will not earn
full credit if you analyze more than one of these
components.
focus on your analysis. You can use the ideas contained in
the Media Analysis lesson
presentation and the Writer’s Handbook link to help you.
As with all college writing, your essay should have a strong
thesis statement in addition to an
introduction, body, and conclusion.
Other than your chosen film, television show, and/or book,
you are required to cite at least
one other credible2
source for this essay. This resource from the course will
help you
understand more about evaluating sources. Moreover, if you
use specific information from
the media production and/or print source, such as a
quotations, you should include your
chosen media source on your Works Cited page, too. Use
proper parenthetical citations or
signal phrases, and be sure to include MLA documentation and
a Works Cited page for this
assignment (this resource from the course will help).
Review the rubric to see how your work will be assessed on
this assignment.
Thesis hints: You might use these guidelines in crafting
your thesis:
If you are analyzing elements in a production:
In (add your one chosen production), (add character 1), (add
character 2), and (add character 3) were
used to (add how they enhanced the production or explained
the production’s message).
OR
If you are comparing/contrasting a book and film:
(Add book) contained (add one aspect that made the book
better than the film), but (add film) used
(add one aspect that made the film better than the book) and
(add a second aspect that made the
film better than the book) to better capture the reader’s
imagination.
Here are more specific thesis guidelines:
If you are analyzing elements in a production:
In the movie The Lorax, the characters Lorax, Once-ler, and
Alocius O’Hare were used to show how
environmentalists are fighting against profit-driven
industries that are harming the environment and
depleting natural resources.
2 Please note: Basic dictionary sources, user-edited
websites (e.g., Wikipedia, eHow, etc.), and sites that house
databases of quotations are not considered “credible”
sources. You will lose points in the Research category of the
rubric if your sources aren’t credible.
OR
If you are comparing/contrasting a book and film:
Even though the characters were portrayed mostly the same
across the book and the movie in
Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, the setting in the movie was
much more detailed, which made the movie
a much better overall experience compared to the book.
The guidelines for this assignment are as follows:
Length: This assignment should be at least 500 words.
Header: Include a header in the upper left-hand corner of
your writing assignment with the
following information:
? Your first and last name
? Course Title (Composition II)
? Assignment name (Media Analysis)
? Current Date
Format:
? MLA-style source documentation and
Works Cited3
? Your last name and page number in the
upper-right corner of each page
? Double-spacing throughout
? Standard font (TimesNewRoman, Calibri)
? Title, centered after heading
? 1” margins on all sides
? Save the file using one of the
following extensions: .docx, .doc, .rtf, or .txt
Underline your thesis statement in the introductory
paragraph.
3 This resource may be helpful as you are making MLA
formatting decisions:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
