smartthinkingthe tutoring centermy office hours 9 H u m a n i t i e s

Assignment Objectives

Students will complete this assignment by writing an essay that responds to a NYT Op-doc and is supported by some information from the following link: publisher, publication date, and other information about when the piece was created and where readers or viewers can find it. Check your facts. The details in a review must be accurate. Most of this information will be in the citations.

3 Understand your audience

Reviews appear in all sorts of places. You’ll find them in local and national publications, online, and also in specialized journals and neighbourhood newsletters. Imagine you are writing a review for a magazine like the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, or the Atlantic. We will look at samples in class. Think about what you need to explain. General readers will need more background information than readers of a publication aimed at experts.

4 Take a stand

State your opinion of the work you’re evaluating. Your review can be negative, positive, or mixed. Your job is to support that opinion with details and evidence. Even if readers disagree with you, they need to see how you reached your conclusions.

5 Explain how you’re judging the work

Decide on your criteria, the standards you’ll use to judge the book, show, or film. You might believe a novel is successful when it has characters you care about and a plot that makes you want to keep reading. State these criteria so your readers understand what you believe.

6 Introduce evidence to support your criteria

Support your judgments with quotations or descriptions of scenes from the work. Also consult outside sources. In your case, you will be citing “Why Immigration Divides.”

7 Know the conventions of the genre

Every type of writing or art has specific elements. A mystery has to have suspense, while a romance must have characters you believe would be attracted to one another. Consider theme, structure, characters, setting, dialogue, and other relevant factors. Understand these conventions and take them into account as part of your criteria. In the case of documentary, conventions are: Interview, establishing shots, soundtrack, cutaways, cinematography.

8 Compare and contrast

Comparison can be a great way to develop your evaluation. Suppose you claim that a film has wonderful, original dialogue. Demonstrate this by sharing some dialogue from another film that has stiff, wooden, or clichéd dialogue. Use the contrast to prove your point.

9 Do not summarize the entire plot

Books, films, and television shows have beginnings, middles, and endings. People read and watch these works in part because they want to know what happens. Let them enjoy their stories. Provide a general idea of what happens, but don’t give away important secrets, especially the end.

NOTES: THINGS TO CONSIDER IN THESE DOCS

Identity. What statement are these docs making about identity? Without explicitly saying it, is immigration part of this “conversation”

What roll does the music play in furthering the purpose?

How is the camera angle, focus, closeup, etc serving to tell the story and contribute to tone and purpose?