Short Essay (500 words)

Title: Which genre does --------- (title of film of your choice) belong to? Explain why.

Things to consider

Use of Theory - how have you used the reading you have done to inform your thinking - have you incorporated concepts such as repetition and difference, systems of expectation, conventions, standardised practice, paradigms, intertextuality?

Vocabulary - Is your language appropriate for an AS essay? It should be formal, objective in tone, and not contain any slang. You should also be using as much specialist terminology as you can at this stage; use your glossary to help you.

Evidence - you need to prove that each one of your assertions is true by quoting evidence from your chosen text. You want to give as examples; short extracts of dialogue, individual events or actions, brief description of a particular shot, the way music is used to highlight a key moment, the artistic design of the mise en scene in one scene, a character's costume, the way a character uses props, etc etc. You may want to explain why these examples are typical of the genre by comparing them to another film.

Length - A 500 word limit requires that you be brief and to the point. Descriptions should be as precise as possibe, which means using the correct terminology and not rambling. You are not attempting to re-tell the story of the film, so narrative details should be kept to an absolute minimum.

Structure - You should be used to working with the Introduction-Main Body-Conclusion form of essay writing by now. In an essay this length, your introduction and conclusion will be very short.

Presentation - Essays should be presented as word-processed, in a 12 point font, and printed on one side of A4 paper. Please leave a double line space between paragraphs and margins of at least one inch on each side - we have to have room to write praise and abuse!