Instructions: Write an interpretation/evaluation essay about one of the following, and use the methods given in your text. You develop the criteria and define the terms if necessary. You may even need to do some outside research as well to support your argument. Your argument will be based on aesthetics but may also be ethical.

Be aware that I may not have seen the topic you are writing about, so be very specific in all of your details in order to be persuasive.

a film you have seen more than once. This is because you will need to refer to detail that you probably won’t get with one viewing
a novel you have read
a play you attended
a concert you attended
a comparison of a book to the movie based on it if you are familiar with both
If you have studied art, you might want to evaluate a work of art, such as a painting.
 **** All play, movie, work of art, and movie titles are to be in italics, NOT quotes.

WARNING: You cannot merely tell the story of the film, play, or book. That would be a synopsis or summary of the work. This is not a “book report” to prove you read the book or saw the movie. You must pick three different aspects of the work to criticize and devote one paragraph to each of these. For example, if you write about a movie, here are some aspects to discuss: casting–were the actors believable in their roles?, acting–was it powerfully acted; were there any weak links?, direction, music, editing, score, costumes and make up, cinematography/effects, and writing. Please refer to these websites for film terms and film information, as you should know the names of the cast and crew.

film terms glossary (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
IMDB Database (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.  gives you cast list and other valuable info about tv and movies

If it is a book, what is the pacing? Is it slow to get started, or does it grab you right away? Is it “visual” in that you can imagine what everything looks like, or are the descriptions rather flat? Is the dialog believable or stilted?

NOTE ON ALL PAPERS: Don’t EVER spend more than one paragraph in any essay telling the plot, as that is NOT evaluation; it is narration. I want each topic sentence to give an evaluation (critique) of a certain aspect of the work you choose to evaluate.

LENGTH: 1000-1200 words. Minimum of five full paragraphs of five sentences each.

Number of Pages: 4 Pages

Page Line Spacing: Double spaced (Default)

Academic Level: College

Paper Format: APA