0902:004 Honors Solitude and Community Prof. Jeff Renye
Temple University Spring Term 2010 Anderson 1143
And the Old Story Came back Again: Writing Assignment Two, Part One Due Date: Tuesday 3/2, at the beginning of class Requirements: The paper is to be at least 3 pages in length and no more than 4 (around 1000-1250 words of content). Use double-spaced 12-point font, Times New Roman, with the pages stapled and numbered, and include a Works Cited page that lists your primary and secondary sources. *I encourage you to print out double-sided pages. Use MLA format (under the external links portion of our Blackboard site under Assignments, youll find a hyperlink to sites giving full examples of MLA formatting and citing, in addition to a link to our very own Writing Center); no title page. Underline your thesis statement. *Unless otherwise approved, I do not accept papers e-mailed as attachments. The Assignment: This paper consists of a single primary source: Use the movie Pans Labyrinth as your primary source. Write a paper in which you formulate an argument regarding an issue that involves the role and relevance of an individual character, relationships between characters, or the depictions of a community, developing one of the topics listed below. While writing, be judicious in your use of summary (see The Art of Summarizing in They Say/I Say and suggestion from Chapter Two of Writing about Film) and keep your focus on some combination of completing a close analysis of particular scenes from the movie, acknowledging when relevant the movies relationship to historical and social concerns. *Please keep in mind that what I and your audience care about most is your critical and analytical response to your central topic. The Structure: The purpose of your writing for this assignment is to develop an argument-driven position regarding a topic relevant to the movie Pans Labyrinth. Your writing will communicate to your audience your thoughts by way of a central argument (your thesis) and relevant textual support from the movie, especially citing the script as one of your resources (located under Course Documents). The basic structure for the analysis to be contained in this paper is as follows: a clear and developed introductory paragraph followed by body paragraphs dealing with pertinent sub-topics that relate to specific scenes. In these body paragraphs include any contextual information that you believe is important. Work on this paper with uncompromising standards. On that level, I have a chance to assess your abilities and your needs with better insight than if you dont give your full effort.
Topics: Ofelia receives the information about her former life and her summons to action from the faun; she learns in the Book of Crossroads what she must do to complete those tasks to prove that some of her original identity remains. Her requirement, as explain by the Faun, is as follows: But we have to make sure that your essence is intact, that you have not become mortal. Analyze one of Ofelia's tasks, arguing for what that particular assignment, how she carries out the task, and the results of her actions (on herself and, if relevant, on others) reveal about who she is.
At the dinner party, Captain Vidal says the following about his relocation to the countryside: I choose to be here because I want my son to be born in a clean, new Spain. In many instances, the movie depicts Captain Vidal, through his words and actions, as a man who prizes order, obedience, and cleanliness. We often see Ofelia performing in opposition to these qualitiesand more than once we alternate between a parallel scene featuring her at a location different from the Captains, and which occurs during the same time period. She appears resistant to such regimentation and more readily engaged in adventures and actions that involve her in situations where various, less clean bodily functions are in some form emphasized. For this topic do one of the following: 1. Analyze one of Ofelias tasks according to how bodily functions play a role in that tasks challenge(s), and examine the significance of how the body is involved in Ofelias confrontation with the challenge(s) and in how she ultimately completes the task. or, 2. Either analyze the Captain in one scene according to how his idea of what is meant by clean, by obedience, or by order affects, obstructs, or otherwise alters the natural order of the physical environment where he and his men are stationed, or, in how he affects the social environment and the lives of the people connected to and dependent upon him and his orders. Soon after Ofelia meets Mercedes, the woman tells her, My mother told me to be wary of fauns. Analyze the faun as portrayed during one of these particular appearances: When Ofelia first enters the labyrinth and the descends spiraling stairwell When she returns to the labyrinth after attaining the key and asks about the figures carved into the stone One of the other moments when the faun appears to her after she completes a task or between tasks The faun at the end of the movie, after Ofelias final task and flight into the labyrinth During the particular scene that you choose, how does the faun function in relation to Ofelia? Is he a helper to her, a threat, a deceiver, an ambiguous figure, a combination of these qualities, or would you describe him in some other way(s)? What influence does the faun have on Ofelia in that scene, and to what extent is she free of that figures influence to make choices according to her will? Limit the analysis for this topic only to that one particular appearance of the faun and not according to any additional scenes before or after.
We have thought about, read, and viewed material engaging with the archetype (i.e., the typical, oft-reproduced pattern) of the hero and the trope of the heros journey: Linda Segers article Creating the Myth; The Heros Journey segment from The Power of Myth interview between the journalist Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, an expert in world myth and storytelling; and the material that I provided you with about myth as having an older, classical meaning of a special form of storytelling, one that involves initiation, tests, travels through external and internal landscapes of physical, mental, and spiritual pursuit and development. Pans Labyrinth draws upon such themes and images, and one of the hallmarks of fairytales, folklore, and local legend often derives from a certain timeless quality of the actions depicted and the heroism of those characters involved. Just as often as these stories contain a hero, they also feature a villain, and Captain Vidal appears to fill the role of such a figure of opposition. However: consider the view that the Captain has of himself and his duty, and the level of esteem to which he holds himself. Many of his qualities and voiced opinions appear to support that he considers himself heroic, and that he aspires to heroism. What are his notions of heroism? How does he fulfill or fail them? For this topic, give particular consideration to the image of his fathers pocketwatch, and that objects accumulated burden of meaning.
A Checklist: Things To Consider When Writing:
___ Am I analyzing my central topic, the movie, and relevant scenes and material from the secondary sources carefully? Do I consider basic elements like setting, description, plot, characters, dialogue, sound, choices of images, lighting, tone, style, etc. from the movie? Do I fully understand what my secondary sources argue and how they support their arguments? ___ Am I making a clear argument that is sufficiently supported by relevant evidence from my primary and secondary sources? ___ Am I saying something in every paragraph, or almost every paragraph, that might encourage an outside reader to view this scene or topic in a new way? ___ Could a random person with a college-level education understand my argument if they read my paper but had not watched the movie or read the other sources that it concerns? ___ If I cut out the first sentence, paragraph, or page, would the paper lose anything it truly needs? If not, then cut it. ___ Does the paper have an introduction that clearly conveys the topic of the review to the reader? Is everything in this introduction relevant to the argument in my paper? ___ Does each paragraph have a topic sentence that works to support the overall argument? What is the point, purpose, and function of each paragraph (consider those three elements that make up the system known as Tagmemics: as point (the work itself); as wave (variations over time); and as field (the contexts in which the movie exists, as well as the material from your scholarly sources)? ___ What questions might skeptical readers of my review ask? Do I address these questions? ___ Do I back up each original idea along the way with specific evidence from the scene or the larger issues and themes of the movie and use specific reasoning about this evidence? ___ Do I have clear, interesting transitions between paragraphs? ___ Is my review organized in the most logical way? ___ Did I spend some of my time needlessly summarizing the movie that Im writing about or the secondary sources that I refer to? A certain amount of summary will of course be necessary however, make sure you interpret the material that you choose to cite! ___ Does my argument make sense? Are my ideas clear? ___ Do I have a title for my paper? ___ Did I put specific quotations in quotation marks? ___ Have I proofread carefully for grammatical and syntax errors? If possible, have another person look over your paper for such errors.