Film Analysis Essay

Objective

This assignment encourages you to bring what we’ve learned in class in critiquing and analyzing a documentary or film focused on food.

Basics

• 800–1000 words
• 1.5 - 2 line spacing
• 11pt Times New Roman
• Free of typos and basic grammatical errors
• Smooth, focused writing

Questions to address

Here are some questions to address in your essay. They are basically the same as the food writing presentation questions.

• BRIEFLY summarize the plot of the film
• Summarize what you think the moral or take home message is, including not only whatever the film says is the purpose, but also other important points that you think it makes.
• Who is the intended audience? What should they know? What should they care about?
• What kind of assumptions does it make about cooking/cuisine/food?
• What kind of rhetorical effects does the film use? In other words, how does it try to persuade you?
• How are the ideas of “national” or “ethnic” or “authentic” cuisine addressed?
• What constitutes “good” food in the film? Why?

MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ADDRESS

• How does this film reflect contemporary American Food Culture? How does it NOT?

Analyze! Don’t summarize

• You are being evaluated on the quality/depth of your ANALYSIS! While a brief description and summary of the film is necessary, it should serve as an introduction to your analysis, which will comprise almost all of your essay.