Communication 3505: Movie Review

Due date:

Weight: This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade.

Submission Checklist:

1. Grading Template

2. Preface: Who will read; who should read; ideal audience; MPAA rating; appropriateness of rating

3. Completed Peer Review (not graded).

4. Sample Review.

5. Review: Headline; byline; columns; personal critical assessment; specific examples

Description: This movie review should be geared to a specific publication and a specific audience. The publication selected will determine style of the review you write. One of the primary bases for assessment will be how well you incorporate analysis of the audience into your review.

Select a movie you are interested in and are willing to watch several times. Additionally, you will want to select a publication for which you can ascertain audience composition and characteristics. You will need to attach a photocopy of a movie review from the publication you have selected to get a sense of the standards applied in this publication. Such standards will include style/tone and information typically included in this publication such as ratings, where the film is showing/or cost of the video.

Items which must appear in the assignment:

1. A preface clearly defining the publication for which this review is written, and a clear and detailed description of the audience for this review which takes note of:

• Who will read this review?
• Who needs to read this review?
• Whom would you choose as an ideal listener/viewer/reader?
• Depending on your model, the rating might be included in your preface.
• Depending on your model, the discussion about whether or not the rating is warranted might be in your preface.

2. An identification of the movie's rating and discussion about whether or not the rating is appropriate. Depending on the publication, this might be included in the preface above or it might be incorporated into the review itself; follow the sample review you have selected. If your sample review includes this discussion in the review, then that's where your discussion should be; if your sample review does not have such a discussion, then your discussion should be included in your preface.

3. The Seven Stage Writing Process Summary

4. Responses to the Five Question Topic Selection Test.

5. The Review: The primary function of the review is your personal assessment of the movie and whether or not you believe the movie is worth watching. Be sure to work on building a good argument for your assessment taking into account such issues as the quality of the writing, direction, performances, lighting, pacing, music, art direction, etc., etc. In addition to audience analysis, your grade for this assignment will be based on how well you articulate reasons for seeing or avoiding this film.

Grading standards:

Objective------------------------------------------------------ Subjective

Have all assignment elements been addressed and satisfied? -----Originality

Is the review grammatical? -----------------------------------Insightfulness

Is the review accurate/factual?--------- Persuasiveness-Logic of arguments

If you successfully meet all of the objective standards, you will earn a C. If, in addition to the objective standards, you also successfully incorporate all of the subjective standards (demonstrating insight and original thinking), you will earn an A. Meeting the objective standards and putting forward a good faith effort, which approaches yet falls short of the subjective goals, will earn you a B. Falling short of the objective standards will yield a D.