Posted: February 7th, 2015

Compare Constrast between Life is Beautiful and Schindler's List Media Theory & Criticism

Compare Constrast between Life is Beautiful and Schindler’s List

Media Theory & Criticism
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPARE & CONTRAST PAPER

COMPARE & CONTRAST BETWEEN LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL AND SCHINDLER’S LIST MOVIE

OVERVIEW

In the paper, you will be required to quote and paraphrase research sources, as detailed in the Outline section below, and use proper MLA citation, as detailed in the

Citing Sources section of these instructions.  Failure to cite sources properly may result in a charge of plagiarism, which can lead to disciplinary action including

failing the class and dismissal from AIS for repeated offenses.

You will structure your paper based on the following Outline:

OUTLINE

1)    TITLE
Create a two-part title that includes the names of the two films you will be comparing, and a short phrase that hints at your approach to the topic; for example:

“Wall-E vs. 2001 A Space Odyssey: Good Robot, Bad Robot”

2)    INTRODUCTION
a)    Introduce the fact that you will be comparing and contrasting two films.
b)    Name the two films, who directed them and the year they were released.
c)    Summarize the most basic reason or reasons why you think the two films warrant comparison (for example: “They are both variations on the same story, produced

25 years apart, so they can shed light on social changes between two eras.”).
d)    List at three questions you will be asking as you compare and contrast the films.
e)    (optional) hint at the conclusions you will make at the end of the paper (for example, “By comparing these two films, we may discover that

_________________.”).

3)    OVERVIEW OF FILM #1
a)    Brief historical background about the film and its director and/or studio (make sure to cite your sources).
b)    Logline (one or two sentence summary of the plot).
c)    A direct quotation of 1-3 sentences from a film critic about this film, with proper citation (for example, “In an essay about this film, Roger Ebert writes,

“_____________________________” (Ebert).”  Additional information about the source of this quote must be included in the Works Cited section at the end of your paper.
d)    A paraphrase from another film critic, in which you will translate his or her ideas into your own words.  You are not required to mention the author’s name in

the text, but you must provide proper MLA citation, both in-line and in the Works Cited section of your paper (see the Citing Sources section of these instructions).
e)    Summarize your personal feelings about the film.

4)    OVERVIEW OF FILM #2: Apply all of the above items to the second film.

5)    PLOT: Compare & contrast the two films in terms of structure (Aristotelian vs. Episodic?), storytelling techniques (visual vs. verbal?), complexity, use of

sub-plots, resolution (happy ending, sad ending, open ending?) and any other plot elements that come to mind.

6)    PROTAGONIST
a)    What essential similarities and differences can you find between the main characters in the two films?
b)    What are the similarities and differences between the protagonists’ goals?
c)    How do the protagonists react similarly or differently to situations they encounter?
d)    (Optional) How might each character react differently if he or she were suddenly thrust into the plot of the opposite film?

7)    ANTAGONIST
Compare & contrast the person(s) or thing(s) against which the Protagonist is fighting

8)    SUPPORTING CHARACTER
Compare & contrast a supporting character from each film.

9)    STYLE
Discuss stylistic similarities & differences you notice between the two films, in areas such as cinematography, camera movement, color, sound, music and editing

10)    SCENE COMPARISION:
a)    Identify a scene from each film that has a similar or contrasting scene from the other film.
b)    Describe each scene, and then show how their similarities and differences reflect or illuminate the basic similarities and differences between the two films.

11)    THEME: What universal themes do the two films explore?  Does each film deal with different themes, or do they explore the same basic themes in different ways?

What big lessons can people learn from these two films?

12)    CONCLUSION: Sum up what you have learned by comparing and contrasting the two films.

CITING SOURCES

You will use the MLA style for citing sources.  Possible sources include books, articles and websites.  Wikipedia is allowed if properly cited.

MLA citation has two components: In-line citations in the body of your text and a Works Cited appendix at the end of your paper.

1. In-line Citation

If you quote an author by name in the text, all you need for in-line citation is a page number from the book or article in parenthesis at the end of the quotation.  If

there is no page number available, you do not need an in-line citation (but you still need a full citation for the quote in the Works Cited section).

If you a paraphrasing an author, your inline citation should include the author’s name in parenthesis, following by a page number if available, at the end of your

paraphrase.

If you are quoting an online source, such as Wikipedia, with no author’s name available, the in-line citation should include the name of the online article and its

source, for example (“Citizen Kane.” Wikipedia).

The main purpose of the in-line citation is to guide the reader to more detailed information in your Works Cited section.

2. Works Cited Section

At the end of your paper, on a separate page, you will list all of your sources under the title Works Cited.

The basic format for each entry is:

Author’s last name, author’s first name,  Title.  Source, Date.  Medium of publication

For a book, the citation format is:

Last name, first name.  Title.  City where published, publisher, publication date.  The word “Print.”

For an article, the format is:

Last name, first name.  “Title of Article.”  Title of Magazine.  Day month year.   Page numbers of entire article.  Type of publication, such as “periodical”

For Web pages, the format is:

Last name, first name.  “Title of Web page.”  Name of Website (if different).  Date on Web page (if any) Date you accessed the Web page.

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