Film Analysis Project

        For this paper, just like the Hawthorne paper, you have more than one possible primary source to choose from.  You can write about some evidence pattern in Casablanca, or about an evidence pattern in The Third Man, or about some evidence pattern in both films.  The important thing, as usual, is that you must "own" that evidence pattern in the sense that you can explain to your readers something important and non-obvious that the evidence reveals.  Treat your readers as if they know the movie well.  Don't summarize plot, though you can and should remind your readers about where and when your evidence happens.  For instance, to say "when Ilsa talks to Rick in the cafe's office" is ambiguous, but "the second time Ilsa talks to Rick in the cafe's office" is not.

        As always, I strongly recommend that you take your notes and drafts to the Writing Center to talk to them about the paper.  When you have a fairly complete draft, read it to a tutor and let the tutor help you work out problems in your sentences and paragraphs.  Ask for help following MLA format, and locating scholarly sources, too.