Now that you have finished the novel and reflected on both your opinions and most of the literary aspects, you will be expected to write a full compare/contrast essay. This lesson will prepare you for completing the essay. You will also have the opportunity to view the film The Scarlet Letter and write a movie review about it.
The Compare/Contrast Essay
So far in this course, you have written various types of responses. You have completed various creative assignments and a few analytical pieces of writing. At the end of the last unit you were asked to write a persuasive essay. You will use the same formal tone and general format in the essay for this unit.
Before we discuss format, you should know that your task will be to compare two characters from the novel. Choose two characters that you can create a solid thesis about. Before choosing the characters, you should brainstorm to organize your thoughts regarding the similarities and differences between the major characters. Your arguments should have significant depth. For example, one similarity may be that both characters tortured themselves in some way. This example would be much stronger than the similarity that both characters die.
You will want to think about your thesis first—what statement are you trying to make about these two characters. Then, you should organize three major arguments. With a compare/contrast essay these arguments can be ways that the two characters are the same or different.
In your introductory paragraph you begin with a general hook statement to get the reader’s attention. You then shed some light on your topic and arguments. You should spend some time introducing each of the characters and previewing your arguments. This paragraph ends with your thesis statement.
For each body paragraph, you need a clear topic sentence about what will be proved or discussed in that paragraph. It is in your body paragraphs where you include specific evidence from the text to support your ideas. You should discuss the arguments and evidence for one character (character A). Then you should transition or make a link to the next character. Then you want to discuss all of the arguments and evidence for that character (character B). The conclusion of that paragraph should tie the two characters back together and link back to your thesis. Overall you want to include 2-3 pieces of evidence for each character in each body paragraph. That is a total of 12-18 direct quotations from the novel in your essay.
Your final paragraph is your conclusion. The first thing you should do in this paragraph is restate your thesis. Remind the reader of the purpose of this essay. Then you want to review your reasons—give a brief reminder as to what was proven in each of the body paragraphs. You really want to connect the two characters when you go over your arguments. Finally you want to end with a clincher—something to leave the reader
thinking. Sometimes it is appropriate to include a statistic, quotation, or rhetorical question. Other times, you may wish to just make a statement. Regardless of how you do it, you want to leave the reader thinking about the topic.
Key Question #27 (80 marks)
Now it is your turn to write a compare/contrast essay. By now you should have decided on two characters who you want to compare. You can complete the following chart to help you plan your essay.
Thesis Idea: _____________________________
Character A: _____________________________
Character B: _____________________________
Argument #1
Support
Support
Support
Argument #2
Support
Support
Support
Argument #3
Support
Support
Support
You should complete this organizer before starting your rough draft. Your essay will be approximately 6-8 pages typed. Be sure to submit an edited rough draft with your final copy.
The Movie Review
Reviews of movies are written to inform consumers about a film. There are a wide range of movie reviews that can be found. Some reviews are geared towards the average movie goer and are written in an informal tone. Other reviews are written for the critics and are written in a formal way.
For this task you will write in a semi-formal tone. The main purpose of your review is to give your opinions about the movie.
Read the following movie review as an example of how your review can be organized. You should maintain a tone similar to the one in the example.
Million Dollar Baby By Sean O’Connell
From www.filmcritic.com
When did Clint Eastwood find the time to pour his heart and soul into Million Dollar Baby? Between stumping for last year’s Mystic River and collecting accolades from critics groups coast to coast, all signs pointed to this off-the-cuff project being a halfbaked, rushed-into-awards-season cast-off by a respected filmmaker still basking in the glow of his last well-received piece.
Eastwood may be fresh off his Oscar-nominated Mystic River, though “refreshed” gives a more accurate description. With Baby, the master storyteller strips away the cumbersome tools of his trade to tell a captivating, gritty story of struggle built from basic building blocks of narrative structure.
It’s an easy story to dismiss sight unseen. The synopsis sounds like reheated Karate Kid, right down to the uninspired casting of Next Karate Kid star Hilary Swank. She plays Maggie Fitzgerald, a wannabe boxer past the prime training age who begs crusty, old trainer Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) to take her under his crusty, old wing.
The longer Frankie hesitates, the more Maggie persists, until the two are on the fast track to a title shot. Metaphorically speaking, Maggie becomes the Mike Tyson of women’s boxing. Rarely do her fights last beyond the first round, and she’s never the one lying on her back looking up at the ceiling when the bell rings.
The originality of the situation doesn’t grab us. We’ve seen Eastwood tackle the trainertrainee relationship before, and subtle themes attached for scope – including a father alienated from his daughter for reasons unknown – feel previously explored. Plus, name the last inventive boxing drama you’ve seen. It very well may be Karyn Kusama’s Girlfight. Now that’s ironic.
Anyway, Eastwood’s boxing routines are hard-hitting street fights, choreographed dances of broken noses and below-the-belt cheap shots. Yes, it’s a metaphor for the bruises these fighters and their trainers carry outside the ring, but it lands the appropriate punches. There’s ample material to sink our teeth into outside the ring, as well. The director collaborates with screenwriter Paul Haggis to lay thick, rich soil, so Frankie’s relationship with Maggie can take strong root. Hard truths linger around every corner in this cut-to-the-bone drama, and Haggis pens some tough life lessons linked to tough compromises.
Eastwood’s anaemic filmmaking method complements the material. A few blues notes picked on a guitar establish mood. A glance around Frankie’s gym reveals stark walls and spare corners. Tom Stern’s cinematography is both beautiful and bare. Thinking back, one almost remembers Baby as being shot in black and white. It’s not, but the color scheme feels that muted and unimportant. It’s a clever device, intentional or not. Even when Maggie competes against an abnormally chiselled female counterpart (Lucia Rijker) for the title, they seem to be fighting in a long-forgotten community auditorium in the middle of nowhere.
Morgan Freeman, playing a former boxer and Frankie’s long-time friend, establishes a grumpy-old-trainer yin-and-yang chemistry with his director. They’re no-nonsense men with no time for bullshit. Frankie, in particular, wears the traits of the overprotective father figure on his ragged sleeves, and Haggis’ screenplay establishes the role – and Freeman’s companion part – as men imparting stubborn life lessons on those they deem young enough to benefit from some impartial words of wisdom.
The picture starts rough, but the unrefined elements start to gel as Baby progresses. Swank’s labored Bible Belt drawl initially grates the ears but grows serene and comfortable by the end credits. Her scrappy, dogged performance makes Maggie more than bearable. Her willingness to absorb an unbeautiful role and find attractiveness in it makes her turn memorable, almost remarkable.
Not all of it flies, however. Eastwood fails to develop all of the broad characters populating Frankie’s gym. “Danger” Barch (Jay Baruchel), an ignorant Texan training at the facility, has a better shot at bedding Kate Beckinsale then he does of capturing a heavyweight title. His uninspiring quandaries surface whenever we need a break from Maggie’s dramatic ascension, but the crumbs of story we’re given don’t equal a satisfying meal.
When Baby turns – and it happens pretty quickly – the story we’ve been following religiously leaves us in an instant, like the air in our lungs after we’ve been smacked in the gut. A plot twist spins us wildly like a punch to the head, setting up a third act that’s dependent on emotional groundwork established in the first two. Freeman’s hoarse narration ties Eastwood’s scenes together, capping the flashback mood of the picture with a relevant jab at the heartstrings.
Along the way, Baby contrasts its violence with scenes of Frankie at church, questioning (okay, badgering) a parish priest about notions we’re taught to take on faith. Frankie can’t do that, though we get the sense he’s tried. Now, he joins his trainee and his friend in doing all they can to protect what they can control. “Boxing’s about respect,” the narration informs us early on. Mr. Eastwood, you’ve certainly earned it.
Discussion
This review comments on the plot, but contains many other elements. A good film review does not give away the ending to the movie. Instead it analyses other elements such as originality, director, previous films, cinematography, and filmmaking techniques.
Key Question #28 (40 marks)
Now it is your turn to write a movie review. First you much watch the film The Scarlet Letter. Then consider the following:
How close does the movie resemble the novel? Does the movie successfully portray the novel’s themes, symbols, and archetypes? How is the quality of acting? Does the actor become the character he or she is portraying? Are they able to make you feel a certain way? How are the design elements of the movie?
For example, are the costumes, make-up and setting appropriate for the time period of the story? Do they fit with the story?
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