Westside Stories: Critical Review Essay

Essay Assignment Components – 35% of final grade, 5-7 pages • 1st draft DUE 2/12, hard copy in class.

o Should include essay, works cited & media notes o You must turn in your notes on the media text, stapled to the end of your essay

§ You can use a format similar to the ones we use for films in class, or feel free to create your own

• You will select one piece of popular media set in California, either from the Film or Television Review list below, or you may propose your own piece of media to review (including, but not limited to a television episode, a film, an advertising campaign, a viral social media moment, or a public art project).

• This review essay will recap the content of the media under review, place it into the context of the themes addressed in the course, and give your evaluation of the media ‘text.’ You must cite three or more readings from the course, and one peer reviewed academic source that is not on the syllabus. Two or more themes/keywords from our discussions should also be tied in. At some point in your essay, the following questions should be answered:

o How does this text connect to the larger historical and contemporary story of race and place in California?

o How do the creators of this work use one of more narrative elements (conflict, characters, imagery, foreshadowing, assumptions) to influence the audience’s story of California? Put another way, what is the intervention of this text?

o What gets obscured or left out of this depiction of California? Does this omission matter, and if so, to whom?

Review Media Suggestions:

Film • Terminator (any film in series) • Last Black Man in San Francisco • Day Without a Mexican • Medicine for Melancholy* • Killer of Sheep • Big Hero Six • Always Be My Maybe* • Bladerunner • Blood In, Blood Out • Straight Outta Hunter’s Point • Quinceañera* • Mosquita y Mari (available streaming

through UCSC libraries)*

TV For television series, it is important to focus on one episode in order to generate a detailed analysis. • Vida* • Insecure • Sons of Anarchy • Snowfall* • Animal Kingdom • The OC • Fear the Walking Dead • The L Word • On My Block • East Los High • Looking • Silicon Valley

*denotes particularly excellent artworks in case you haven’t seen them Peruse these options, or propose something else! Media should be scripted/creative (not documentary or reality), and widely available on a popular platform (TV, cable, Youtube, Netflix, etc.). NOTE: Films on the syllabus CANNOT be used for this assignment.

PROPOSAL DUE 2/2 here:

https://forms.gle/kWuRRoM1a8YnJ9Fh7

Name ______________________

Westside Stories: Midterm Essay Rubric

Media Notes q Are notes on the media text included with the essay? ________ /5 q Do the field notes contain detailed and specific information? ________ /15

MEDIA NOTE COMPLETION _________/20

Media Review q Is there specific evidence from the media text in the form of quotations,

clear character descriptions or visual description? ________ /10 q Does the author offer original insight into the political, aesthetic,

or methodological intervention of the review ‘text’? ________ /5

Scholarly Labor q Does the essay cite at least four peer-reviewed academic sources

(3 min from syllabus, 1 min outside)? ________ /10 q Does the analysis demonstrate an understanding of two or more

course themes and texts by making effective use of the sources cited? ________ /10 q Does the essay analyze the use of at least one narrative element (conflict, characters, imagery,

foreshadowing, assumptions)? ________ /5

Writing q Is the writing clear and beautiful? ________ /5 q Are proper citations included? (Chicago or APA format for full credit) ________ /5

1st DRAFT ESSAY GRADE _________/50

Revision Suggestions:

In addition to filling the gaps above and attending to the comments written on the printed copy, how can this essay be further developed? How can the author move this piece closer to academic excellence?