HW8:
2-Page Essay
G-Men and
Scarface
| All assignments for this course
are listed on the day assigned, not the day due. Unless
otherwise noted, assignments are due by blackboard by class time |
WORTH: 8% of semester grade
CAN THIS BE TURNED IN LATE?: YES (but be attentive to the penalties)
LENGTH: 500 words
DUE: 9/25
BE
SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE
(5% penalty if you do not).
All files should be saved on your computer
as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"),
followed by the first two letters of your first name, followed
by an underscore ("_"), followed
by the assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein
were to submit assignment number 8, the file name would
be:
hussein_sa_8.doc
THIS
IS ASSIGNMENT 8
The author (Powers) argues on p. 12 that “commercial entertainment” (that is films like, Scarface) reflected “the extent to which the depression public had turned crime into a symbol of national demoralization.” (By "depression public" Powers means the public during America’s Great Depression.)
As Powers explains in the chapter your read, this symbolization took three forms: (1) a belief by that public (although it was not necessarily true) that the era’s high crime could be explained only by the emergence of a “new breed” of criminal that had “freed himself from the rule of law” (2) the sense by the public that this new breed of crimal offered “irrefutable proof the government could no longer function as the guardian of the law” and that there was a need for more a more active, "incorruptible," and centralized system of law enforcement (p. 12) (3) and that this new breed of criminal was “a moral challenge to American’s culture solidarity and confidence in its value system." (p. 8)
.
| ESSAY QUESTION:
How does the film Scarface reflect all three aspects of the public's sense that crime was a symbol of the nation's "demoralization” in this era. (see above for the three aspects) |
Writing Guidelines:
Additional Writing Requirements (and CHECKLIST)
1) You must have a clear thesis statement within the first two paragraphs of this paper (and preferably in the first paragraph). (-5% pts if you don't)
2) You must underline your thesis statement (-5% pts if you don't)
3) You must have at least seven points of evidence, with at least three of those seven coming from the film and at least three coming from G-Men: Hoover’s FBI in American Popular Culture pp. 3-14. (-15% pts if you don't) YOUR PAPER, HOWEVER, MIGHT EASILY HAVE MORE THAN SEVEN PIECES OF EVIDENCE.
A sample paragraph, then, might take this form:
| (CL) Scarface reveals the public's sense, as described by historian Gil Powers, that a "new breed" of criminal explained the era's rise in crime. (EV) We can see an illustration of this public response in Scarface when the main character says <<Y>> (WA) This episode in the film illustrates the point made by G-Men by <<WARRANT>> |
4) In paragraphs that present evidence, you must identify your claims by placing a (CL) before them; your points of evidence by placing an (EV) before them; and your warrants by placing a (WA) before them (-5% pts if you don't)
5) Integrate your direct quotations using either METHOD 3 OR METHOD 4 FROM THE EXPLANATION OF HOW TO INTEGRATE QUOTATIONS (-10% IF YOU DO NOT)
I will be grading your essays using this rubric (delivered as a microsoft word .doc to your desktop)
You might want to look over the rubric before starting to write the paper so that you know my expectations in advance of writing the paper. |