The Assignment Analyze how your film represents an issue related to our course focus- the American Dream. Consider how aspects of the scene (or scenes) speak to this specific issue. Engage two essays to craft lenses that help you make an argument for the scene’s representation of this issue. Then, explain how the understanding of the scene changes once both lenses are applied. End your argument with a “So What” about how the scene adds important information to the audience’s understanding of the film or representation of the issue in cinema.     Strategies * Return to SA3 to consider how the film scene you’ve chosen represents an issue related to our course focus. Develop an insightful lens-based (pulling from the essays) claim about your scene, and make this your essay’s thesis statement. Review the textbook’s section on “Thesis Statements” for suggestions about how to make your claim stronger. * For your analysis paragraphs, choose representative, interesting, and complex filmic evidence from your scene. Apply “10 on 1” to the evidence you choose in order to say more about less. * Use “Tools for Visual Analysis” and “The Method” on the film scene(s) to make observations about specific, concrete details. In your analysis, be sure to make the implicit explicit. Ask, what does the use of cinematic details convey? This analysis will be the basis for your interpretive conclusions. * Once you’ve analyzed the details of the film scene(s) to make a claim about how you read it, apply a key concept from each author’s text to show how they help us better understand (interpret) what is happening in the film scene in relation to your specific issue. Each author’s lens should be explored in at least one paragraph, with at least one additional paragraph bringing together the ideas about the film scene(s) analysis from both lenses. * In your conclusion, reflect on the “so what” of this analysis. What does this “re-seeing” of the film scene(s) through the lens of ideas in the essay show us about the film as a whole in regard to its portrayal of your issue or topic?  Criteria for Evaluation 1. Is the argument informed and driven by ideas present in the chosen essays? Does the argument use a concept from the essay(s) as a lens to develop an interpretation of the film that goes beyond matching and summary? 2. Does the essay develop an insightful claim about how the film represents an issue related to our course focus? Does the essay draw interpretive conclusions by asking and answering “So What?” 3. Does the essay support its main points through analysis of specific filmic elements?  4. Does the essay exhibit clarity and coherence by staying focused on developing one controlling idea? Do its ideas progress logically through the use of transitions, attributive tags, and appropriate word choice? Does it adhere to MLA format and citation standards and contain few, if any, grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors?