Today’s goals Introduce vocabulary for analyzing criteria Practice classification/ordering of criteria Generate a final list of criteria for your selected movie genre

Class discussion- movie criteria What movies are you interested in reviewing? What criteria do you think are important for these movies? Are all criteria of equal importance? Why or why not? What are some examples of criteria that are more or less important for a given genre?

Criteria types Necessary criteria Sufficient criteria Accidental criteria

Criteria types Necessary criteria – a criteria that absolutely must be met in order for a subject to “pass,” but do not automatically make the subject good enough or sufficient We could also think of these as Primary criteria, the most important to be considered for the subject Sufficient criteria – if these criteria are met, the job being rated meets your standard for excellence We can also think of these as Secondary Criteria, the things that separate a good subject from a great subject Accidental criteria – criteria that are nice or beneficial but not required

Problems with generating criteria & making evaluations Different classes: The more general the category, the more difficult it is to establish criteria. It is difficult to compare items of different classes. How will you compare an apple to an orange? A comedy to a drama? What about a romantic comedy vs. a romantic tragedy? Competing standards: What is the ideal vs. what is realistically achievable? We should make sure that the threshold of success for a criteria is not set too high. Can a “good” subject meet the criteria or is the standard (or ideal) set too high? Influence of empirical measures: We are often tempted to evaluate something based on traits that can be quantified, but there are many things that cannot be measured quantifiably. Is a movie better because it spent $100 million on famous actors (who could still do a bad job)? Or is better to have a $5 million budget on no-name actors who do an amazing job? Use your judgement! Tyranny of cost: Sometimes the things we evaluate highest simply cost too much (this could be a money, time, or emotional stress cost; it doesn’t have to be monetary). It would be great if all CGI characters had the range of facial expressions of those in James Cameron’s Avatar, but is this standard too high (and expensive) for most moies?

Movie criteria by genre (created in egl) Action SFX VFX Plot Actors Comedy Funny Timing Happy ending Family Funny Family friendly content Visual effects Songs Message Documentary Credibility Presentation of information Location Event/topic Cinematography

Group activity- criteria classification In movie genre based groups Answer the following questions based on our class activity in EGL (criteria generation) Using the criteria generated in EGL, for each movie genre classify its criteria as necessary, sufficient, or accidental

Class discussion- evaluaution thesis expectations What is the goal of our movie reviews? What information must we include in our evaluation/theses? What kind of information should we leave out of our theses? Where should our evaluation theses be located? What are the three stages of evaluation?

Class discussion- general thesis development Important thesis strategies: Short/concise (Usually one sentence. No more than 2 clauses) Main idea of the essay (your overall evaluation) Strongly stated Active voice Should be able to stand alone and be understood Avoid vague pronouns; be specific Should occur near the beginning of the essay, most commonly in the last few sentences of the first paragraph Should be strongly stated and easy to identify It is ok to have first person in the thesis for this essay (although not usually in closed form prose) Avoid tensionless statements and counterarguments, like “this movie has good and bad points.” Take a stance!

Wte theses Should always include the specific name of the movie being reviewed Should always include an evaluation of the movie May include the name of a famous director, actor, or producer in the movie Must be very specific, clear, and objective with the language used for evaluation

Class discussion- Example thesis Evaluations “It is amazing to hear the information in Michael Moore’s documentary. Overall it was very interesting while I was watching the movie.” “I do not agree with Director Spielberg’s direction in this movie. The movie shows dissatisfactory acting and sub-par special effects.” “The movie Finding Nemo was successful and I enjoyed it.” “After careful analysis, I have determined that the sequel Star Trek: Beyond was moderate to fair.” “I loved Captain America: Winter Soldier.”

Group activity- thesis Development Working in small groups of 2-4 students Select a movie that everyone (or most students) in the group are familiar with and have seen Select a position/evaluation stance for this movie: was it good or bad? Create a thesis evaluating the movie, following the thesis development guidelines for WTE essays we have discussed.

Group activity- WTI review Pair up with one other student. Read through the student’s draft and answer the questions below. What is the thesis of the essay? Identify it and write it here. Does the story hold your interest all the way to the end? What is the most interesting thing about the story? Identify the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the story. If any of this information is missing, note it here On a scale of 1-5, how eye-catching is the main image of the story? What is one thing you like about the article? What is one suggestion you would give for revision?

homework Read A&B 170-175