Analytical Essay Guidelines Assignment: For our next assignment, you are to write a 4- to 6-page analytical essay on Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989); this thesis driven essay should answer an interpretive question regarding the film. Generate a thesis that addresses this prompt. Please include a title, heading, margins, and page numbers in proper MLA format. The paper should be double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. The essay must be submitted to Canvas by the posted due date. ***Secondary Source Requirement : You must use multiple direct quotations from the secondary source material supplied by the instructor: “ Crimes and Misdemeanors : A Retake on the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg” by Dianne Vipond. The best use of quotations is to develop your analysis through supporting claims in the body of the essay. Use of a secondary source is required; be sure to list all sources (secondary and primary) in a Works Cited page. Proper MLA citation format is also required.*** Approach :  · You may explore the role of a single motif. · You will want to explore how the motif shapes the nature of an idea; more than identifying a theme, how does the text define a concept or promote a viewpoint? · You have latitude to self-determine here. But, yes, you will want to watch the film again while taking careful notes. The film is available on Swank and is on reserve at the SCC library. Potential topics: · During class discussions, many students note that the two storylines of the film treat the issue of marital infidelity; that said, the stories frame marital infidelity quite differently. What does the film seem to suggest about morality and ethics through its various framings of marital infidelity? · Eyes are a dominant motif in the film, and yet the symbol is quite malleable, suggesting a set of related symbolic potentials for the motif rather than one coherent symbol. For example, the film is concerned with the judging eyes of God, the symbolic myopia and blindness (bad eyesight) of many characters, and the dead, soulless black void of Delores eyes. What idea is Allen attempting to define with this motif? How?  · The film is highly aware of film as an art form: after all, the film’s director plays a film director within the film. What does the film suggest about the significance of filmmaking, storytelling, and art? The film brings together not only two plots, but two genre—a remarkable task that requires grand shifts in tone. It will be helpful to consider professional ethics and the film’s postmodern metanarrative (especially at the end) and reflexivity (especially the use of movie clips) as motifs. · The film also deploys a motif of the doppelganger, the uncanny double. Siblings feature prominently, many scenes echo other scenes, Judah wrestles with the discrepancy between two senses of who he is, etc. What idea is Allen attempting to define with this motif? How?  · Unlike the Clifford in the subplot, Judah’s narrativ.

1. Analytical Essay Guidelines
Assignment:
For our next assignment, you are to write a 4- to 6-page
analytical essay on Woody Allen’s
Crimes and Misdemeanors
(1989); this thesis driven essay should answer an
interpretive
question regarding the film. Generate a thesis that addresses
this prompt. Please include a title, heading, margins, and page
numbers in proper MLA format. The paper should be double-
spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font.
The essay must be submitted to Canvas by the posted due date.
***Secondary Source Requirement
: You must use multiple direct quotations from the secondary
source material supplied by the instructor: “
Crimes and Misdemeanors
: A Retake on the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg” by Dianne Vipond.
The best use of quotations is to develop your analysis through
supporting claims in the body of the essay.
Use of a secondary source is required; be sure to list all sources
(secondary and primary) in a Works Cited page. Proper MLA
citation format is also required.***
Approach
:
· You may explore the role of a single motif.
· You will want to explore how the motif shapes the nature of
an idea; more than identifying a theme, how does the text
define a concept

2. or promote a viewpoint?
· You have latitude to self-determine here. But, yes, you will
want to watch the film again while taking careful notes. The
film is available on Swank and is on reserve at the SCC library.
Potential topics:
· During class discussions, many students note that the two
storylines of the film treat the issue of marital infidelity; that
said, the stories frame marital infidelity quite differently. What
does the film seem to suggest about morality and ethics through
its various framings of marital infidelity?
· Eyes are a dominant motif in the film, and yet the symbol is
quite malleable, suggesting a set of related symbolic potentials
for the motif rather than one coherent symbol. For example, the
film is concerned with the judging eyes of God, the symbolic
myopia and blindness (bad eyesight) of many characters, and
the dead, soulless black void of Delores eyes. What idea is
Allen attempting to define with this motif? How?
· The film is highly aware of film as an art form: after all, the
film’s director plays a film director within the film. What does
the film suggest about the significance of filmmaking,
storytelling, and art? The film brings together not only two
plots, but two genre—a remarkable task that requires grand
shifts in tone. It will be helpful to consider professional ethics
and the film’s postmodern
metanarrative
(especially at the end) and
reflexivity
(especially the use of movie clips) as motifs.
· The film also deploys a motif of the doppelganger, the
uncanny double. Siblings feature prominently, many scenes

3. echo other scenes, Judah wrestles with the discrepancy between
two senses of who he is, etc. What idea is Allen attempting to
define with this motif? How?
· Unlike the Clifford in the subplot, Judah’s narrative often
relies on representations of his interiority: memories, fantasies,
etc. What idea is Allen attempting to define with this motif?
How? You may combine this with an examination of Judah’s
essential duplicity (dishonesty regarding his double-life).
· A topic of your own development…
Introduction and Thesis
: Bottom line:
the essay MUST have a thesis
. A thesis is a statement that comes as the last sentence of the
introductory paragraph. It is not a statement of fact: it is a claim
that you will support with the body of the essay.
So, “In
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
, Ferris is able to outwit all of the adults” is not a thesis.
“
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
is about rebelling against authority” is not a very good
thesis.
Something like, “
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
uses an idealized teen hero to model what a meaningful,
productive—rather than merely lazy—rebellion against
flawed authority might look like” is much better. Of course
this thesis could be improved to define what effective
rebellion “looks like.”

4. Form
: This multi-paragraph essay should begin with an
introduction
culminating in a
thesis
statement, present a series of body paragraphs that begin with
topic
sentences
, and end with a conclusion.
You must support claims with specific evidence from the text:
this means that you will have to specifically describe formal
elements of the film and use quoted dialogue from the film.
Imagine that your reader has seen the film a year or so ago; you
will have to describe evidence to give your reader a vivid
mental picture of the evidence.
A Word on Style
: Style is a complex concern, but as the most basic level we
want to employ
formal collegiate prose
. Analyze using the present tense; avoid slang or casual
phrasing; use the third-person and do not use personal pronouns
(I, you, me); choose active verb constructions whenever
possible.
Feel free to visit my office hours for help developing a topic or
evidence, or even just to run an idea by me. The ACE is also
available for assistance; be sure to take this assignment sheet to
any ACE appointment.