Description
Writing Assignment: Media Analysis
You are required to submit the FINAL copy of this assignment, but you may first submit an optional
DRAFT. This will allow you to receive qualitative feedback that can inform your revision. You should
always avoid focusing solely on the grader’s DRAFT feedback; use the feedback as a supplement to the
course lessons and your own revision ideas. Always expect to revise beyond what the DRAFT grader
specifically notes if you want to improve your score.
For this media analysis, you will analyze how one part affects the whole media production.
Note that you should select only a single piece of media; you should not be discussing more
than one film, for example. You should choose one1 of the following parts to explore:
Genre: Explain how the production you chose fits into its genre.
Camera: Analyze how the camera’s use (camera angles, for instance) affects the
overall production.
Lighting: Describe how lighting is used to enhance or detract from the production.
Actors/Characters: Analyze how the actors OR the characters themselves enhance or
detract from the production.
Symbols: Explain what the symbols are and how their usage affects the overall
production.
Music: Describe how the music enhances or detracts from the media production.
Sound Effects: Analyze how the sound effects enhance or detract from the
production.
Special Effects: Explain what special effects are used and how they affect the viewing
experience.
Comparison to a Literary Work: (Note: This option may only be chosen if the film you
chose is also in print form.) How are the book and film similar? How are they
different? Which is better, and why?
Your purpose in this assignment is to explain how or why something works; therefore, you
should not include a full summary of the media production. Instead, you can provide context
where needed so the reader understands what is happening. The body of the essay must
1 Please review the rubric and note that you will not earn full credit if you analyze more than one of these
components.
focus on your analysis. You can use the ideas contained in the Media Analysis lesson
presentation and the Writer’s Handbook link to help you.
As with all college writing, your essay should have a strong thesis statement in addition to an
introduction, body, and conclusion.
Other than your chosen film, television show, and/or book, you are required to cite at least
one other credible2 source for this essay. This resource from the course will help you
understand more about evaluating sources. Moreover, if you use specific information from
the media production and/or print source, such as a quotations, you should include your
chosen media source on your Works Cited page, too. Use proper parenthetical citations or
signal phrases, and be sure to include MLA documentation and a Works Cited page for this
assignment (this resource from the course will help).
Review the rubric to see how your work will be assessed on this assignment.
Thesis hints: You might use these guidelines in crafting your thesis:
If you are analyzing elements in a production:
In (add your one chosen production), (add character 1), (add character 2), and (add character 3) were
used to (add how they enhanced the production or explained the production’s message).
OR
If you are comparing/contrasting a book and film:
(Add book) contained (add one aspect that made the book better than the film), but (add film) used
(add one aspect that made the film better than the book) and (add a second aspect that made the
film better than the book) to better capture the reader’s imagination.
Here are more specific thesis guidelines:
If you are analyzing elements in a production:
In the movie The Lorax, the characters Lorax, Once-ler, and Alocius O’Hare were used to show how
environmentalists are fighting against profit-driven industries that are harming the environment and
depleting natural resources.
2 Please note: Basic dictionary sources, user-edited websites (e.g., Wikipedia, eHow, etc.), and sites that house
databases of quotations are not considered “credible” sources. You will lose points in the Research category of the
rubric if your sources aren’t credible.
OR
If you are comparing/contrasting a book and film:
Even though the characters were portrayed mostly the same across the book and the movie in
Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, the setting in the movie was much more detailed, which made the movie
a much better overall experience compared to the book.