Contemporary Film & Literature

Ms. Carla Kurt

Essay on The Body by Stephen King and

Stand by Me directed by Rob Reiner

 

Task

Both the novella The Body by Stephen King and the film Stand by Me directed by Rob Reiner are described as “coming of age” or “fall from innocence” stories. Write a critical essay in which you show how these themes are developed in the film, and evaluate how successfully the story has been adapted from the book to the screen. Use specific examples from both the book and the film to make your points.

 

FCAs

_____________/50 Content – Demonstrates familiarity with both the book and the film and discusses all aspects of the essay topic completely, using a minimum of three specific examples that show how the movie develops its themes.

 

____________/25 Organization – uses a clearly-organized paragraph structure

____________/25 Conventions – follows the guidelines listed below

Guidelines

·             Minimum 750 words, MLA format (12 pt. Times New Roman, double-spaced, proper heading)

·             Include essential background information in the first paragraph:

o           Title, author, genre of the book

o           Title, screenwriter, director, date of the film

·             Be sure to include the actor’s name in parentheses after you first name a character.

·             Refer to Film Analysis – Guidelines for Viewing and Writing About Film for specific directions about proper mechanics for writing about film. This is important!

• If you use quotes or use any other person’s ideas, you must cite sources properly by using in-text parenthetical documentation and a Works Cited at the end of your report! Use correct MLA format to cite your sources (this includes quoting from the book, using information from the internet, etc). For information on MLA documentation, refer to the MLA packet, or go to
  
  
• http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_o.html - online style manual
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/ - online style manual

 

• http://easybib.com/ - online works cited composer

Suggestions

 

·             Use the Expository Essay outline model to help you structure your essay.

·             Start your essay with a catchy opening (related to the film, book, and topic) that will grab your readers’ attention.

·             Make sure you show how both the book and the film are relevant to the topic in the above Task. Indicate your thesis (main idea) at the end of the first paragraph.

·             Demonstrate your familiarity with both the book and the film.

• Provide a brief plot summary of both the book and the film. This should not be more than one short paragraph.
• Use specific examples from the film-shots, lines of dialogue, elements of plot or characterization that support the characteristics you’ve picked out to support your thesis. Referring to your literature and film logs will help you remember key scenes and your reactions to them.
• Use vivid language to bring your ideas alive!

 

·             Limit your analysis to two or three aspects of both the film and the book; don’t try to analyze or compare everything. For example, you might want to focus on how each medium develops character, creates mood, and advances a storyline.

·             Make sure your concluding paragraph provides closure by tying up the points you’ve made in the body paragraphs. Leave your reader with a striking ending sentence.

 

Resources:

 

The Internet Movie Database has information of movies, directors, actors, screenwriters, etc. In addition, you can read other viewers’ comments.

http://www.imdb.com

 

You might want to read some movie reviews to get an idea of different writing styles and formats. Check out the Movie Review Query Engine.

http://www.mrqe.com/lookup

 

If you want to revisit a movie by reading portions of the screenplay, you can download and/or read screenplays online.

Screenplays for You: http://sfy.iv.ru/scripts.html

The Daily Script: http://www.dailyscript.com/movie.html

Drew’s Script-o-Rama: http://www.script-o-rama.com/