English 12B

Unit 2: Representations of Poverty in Film

Mastery Assignment: Scene Analysis #2
Due: Monday, 5/2/16 11:59 PM E-Mail or Google Drive [andypet@umich.edu]
Scene Analysis: 40 Mastery Points Reflexive Component: 10 Mastery Points Grand Total: 50 Mastery Points
Assignment Introduction
Now that you have had the opportunity to practice analyzing the representation of poverty in the gentrification scene
from Boyz N The Hoodfrom gathering evidence to developing your claim to writing and revising two analytical body
paragraphsthe time has come to replicate this process on your own. For the final Mastery Assignment of our second
unit, you will develop and revise a second scene analysis about a different scene.
The Task
Your task is to write a brief, analytical essay in which you make and support a claim about how poverty is represented in
one (1) scene from film or television. For this assignment, you can choose from five possible scenes, which come from the
following five texts:

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Whats Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Breaking Bad (TV), Peekaboo (2009)
The Wire (TV), The Detail (2002)

We will be watching these five scenes in class on Friday, 4/22/16, and they will all be available on the course website
(tinyurl.com/english12b) so that you can watch them again as you need to.
Your paper should be approximately 500 words, and it should adhere to the following format:

One (1) claim paragraph. In a short, initial paragraph, state the claim you are making about how poverty is
represented in the scene. While its okay (but not necessary) to provide a sentence or two of context for your
claim, you need not include the typical introductory paragraph fluff: if youre tempted to begin a sentence with
Since the beginning of time or All around the world, youre probably getting into fluff territory.
Remember: your claim should consist of a specific noun, an active verb, and a specific modifier (per the models
we discussed), and it should insightfully express a complex reading of the scene that transcends superficial or
vague observations.
o After you have performed Notice and Focus and The Method on your scene (see Deadlines and CheckIn Dates below), use the following guiding questions to help you craft your claim.

What does it mean to be impoverished in your selected scene? What elements from The
Method resulted in that definition?

How does your scene explain the poverty of those in the film, and what seems to be offered (if
anything) as a potential solution to the poverty?

Who is the intended audience of the film or TV show? Here, think about what it might be
trying to accomplish based on your work with The Method.

Two (2) body paragraphs. In each body paragraph, you should do the following:
o Begin with a topic sentence that summarizes how the paragraph is going to support your claim.
o Present one (1) specific piece of evidence from the scene. This evidence must clearly connect to and
support your claim in a way that you can explain. Also, make sure that your evidence actually comes
from the scene (and not from, say, your personal opinions): your specific scene is your text, and your
evidence and claims need to be rooted in it.
o Explain the connection between the evidence and your claim using analysis. This is where you should
ask and answer the question, So what? about the evidence you are presenting: what does this
evidence imply? Where does it get us? Why does it matter? How does it support your claim?

Note that the word count requirement here is a little bit higher this time around; this means that your body paragraphs
will need to be a little bit meatier: you will need to deepen your analysis by making as much meaning of each piece of
evidence as possible, and by continually asking yourself, So what? as you present your evidence and explain its
connections to your claim. As with last time, its best to focus on one piece of evidence per body paragraph (which will
help you to avoid excessive summary and the dreaded evidence-stacking), though you may want to make connections
to other, closely related evidence in each paragraph in order to help you make your points

Evidence Requirements
As with the last Scene Analysis, you need to have two (2) pieces of evidence totalone in each body paragraph.
This time around, though, there is an additional requirement:

At least one (1) of your two (2) pieces of evidence must come from performing The Method on your scene.
This means that one of your pieces of evidence must be an exact repetition, an approximate
repetition, a binary opposition, or an anomaly. While dialogue quotations can be very useful as
supporting evidence, you have much more at your disposal thanks to the active reading strategieslike The
Methodthat we have been practicing. Think about how you can use your other observations about the
details and patterns in the scene to deepen your argument about how it represents poverty.
Revision and Reflexive Component
As you learned from writing Scene Analysis #1 and the accompanying Reflexive Response, producing a Scene Analysis
involves a recursive process; you cannot make and support a substantive claim about the scene in one shot. You will
more than likely find that you will need to adjust your claim as you write, and that is perfectly fine. In fact, its a good
thing: the best claims often arise after you have started digging into the work of presenting and analyzing your
supporting evidence. In the same way, your body paragraphs should change between your initial pre-writing and
drafting and the submission of your paperand, naturally, they will need to do so as you make changes to your claim.
For this assignment, you will write a brief (150-250 word) reflexive response to accompany your paper. Writing this
short reflection will help you to think metacognitively about your writing process, particularly in terms of how you
adjusted your revision strategies based on the first Scene Analysis. This will help you tremendously when you begin
working on your Documented Argument in the next unit.
Your response must answer the following questions:

What did you learn from the process of writing the first Scene Analysis that you specifically focused on and
applied as you crafted Scene Analysis #2?

Now that you have spent a substantial amount of time pre-writing, drafting, and revising this sort of analytical
essay, which pre-writing strategies (such as using active reading strategies, outlining, free-writing, ideamapping, and going to the Writing Center) and which revision strategies (such as reading your paper out
loud to yourself or to others, asking So what?, self-assessing with the assignment guidelines/rubric, and going
to the Writing Center) do you find most useful? Why?

How did your claim and body paragraphs change and develop as you wrote and revised your Scene Analysis?
Provide at least one (1) specific example about your claim and one (1) specific example about your
body paragraphs.

What aspects of the writing process do you need to improve on as we move toward the Documented Argument?
Word Count Totals
Scene Analysis: 500 words Reflexive Response: 150-250 words Total: 650-750 words
Deadlines and Check-In Dates
You will a substantial amount of time in to pre-write, write and revise your Scene Analysis, and, as always you will need
to use your time wisely. In order to help you accomplish this, there will be specific requirements for each work day (and
for homework each night), and fulfilling them will earn you process credit.

Friday, 4/22/16:
o In-Class: Screen and select clips.
o Homework: Perform Notice and Focus and The Method on your selected scene.
Monday, 4/25/16:
o In-Class: Small Group Discussion on Notice and Focus and The Method on your selected scene (with
others who chose the same scene); Seems X, Really Y on your selected scene.
o Homework: Write a claim about how poverty is being represented in your film. Use the guiding
questions on the assignment sheet (under The Task) to help you write your claim.
Tuesday, 4/26/16:
o In-Class: Draft your first body paragraph to support your claim. Show your work to Mr. Peters or Mr.
Austin by the end of class for process credit.
o Homework: Continue to work on and revise your first body paragraph.

(schedule continues on the next page)

Wednesday, 4/27/16:
o In-Class: Revision day with Writing Center Tutors. You will need to complete a Peer Tutor Revision
Form for process credit.
o Homework: Continue to work on and revise your first body paragraph.
Thursday, 4/28/16:
o In-Class: Draft your second body paragraph to support your claim. Show your work to Mr. Peters or
Mr. Austin by the end of class for process credit.
o Homework: Continue to work on and revise your second body paragraph.
Friday, 4/29/16:
o In-Class: Revision day with Writing Center Tutors. You will need to complete a Peer Tutor Revision
Form for process credit.
o Homework: Continue to work on and revise your second body paragraph and other components that
you still need to develop and revise.
Monday, 5/2/16:
o In-Class: Continue to revise and finalize your work. Show Mr. Peters or Mr. Austin your final or near
final product by the end of class to receive process credit.
o Final draft due at 11:59 PM via e-mail or Google Drive [andypet@umich.edu]

Extra Credit
Per the Extra Credit Policy explained in the Course Syllabus, you can earn an additional two (2) mastery points for
visiting the Writing Center with work from this course. You can (and should) attend Writing Center as often as you
wish, but the amount of extra credit is capped at six (6) points per trimester. Although we will have an in-class revision
day with tutors from the Writing Center (which will count for process credit), you are more than welcome to visit the
Writing Center for additional assistance with this assignment in order to receive the extra mastery points. Remember: to
receive the extra credit, you must submit your Writing Center receipt to Mr. Peters or Mr. Austin after your session.

Scene Analysis Scoring Rubric

Grade
Criteria
Above Mastery Threshold

Clear, insightful claim related to how poverty is being represented in the chosen scene. Claim
consists of a specific noun, an active verb, and a specific modifier.

Rich analysis of supporting evidence. Connections between evidence and claim are clearly and
A
thoughtfully explained. Presents one (1) piece of evidence from the scene in each body paragraph.
[36 40]

Thoughtful organization within paragraphs allows for rich exploration and discussion of evidence
that aids in supporting the claim.

Clear prose throughout; very few grammatical and technical errors.

Clear claim related to how poverty is being represented in the chosen scene. Claim consists of a
specific noun, an active verb, and a specific modifier, but it may lack insight or originality.

Strong analysis of supporting evidence. Connections between evidence and claim are for the most
B
part clearly and thoughtfully explained. Presents one (1) piece of evidence from the scene in each
[32 35.5]
body paragraph.

Thoughtful organization within paragraphs allows for rich exploration and discussion of evidence
that aids in supporting the claim.

Clear prose throughout, though some grammatical and technical errors may be present
Below Mastery Threshold
Students earning scores lower than 80 percent are welcome to revise and resubmit their written work within the guidelines
and specifications explained in the course syllabus.

Claim relates to how poverty is being represented in the scene, but it may be vague or unclear.

Some analysis of supporting evidence. Connections between evidence and claim are often vague or
C
left implicit, and there may be too much summary or repetition. May fail to present one (1) piece of
[28 31.5]
evidence from the scene in each body paragraph.

Organization within paragraphs is acceptable, but may be difficult to follow at times.

Generally clear prose, but frequent grammatical and technical errors may be present.

Claim attempts to address how poverty is being represented in the scene, but it may be vague or
unclear to the point of confusion.

Minimal analysis of supporting evidence. Connections between evidence and claim are consistently
D
vague or left implicit, and response may be highly summary-heavy or repetitive. Fails to present
[24 27.5]
one (1) piece of evidence from the scene in each body paragraph.

Confusing organization that makes discussion consistently difficult to follow.

Frequent grammatical and technical errors that distract from and/or obscure meaning.

No submission
E

Completely off topic

Not in English
Total Points for Scene Analysis: 40 Mastery Points
Component

Reflexive
Response

Additional Component
9-10
7-8
5-6
Response is between 150
and 250 words and
Response is at least 150
answers all required
words and answers most
Response is too short
questions thoroughly and of the required questions
and/or fails to answer
thoughtfully. Provides at thoughtfully.
several of the required
least one (1) specific
Requirement to
questions. Little to no
example of how claim
illustrate development of
evidence to illustrate
has developed and at
claim and body
development of claim
least one (1) specific
paragraphs with
and body paragraphs.
example of how body
examples is mostly
paragraphs have
fulfilled.
developed.
Total Points for Reflexive Response: 10 Mastery Points

Below 5

Response is missing or
completely off
task/topic.