Writing Assignment 1: Critical Essay
Korean 80
Fall 2020

The idea of the assignment: Write a short analytical piece on a film (or films) that we have watched in class, applying concepts and methods learned to date in the course.

This short paper (750-1000 words double-spaced) should provide a close reading of one of the films we have watched in K80 to date (The Age of Shadows, Spring on the Peninsula, A Stray Bullet), utilizing one of the following approaches taken from the Corrigan reading: film history; national cinema; genre; auteur; formalism; ideology.

The paper may draw on critical readings and concepts covered in class, and may propose connections with the relevant socio-historical context. The paper should be centered on an arguable thesis, taking a specific position on an issue or topic. As Corrigan writes, “The focus of the essay is far more specific than that of a review, since the writer hopes to reveal subtleties or complexities that might have escaped viewers on a first or even second viewing” (10). Plot summary should be kept to a minimum—you may expect that the reader of your essay is familiar with the film under discussion. The use of secondary readings is entirely permissible but not required. If outside sources are used, please use either MLA or Chicago citation style.

There is no prohibition against analyzing more than one film; there is no prohibition against using more than one approach to think and write about the film(s). However, you must explicitly name the approach(es) that you are taking, and your paper should exemplify that approach in your analysis. Keep in mind as well that this is a short paper, and it may be easiest to construct and substantiate a reasonable argument by focusing on a single film and/or approach.

Submit the paper via TurnItIn on the CCLE course site Friday (10/30), 9 p.m.