Summarize, analyze, and discuss. Give me a synopsis of the film and also of the article (the whole thing, not just the beginning). Then analyze and discuss the cultural, religious, and media elements (such as audience, maker, messaging) of the film. Finally, what do you feel the reading brought to the viewing: what was informative, did it get things right or wrong about the film, did you see how the messaging could be seen the way they approach it, etc. In essence, you are doing a thoughtful review of the film and the academic “reviewer” who wrote the article or chapter you read.

You can draw in other course resources, as well, or things you have seen in the wild (news, blogs, YouTube, etc.)—with my approval—but make sure your primary focus is on the two primary assigned sources.

3. The paper should be 5-7 pages long, standard formatting (double-spaced, 12-point font of Times or Calibri or similar), proofread. How you organize it is ultimately up to you but do make sure that it is organized with a reader in mind. I recommend following my basic guidelines above but it’s not required.

5-7 pages should not be hard to hit if you factor in an introduction, decent summary of two sources, an more specific discussion of religious/cultural and media elements, opinions (which should be kept mostly professional, mild gushing or griping is acceptable), and conclusion.