Overview
Research Questions: What Makes the Taiwan Film of your choice special? How so?
Choose one film that haven’t been e-screened in
this quarter
? Research Questions: What Makes the Taiwan
Film of your choice special? How so?
? Focus: Narrative Structure/Camera Work/Cast
and Acting/Significance/Audience reception (30%)
? Argument and Counter-argument (20%)
? Textual Analysis and Evidence (30%)
? Current Scholarship and Works Cited (20%)
Suggested Paper Themes
? Corridor, Gateway, Threshold, and Rites of
Passage
? Wall; Window; Door; Billboard
? Eye; Lenses; Mirror
? Historical or Socio-political Contexts
? Urban Youth Culture; Counter Culture
? Gender at the Crossroad
Do Not Begin Like this
? “Taiwan films are all about love and family values,
true emotions of human beings.”
? “Ang Lee won at least two best director awards;
he was born in Taiwan with his dad as the
principal of the prestigious Tainan First High
School.”
? “At first I didn’t particularly like the films by Tsai
Ming-liang, but watching several student videos in
Tsai’s style, I began to think perhaps Tsai could
be the one for my term paper.”
One Student States
? Brighter Summer Day and Blue Gate Crossing
provide opposite views and images of school
authority, with the former on absolute control while
the latter about the lack thereof. In term of
historical contexts, narrative structure, tone, and
gender politics, the two films are very different.
? Argument(Originality and Insight)/Textual
Evidence and Scholarship/Structure and Writing
Better Start like This
? “For my essay, I want to compare/contrast Dear Ex and
Eat Drink Man Woman for their portrayal of
dysfunctional Taiwanese families, since both films
feature a clash between parent and child. Both explore
modernity but in different ways . . . .”
? 3 External Sources (integrated into discussion)
? “MLA Format” (Heading; Sample, etc.
? Consult Benjamin Dreyer, Dreyer’s English (2019)
Revision Checklist
? 1. Does the paper begin in a way that draws the reader
into the paper while introducing the topic?
? 2. Does the introduction provide some general
overview that leads up to the thesis?
? 3. Do your supporting paragraphs relate back to your
thesis, so that the paper has a clear focus?
? 4. Do your body paragraphs connect logically, with
smooth transitions between them?
? 5. Do your supporting paragraphs have a good
balance between general points and specific, concrete
evidence?
Revision Checklist
? 6. If you've used secondary sources for your evidence, do you
attribute them adequately to avoid any suspicion of plagiarism?
? 7. If you've used quotations extensively, have you avoided
having quoted material overpower your own writing?
? 8. Does your last paragraph give your readers something to think
about rather than merely restate what you've already said
elsewhere in the essay?
? 9. Have you chosen your words aptly and sometimes inventively,
avoiding clichés and overused phrases?
? 10. Have you proofread carefully, to catch any grammatical
problems or spelling errors?