Seminar Paper #1 Assignment
American Beauty (1999) Sam Mendes
“Madness in Movies” Coordinated Studies
Brian Holt & JC Clapp, North Seattle Community College, 2013
Focus/Topic: Motifs
A motif is a recurring element that helps to communicate or develop a major theme or idea of
the film. Usually the motif is symbolic, and it is a repeated idea, item, image, or pattern. For
example, in American Beauty roses are a motif. Roses are used to communicate particular
thematic ideas throughout the film.
Your Tasks (What your paper should include): Separate and label the two sections.
Section 1: Analysis of the theme/motif section (total of about 600-700 words, or about two
pages):
1. Identify what you believe is a theme of American Beauty. How did you determine the
theme you identified? Give examples from the film to illustrate the theme.
2. Identify one motif in the film (other than roses – pick something else!)
3. Analyze three different examples of the motif appearing in the film – where in the film
do you see the motif appearing? What meaning does the motif carry? List the time
stamp for ease of reference (for example: 1:10:02 would indicate that the shot you’re
referencing is one hour, ten minutes, and two seconds into the film).
4. How the motif is connected to and develops the theme.
Grading Criteria for Section 1 (15 points):
We will be looking for these elements when we grade:
 A clear identification of a theme from the film, with examples to illustrate.
 A clear identification of a motif from the film
 Three examples of the motif appearing in the film
 How the motif is used to develop the theme
 A minimum of 600 words (about 2 pages)
 A heading that includes the name of the film, the year, and the name of the director
 Assignment typed in 12 pt. font, double spaced, and has 1 inch margins
 No response, critique, review, evaluation, or reaction
 No ideas or word used from any other source
 Grammatically correct and proofread
Section 2 (5 points): Discussion of “normality” in the film (total of about 300-350 words, or
about one page)
1. Choose one of the characters from American Beauty and discuss that character’s mental
state. Does the character appear to be mentally ill? How so? Is the character “normal”
or “abnormal”? How do you know? What specific behaviors, actions, or thoughts
indicate mental state? How might the character be seen as normal? As abnormal?
Choose a few scenes (and give us time stamps) that illustrate your perspective on your
chosen character. (It’s early in the term, so you aren’t being asked to research or
diagnose a character, just to comment and discuss how you view a particular character’s
mental state – fodder for class discussion!)
Grading Criteria for Section 2 (5 points):
We will be looking for these elements when we grade:
 A clear identification of one character with comments about that character’s mental state
 Examples (with time stamps) to illustrate your ideas
 A minimum of 300 words (about 1 page)
 No response, critique, review, evaluation, or reaction
 No ideas or word used from any other source
 Grammatically correct and proofread
What your paper should not include:
 a plot summary (don’t tell us what happens in the film – at all.)
 a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” review (don’t tell us whether or not you liked the film
– at all) – whether or not you liked it is irrelevant to this analysis
 a biography of the director or actors
 a synopsis of what the director/actors say in the “Director’s Cut” of the film
 the use of any research (everything in your write-up should be your own analysis, not
analysis you’ve read from research sources) -- if we find anything that is from any
sources (even if you cite them correctly) you will not earn a passing grade