Name: _________________________________________
Block: _____
Pleasantville Archetype Essay
It’s time to synthesize your ideas about an archetype of your choosing. The steps below are
designed to help you create a successful and argumentative 3-paragraph essay.
1. Choose an archetype to analyze: ___________________________________________________________________
2. Choose a text in which that archetype is prevalent: ______________________________________________
3. Compare and contrast that archetype in the film and the text. Use the “Compare/Contrast
Essay Help Sheet” on the reverse side for help structuring this type of essay.
4. Write an introductory paragraph in which you establish a clear argumentative claim in
response to the prompt: How do old stories contribute to new ones?
If you get stuck: Consider how new stories use old archetypes to create new meaning, how
the viewer’s experience is enhanced by knowledge of old stories, or how archetypal
imagery can be used to create contemporary social commentary.
Nuts & Bolts: Your paper should:
 be typed in Times New Roman or Cambria 12-point font
 be double spaced
 be three paragraphs in length
 have standard margins
 have an original title
 include your name, block, the date and assignment title in the upper left-hand corner
Sample Introduction:
A beautiful garden filled with fruiting trees, a calm lake and rolling, grassy hills would
generally suggest tranquility. The addition of an apple and a young temptress can suddenly
remind a viewer of the opening chapters of Genesis and man’s fall from perfection. These
symbols—the apple and the temptress—are often used to signify humanity’s archetypal
transformation story. Gary Ross’s Pleasantville uses these images from the Garden of Eden to
evoke familiar notions of innocence. However, unlike the biblical tale, Ross’s story asserts that the
loss of innocence is a positive experience. By using familiar biblical imagery against a backdrop of
the archetypal 1950s American sitcom, Pleasantville is able to convince the viewer that the
seemingly perfect life of American suburbia is not nearly as fulfilling as a messier, less predictable
existence.