ESSAY DUE DATE:
American Society & Film
PAPER TOPIC: SOCIAL DYNAMICS of the 1950s/Early 1960s
Essay Question:
HOW and WHY did 1950s/early 1960s America negotiate, challenge, and reenforce society’s complicated understanding of youth, gender, homosexuality,
race, and class? You must specifically address 3 of these 5 categories. (i.e.,
Explain 1950s/early 1960s expectations, including why they existed and how they
were re-enforced. Consider how each of your three groups dealt with and/or
challenged these expectations.)
Expectations (see page 2-3 for more detail):
Thesis Statement: one sentence that answers the essay question fully
Analytic Topic Sentences for EACH paragraph (i.e., ‘mini-thesis’ for paragraph)
Specific Evidence from both films (Rebel Without a Cause and Far From
Heaven) supporting your thesis
Specific Historical Evidence to support your analysis
MUST integrate ideas & information from the class readings* – include MLA
citations, e.g., (Boyer 6) = (author’s last name page); or film title in italic
MUST include ideas from at least one of the documentary films (The Beat,
Let’s Play House, Hidden Values of the 1950s, The Celluloid Closet)
Typed – follow the written work format handout as well as dept. style guide
LENGTH: 4 double-spaced typed pages; (5 MAXIMUM)
12 point font, Times New Roman
Readings include: Paul Boyer’s “America at Mid-century” (hwk & class notes), “Beat Poets Give
Birth to the Hippie Movement,” “Wild in the Streets” the reading on ‘Rebel Without a Cause,’
“Containment at Home,” “Fractured Fairy Tales,” “Mama Said,” “The Feminine Mystique,”
Journal of Social History summary & Congressional doc & Time magazine on Gays in the 1950s,
Civil Rights Movement 1954-1970 packet, Loving case and reading on interracial relationships,
and Boyer excerpt, ‘The Other America’ in “America at Mid-century.”
SEE OTHER SIDE FOR WRITING GUIDELINES
TYPED – follow the Written Work format handout in your notebooks.
In addition:
(USE the Outline and Final Essay Checklists!!)
Use formal organization in writing your essay:
- introductory paragraph that:
* catches the reader’s attention (i.e., effective hook)
* provides background info./context needed to understand your argument
* closes with your one sentence thesis statement
- body paragraphs that each include:
* ANALYTIC topic sentence that links the paragraph to your thesis, and fully
reflects the evidence in that paragraph
* SPECIFIC evidence that supports your topic sentence, with (CITES)
* closure to paragraph
- concluding paragraph that summarizes your argument and brings closure to
essay (imagine someone was only going to read this one paragraph)
Remember these elements of formal style (see handout for more):
- no contractions or slang
- no I, you or one statements
- no "etc.," "a lot," "really" or "for many reasons"
- nouns are your friends - avoid pronoun abuse: this, they and thing
are especially dangerous
- no "this essay is going to . . ." statements