Rubric for Movie Argument Analysis
Do you have an Interesting Title – hints at what is to follow?
In Your Opening Paragraph(s) do you
 Identify the movie, director, the type of movie, the structure of the
argument
 Identify the issue and the claim(s) made by the director
 State or hint at your evaluation of the argument presented in the movie
 Get the reader interested in the way you introduce the essay
In the Body Paragraphs of Your Essay, do you
 Summarize briefly the movie’s argument
 Analyze and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the movie’s
argument(s) in terms of elements we have discussed (use the pink
analysis sheet)
 Cite specific examples from the movie to demonstrate your fairness in
capturing the tone and content of the argument
 Stick to a clear organizational structure with clear topic sentences and
controlled paragraphs
 Take into consideration the unique argumentative techniques of a movie:
sound, images, visuals in general/editing techniques
 Avoid appearing too biased – your evaluation is supposed to be based on
the merits of the argument, not on previously held prejudices
In the Concluding Paragraph(s), do you
 Remind your reader of your overall evaluation of the movie
 Leave your reader thinking about the argument either in terms of its
content or the manner in which the argument was developed.
Overall
 Is your style interesting and concrete
 Does your style demonstrate that you can accurately use terms of
argumentation – logical fallacies, inductive vs. deductive structure, logos,
ethos, pathos etc.
 Did you avoid “is” and “it is” and “it is…”that”
 Did you vary your vocabulary and sentence structure
 Did you proofread for grammar and punctuation errors
 Did you cite correctly
 Do you have a title page and a works cited page?