Alexander the Great

1. Avoiding documentaries, comedies and parodies, choose a relatively current film
pertaining to a historical topic within the cultural area and timeframe of the course.
2. Inform the class of your choice on the Rules, Polices and Assignment Questions Board.
3. View and review. The paper has to be in a formal academic style stretching around 1,100 words.
Required Construction:
1) Bibliographic Entry ? Think of it as a label at the beginning of the essay.
? Done in the University of Chicago/Turabian Style
Format:
Title of Film. Format, Length of Film. Film Production Company, Place of
Production, Year of Production
Example:
North and South, Book 1. DVD, 561 Minutes. Warner Home Video, Burbank,
CA, 1985.
2) Information ? Most of the information for this section can be found on the back of the video/DVD. Be sure
to keep this section short.
? People ?Give a little information about the movie including the director, producer
and, at most, three of the top stars.
? Edition ? Note any special information about the film such as if it was part of a series,
based on a novel, colorized, or was a special release edition with DVD extras.
3) The Plot ? While there is a great temptation to make this section the largest portion of the paper, it must
remain short.
? Brevity ? In no more than one or two good, well-rounded paragraphs briefly retell the
plot of the film. In short, condense the main storyline into about 5-10 sentences.
4) Reality ? This is the most important part of the essay and should be the longest. How did the film match up
with history? Be specific and cite any sources. This section of the paper will require research.
? Were the characters based on real people? If so, were they portrayed accurately?
? Were there any real events portrayed? Again, how accurate was the portrayal?
? If there were no real characters or events portrayed this was probably a conscious
decision on the part of the director/producer. Why? Try to analyze the reality
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omitted.
? When and where was the movie set? Were the locations depicted realistically?
? Were the furnishings, weapons, clothing, hairstyles, tools, shoes and streets shown
with historical accuracy?
? Was the zeitgeist (spirit of the age) depicted well?
5) Evaluation ? Don?t just say, ? I liked the film because it was good movie.? Even terrible films can be very
historically accurate and vice versa.
? Film Critic ? Be like a real film critic and break the movie down in an academic
fashion.
? Was the acting adequate or inadequate?
? Were there stereotyped roles or well-rounded characters?
? Was the plot clear and paced, or vague and tedious?
6) Conclusion ? Be sure to sum up the paper with a few last thoughts as to its accuracy, place in time or overall
cultural sensitivity.
? Timeframe – If the film was done many years ago, would it have been done
differently today?
? Overall Historical Accuracy – Did the film make the viewer more aware of history
or just confuse the issue?
Final Thoughts:
1. Academic Style ? When writing the paper be sure not to make use of the 1st or
2nd person point of view. Therefore, ?I,? ?I think,? or ?you? are completely
unacceptable.
2. Citations ? All sources quoted from or used to prove assertions should be cited
according to the University of Chicago, Turabian, or MLA Styles. As always, the
use of wikipedia or similar sites such as allexperts.com and answers.com are
expressly forbidden and I will expect to see sources other than websites.
Moreover, all research should be from proper sources such as books and articles
from EBSCOHost. In addition, the paper must have in-text citations like
Parenthetical Notations or Footnotes.
3. Complete the Assignment ? Always check to make sure that all parts of the
assignment have been completed. Thus, each section should be represented in the
final product. Turning in a move review that mostly describes the plot of the film
without having an equal amount of space spent on discussing historical accuracy
will result in an ?F.?
4. Single Flowing Essay ? The preceding material was intended to only give a general
outline of the paper. The finished product should not have any sections, but
should be one essay that flows from topic to topic seamlessly across its many
well-proportioned paragraphs.
5. Proofread ? Always proofread an essay carefully; sloppiness often results in a
lower overall grade. Read the paper carefully, checking for grammar and spelling
mistakes as well as awkward phrasing. Whenever possible, have friend proofread
an essay.
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Schedule of Events: This semester, the class will ?scaffold? the Film Review meaning
that the instructor will set aside class time to check into the class?s progress.
? ? film requests must be turned in or the Film Review will be docked
10pts
? ? Preliminary Bibliography must be turned in or the Film Review will be
docked 10pts.
? ? Film Review is due
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This is just the entry for the film you are reviewing. As for the actual Works Cited or Bibliography, that goes at the
end of the essay as per normal. Yes, it is odd, but it special to reviews. (See the ?Film Review: Formatting Explained?
Post on the Rules, Policies and Assignment Questions Board.

Don?t get carried away in this section. Perhaps just mention a couple of films in which the director or major stars
featured. As for where they were educated or were born, those details are completely unnecessary.
Jason Totten
The point of this section of the paper is to exercise your ability to explain things concisely in a written format ? a useful
skill in the business world. Keep in mind that PR text from websites sticks out like a sore thumb, as does ?spoiler?
free plot outlines from websites. Watch the movie and concisely explain the plotline in the paper.

This is the most important part of the paper. Remember to use only proper sources such as your textbook or
EBSCOHost. Often just simply looking at the chronology of events provide plenty of things to talk about. As for arms,
armor and costume, unless they are very egregious, that might be a bit too technical unless one is a real expert in such
matters. As long as one familiarizes themselves with the topic of the film, inaccuracies of accuracies will be very
apparent.

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