In a thorough paragraph, answer the following questions:
What grade would you give the ungraded paper based on the grading guide? Support your answer with specific examples from the essay.
What were the major differences between the ungraded paper and the A paper? Explain.
Paper A: Recently, Hollywood filmmakers have begun to respond to audience’s calls for more realistic and varied representations of women in film. A metric sometimes used to evaluate films is the Bechdel Test. A film passes the test when two named, women identifying characters speak to each other about something other than a man for more than two lines of dialogue. While movies like Wonder Woman and Captain America break the mold of male-dominated superhero films and easily pass the Bechdel test, what about trickier genres like romantic comedies? Susan Johnson’s 2018 film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a popular teen romantic comedy about Lara Jean Covey, a 16 year-old girl who has never had a boyfriend, but enters into a fake relationship in order to get over her long-time crush. While To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before subverts certain romantic comedy tropes, it fails the protagonist, Lara Jean, who could have been better developed and given more agency. To All The Boys centers on the classic “fake dating” trope. However, the trope is subverted in that the two main characters enter into the fake relationship on equal terms. Iconic rom-coms like She’s All That and 10 Things I Hate About You feature the fake relationship trope in which the guy protagonist begins dating the girl protagonists for a wager. The girl is unaware that the relationship is fake and both characters begin to “fall” for the other. To All the Boys subverts this trope by having Lara Jean and Peter mutually agree to the fake relationship. Both characters seek to gain something of value from the ruse. They even draw up a contract establishing physical and emotional boundaries. Lara and Peter have equal input into the contract, negotiating to fit their needs. Another reason this subversion improves the film is that the equal terms of the fake relationship erases the need for a grand reveal of the “betrayal” at the height of the action. In the classic version of the fake dating trope, the girl develops feelings for the guy only to discover that she has been deceived for the duration of the relationship. This is a harmful portrayal because the couple always ends up together despite the relationship being based on lies. To All the Boys presents a relationship based on equity, friendship, and respect. This sends a message to teenagers that relationships should be healthy and honest. Though To All the Boys makes a lot of progressive changes to the romantic comedy genre, it stumbles into the common pitfall of an underdeveloped protagonist. Lara Jean may be relatable through her awkwardness and low social standing at school, but she has almost no personal interests outside of being in a relationship. All we know about her is that she likes romance novels, has a messy room, and is afraid to drive. These are hardly core values or interests. The audience knows of no personal goals outside of getting a boyfriend. What subjects does she enjoy at school? What are her professional goals? In fact, the absence of a relationship is Lara Jean’s defining characteristic. She seems to experience a lot of personal shame surrounding this issue. Even her younger sister, Kitty, tells her it’s embarrassing that she is 16, but hasn’t had a boyfriend. The film also explores Lara Jean’s “commitment issues” related to her mother’s death. While it is normal for teens to want a relationship, 16 is still very young. The absence of a relationship is portrayed as both a personal failure and the catalyst for her character development at the end of the movie. It is unfair and harmful for the movie to shame Lara Jean (and, by extension, teenagers) for not being in a relationship by a certain age. This is an arbitrary social standard that has no real meaning. Though healthy relationships can be meaningful and fulfilling, they should not be the defining characteristic of one’s life. Unfortunately, this is the message communicated in the film when Lara Jean is able to overcome her fears and solve her problems by entering into a real relationship with Peter. Upon its release To All the Boys was lauded for its diverse cast that included an Asian-American protagonist. The romantic comedy should be celebrated for this, and other, progressive choices like subverting the “fake dating” trope. However, it is important to be critical of this and other rom-com’s choices to underwrite women-identifying protagonists. If Lara Jean would have had interests and goals outside of a relationship, it would only serve to make her more likeable and relatable to audiences. The lack of personality sends the message to teen girls that the focus of their lives should be seeking a relationship.
Ungraded paper: The fast and the furious is an eight-movie series that contains fast cars and a lot of shooting and high intensity scenes. There are 4 main characters, but the most focused on is Dominic (Dom) Toretto played by Vin Diesel. He is sought out to be the most dominant character in the movie series. There are several scenes that Dominic shows dominance over all the other character. As most of the scenes that he shows his dominance are action packed and thrilling, there are some scenes when the film fails to show the soft or less dominant side of the men in the movie.
For example, one scene is when Dom and his crew where stopping a convoy of tanks and military grade trucks that Letty and her new crew are leading. Dom went to save one of his crew members that got his car ran over by a tank, he jumped his car over a barrier on a bridge and landed on the other side of the bridge. He got over to his crew mate and saved him. This example is sort of off topic, the movie does not show any masculine sides of any of the female characters. The film directors portray them as soft and extremely feminine. In fact, Letty made a post on social media stating “I hope they decide to show some love to the women of the franchise in the next one” also saying “or I just might have to say good bye to a loved franchise”. Months later she posted she was leaving the franchise by stating “its been a good ride and I’m grateful for the opportunity the fans and the studio have provided over the years”. Soon after she left the franchise, even after her fans begged and pleaded her to stay with the franchise.
An example of a man not being as dominant is when Dom and Shaw, a bad guy that is out to get revenge on Dom and his crew for killing his brother in the heat of a shooting. Dom and Shaw were racing through a parking garage in the middle of the city while shooting at one another. Once they were at the top Dom and Shaw go out of their cars and begun to fight. While they were fighting one of Shaw’s crew mates was throwing hand grenades at the parking garage as an attempt to try and kill Dom. The parking garage eventually collapsed, and Dom fell over seven stories as Letty and Brian rushed to his side. When Letty got to his side Dom was presumably dead as he was crushed by a huge concrete slab. Brian and Tyrone along with Hobbs moved the concrete slab off Dom’s chest, almost immediately after Brian started CPR on Dom, it did not work. Letty held Dom in tears saying, “I remember everything…” Dom later gained back his consciousness and said, “it’s about time”. This shows how Letty stepped up and showed some form of dominance and prevailed in the situation.
This movie passes the Bechel Test, a test that must include a conversation between two female characters. The conversation was between Letty and Mia, they spoke about their future with their families and what their next “adventure” would be. This movie also passes the Racial Bechel Test, Roman (Rome) Pearce is a black man well involved in the plot, he is another one of the characters who is dominant in the plot of the film. He saves Dom in several scenes of high action. He one of several people of color in the film. One other person of color in the film is Tej played by Christopher Bridges, better known by his stage name “Ludacris”. He is a mechanic shops owner that hosts street races on the side. He also places bets on the racers who participate in the races. He has a crew that consist of multiple people, two being Asian females, one being a black female, and either one or two other black men. Lastly this film passes the Du Vernay test, a test that a person of color must realize where they want to go with their life. In one of the first movies in the series Rome was on house arrest and working in a demolition derby arena, when he was confronted by Brian on a subject that’s irrelevant, he told Brian that he was “cool” what where he’s at and he would like to pursue his career in the demolition derby arena.
The Fast & Furious is a very diverse series that has high action and high intensity scenes. I felt that his was a good example on how men are dominant and dependable, yes women are too but men are sought out to be more dependent.
Grading Guide:
A Range papers demonstrate insightful observations about how a chosen media (television show or movie) measures up to the metric of your choosing. A papers broaden their discussion by examining how the media portrays, silences, or plays into common tropes about BIPOC, women, LGBTQIA, men, children, or any other group. The criteria of the media metric are explained and used to review the material. The paper shows a careful close reading of the media citing details to support their claims. These papers communicate relevant background information, criteria for the evaluation, a well-supported evaluation, and the paper should cohesively center on the thesis. These papers are in correct MLA format, meet the word count, and have little to no grammatical or punctuation errors. Students with A papers have turned in drafts on time. These students have also demonstrated diligent participation in conferences. It is clear that these final drafts have undergone significant revision and incorporated suggested changes. An example of an A paper can be found on Blackboard.
B Range papers demonstrate strong observations about how a chosen media (television show or movie) measures up to the metric of your choosing. B papers also broaden their discussion by examining how the media portrays, silences, or plays into common tropes about BIPOC, women, LGBTQIA, men, children, or any other group, but this analysis may not be as well explained or supported as an A paper. The criteria of the media metric are explained and used to review the material. The paper shows a decent close reading of the media (TV show, movie, or album), citing details to support most of their claims. These papers differ from A range papers in that some of the observations may be shallow or surface level. B papers may be slightly repetitive with their observations. They might not always adequately explain the criteria, provide details to support their evaluation, or connect supporting details to thesis statements. These papers are in correct MLA format, meet the word count, and have little to no grammatical or punctuation errors. Students with B papers have turned in drafts on time. These students have also demonstrated diligent participation in conferences. It is clear that these final drafts have undergone significant revision and incorporated suggested changes.
C Range papers make an attempt at some observations, but these may be weak, not sufficiently explained, or may not adequately attend to the details of their media. The writer demonstrates a weak understanding of the writing task or may not support their few observations with any evidence or examples. C papers rely heavily on summary rather than evaluation. These papers fall significantly short of the word count and may contain errors in MLA formatting, punctuation, and grammar. Students with C papers may have missed deadlines. These students may have come unprepared to conferences, or not shown up at all. C range papers do not show that they have been significantly revised from their rough draft.
D Range papers suggest that the student has little to no understanding of the review genre nor spent time analyzing their chosen media. These papers rely entirely on summary and offer no evaluation. These papers fall significantly short of the word count and contain significant errors in MLA formatting, punctuation, and grammar. Students with D papers may have missed deadlines or did not submit drafts altogether. These students may have come unprepared to conferences, or not shown up at all. D range papers do not show that they have been significantly revised from their rough draft.
