RTF 317: Narrative Strategies & Media Design

Fall 2021

Assignment #2: Genre Paper

Due on Canvas by November 12th at 11:59pm

This assignment is worth 20% of your final grade. Your submission will be docked a third of
a letter grade for each day that is past due (a B assignment becomes a B- if turned in 1 day late).

Instructions:
This assignment will require you to write a textual analysis of two (2) media texts from the
options laid out below. For your analysis, you should first identify recurring elements or
conventions of the genre – such as character archetypes, narratives, settings, props, camerawork,
sound, or ideology – and then examine how some of these may appear or be transformed in your
selected texts.
For your analysis, select two (2) specific elements of the genre and focus on an individual
scene, sequence, episode (in the case of television), or story mission (in the case of video
games) in your media text. If you're choosing character archetypes, focus on specific actions
or behaviors by that character rather than a broad analysis of that character.
In addition, your paper is required to use the identified academic source within each genre. This
will provide you with a basis for generic conventions and act as a launching pad for your own
analysis, as well as the two additional required academic sources you will need to find on your
own.
As you formulate your argument, you must address the following prompts in your essay:

 Is your text actively manipulating your chosen conventions, working against them, or
embracing them?
 You must also account for medium specificity in your analysis, meaning that a
consideration of how the film, television show, and/or video game operates within (or
against) the associated norms of genres in those mediums. How does the medium
format affect how the story is told, and how your specific conventions are deployed
or not? 
 Perhaps most importantly, how is the adherence to, or deviation from, traditional
generic conventions creating meaning within your specific world? For instance, just
noting that the setting is not like a normal Western or horror text is not analytical;
instead, diving into how this setting informs character, class, and other identity
markers is within the scope of this assignment and will demonstrate a deeper,
stronger engagement with the material.

You have three genre options: horror, science fiction, and gangster. Your options within each
genre are as follows (no other selections may be made):
Option 1: Horror (choose two):

 Film: Poltergeist (1982)
 Television episode: The Haunting of Hill House (S01, E01, “Steven Sees a Ghost,”
2019)
 Video game: What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)

Required text for horror: Noël Carroll, “The Nature of Horror,” in The Philosophy of Horror
(Arc Humanities Press, 2020): 41-52. Download
Option 2: Science Fiction (choose two):
 Film: Arrival (2016)
 Television Episode: The Expanse (S01, E01, “Dulcinea,” 2015)
 Video Game: Mass Effect 2 (2010)
Required text for science fiction: Sherryl Vint, “Introduction: Whose Science Fiction?”
in Science Fiction (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2021): 1-18. Download
Option 3: Gangster (choose two):

 Film: The Untouchables (1987)

 Television episode: Narcos (S01, E01, “Descenso,” 2015)
 Video game: Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

Required text for gangster: Thomas Schatz, “The Gangster Film,” in Hollywood Genres:
Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System  (New York, NY: Random House, 1981): 45-80.
Download

Formatting and Research Requirements:

 1000-1200 words (not including works cited or title page)

 double-spaced, 12-pt. Times New Roman font
 1” margins
 A title that identifies your chosen genre and hints at your argument
 Your text citation and bibliography page should follow either MLA or Chicago style,
and you should include the sources of citation when you quote or summarize your
research material.
 In addition to the required text above, you are expected to cite two additional peer-
reviewed journal articles or book chapters that you have selected as the focus of your
research. For reference as to what qualifies as an academic source, please check out
our page on accessing the UT library and searching for academic materials.
General Advice on Theses and Arguments:

 Your paper should be organized around an argument-driven thesis. This is a short

essay, and you're not expected to cover the entirety of each media text you’re
analyzing. Instead, focus on the two specific elements you lay out early in your paper,
and provide specific examples in your essay.
 Your thesis, usually at the end of your introductory paragraph, should be provable,
specific, and go deeper than a surface level reading of the genre conventions and
texts. When crafting a thesis, some questions you should ask yourself include: What
are you trying to argue? What specific elements in your texts best support your
argument? This last question is especially important, because you should keep your
mind open as to where your argument goes; it is usually more fruitful to watch your
media texts and then begin to formulate your argument, rather than the other way
around.
 Presume that your reader has some vague familiarity with the media objects
you’re analyzing, and your job is to get them to see the texts in a new way
or consider particular elements in greater depth. Avoid plot summaries and dive
right into your analysis after an introductory paragraph.
 We strongly recommend that you outline your paper before you write. An outline
forces you to think about structure and sequence, about what idea belongs where,
how to group together examples and generic elements, and how to logically progress
through your argument.
 There is no set rule for the number of paragraphs in your essay, nor for the
number of sentences in each paragraph. However, there must be a unifying idea
within each paragraph and this idea should be identified in the paragraph’s topic
sentence. Give your reader a roadmap, and be attentive to transitioning between
paragraphs and ideas. No paragraph should be longer than a page and please do not
feel like 5-paragraph structure is needed, since it is often not. Use however many
paragraphs you need to divide your argument into concise and specific bits.
 Keep your tone objective and scholarly: this is not about whether you
personally (dis)liked the text you’re writing about, or found them to be “good” or
“bad” examples of the genre you’ve selected. Options and assertions need to be
backed up by evidence and analysis.
 Before turning in your paper, PROOFREAD YOUR WORK. Persistent
grammatical and spelling errors will reduce your grade, but more importantly ask
yourself “Is this presenting a clear argument? Is the evidence I’m presenting in my
textual analysis making a clear and compelling case to support that argument?” You
are encouraged to exchange papers with a classmate for peer review.
Rubric:
An “A” grade paper will:
 Clearly and concisely introduce the chosen genre and identify the two selected media
texts and two generic elements in the introduction.
 Present a compelling and specific argument/thesis statement about the two chosen
generic elements and how they operate in the two selected media texts.
 Be thoughtfully structured (paragraphs build off of one another to develop the argument,
transitions are used to make that progression clear, conclusion points to bigger take-
aways or directions for future work rather than simply rehashing what has already been
said).
 Provide an overview of the genre’s core characteristics and put these into critical
conversation with the chosen generic elements and screenings, drawing on specific
textual examples (a scene, a shot, a story mission, etc.) as supporting evidence for the
paper’s argument/thesis.
 Focus is on textual analysis, only offering enough plot synopsis to situate the reader.
 Use outside readings and research component to forward and support their own original
argument and analysis, and critical engage the ideas presented. Draws on only approved
academic sources.
 Meet the word count, be formatted correctly and proofread, catching minor spelling and
grammatical errors as well as awkward prose.
 Have complete and consistently formatted citations.

A “B” grade paper will:

 Identify the chosen genre, two media texts, and two generic elements in the introduction,
but not particularly efficiently or effectively (lacking detail or just listing elements
without indicating why they are important).
 Present an argument/thesis statement that is more general, lacking specificity, or is too
broad in scope to fully explore in a short paper.
 Be clearly structured, but has some issues in terms of lack of clarity with transitions,
tangential paragraphs that don’t contribute to the overall argument, or a conclusion that is
redundant with points made in the body of the paper.
 Provide an overview of the genre’s core characteristics and puts these into conversation
with some of the generic elements and screenings, drawing on examples that don’t
provide sufficiently detailed evidence or analysis to effectively support the paper’s
argument/thesis.
 Occasionally veer into plot synopsis, but is mostly offering a detailed textual analysis.
 Mostly fulfill the research requirement, but draws on a non-academic source and/or
brings in quotes that don’t effectively help build or support the paper’s argument and
analysis.
 Be slightly over or under the word count, but is formatted correctly with some very minor
spelling or grammatical errors.
 Have complete citation with some minor formatting errors.
A “C” or below grade paper will:
 Excludes some pertinent information about the chosen genre, two media texts, and two
generic elements in the introduction, presenting an unclear sense of the paper’s topic to
the reader.
 Present an argument that is either far too general (e.g. could be about any two texts), or
lacks an argument/thesis statement.
 Be confusing or lack clarity in its structure, showing a lack of planning/outlining and
argumentative drive.
 Lack sustained or detailed engagement with the genre’s core characteristics, generic
elements and screenings, drawing on examples that are either too general or vague to
function as evidence to support the paper’s argument/thesis.
 Provide plot synopsis rather than analysis.
 Fail to fulfill the research requirement and/or draw on quotes without actively connecting
them to the paper’s argument or analysis.
 Be far over or under the word count, not follow the formatting guidelines and/or have
consistent spelling or grammatical errors.
 Have incomplete or incorrectly formatted citations. Papers lacking citations or
plagiarizing will receive an automatic F for the assignment and disciplinary action.