1. Performing a close reading of a film of your choice, write an essay in which you explore how women’s cinema and feminist film aesthetics challenge dominant regimes of representation and looking relations typically associated with mainstream cinema.

Research essay assignment
For the main assignment in this course, you will write a research paper that answers
one of the questions outlined here. You must use at least two secondary sources for
this assignment; these two sources must be scholarly (i.e., not a newspaper article).
One of the sources must be found on your own (not from the syllabus). Your essay should
have critical themes and concepts explored in this course the essay should combine  a compelling argument that is supported by textual evidence from the film and Your essay should combine close reading
of both critical texts and the film in question. Strong essays will pay careful
attention to the particularities of film form. How do film aesthetics and style buttress
your argument? While narrative is a crucial component of film form, essays that only
address questions of narrative overlook how film develops ideas through other formal
components such as mise-en-scène, sound, and editing.
The research paper should be 2500-3000 words, not including name, title page, date,
course.