Film Scarface and the Principles of Sociology Paper 2: Film Analysis
The second writing assignment involves demonstrating your understanding of how media reinforces gendered or racial behaviors and attitudes by applying course concepts concerning race and gender.

For this paper, you will select either a film or a television series to analyze for gendered or racial messages (i.e., women are portrayed as nurturing, while men are shown as being aggressive; non-whites are criminals, while the hero is represented by a white character; women who break norms are ridiculed; etc.) I will provide some examples in class of racial and gendered analysis – the films used in class will not be on the list of films that you can write about. If you choose to analyze a TV series instead, you will be required to discuss the series as a whole and not just analyze individual episodes. This means that you must watch at least 3 or 4 episodes (maybe more depending on the number of episodes per season). This will require brief summaries of the film only when you are describing any gender conforming or non-conforming behaviors from the film. Analyze the film using your understanding of core concepts and by applying your sociological imagination.
I have seen every movie on this list, so I do not need long summaries of the plots. The list of films is on a separate word document in the Paper 2 Instruction’s folder.

Film Scarface and the Principles of Sociology Paper Writing Guidelines

You will write a paper based on one of the following prompts:
Option 1: For this option, you must examine how gender is portrayed in the
Film/show you have chosen. Here are some things to keep in mind while watching ( keep in mind that while you should think about these types of questions while writing your paper, you should not write a paper that just gives simple answers to these questions. Depending on the movie, you may not be able to answer all of these anyway, so it best to use them as guides for how to watch the film):
First, you may want to watch the film or episodes more than once – especially if you have never seen them before. This way, you can watch the first time and just take mental notes of interactions between characters.
Each additional viewing, take handwritten notes about the film. These notes should be guided by the following questions, which are in no particular order:
Compared to men, how many women hold key roles in the film? To be a key role, the woman in question must play a critical part in the film and have several lines of dialog (she should appear in at least one-third of the film).
How are these women portrayed? Are they shown to be in gender-conforming roles? If so, how so? If not, how are they shown? How do other characters react to their “performances”?
When considering the portrayal of women, think about how they are physically portrayed. Are they sexualized? Are they shown to be “prudish”? How do characters react to this physical portrayal?
When considering the women characters, are they portrayed as well rounded individuals, or are they stereotyped? If they are well rounded, describe what makes them seem this way. If they seem stereotyped, describe which stereotypes are at work and how the world around them reacts to this portrayal.
Does the film seem to reinforce or challenge stereotypical and/or gendered roles? If they reinforce these ideas, how do they do that? If they challenge them, how does that occur? Do other key characters seem happy with this portrayal?
When watching the interactions between characters, take notes of how often two women share a scene together. Consider whether they share a conversation and what the content of that conversation is. Do they talk about their husbands/boyfriends/lovers/some-other-male-romantic-figure?
If so, how long? If not, what are they discussing?
What are the statuses of the women in this film? Do these women feel role conflict or role strain due to one or more of their statuses? Does the film attempt to normalize stereotypical ideas about women through this strain/conflict (i.e., women feel conflict in their lives as long as they working and trying to be a wife/mother and only find true happiness by quitting their jobs so they can stay at home?)
Is the film trying to show women in a positive or negative light? How does
it do that?
If these women violate norms, how does the film handle this? Are they sanctioned? Does the film use the norm-breaking as a form of humiliation (i.e., the women suffer all kinds of comedic problems until she decides that being a full-time mom is true career)?
Does the film portray gendered violence? If so, how is it portrayed? Is this type of violence reinforced or challenged by the films events? Does the gendered violence happen with any context? Does this violence seem gratuitous or unnecessary to the overall plot? Does it add to the story or does feel like it was only added to create ‘drama’?
Option 2: For this option, you must examine how race is portrayed in the film/show you have chosen. Here are some things to keep in mind while watching
( keep in mind that while you should think about these types of questions while writing your paper, you should not write a paper that just gives simple answers to these questions. Depending on the movie, you may not be able to answer all of these anyway, so it best to use them as guides for how to watch
the film
):
First, you may want to watch the film or episodes more than once –
especially if you have never seen them before. This way, you can watch
the first time and just take mental notes of interactions between characters.
Each additional viewing, take handwritten notes about the film. These
notes should be guided by the following questions, which are in no
particular order:
Compared to whites, how many non-whites hold key roles in the film? To
be a key role, the woman in question must play a critical part in the film
and have several lines of dialog (she should appear in at least one-third of
the film). To the best of your knowledge, what are the races of those non-
white characters?
How are different racial groups portrayed? Are minorities shown to be just
as capable as their white counterparts? If so, how so? If not, how are they
shown? How do other characters react to their “performances”?
Are any of the non-whites shown in a sexualized manner? If so, when and
how?
Are any of the non-whites shown to be animalistic? If so, when and how?
When non-whites interact with whites, how are they portrayed? Are they
shown to be the equal of the white characters? How does the film
accomplish this?
Does the film challenge or reinforce racial stereotypes? How so?
When non-whites are shown in motherhood/fatherhood positions, are they
criticized or praised? How so?
Are black men stereotyped as: athletes, sexual predators, or criminals?
What does this say to society when they are shown in this manner?
Does the film fetishize violence against a minority group? Is the villain a
non-white character?
If these non-whites violate norms, how does the film handle this? Are they
sanctioned? Does the film use the norm-breaking as a form of humiliation
(i.e., the non-white individual suffers many setbacks until they become
happy with their lot in life)?
Is there violence? If so, how is it portrayed? Are all groups shown in the
movie portrayed as being equally violent? Are some groups shown to be
more or less so? Why?
What is the statuses of the non-whites shown? Are there any conflicts or
strains suffered due to these statuses? How so?
Does the film seem to reinforce or challenge stereotypical and/or
racialized roles? If they reinforce these ideas, how do they do that? If they
challenge them, how does that occur? Do other key characters seem happy
with this portrayal?

Film Scarface and the Principles of Sociology Formatting

Compose your paper in Word (.doc or .docx) – other formats will not be accepted
1-inch margins
12-point Times New Roman font
3 – 4 pages – no more, no less
All pages should be double-spaced
NO bullet points or fancy formatting – no colors, fancy text, images, video, cat pictures,
etc.
Do not write your name, the class’ name, the date, or any other superfluous information
on the body of this paper (you can include your name in the header or footer sections).
Be sure to include class material in your explanations, as well as define any sociological
terms that you use.
This paper does require citations, and you should use ASA-style formatting when you do
make reference to someone else’s work (see
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/1/).
Save your paper as “Paper 2_Films.”
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT
Submit via the “Assignments” link in Blackboard before 11:59 PM on Sunday, October,
21.
LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
WRITING
TIPS
Write in formal academic narrative form (i.e. use full sentences and paragraphs). Do not
use bullet points.
Writing matters. Proofread and edit to ensure your message is clearly conveyed
throughout the paper. Spellcheck is your friend.
Do not include contractions in formal class papers (e.g., use “do not” NOT “don’t”).
Make sure that the sections of your paper flow to make one coherent paper.
Keep the reader in mind when you write. Your paper should be easily accessible.
Use topic sentences (aka “focus sentences”) to begin each paragraph. Every paragraph
should include a topic sentence that identifies the main idea of the paragraph. A topic
sentence also states the point the writer wishes to make about that subject. The supporting
details in the paragraph will develop, explain, or support the topic sentence.
A folder containing writing resources is available in the “Writing Resources” section of
our course webpage.
A FINAL REMINDER: PLAGIARISM and UNAUTHORIZED GROUP WORK
Graded assignments are to be completed individually. That is, you should write this paper
by yourself. Any unauthorized group work or other violations of the TCC Academic
Honor Policy will not be tolerated.

Film Scarface and the Principles of Sociology Marking Rubric

Introduction
2 points
Analysis of film
5 points
Conclusion
2 points
Writing Quality
1 point
Write about Option 2
The film I chose is Scarface
ASA format citation