Based on the movie you selected, and using concepts presented in Chapter 6, write a paper focusing on the stereotypical portrayal of characters in the movie (e.g., prisoners, correctional officers, etc.). If all someone knew about the US correctional system came from this movie, what sorts of correctional policies to you think they would support or oppose? Would they be good policies or not? Why?
Book title: only chapter 6:
Surette, Ray. (2011). Media, Crime and Criminal Justice. Images, Realities, and Policies. 4th edition. Thomson/Wadsworth Publishing.
Paper guidelines:
1. Introduction – you MUST include a formal introduction in which you clearly and concisely lay out the road map for the remainder of your paper. This is a basic requirement of any and all college writing. It is important to note that a formal introduction is not a few diplomatic sentences discussing the overview of the film, or what your thoughts were on the general idea behind the prompt. The intro, again, clearly, briefly and concisely states, this is what the paper addresses, this is how these topics are addressed, and this is how the paper progresses. If you have questions on this or anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact me prior to the due date, as I am more than happy to help with formatting, issues, problems with structure, etc. Just ask.
2. Following the prompt – Just remember to follow exactly what the prompt states and address each part of it. Often times, it is really easy to get side tracked in writing or get passionate about something and forget to address a key part of the prompt. While passion and exuberance are great qualities in academia and writing in general, they can’t overtake the process and cause you to forget to fully address the prompt. The prompt is there to gauge your ability to not only read the text and watch the film, but to determine your level of comprehension and to see how well you understand the concepts presented and subsequently how well you can apply them to real world examples and the themes represented in the film (if applicable). A way I mentioned on several papers to ensure that you aren’t forgetting anything is to create subheadings (properly formatted in APA style), directly corresponding with each point/area to address in the prompt. This will give great organization and cohesion to your paper, your thoughts and also help you and the reader to stay on track throughout your exposition.
3. In text citations – While many of you have gotten much better about this, there are still several papers that don’t format in text citations in proper APA style. I try to note this whenever I see it, but still there seems to be some level of confusion. So for a paraphrasing or citation of the general ideas or concepts in a piece, it should be (Author, Date), or (Surette, 2011). And for direct quotations it should read, (Author, Date, Page #) or (Surette, 2011, p. 49). There are several different variations and caveats for formatting in APA and really any other style. But for the most part in this class, all you will probably need to know are the two aforementioned ways to cite. But again, if you are unclear on this or anything else pertaining to citations and formatting, please just ask me before the due date and i am happy to take a look at whatever you have and let you know if you’re on the right track, or if not, how you can rectify the problem.
4. Language – The final consistent issue I saw in the papers was the use of words and language. First, remember that these are all college level, formal academic papers. Therefore saying things like, "I totally agree with that" or "That really makes no sense at all" are inappropriate for this type of paper. Also, avoid being too wordy. Simply state what you mean in clear, concise terminology and cut out all of the extra verbiage. For example, this sentence- "When I was taking a look at this film that I had never seen before this class, I think that there is really no way at all for the actor to be a good portrayal of a stereotypical lawyer and basically wasn’t believable at all, because she didn’t focus on much of anything in the book." This could be condensed and rewritten to state, "In light of Surette’s presentation of a stereotypical lawyer, the actor failed to believably portray her role in the film." Then you could go on to state, "This is the case because of X, Y and Z (Surette, 2011)." So just remember that your point of view and application of the concepts are much more believable if you cite everything that isn’t yours, and if you use language strategically and sparingly.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]