Film Review Guidelines

This assignment written by Laura Joyce (c) 1999
Prince Georges Community College, Maryland

Speech 101
Fall 1998

Due Date: MWF Classes: Wednesday, October 21 (in class); Tu/Th Classes: Thursday, October 22 (in class)

Points: 15 points possible

Length: 3-4 pages, Double-Spaced, Typewritten, Stapled

 

Film Review: Twelve Angry Men

In class and in your textbook, you are learning about the techniques that people use to inform and to persuade. You have also learned about a number of interpersonal factors, such as listening, nonverbal communication and perception, which affect the outcome of any type of communication interaction.

In the Film Twelve Angry Men, a number of communication acts play pivotal roles in the outcome of a jury trial. The basic premise of the movie---that twelve jurors must come to a unanimous life-or-death decision about the guilt or innocence of a young man being tried for murder---revolves around each of the significant areas we’ve covered in class so far. The intrapersonal processes (how we feel, how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive the world), the interpersonal processes (how we interact with others, both verbally and nonverbally) and the public discourse (how we use speech to try to inform or persuade) are, in this film, all very much in evidence and interconnected.

In this analysis, you will be examining the ways in which the jurors in this trial are products of their experiences (the intrapersonal aspect), the ways in which this impacts on their communication with one another, and the ways in which the outcome is related to the intrapersonal and interpersonal elements as they come together in this jury room. You will be examining both positive and negative aspects of the strategies that the jurors use to persuade, and the ways in which their beliefs, values and experiences shade the way they see the evidence in this trial.

PAPER FORMAT

I. Introduction

  • Make a thesis statement. A good paper always begins with a statement of its purpose. Your thesis statement should be similar to what you would make in the opening to a good speech; in other words, tell us what you’re going to be trying to prove in this paper.

Example: "In this paper, I am going to discuss the ways in which the intrapersonal, interpersonal and public communication in a jury trial illustrate the complexity of the human communication process. I will be using examples from the film, Twelve Angry Men..."

II. Body

  • Identify, define and give two clear, thoroughly-described examples of the main points that you identified in your introduction. One example should be a positive, effective use of communication, and one example should be a negative, ineffective use of communication. These main points will be the same for everyone in the class: intrapersonal, interpersonal and public communication. These are your main points.

Example: "Intrapersonal communication is defined as...(definition). In the film, Twelve Angry Men, there were many instances where the values, beliefs and experiences of the characters had a significant impact on the outcome of the trial. I believe that two examples where the impact was most clear were the following: (give two specific examples, one positive and one negative, identifying the character and the communication interaction that occurred that illustrated how intrapersonal communication was in evidence).

  • For each example, discuss why you believe that the communication behavior you identified worked or did not work. What rules or theories that you have learned about communication suggest why the behavior was effective or not?

Example: "The effective behavior was when Ossie Davis said...(put in a specific example). I think this worked because he started off his opinion with a qualifying statement, saying that he understood it was just his opinion, and that he knew that didn’t mean he was necessarily right. This allowed the others to listen without having to feel defensive or as if he was saying they were wrong."

  • Remember to back up your opinions with theory from the book or lectures. While this is an opinion paper, I want your opinions to be grounded in actual research and theory.

Example: "According to Berko, Wolvin & Wolvin, qualifying statements create a non-defensive communication climate, and communication is typically...(discuss their theory).

III. Conclusion

  • Review the thesis you presented in the introduction

  • Review the main points you have made in the body of the paper

  • Come to a conclusion about the ways in which your thesis is correct and the ways in which the interaction of the main points plays a critical role in all types of communication, with a particularly strong effect on persuasive, highly-emotional communication situations such as a jury trial.

References: as noted earlier, be sure that you back up your opinions with theory. The way to do this is to refer to your sources in the body of your paper, in parentheses, and then to have a reference page (endnotes) at the end of the paper. Endnotes should contain the following information:

˜ Name of the source from which you received the information
˜ Date of publication of the information source
˜ Author(s) of the article or book
˜ Edition and Volume, if information is from a periodical
˜ Page number(s) on which the information is located