Assignment

Philosophy Film

Henri Bergson: (1859-1941)

Text: Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Young Frankenstein (1974)
Comic Director: Mel Brooks (1926-
School of Thought: Vitalism
Disciplines: Aesthetics, Philosophy of Art

Writing Assignments: After having read the assigned material, watch the film you will be asked
to construct 5 arguments showing how the film illustrates or can be applied to 5 different
philosophical ideas contained in the philosophical text corresponding to that particular film.

Instructions for Writing Assignments: You are to compose five philosophical / Cinematic
arguments, numbered 1-5. Each one being about a half page typed double spaced. So, each
completed Assignment should be about 2 and a half pages long.
Philosophic / Cinematic Argument

As indicated, each of your writing assignments should contain five philosophic / cinematic
arguments. Each argument will be worth 20% of your overall grade of the assignment. What is a
philosophic-cinematic argument? An argument is a claim [conclusion] supported by good
reasons [premises]. Your claim or conclusion should be some connection between a
philosophical idea contained in the assigned philosophical text and the film associated with the
assigned text of that philosopher. This connection is either how the film exemplifies or illustrates
a particular philosophical idea in the philosophical text or how the philosophical idea contained
in the philosophical text can be applied to the film.

You should fashion each of your five philosophic-cinematic arguments as follows: Make a claim
asserting a similarity or connection existing between the philosophical text and something from
the film (a scene, a theme, something someone says, and action, anything expressed in the film).
Then support that claim by selecting a short quotation from the philosophical text followed by
your interpretation of what the quotation means in context. Then continue to support your claim
with something from the film followed by your interpretation of how what you have pointed out
in the film evinces the similarity that you have asserted in your claim. Please number your
arguments 1-5. Each argument should be about a half page double spaced typed. Each argument
will be worth 20% of your exam grade.
average

Rubric for Writing Assignments:

Points will be deducted for omission of any of the elements of the argument (omission of
conclusion, [OC] omission of the supporting quote from the philosopher [OC], omission of an
interpretation of the quote OI] or support from the film [OF]); unclear interpretation of the
selected text that you have chosen to quote [UI]; misinterpretation of the text or film [MT or
MF], impertinence between the selected quoted text used to support your claim and the film [I],
or repetition of the same idea [R]. So, make an effort to be clear, accurate, pertinent and diverse.
I will also take into consideration how original your connections are. Try to be scholarly as well
as original. This is the formula for good writing in philosophy. You want to open new ways of
seeing things, while still doing accurate philology. Be careful to interpret your quote in its
context.