CMS 4500: Grading and Format

The content and other general information about this assignment are detailed on the Film Analysis page.

I will use the Writing Criteria to evaluate your papers. In addition, please follow the requirements detailed below.

Length and Format Requirements

The average length (i.e. for acceptable, “C” level performance) is 1,375 words. This is about five typed, double-spaced pages, excluding the list of Works Cited and any tables or figures.

Your final submission should follow the formatting guidelines developed by the Modern Language Association (MLA). Along with other requirements, this means that everything in your paper must be  double spaced. The Purdue Universtiy OWL offers an excellent summary of MLA requirements.

There is one exception to the MLA formatting requirement. Please do not include your name anywhere within the body of your document, including its first page.  (Your GA View submission will be tied to your name, so there is no danger of my losing your work.)

Final Submission

By the due date listed for the Drop Box,  submit your paper by uploading the file to the “Film Analysis” Drop Box on Georgia View. Note that the file must be readable using Microsoft Word. Late papers will be penalized one letter grade per day.

A Note on Plagiarism

As a check against plagiarism, I will submit all of your final papers to an electronic clearing house that automatically identifies papers containing unoriginal material. I also often double-check papers against printed sources.

Your grade in CMS 4500 as well as your CMS diploma should be signs of advanced skill, hard work, and accomplishment. In order to maintain their value and integrity, I will strictly enforce both my particular policies as well as the university’s global policies on academic dishonesty.

Plagiarism in particular will not be tolerated. Make sure to study carefully the policy covering academic dishonesty on our Policies page—as well as the definitions and examples provided by our writer’s handbook—before you turn in anything that draws on the work of others. Plagiarism on the final submission will result, at minimum, in an F for the course.

Because the electronic submission of your papers helps to fulfill this important function, submitting the file to me is not optional. You must do so in order to earn a C or higher in the course. The file must include the text of your paper and its list of Works Cited.