Chinese Films

Term Paper Requirements

• Grading

The term paper itself counts for 35% of your course grade. You will be graded on your mastery of the 

relevant facts and arguments, your originality in developing analysis, and the effective way your paper is 

organized and written. Specifically, originality = 2 points, analysis = 8 points (i.e., 4 points each film), 

writing = 15 points (i.e., legitimate title = 1 point, 4 listed key words = 2 points, structure = 2 points, 

transition = 2 points, grammar = 2 points, spelling = 2 points, in-text reference = 2, etc.), use of 4 sources

= 10 points (i.e., logical incorporation = 1.5 points each, complete citation = 1 point each).

• Content

First, your paper must be comparative; namely, choose to compare 2 of these films: Plunder of Peach 

and Plum, It’s My Day Off, Ermo, and Suzhou River. You may focus on a similar theme, a shared critical 

problem, or a combination of some of them.

Second, your paper must be researched; namely, citing what critics have said about the directors and/or 

films you are discussing and indicating how you respond to their interpretations. You must use at least 4 

print sources assigned in the syllabus. Each article in an edited book counts as one source, but merely 

listing sources without incorporating them in analysis does not make your paper a researched one.

Third, your paper must be critical; namely, examining texts in detail and engaging different arguments in 

relation to the issues you are addressing. This also means that you have to maintain your own line of 

arguments while moving between primary and secondary sources. A summary of narrative plot or 

biographic information is descriptive rather than critical.

• Form

This is an individual assignment. Do not work on it jointly as you might study together for exams or 

team projects, because two papers similar to each other will likely lower grades for both papers. Do not 

submit a paper that you have submitted or are writing for any other class.

The paper must be written in your words, not paraphrased out of a secondary source or plagiarize from 

any source You must give full bibliographical citations at the end of your paper on a separate page

(exclusive of the page limit), and make sure your style is consistent throughout the paper.

Papers must be typed, double-spaced (not 1.5 spaced), with one-inch or larger margins on all four sides 

of the page. The length is limited to 3 pages, excluding references. Most students do better writing a 

carefully edited three-page paper than writing a longer paper that is sloppy. Papers not meeting these 

specifications will be returned without grading. Faulty spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format style 

will cost you points, so proof-read your writing carefully. 

Here is those moive link

Suzhou River: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GISSDqFU-5w with English subtitle

Ermo: https://radiichina.com/chinas-american-beauty-zhou-xiaowens-tragicomic-ermo/ without English subtitle,with English analysis

It’s My Day Off: https://www.virtualshanghai.net/Films/Collection?ID=109 without English subtitle,with English analysis

Plunder of Peach and Plum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrdVIzKFL98 

Sample Term Paper Topics

Notes: The following topics are NOT required but are, instead, intended to encourage you to think further and explore your own topics. You may, of course, choose one of them or recombine a topic of your own design.

• The female body and female sexuality in Ermo and Suzhou River
• Changing gender relationships in Plunder of Peach and Plum and Ermo
• Changing concepts of family and community in Plunder of Peach and Plum and It’s My Day Off (or Ermo)
• Changing roles of the individual in It’s My Day Off and Ermo (or Suzhou River)
• The city as a site of disillusionment and destruction in Plunder of Peach and Plum and Suzhou River
• The city as a communal space in It’s My Day Off versus an enigmatic space in Suzhou River
• Different/similar attitudes to the forces of urban corruption in Plunder of Peach and Plum and Suzhou River
• The impact of money on human relationships in Ermo and Suzhou River
• Idealism and its fates in Plunder of Peach and Plum and Suzhou River
• Challenges to male or patriarchal values in Ermo and Suzhou River

LTEA 120A: Chinese Films

Term Paper Template

Your name

Paper Title

Keywords: A, B, C, D

Introduction

Discussion of film 1

Discussion of film 2

(you could move between two films here but must provide smooth transitions in between)

Conclusion

Bibliography listed in a separate page (at least 4 sources from the syllabus, items listed in required books and other references)

e.g.,      

Author’s name, Book Title (City: Publisher, year).

Author’s name, “article title,” Volume Title, ed. Editor’s name (City: Publisher, year), pp. #-#.

Author’s name, “article title,” Journal Title, volume #, issue # (year), pp. #-#.