final exam :: take-home question
due 12/12/2005

This take-home portion of your final exam must be typed and submitted on Monday, 12/12 before the in-class exam.

Imagine that you are writing a 250-300 word entry on “film noir” for the Encyclopedia of World Cinema. Your task is to provide readers with the following information, written in your own words:

A) a 1-3 sentence definition of the term

B) a description of its formal characteristics (e.g. chiaroscuro lighting)

C) a description of its thematic interests and concerns and

D) a brief overview of its historical evolution and influences and

E) a statement about its overall importance to the history of cinema.

As the basis for your entry, you may draw on Andrew Spicer’s chapter, “The Background to Film Noir”; your lecture notes and outlines; the handouts to the three films we’ve studied in the course, and the films themselves.