Movie: The Black Panther
Your essay should be around 3 pages long (at least 750 words though you may go over).
Your essay should be written in third person. (See our quiz on first, second, and third person for more
clarification.)
Your essay must be typed in MLA style. (See example of OWL Purdue’s sample MLA Style paper.)
This means, among other things, that your paper must be typed and double spaced in a standard font.
Try to avoid plot summary. Don’t just retell me what happens in the movie you’re writing about.
However, you may wish to refer to incidents that occur as support for your argument (If your paragraph
argues that T’Challa establishes the importance of a strong leader who works with others, you might
want to describe how he and Okoye work together to extract Nakia from her undercover assignment to
attend the coronation ceremony. If you’re arguing that Black Panther portrays an Africa civilization far
in advance of all others on earth, you might want to describe a scene that highlights their technology.
Write about the movie in the present tense. Write about the text as existing now, in the present tense.
Write: “T’Challa works with Okoye to bring Nakia to the coronation ceremony.” Don’t write: “T’Challa
worked with Okoye to bring Nakia to the coronation ceremony.”
You must use at least one quotation from the movie you analyze. (See quote sandwiches handout
under Course Documents.)
You must include a works cited page that documents the source or sources you’re analyzing. (See
sample works cited page.) You should not use any sources for your paper other than the movie. Because
we haven’t yet covered how to create works cited entries in MLA style, you should look at examples on
OWL Purdue here. Scroll down to “Films or Movies.” For in-text citation, use whatever occurs first on
your works cited entry. For example:
If you write about the movie Black Panther, your works cited entry should be:
Black Panther. Directed by Ryan Coogler, performances by Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan,
Lupita Nyong’o, and Danai Gurira, Marvel Studios, 2018.
When you quote from the movie within the body of your paper, use the movie’s title for in-text citation:
T’Chaka acknowledges his anxiety when he claims “it’s hard for a good man to be a king” (Black Panther).