Social Network Film
Social Network Assignment: As you may remember from before we started the film, you were asked to respond to the following: The Social Network has been called the "defining film of our generation." Do YOU agree with this? Why or why not? In class you are to write 1-2 pages responding to this idea, using themes from the movie (narcissism, popularity of social media, doing whatever one has to do in order to reach one's goals, exclusivity, etc.), details from the film, and your own personal experience to support your points. This is NOT a formal essay assignment - while I want you to respond adequately to the prompt, do not spend a ton of time crafting the perfect essay! My first goal for you in this assignment is merely to respond to a prompt by constructing a thesis statement which you will support with specific details. The second goal for this film assignment is for you to practice using source material to support your points. You will then CITE this source material using MLA format. Here are the links to critical reviews of The Social Network: http://news(dot)moviefone(dot)com/2010/09/13/the-social-network-review/ http://www(dot)rollingstone(dot)com/movies/reviews/the-social-network-20100930 http://www(dot)ropeofsilicon(dot)com/travers-continues-the-social-network-is-the-film-of-a-generation-talk/ http://news(dot)moviefone(dot)com/2010/09/30/5-reasons-why-the-social-network-does-not-define-this-generation/ http://www(dot)nytimes(dot)com/2010/10/04/business/media/04carr.html?_r=0 http://www(dot)examiner(dot)com/review/the-social-network-will-define-a-generation You are to choose TWO quotes from TWO separate reviews to incorporate into your written response. When you use the two quotes in your response, you must cite using IN-TEXT CITATIONS and creating a separate WORKS CITED page. In-text citations can be done in two different ways: 1. I believe that Mark Zuckerberg is far more narcissistic than most people our age. According to Ronald Maggie in "Social Network is Not What it Seems," he states that "Mark Zuckerberg truly defines what it means to 'take the bull by the horns' in today's society." I disagree with Maggie--I think there are far more respectable ways that young people in our society reach their goals. OR 2. I believe that Mark Zuckerberg is far more narcissistic than most people our age. It's been said "Mark Zuckerberg truly defines what it means to 'take the bull by the horns' in today's society" (Maggie). I disagree with Maggie--I think there are far more respectable ways that young people in our society reach their goals. A Works Cited page looks exactly like this: http://www(dot)roanestate(dot)edu/owl/images/works-cited-example.gif In order to FORMAT your Works Cited entries, you can use easybib.com. I will show you in class how to use easybib.com. *Upon turning in this assignment, you will have completed the following: 1-2 pages responding the prompt (clear thesis statement in the beginning, followed by specific details for support) use of TWO direct quotations from TWO separate critical reviews used for support in-text citations properly done for each critical review source used properly formatted Works Cited page at the end of your written response ATTENTION TO BASIC SPELLING: please attempt to correctly spell people's names from the movie! A basic Google search can help you with this!
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The social network film
The film ‘The Social Network’ is a force of new generation as this captures the growing popularity of social media and prevailing trends among the youth in the 21st century (Brevet). People seem to have numerous ‘friends’ on social media, but these relationships mostly show popularity. Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook may have had a lot of Facebook friends, but the character had little people skills given his inability to maintain relationships especially with girls. Though the film draws parallel’s with today’s generation on relationships in social media, it tries to explore some driving forces of the generation rather than define the generation.
The film depicts the theme of wanting to achieve at whatever cost, and this has been one of the defining characteristics of American capitalism. Though Americans see the American Dream as being the route to success, the urge to succeed at all costs is not unique to the generation. The older generation view the movie without forgetting the cautionary tale of Zuckerberg who appears to have emerged successful yet tragically comes out as selfish and less compassionate, but the young people see the character as someone who has a fighting spirit to get what he wants (Carr). Nonetheless, these are merely generational about life, and this is simply a story about Zuckerberg who is brilliant yet socially awkward, and though people were enthusiastic about Facebook, not many could identify with where the main character came from.
Zuckerberg’s limited social skills show his flaws in the film and the creation of the site sought to bring people together. According to Ehrlich, the film focuses on unspoken emotions, but in reality today’s generation are more expressive through use of the social media. Ehrlich further states that “In my experience, the online social networks that have been fed and swallowed by millennias (ick) haven't only made it more convenient for us to communicate with another,” and this contrasts with the belief t...