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Intro: This is very close to an excellent introduction – the basic ingredients are there. Put the initial quote about the title, re-write your title to include your primary text and then work on that opening sentence. I would take out the repeated references to gender in the introduction as I think it is misleading and not part of your main investigation. Also proof-read for clarity and errors! 250 words.

Section 1: Primary text – Sinister. Textual analysis of key scenes, exploring representation of children. Link to theory and quotes throughout this section. 500 words.

Section 2: Secondary text – Orphan. Don’t mention trailer – it just makes it look like you haven’t watched the film! You can still use those scenes to analyse though. More textual analysis here, link to the points you’re making with Sinister and further quotes/theory. Explore the other side of the argument here too – criticisms and how using children as scary characters can backfire. 400 words.

Section 3: Genre – horror audience pleasures and how and why evil children can fit into this. Research and quote driven section – get all your BFI research in here and link back to the texts you’ve already mentioned. 500 words.

Section 4: Historical context – trace these audience pleasures and evil children right back to the beginning of cinema. I’d consider adding another historical text between 1896 and 2000s – Exorcist would seem an obvious choice. More textual analysis and quotes please! 400 words.

Section 5: Wider context – the impact horror genre can have on audiences and society. Are these representations dangerous in society – Child’s Play 3 and James Bulger murder in 1990s. Effects theory – hypodermic needle etc. http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/mediaviolence/violence.php?pageID=child  350 words.

Conclusion: Perhaps look to see if there are any sequels or new horror films coming out next year that continue this long tradition of evil children in horror (new Paranormal Activity?) This could be a good opening to your conclusion. 200 words.

Next steps… update/finish your plan based on this tutorial. You don’t need to stick to the above by any means but hopefully it has at least clarified your thinking and provided a potential structure that will be easy to follow.

This essay has great potential – it could be SERIOUSLY good! Remain focused on the question throughout – don’t drift to gender (although this would be fine to explore in one paragraph).

Publish this tutorial to your blog with your next steps as usual.