2018

AP Research
Academic Paper
Sample Student Responses
and Scoring Commentary

Inside:

Sample C
R Scoring Guideline
R Student Samples
R Scoring Commentary

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 2018 AP Research Academic Paper Rubric v1.0
The response…
Score of 1 Score of 2 Score of 3 Score of 4 Score of 5
Report on Existing Knowledge Report on Existing Knowledge with Ineffectual Argument for a Well-Supported, Articulate Argument Rich Analysis of a New Understanding
Simplistic Use of a Research Method New Understanding Conveying a New Understanding Addressing a Gap in the Research Base

• Presents an overly broad topic • Presents a topic of inquiry with • Carries the focus or scope of a • Focuses a topic of inquiry with • Focuses a topic of inquiry with
of inquiry. narrowing scope or focus, that is topic of inquiry through the clear and narrow parameters, clear and narrow parameters,
NOT carried through either in the method AND overall line of which are addressed through the which are addressed through the
method or in the overall line of reasoning, even though the focus method and the conclusion. method and the conclusion.
reasoning. or scope might still be narrowing.

• Situates a topic of inquiry • Situates a topic of inquiry within a • Situates a topic of inquiry within • Explicitly connects a topic of • Explicitly connects a topic of
within a single perspective single perspective derived from relevant scholarly works of inquiry to relevant scholarly works inquiry to relevant scholarly works
derived from scholarly works scholarly works OR through a varying perspectives, although of varying perspectives AND of varying perspectives AND
variety of perspectives derived from connections to some works may logically explains how the topic of logically explains how the topic of
OR through a variety of
mostly non-scholarly works. be unclear. inquiry addresses a gap. inquiry addresses a gap.
perspectives derived from
mostly non-scholarly works.

• Describes a search and report • Describes a nonreplicable research • Describes a reasonably replicable • Logically defends the alignment of • Logically defends the alignment of
process. method OR provides an research method, with a detailed, replicable research a detailed, replicable research
oversimplified description of a questionable alignment to the method to the purpose of the method to the purpose of the
method, with questionable purpose of the inquiry. inquiry. inquiry.
alignment to the purpose of the
inquiry.

• Summarizes or reports existing • Summarizes or reports existing • Conveys a new understanding or • Supports a new understanding or • Justifies a new understanding or
knowledge in the field of knowledge in the field of conclusion, with an conclusion through a logically conclusion through a logical
understanding pertaining to understanding pertaining to the underdeveloped line of organized line of reasoning AND progression of inquiry choices,
reasoning OR insufficient sufficient evidence. The sufficient evidence, explanation of
the topic of inquiry. topic of inquiry.
evidence. limitations and/or implications, if the limitations of the conclusion,
present, of the new and an explanation of the
understanding or conclusion are implications to the community of
oversimplified. practice.

• Generally communicates the • Generally communicates the • Competently communicates the • Competently communicates the • Enhances the communication of
student’s ideas, although student’s ideas, although errors in student’s ideas, although there student’s ideas, although there the student’s ideas through
errors in grammar, discipline- grammar, discipline-specific style, may be some errors in grammar, may be some errors in grammar, organization, use of design
and organization distract or confuse discipline-specific style, and discipline-specific style, and elements, conventions of grammar,
specific style, and organization
the reader. organization. organization. style, mechanics, and word
distract or confuse the reader.
precision, with few to no errors.

• Cites AND/OR attributes • Cites AND/OR attributes sources (in • Cites AND attributes sources, • Cites AND attributes sources, • Cites AND attributes sources, with
sources (in bibliography/works bibliography/works cited and/or in- using a discipline-specific style with a consistent use of an a consistent use of an appropriate
cited and/or in-text), with text), with multiple errors and/or an (in both bibliography/works cited appropriate discipline-specific discipline-specific style (in both
inconsistent use of a discipline- AND in-text), with few errors or style (in both bibliography/works cited AND in-
multiple errors and/or an
specific style. inconsistencies. bibliography/works cited AND in- text), with few to no errors.
inconsistent use of a text), with few to no errors.
discipline-specific style.

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 AP® RESEARCH
2018 SCORING COMMENTARY

Academic Paper

Overview

This performance task was intended to assess students’ ability to conduct scholarly and responsible research
and articulate an evidence-based argument that clearly communicates the conclusion, solution, or answer to their
stated research question. More specifically, this performance task was intended to assess students’ ability to:

• Generate a focused research question that is situated within or connected to a larger scholarly context or
community;

• Explore relationships between and among multiple works representing multiple perspectives within the
scholarly literature related to the topic of inquiry;

• Articulate what approach, method, or process they have chosen to use to address their research question,
why they have chosen that approach to answering their question, and how they employed it;

• Develop and present their own argument, conclusion, or new understanding while acknowledging its
limitations and discussing implications;

• Support their conclusion through the compilation, use, and synthesis of relevant and significant evidence
generated by their research;

• Use organizational and design elements to effectively convey the paper’s message;

• Consistently and accurately cite, attribute, and integrate the knowledge and work of others, while
distinguishing between the student’s voice and that of others;

• Generate a paper in which word choice and syntax enhance communication by adhering to established
conventions of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

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 Sample C 1 of 26

A ​Raw​ Film Analysis

Introduction

Feminist film theory (FFT) is a theoretical film criticism that bases its analysis in feminist

politics and feminist theory. FFT developed through the politics of the second wave of feminism

in the 1960s and 1970s, and took hold in the 1980s as a way to understand how portrayals of

women on-screen affect women in real life. Film analysis focuses on the meaning within a film's

text and the way in which that text affects the viewing subjects. However, FFT is one way to

read a film, including both a literary analysis and also explores how the process of cinematic

production both constructs and affects women on screen.

Media is important to study, as media does influence both how women and girls shape

their identities, as well as others (spectators) perceive them. In order to explore how the film

industry presents a portrayal of femininity, I will be utilizing an intersectional, feminist reading

of the 2016 film ​Raw. Raw​ follows Justine, a young veterinarian prodigy, over the course of her

first week at the same university her parents attended and that her sister Alex currently attends.

As part of a hazing ritual, lifetime vegetarian Justine is forced to eat raw rabbit kidney, resulting

in her realizing she craves meat, eventually progressing to cannibalism. In order to fully analyze

Raw, I​ will be using multiple feminist film theories surrounding spectatorship as well as a

gendered reading of hunger in media.

Review of Literature

Gaze and Voyeurism in Film

Gaze, and its tendency to act as voyeurism in cinema, is the basis of FFT as a whole. In

her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Laura Mulvey first defined what has become

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 Sample C 2 of 26

known colloquially as “the male gaze.” Mulvey argues that “unchallenged, mainstream film

coded the erotic into language of the dominant patriarchal order.”1 This has resulted in

mainstream films where the pleasure in looking renders men as active gaze, and women as

passive material.2 This gaze relates to scopophilic intent, as in film women are coded to be

eroticized and fetishized, built as a spectacle or icon. This denotes a woman’s

“to-be-looked-at-ness”3 wherein both the male spectator in the audience as well as the male

character on screen gain pleasure through looking.

While male gaze is present everywhere, not just the movie screen, it is further

perpetuated through the norms of cinema. The camera acts as the audience’s perspective, but its

motions are controlled by the action of the protagonist, and invisible editing likewise blurs the

limits that exist in real life.4 This allows for the spectator to identify with the glamorized, main

male protagonist as a “screen surrogate,”5 which allows for both spectatorship and a feeling of

omnipotence. This power renders women as passive objects for fetishization as the following

gaze is focused and male.6

Further, the female figure in its eroticization presents problems, as the female figure often

disrupts the narrative, and creates a tension between looks on screen. These problems can be

solved through both plot devices or camera techniques that take movies out of the context of

realism. Contextualizing the character, for example as a performer, engages their

“to-be-looked-at-ness” in a simple way that unites the looks of both spectators, on screen or

1
See Mulvey, 835
2
See Mulvey, 843
3
See Mulvey, 837
4
See Mulvey, 839
5
See Mulvey, 838
6
See Mulvey, 836-837

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 Sample C 3 of 26

audience, and resolves the tension between these contrasting gazes.7 This solves the complication

the female figure presents in narrative.

Besides depicting the woman as a performer, camera shots and angles allow unification

​
of on-screen and offscreen gaze. In her book of essays Femme ​
Fatales, Mary Ann Doane builds

upon Mulvey’s idea of unification to specifically explore how directors utilize conventional

close-ups, of faces, legs or other disembodied parts to unite gaze while not disrupting narrative.

Doane explains that these close ups act as a “demolition of the dichotomy of surface and depth,”8

and links this idea to the concealment of truth. Using camera angles and close-ups to depict

women renders them as a flat surface and equates them to a cut-out. This, just as choosing to

have women perform, does not limit the sexual impact, but rather allows women to become a

“sexualized, eroticized, and perfected surface,” without disrupting the narrative or causing

tension between the looks of audience and actor.9

However, both of these arguments focus only on sexual difference, which suppresses the

recognition of othering factors outside of just woman/man. This is known as the “abstraction of

women,” a phenomenon Doane acknowledges, and that bell hooks builds upon in her essay “The

Oppositional Gaze.” hooks focuses on race as a significant factor that abstraction, and thus FFT,

often ignores, but this idea illuminates how gaze analysis must acknowledge factors besides

sexual difference as othering.10 In this way, both Doane and Mulvey’s arguments fall short of

complete intersectional analysis in practice.

The Female Spectator and Hunger

7
See Mulvey, 837
8
See Doane, 57
9
See Doane, 56
10
See hooks, 124

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 Sample C 4 of 26

Within arguments of gaze, it is also necessary to address the female spectator. Doane and

hooks both discuss the female spectator, something that is almost completely absent in Mulvey’s

critical analysis, which focuses on male protagonists, and inherently, male viewers. In contrast,

Doane pays attention to the female spectator, and identifies the problems of female spectatorship

when, in agreement with Mulvey, cinema has been crafted for the male gaze.

In mainstream cinema, as the male gaze is centered, there is no “female view” to

approach cinema from. Thus, Doane argues that the female spectator is only given two options

besides resistance: to over-identify with the male view or to become one’s own object of desire.11

To over-identify with the male viewer, Doane offers that the female spectator may gain

masochistic pleasure, as she must sacrifice her femininity in order to enjoy the film through the

male-centered gaze. The other option is to participate in the fetishzation of the female body,

while identifying with her, which leads to narcissism, and proves difficult to maintain throughout

a film.12 Both of these options prove othering and further complicate female spectatorship, often

leading female spectators to form an oppositional gaze which allows them to “manufacture a

distance from the image.”13 This distance is necessary to create a spectator that resisits either

over-idetification or fetishzation in order to fully analyze women in film.

This is especially true of media’s treatment of women and their hunger. Hunger is

inherently linked to gaze, as hunger and gaze both require an active participant. However, as

established by Mulvey’s binary, women are passive in film.14 This overcomplicates the

relationship between women and hunger, as it must be avoided or changed in order to maintain

11
See Doane, 31-32
12
See Doane, 31-32
13
See Doane, 32
14
See Mulvey, 843

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 Sample C 5 of 26

​
woman as passive. This results in what Susan Bordo identifies in her book Unbearable ​
Weight as

“hunger as an ideology.”15 For women in media, food, and thus hunger, can never just be food.

Bordo cites hunger for women as a unification with narrative, such as a woman’s appetite acting

as a metaphor for her sexual appetite,16 or a woman’s cooking as a metaphor for her love of those

she feeds.17 Just as Mulvey and Doane argue for a unification of gaze, Bordo depicts the

necessity of hunger and food as a metaphor for women on screen.

Application of Theory to Film

The past decade, films starring women have become more mainstreamed. One example

of this is a practice many critics and viewers alike have begun utilizing called the Bechdel Test.

Originally created from Alison Bechdel’s comic “Dykes to Watch Out For”, The Bechdel Test

has become a commonplace evaluation of “feminist” film. This “rule” states that a film has to

follow three basic rules, “one, it [a film] has to have two female characters who, two, talk to each

other about, three, something besides a man,” in order for the character in the comic to watch a

film.18 Although this rule started as a joke in a comic strip in 1985, it has become mainstreamed,

even to the extent that Swedish cinemas now use it as a rating, alongside those of nudity or

graphic violence.19 However, as pointed out by current feminist film theorists, the Bechdel test is

very limited.20

Representation for representation’s sake is a fruitless pursuit, as these portrayals, when

analyzed, often devolve into mere tokenism, fetishism and eroticism: the initial problems with

15
See Bordo, 99
16
See Bordo, 110
17
See Bordo, 124-125
18
See Bechdel
19
See O’Meara, 1120
20
See O’Meara, 1120

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 Sample C 6 of 26

cinema to begin with. Mulvey, Doane, and hooks all agreed that positive representations of

women in film were possible, but that they would often only be able to exist as a counterpoint to

mainstream or Hollywood film.21

​
In this vein, Raw, ​an independent and foreign film starring two women surrounding their

​
eating habits, presents itself as a cross genre, progressive piece of cinema. Raw ​
clearly has the

objective to show women not as fetishized or erotic objects, but as complicated characters with a

​
multitude of facets, which makes it an interesting film to analyze for achieving its goals. Raw ​
is

only one movie, but conducting a gendered reading on this film is one way to understand if the

media, especially the media that hooks pointed to, is continuing to uphold and perpetuate the

​
patriarchy with its harmful depictions of women on screen. This is why it is necessary for Raw ​
to

be analyzed using an intersectional feminist reading, which has not been done before. The

intersection of Bordo’s theories in conversation with other prominent feminist film theories leads

​
me to the question: to what extent does Raw​ support and subvert the relationships between gaze

and hunger for women?

Methodology

I will be conducting an analysis of the film ​Raw ​using an intersectional feminist lense

​
focused on gaze and hunger, in order to gauge the extent that Raw ​ supports and subverts the

relationships between gaze and hunger. Gaze marks the viewer as an active participant, which

makes women with gaze (or female spectators) go against the typical grain that wants to mark

them as passive. This is especially true in Mulvey’s binary, as women as explicitly marked as

​
passive. Because of this complicated relationship, analyzing the gaze in Raw ​ unique. In the
is

21
See Mulvey, 834

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 Sample C 7 of 26

​
same vein, Raw i​ s unique because Justine (the main character) both actively participates in the

act of spectatorship and in an active, carnal hunger. I hypothesize that the relationship between

​
gaze and hunger is something intrinsic to the plot of Raw, a​ nd thus makes it a clear marker of

how these relationships are presented when centered in a film, which could be similarly applied

to other films where these relationships are subtler.

Some limitations of my project are that I am analyzing a film that is in French, and I do

not speak French. Another limit is the nuances of French culture in the film, as I am American. I

have emailed the production company but they have not allowed me to have the original script,

so I can’t examine that specifically. I will not be looking at other people’s opinions of the movie,

or reviews of the movie. I will not take anything outside of the film in its final, published version

into account, like box office numbers or director's commentary.

Feminist film theory22 will guide my analysis, focusing on scholars who specifically

explore gaze and/or hunger in films, making them appropriate and relevant to my analysis. The

process of collecting the data, which includes plot, characters, dialogue, and mise-én-scéne, will

​
be conducted by viewing Raw​ multiple times, during which notes will be recorded within a chart.

The chart will be split into the actual occurrence and interpretation, based on scholarly analysis.

​
After data collection, a cohesive feminist analysis of Raw ​will be more accessible.

Findings and Analysis

I will be assessing the chronological arcs of hunger and gaze throughout the film, and

then considering the actions between them in order to come to a conclusion about the

22
Such as Laura Mulvey, Mary Ann Doane, Susan Bordo, Cynthia Freeland, bell hooks

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 Sample C 8 of 26

​
relationships between hunger and gaze, as well as to what extent Raw ​subverts and perpetuates

these norms.

Hunger

​
Justine’s first action in Raw ​is eating. With her head down, she orders a lunch with no

meat, much to the dismay of her server. As Justine eats, she finds a meatball in her potatoes,

while her mother yells at her to spit it out. This first interaction marks Justine as both a

vegetarian and as passive person, as her vegetarianism is shown not as a choice, but rather a

tradition her family forced onto her. She follows her mother’s orders, and remains quiet as her

mother berates her and then her server. This scene is crucial in first depicting Justine’s lack of

control over what she eats. Her parents control her eating habits through their enforced

vegetarianism. Bordo extends that in media, the rhetoric of control extends to women wanting

control over themselves, where as control for men is over others.23 In order to code control as

feminine, women must master control of themselves, while men are already in control of their

own bodies and now must control others. The fact that Justine, throughout the film, struggles

with control so often is a clear indicator of her struggle to be feminine, just as Bordo theorized.

At first, she struggles for control as her parents police her eating habits. However, as the film

continues, she will struggle to control her hunger, which will ultimate be her undoing.

When Justine first gives into her urge for meat, she tries to steal a hamburger.24 She

attempts to extend her control to Adrien, to police his meat eating in the same way her parents

did, but he does not react in any way. Adrien is able to partake in such a rich food like beef with

no shame or repercussions because, as Bordo explains, a man eating this food is not

23
See Bordo, 105
24
See fig. 1

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 Sample C 9 of 26

transgressive, as a woman surrendering to food would be. Supported by Bordo, the different

ways Justine and Adrien react to food illustrates Mulvey’s binary of sexual difference.25 Adrien

presents his food to the cashier normally, while Justine’s burger remains in her pocket,

congealing juice and revealing her lack of control or a healthy relationship with food.26 Bordo

explains that the ultimate goal is for women is to obtain a “casual relation to food,”27 something

Justine is clearly lacking. Both the policing over vegetarianism and the hypocrisy presented by

attempting to steal the burger (with the implication of eating meat) rather than eating the burger

the way society intends (typically on a plate, with a bun) show Justine’s obsession, indicating the

continued power of food.28

Fig. 1. “Ringing Up Stolen Hamburger.” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

The power dynamics between Justine and food come to a turning point during a crucial

sequence, where Justine goes from ravaging down schwarma to eating raw chicken breast. In the

former, Justine’s eating is coded as fulfilling a ravishing hunger, something that Bordo argues is

presentable for a woman who is starved, as typically a women indulging in “rich exciting food, is

25
See Mulvey, 837
26
See fig. 1
27
See Bordo, 100
28
See Bordo, 100

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 Sample C 10 of 26

taboo.”29 However, because this is presumed to be Justine’s first time eating meat, this

transgression can be allowed, although it does suggest a lack of femininity, shown through

Adrien’s and the male truck-driver’s disgusted looks as Justine wolfs down her food. In the latter

scene, Justine gives full control to her hunger as she eats a raw chicken breast30.

Fig. 2. “Justine Smelling Raw Chicken.” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Fig 3. “Justine Eating Raw Chicken.” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

​ ​
Consuming raw meat is fully taboo, something that acts as a turning point in Raw.

Justine’s unabashed and wholehearted enjoyment of the raw meat is characterized by the

29
See Bordo, 110
30
See figs. 2-3

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 Sample C 11 of 26

satisfied snapping of the meat, accompanied by Justine moaning and panting as she eats.

Similarly, Justine is in her underwear and a flimsy shirt, linking this enthusiastic eating with

sexual pleasure/desire. Bordo explains that, in mainstream media, unadulterated hunger in a

woman needs to be coded as sexual appetite in order to explain her lust for food.31 This tie

between physical appetite and sexual appetite is also shown when Justine visits the school nurse

about a rash. Justine tells the nurse, abashedly, that she has never had sex, and later the nurse

tells her to fast. Justine responds that “[she is] hungry though. My stomach always feels empty.”

This links her lack of sex to her insatiable hunger, once again coding sexual appetite as hunger.

​
This inexplicable connection that Bordo examined remains true in Raw, ​
and seems inescapable

even in this “independent” film. This relationship continues to develop as both Justine’s sense of

hunger and sense of her sexuality grows, developing alongside her gaze.

Gaze

bell hooks asserts that “one’s gaze can be dangerous.”32 This quote embodies both Justine

and Alex (Justine’s sister), as throughout ​Raw​ they use their gaze to hunt and prey on victims.

We meet Alex with her gaze fully developed and intact, something she has honed while away

from her parents. Justine, meanwhile, lacks this assertive gaze at the beginning of the film.

Justine is routinely told to keep her “Eyes to the floor for an elder,”33 by older students as a part

of her hazing. There is a power in looking,34 and thus by forcing Justine to look at the floor, her

power is taken away. Furthermore, when she attempts to resist certain actions35 she is urged that

she has to because “they're watching.” Justine’s resistance ruins the “active/male passive/female”

31
See Bordo, 110
32
See hooks, 115
33
See fig. 4
34
See hooks, 115
35
Like consuming the raw rabbit kidney at initiation.

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 Sample C 12 of 26

that Mulvey explains is necessary for a traditional female role.36 By reminding Justine of others’

gaze, she is brought back into the reality of herself as someone to be looked at, and thus someone

who needs to be passive. As she allows her sister to push food into her mouth with her eyes

closed, Justine’s resistance dissolves, rendering her as passive, lacking gaze, once again.

Fig. 4. “Justine Looking at Floor.” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Immediately after eating the raw chicken breast, Justine is confronted by a teacher about

cheating. Although shot from above, making Justine small, she meets her teacher’s gaze

consistently, already showing growing confidence since her previous confrontations when she

kept her eyes down.37 However, throughout the scene, Justine chews on and eats her own hair.

She consumes her own body; reducing herself by making herself smaller, forcing her body to

take up less space. Eating her own hair also acts as punishment for Justine, as after she viciously

struggles to throw it up.38 Cynthia Freeland states that in films “women who possess the

gaze...require punishment,”39 explaining why Justine’s confronting gaze towards her male

36
See Mulvey, 837
37
See fig. 5
38
See fig. 6
39
See Freeland, 744

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 Sample C 13 of 26

teacher, a representation of the patriarchy and order, is immediately met by punishment. Justine

has just begun to “possess the gaze” and as her ability to wield it effectively grows, so will her

punishments.

Fig. 5. “Justine Looking at Teacher.” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Fig. 6. “Justine Throwing Up” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

​
Alongside confronting the gaze of those around her, Raw ​ allows
​ Justine to confront her

own gaze. Doane explains the complicated nature of one’s own gaze, as it is inaccessible, except

through a mirror which can only create a virtual image.40 Justine uses a mirror to meet her own

40
See Doane, 47

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 Sample C 14 of 26

gaze, simultaneously illustrating the problems Doane associates with female spectatorship and

with gaze itself. First shot from a wide angle, Justine looks at herself in her sister´s dress timidly.

41
. Building alongside an explicit, sexual and violent song,42 Justine regards herself, then

eventually approaches the mirror,43 and seems to “become her own object of desire,¨44 applying

and smearing her lipstick ecstatically.45 Justine has, thus far, asserted herself as a female

spectator who possess an active gaze. However, in the mirror her gaze morphs through the lack

of accessibility Doane described. As a female spectator, Justine is unable to fully confront her

own gaze, and so instead becomes a site of a dangerous and sexual desire, she seems to

be“locked within a mirror of narcissism.”46 This scene in the mirror presents femininity as a

¨closeness,¨47 something Justine can be near through the song, her lipstick, and her clothing but is

unable to fully possess, a distance resulting from her spectatorship.

Fig. 7. “Wide Shot From Mirror” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

41
See fig. 7
42
¨Plus putes que toutes les putes¨ by ORTIES
43
See fig. 8
44
See Doane, 32
45
See figs. 9-10
46
See Doane, 47
47
See Doane, 31

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 Sample C 15 of 26

Fig. 8. “Justine Looking in Mirror” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Fig. 9. “Justine Putting on Lipstick in Mirror” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

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 Sample C 16 of 26

Fig. 10. “Justine Smearing Lipstick in Mirror” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Gaze and Hunger

Justine’s arcs of gaze and hunger grow in tandem through the first half of the film, but

remain rather disconnected. However, after Justine first tastes human flesh, gaze and hunger

combine and grow exponentially in Justine, her newfound gaze and hunger becoming insatiable.

Justine’s first taste of human flesh is her sister’s finger. As Alex wakes up after fainting

to her sister indulging uncontrollably on her body, she confronts her with only her gaze, saying

nothing while a single tear slips down her cheek.48 While this is happening, Alex’s dog starts to

lap up blood, which Justine hurriedly shoos away. This is a reminder that this indulgence in

human body remains taboo, whether for Justine of the dog. Dogs are often relegated to a

quasi-human status; given names and treated as part of the family. Here, the dog serves to

demote Justine to a quasi-animal status, something (rather than someone) with a hunger so

uncontrollable that she can’t stop herself from eating her own sister’s finger. Not only does this

break boundaries of raw food, escalating from her previous experience with chicken, but Justine

is now actively participating in cannibalism, arguably the most taboo and “savage” eating habit.

48
See fig. 11

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 Sample C 17 of 26

Fig. 11. “Alex Sees Justine Eating Finger” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Justine’s gaze in combination with her hunger becomes more than just something she can

control, it becomes a weapon. After eating Alex’s finger, it is clear Justine’s hunger is growing.

She sacrifices any control she had over her hunger to control of her gaze, needing a way to find

food. Her looking is utilized to show her hunting, as Justine watches Adrien play soccer with

such intensity her nose begins to bleed. Adrien is shirtless and vulnerable, while the camera

slices him into closeups of his body and disembodied parts,49 a method Doane specifically cites

as a way to form an actor into “sexualized, eroticized, and perfected surface.”50 While this

method is typically used to break women into sexualized pieces, the power is flipped as Justine

wields the gaze, both sexualizing Adrien with a subtext of looking him over as a piece of meat.

Justine still remains sexually unfulfilled, amplified by her growing hunger since she has not

eaten in days, and this scene illustrates her obsession with both sex and food. Justine is a threat, a

woman with powerful gaze, on the hunt, and once again she is “defiled by bodily fluids”51 as

49
See figs. 12-14
50
See Doane, 56
51
See Freeland, 744

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 Sample C 18 of 26

punishment for her gaze.52 Justine’s nosebleed is a reminder that her active gaze is a

transgression of the feminine, which both Freeland and Mulvey point out needs punishment in

order to maintain patriarchal order.53 However, unlike her past punishment of throwing up, this

punishment does not interrupt her gaze, and does not cause her real harm. This weaker

punishment shows that her gaze and hunger are morphing, moving her from feminine to monster,

while also foreshadowing the pain that is yet to come.

Fig. 12. “Adrien” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Fig. 13. “Adrien” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

52
See fig. 15
53
See Mulvey, 837 and Freeland, 744

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 Sample C 19 of 26

Fig. 14. “Adrien” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Fig. 15. “Nosebleed” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

After the nosebleed, Justine and Adrien have sex. In a turn on typical film tropes, Justine

has an “aggressive masculine gaze” while Adrien is more representative of a passive body.54 This

upsets the patriarchal order, and thus Justine’s active looking and appropriation of the gaze must

be ultimately punished in order to fulfill cinematic tropes and Mulvey’s binary.55 This

punishment is shown by the ultimate betrayal of her sister, as they fight in front of the student

body. Her sister, in her own weaponization of gaze, takes advantage of a drunk Justine by

54
See Freeland, 755
55
See Mulvey, 837

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 Sample C 20 of 26

inviting people to see her try to eat a cadaver. When Justine sees a video of this, she finds Alex

and they immediately begin to fight.56 A crowd of mostly male students surrounds them,

watching and filming as they bite and tear at each other, eventually pulling them apart.57 Justine

and Alex become female spectacles, the active gaze of the (mostly male) students penetrating the

sisters connotes their “to-be-looked-at-ness,” their ultimate punishment existing as they are

regarded as animals by their peers.58 In their exposure, Justine and Alex once again are demoted

to quasi-animals, their uncontrollable hunger rendering them unable to be tamed, forcing men to

tear them apart so they don’t destroy each other. All the power they had gained through their

appropriation of gaze is immediately sacrificed through their lack of control. Their obsession

with hunger means they can never become more than empty stomachs, can never have any

power. Ownership of their bodies is stolen by those watching, and preserved as they are filmed.

Film within a film layers the complexity of gaze as the narrative is stolen from Justine and Alex,

leaving them only as female spectacles.

Fig. 16. “Alex and Justine Fight” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

56
See fig. 16
57
See fig. 17-18
58
See Mulvey, 843

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 Sample C 21 of 26

Fig. 17. “Students Watch” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Fig. 18. “Breaking up the Fight” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

​
In the final scene of Raw, ​
revelations abound. Alex is now in prison, likely convicted for

the many murders she has committed, both on and off screen. Justine is home with her parents,

who are forcing her to eat vegetables. Notably, Justine remarks “I’m full,” a crucial progression

showing an end to her seemingly endless hunger. However, as soon as her mother leaves the

table, Justine's father begins to explain that he knows about his daughter's cannibalism, and that

it mirrors their mother’s. Showing off his scratches and bite marks down his chest, Justine’s

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 Sample C 22 of 26

father becomes a vehicle for her gaze.59 However, Justine keeps her eyes down, not confronting

her father with looks, but down at his chest, a look of sadness on her face.60 Although in contrast

to Mulvey’s idea of “woman as image, man as bearer of the look,” this scene cements Freeland’s

theory of a traditional hierarchy being imposed as the film offers Justine’s father as hero of a

noble tragedy; keeping his wife and children alive through the desecration of his body.61 Thus,

although the majority of the film focuses what Freeland describes as a “nonstandard narrative

centered on female characters”, this scene is a reminder of the ultimate hierarchy that is

perpetuated, both within the film and the mainstream.62

Fig. 19. “Chest” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

59
See fig. 19
60
See fig. 20
61
See Mulvey, 837 and Freeland, 753
62
See Freeland, 753

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 Sample C 23 of 26

Fig. 20. “Justine Looks at Father’s Chest” Wild Bunch, 2016. Author’s screenshot

Conclusion

​
Raw aims to be a progressive film, that challenges traditional notions of womanhood on

screen, which it partially achieved. However, the relationships between hunger and gaze are so

inexplicably linked that Justine remains unable to escape them. Although Justine’s relationship

​
with hunger is unconventional because of her cannibalism, Raw ​
ultimately upholds patriarchal

norms that are present in films where the relationship to hunger for women is much subtler, such

as the media Bordo focused on. Similarly, Justine’s relationship to gaze as a female spectator

becomes problematic through her constant punishment for using gaze, which remains in line with

the media Mulvey, Doane, and hooks analyzed as harmful depictions for women.

There are moments where the script is flipped, and Justine is able to weaponize her gaze

as a female spectator and escape punishment, at least temporarily. Far more often, the women

​
who posses gaze in Raw ​are ultimately punished, as Justine is almost immediately punished right

after while Alex is punished more concretely by being sent to prison.

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 Sample C 24 of 26

​
Further, the ending of Raw ​ is the ultimate undoing of any feminist message. Having her

father tell her the news of her problem, rather than her mother, supports a normalized hierarchy

rather than upsetting the patriarchy. Justine’s father confirms that he has essentially kept the

family alive, bearing the burden of her mother’s hunger. The feminist frameworks I utilized to

​
analyze Raw ​
have led me to the conclusion that it is not a feminist film, because it too closely

follows patriarchal norms for gaze and hunger for women. Justine’s hunger is always closely

related to a carnal and sexual nature, reinforcing the idea that women cannot partake in food

normally in media. Similarly, although the women in the film make notable transgressions of

gaze, they are ultimately always punished for them, further maintaining patriarchal order of gaze

​
and hierarchy. Thus, although Raw ​
exists as a counterpoint of Hollywood cinema as an

independent film, it does not offer effective counterpoints to the tropes associated with women,

hunger, and gaze.

Although I attempted a comprehensive feminist analysis of the film, there is still further

​ ​ Employing a queer framework to specifically analyze Adrien

research to be done within Raw.

could be an effective next step in analyzing his relationship with gaze, and how that affects the

movie as a whole. Further, there are scenes I neglected, in order to focus on Justine. Doing a

deeper analysis of Alex using these same feminist frameworks could also be effective further

​
research. Finally, it is important to acknowledge that Raw ​ by no means the only film
is

​
attempting to be a subversive, feminist horror film. Although Raw ​
deserves praise for taking

many risks, as well as filming women in a non-objectifying way, it does contain a lot of

​
conflicting messages that support a patriarchal agenda. However, Raw ​ able to achieve a
is

depiction of womanhood that feels more true than so many of the women that I have seen on

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 Sample C 25 of 26

​
screen. Extending a critical analysis to Raw ​
allows for its flaws to be exposed and shows that

there is a wide berth for improvement, but also shows how complicated the film is. Continuing to

make films that at least attempt to subvert stereotypes and tropes is crucial to challenging the

hierarchical order, even when there are flaws and missteps alongside progress.

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 Sample C 26 of 26

Works Cited

​
Bechdel, Alison. The Rule. ​1985. dykestowatchoutfor.com/the-rule.

Accessed 11 Dec. 2017.

Bordo, Susan. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. University of

California Press, 1993.

​
Doane, Mary Ann. Femme Fatales: Feminism, Film Theory, Psychoanalysis.​ Psychology Press,

1991.

Freeland, Cynthia. "Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films," Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film

Studies, Noël Carroll and David Bordwell, eds. University of Wisconsin Press. 1996, pp.

195-218.

​
hooks, bell. “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators.” The Feminism and Visual

Culture Reader,​ edited by Amelia Jones, Routledge, 2003, pp. 94–105.

Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.”​ Film: Psychology, Society, and

Ideology.​ 1975, pp 833-844.

O’Meara, Jennifer. “What “The Bechdel Test” doesn’t tell us: examining women’s verbal and

vocal (dis)empowerment in cinema.” Feminist Media Studies,​ ​vol. 16, no 6, 2016, pp

​
1120-1123. Taylor ​
& Francis Online, https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2016.1234239

Raw. Directed by Julia Ducournau, performance by Garance Marillier, Wild Bunch, 2016.

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 AP® RESEARCH
2018 SCORING COMMENTARY

Academic Paper

Sample: C
Score: 4

The paper earned a score of 4 because it addresses a narrow topic: A feminist analysis of the film Raw (page 1,
paragraph 2: “In order to explore how the film industry ...”), and situates this topic within a substantive literature
review that identifies a narrow gap in the literature (see page 6, paragraph 2: “This is why it is necessary ...”).
The paper uses a replicable method in order to conduct a feminist formal and thematic analysis of the film,
focusing on “gaze” (pages 1–3) and “hunger” (pages 4–5); this method is continued on pages 6 and 7 and is
supported by results that clearly accomplish what the student sets out to do, ultimately arguing for a new
understanding that patriarchal structures that inform mainstream cinema also apply to this purportedly
subversive work (pages 22–24).

The paper did not score a 3 because it mounts and defends its argument in a clearly-reasoned, detailed, and
effective manner. The paper also uses sophisticated writing and graphics to present its evidence.

The paper did not score a 5 because it assumes the relevance and validity of the body of theory informing the
research process and fails to fully explain the applicability of feminist theory to this particular film.

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