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HKU SPACE Community College
CCCU4040 Exploring Hong Kong Through Film And Popular Music
INDIVIDUAL TERM PAPER – GUIDELINES
SEMESTER 2, 2021-22
(30% of the Course)

You are expected to apply various knowledge, concepts, and analytical skills you have
learnt from this course, to conduct research on a specific topic, and to create a well-
structured and persuasive writing.

TOPICS
Choose any ONE of the following four options below and write an essay accordingly
(maximum 1000 words).

Option 1
Select ONE Hong Kong film that was released during 2010-2021 and directed by a female
director. The story of this film should happen in Hong Kong.
Use specific characters and scenes as examples, discuss how male and female characters
are represented in this film. Do such gender representations reinforce or challenge
traditional gender roles in Hong Kong society? Explain your views.
[Remark:
You are expected to apply the concepts of representation and gender covered in this
course. You may also need to explore more about gender roles in Hong Kong society and
the relevant contexts from other sources.
If you choose to study a film that had been partly shown in class, you should avoid
repeating the same points that had been mentioned during class discussion.]

Option 2
The revenues of Hong Kong film industry have been declining. Some people say that
Hong Kong films are dying. On the other hand, some people argue that the industry can
be revitalized, and commercial value should not be the only important value of films.
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What can be done to revive the film industry in the coming years? You are asked to give
recommendations to any TWO of the following parties:
(i) Hong Kong SAR government
(ii) film production companies of Hong Kong
(iii) young Hong Kong film directors and screenwriters
Discuss your specific suggestions based on your research on the Hong Kong film industry
and the current social/cultural environment.

Option 3
Choose ONE Cantopop idol that has been active in recent years. With reference to the
concepts and approaches introduced in Lecture 7 and 8, analyze the behaviour of the fans
and their relationship with the idol. Why is this idol important to their fans?
You should use any TWO of the following methods to study the fans:
(i) observing video recording of a public event that the fans participated in
(ii) examining the messages and fan-made content posted by fans on online forums or
social media
(iii) reviewing media interviews with fans
(iv) your conversation with fans
[Remark:
This chosen idol can be a singer, a pop group, or a band. If you choose an idol that has
been discussed in class, please do not simply repeat the same points we have already
mentioned, and avoid using the same media interviews as reference.
Your chosen idol should have been active in recent years – they have released at least
three new songs in the past five years (2017-2022).]

Option 4
In our classes, we had discussed the cases of Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui and how to
study stars. Choose any other Hong Kong singer of another generation - study the
relevant music texts (including official music videos and/or stage performance), as well as
his/her image in media. Discuss how this singer and his/her performance also challenge
or question gender stereotypes in contemporary Hong Kong.
[Remark: Your chosen singer should be born after 1980.]
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SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENT
• Deadline: one week after the last class meeting - Submit your assignment (in PDF
file) through Turnitin via SOUL on or before this day.

• Please don’t upload the file in the last minute – in case you might encounter technical
problems with the Turnitin system. And make sure you have uploaded the file
successfully before you logout from SOUL.
• You must put the following DECLARATION BOX at the TOP of the PDF file (soft
copy of this box will be available on SOUL – you can just copy and paste it in your own
file). Marks may be deducted if you fail to do so.

• KEEP YOUR OWN SOFT COPY until you receive the grade.

IMPORTANT:
Please make sure you have acknowledged the sources of all information/data and any
ideas or viewpoints you have taken from the works of others (including those
translated from Chinese-language sources). You MUST properly identify the quote
(with quotation marks) and indicate the sources and references in footnotes or endnotes.
Please use APA format.

Declaration
This assignment is my own work, and has never been submitted for assessment for any other
course before. Proper references have been made to all sources: published or unpublished
works, and the ideas of other persons.
I understand that failure to comply with these requirements will result in a ‘Fail’ grade, and can
lead to disciplinary action.

Student Name:
Student ID: Date:
Word Count:
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Plagiarism is a serious academic disciplinary offence. If plagiarism is detected, the student
will not get any marks for this assignment and will be subject to disciplinary action taken
by HKU SPACE. Please read the booklet “What is Plagiarism?” published by HKU
carefully (http://www.hku.hk/plagiarism/) before you start working on this assignment.

Assessment Criteria: Please refer to the Scoring Rubrics attached.

Marks will be deducted:
> 1,000 words (excluding footnotes
and references/bibliography)
-5 (out of 100)
Late submission -5 marks (out of 100) per day
** Assignments submitted more than 7 days late
will not be marked.
Citing others without
acknowledgement
-5 (out of 100) for each missing citation/reference
**”Fail” if more than 5 missing citations/references,
or if a substantial part of the essay is directly quoted
from other sources without acknowledgement – these
cases may be considered as plagiarism.