Assignment
Brief Overview: You will watch a film from the list below OR that you've gotten approved by me and critique it for its historical value. You must be sure that you simply do not summarize the movie. Instead, you need to complete online research to describe critics of the film's historical content, etc. YOU MUST DEMONSTRATE ANALYSIS to successfully complete this assignment. Do not write what you have seen in the film!!
Requirements:
• Minimum 1500 words
• Double spaced, professional font
• Some formal way of citing your work (i.e. MLA, Turabian, APA)
• Demonstrate research through use of specifically cited sources
• One inch margins
• Please spell check and grammar check your work
• Have someone else proofread your work. You can get help with your writing from the Writing lab.
• Make sure you at least read your essay out loud to yourself.
Items I will be specifically looking to see:
1. A brief description of the plot of the film including the main actors, director, producer, the year the film was released. Also, mention any awards the film garnered. This section of your paper should not exceed three quarters of a page.
2. Discussion about how this portrayal depicts history. Is it accurate? What happened in the actual history? You may use online sites for this section as well as your text or other books. But be careful! When you use any material other than your own words you must note where you found the material. To do this you may use parenthetical notation. You must also include a works cited page for bibliographic information on your sources. This section of the paper must not be longer than one and a half pages. (This is a formal essay - I expect notes that follow a specific academic citation method. You can choose MLA, Turabian, Chicago Style, APA - just make sure that you choose a method and you are consistent throughout the paper.)
IF YOU ALL YOU DO IS SUMMARIZE THE MOVIE YOU WILL FAIL THERE MUST BE HISTORICAL RESEARCH/CONTEXT
3. The rest of the paper should be your reaction to the film. This includes emotional and intellectual reaction at the time you watched the film as well as, later reaction after you did your research to decide how accurate the film was.
Below is a short list of possible titles that you may choose from for your assignment. Each student must tell me which film they plan to watch for this assignment!
Glory
Last of the Mohicans
Amazing Grace (technically a British perspective BUT important nonetheless)
The Patriot
John Adams
Amistad
12 Years a Slave
Lincoln.