Mythology and Roman History in Hollywood

For this project, you will be required to watch movie versions of some of the stories we have studied in this course. If you find a video not included in this list, please check with your teacher before you continue. You will be required to choose three movies and complete one of the projects on the following page for EACH movie for a total of three projects.

Here is a (partial) list:

Unit I. Jason and the Argonauts

• 1963 starring Todd Armstrong
• 2000 starring Jason London

Unit II. Clash of the Titans (Perseus story)

• 2004 starring Harry Hamlin

Unit III. Ben Hur (chariot race)

• 1961 starring Charlton Heston

                 Spartacus (gladiator combat)

• 1960 starring Kirk Douglas

Quo Vadis (theater)

• 1951 Peter Ustinov as Nero

Unit IV. Odyssey

• 1955 starring Kirk Douglas (titled Ulysses)
• 2001 starring Armand Assante OR

O brother Where Art Thou-2000 starring George Clooney

Unit V. Julius Caesar (Shakespeare play) done on film many times.

• 1950 Charlton Heston
• 1953 starring Marlon Brando
• 1970 starring Charlton Heston (yes, again!)
• 2004 starring Jeremy Sisto (not Shakespeare)

Unit VII. Cleopatra

• 1963 starring Elizabeth Taylor

Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare play)

• 1975 starring Richard Johnson
• 1981 starring Timothy Dalton

Unit VIII. I, Claudius (only the first five one-hour episodes include Augustus)

• 1977 mini-series starring Derek Jacobi

Unit IX. Scipio Africanus

• 1939 (Mussolini propaganda video) starring Annibale Ninchi OR

Hannibal

• 1960 starring Victor Mature

Or other pre-approved movie.

Project Description

After watching a particular movie from the list, choose one of the following projects to complete about that movie. In total, you will turn in THREE parts to this project. It is due in the last unit (Unit 10) of this semester so plan ahead to complete each part. There is no penalty (or reward-except for peace of mind) for turning them in early, but you will be hard-pressed to finish all of these during the last unit of the course. Don't wait!!

You do not have to have three DIFFERENT projects, but you cannot do more than two of the same projects. For example, if for movie one if you choose Project A, you can do Project A for the second OR the third movie, but NOT both.

Project A -

In a well-written three- to five-page essay, compare and contrast the traditional story to the story told by the video. Where the movie differs from the traditional story, analyze why you think the screenwriters made the change. Do the changes enhance or harm the story?  You must use specific examples from each to support your discussion (see writing rubric under "Getting Started" section of the orientation). Correct documentation of sources used is required (see MLA style sheet for details and example). 

Project B -

In four graphic organizers of your choice, illustrate the likeness/differences between the movie and the story from history or mythology that it represents. Include words and images to compare the two. (Sample graphic organizers: Venn Diagram, Spider Map, Cluster, Word Web, Flow Chart; there are many others and any are acceptable). You graphic organizers will be graded according to the writing rubric as well. Any illustrations will be graded according to the illustration rubric on the next page.

Project C -

Find one scene in the movie that is inaccurate in terms of the original story and re-film it to reflect a more accurate depiction. Be creative! For this project, you may choose to video tape yourself, use clay mation, flash animation, or some other creative medium. The final product will be a two minute video of the recreated scene from the movie. Your movie/animation will be graded according to the illustration rubric on the next page. (If you would like to do this project, but have no access to video/animation equipment, you can alternately provide a narrated storyboard.)

Project D -

For this project, you must do a movie "running" commentary that corresponds to the film. During this commentary, you will note how the movie does in representing the historical or mythological story. This would be similar to the commentaries you would see as "special features" on a DVD movie. It is not required that you speak the entire time, but you must make accurate comparisons stating when the movie does well and when the movie is inaccurate in its depiction of the original story. You will be graded according to the Writing Rubric (in Orientation section) and the Delivery Rubric on the next page.

Project E -

To complete this project, please choose a movie other than a documentary (e.g. something found on the History Channel), but one that is based on the historical or mythological story. Your job is to persuade your readers that this particular chosen movie is, in fact, based on the original story. You must include specific examples, support in plots and/or general themes, and evidence from the movie AND the original story to convince the reader. Your teachers will be pretty lenient in movie choice for this project, so you MUST do a good job in supporting your claims to get a good grade. Your persuasive essay will be graded according to the writing rubric contained in the Orientation section of the course. Correct documentation of sources used is required (see MLA style sheet for details and example).