history writing question
1) Choose one film or series from the attached list to watch, then follow the guidelines below for your paper. DO NOT JUST SUMMARIZE THE FILM!!! I have seen all of them. This is an old list, so if you would like to suggest another film related to United States history during the time periods covered in class, email me and I will consider it.
2) For the content of your paper:
Give a BRIEF overview of the film.
Provide some historical context/background for the people and events portrayed in the film. Connect them to the larger historical themes of the era.
Based on your course material (lecture, textbook, course reader), discuss the historical accuracy of the film. Your answer must be more than, “this film is historically accurate.” You may also use outside sources if you wish (see below).
OPTIONAL: Considering when this film/series was made, do you think there was a contemporary message? If so, how does that message relate to the actual historical events?
WRITING REQUIREMENTS:
The ECHMR must be more than 500 words in length. Direct quotes do not count toward the required word count.
RESEARCH AND CITATIONS:
This assignment does not require any outside research and can be completed using the textbook, the videos, and the film. In the case of these sources, only direct quotes need to be cited, requiring only the authors last name in parentheses. Outside sources (books, websites, etc.) may also be used, but in this case, all information must be cited and must be listed in a works cited (or bibliography) at the end of the essay. For your citations, please use Chicago, MLA, or APA. You will submit your paper through plagiarism checking software, so be sure to cite any and all direct quotes. For help with citations, see the “History / Writing Help” section of the course menu.
Requirements: 500
FILM LIST FOR HIST 1302
The Conspirator (2010): the trial of Mary Surratt, one of the accused conspirators in the Lincoln assassination
Hell on Wheels (2011-): AMC series about the construction of the Union Pacific portion of the Transcontinental Railroad (WRITE ABOUT 2 OR MORE EPISODES)
Gangs of New York (2002): urban street gangs of New York during the 1860s
Molly Maguires (1970): Irish labor group following the Panic of 1873
Deadwood (2004-2006): Life in the illegal mining settlement of Deadwood in the Black Hills of South Dakota (WRITE ABOUT 2 OR MORE EPISODES)
Wyatt Earp (1994): life of western lawman Wyatt Erp, from cowtowns to mining towns
The Searchers (1956): fictional story of a Civil War veteran that returns to Texas to find his niece captured by Comanches and embarks on a long journey to get her back
Lonesome Dove (1989): Cattle drive from Texas to Montana
Dances With Wolves (1990): U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the West after the Civil War
Geronimo: An American Legend (1993): story of Geronimo and the Chiricahua Apache as they resist the US reservation system
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007): HBO movie, Sioux Wars and Little Big Horn, reservation life, the Ghost Dance, and Wounded Knee
Rough Riders (1997) (TV): story of Theodore Roosevelts volunteer regiment during the Spanish-American War
Iron-Jawed Angels (2004): fight for womens suffrage in the early 1900s
Godfather II (1974): the mafia during the 1920s and 1950s, based on the novel by Mario Puzo
Matewan (1987): 1920 West Virginia mining strike that turned violent
Rosewood (1997): violent lynch mob destroys a black community in the Deep South during the 1920s
Lawless (2012): dramatized version of the Franklin County Moonshine Conspiracy, prohibition-era Virginia
J. Edgar (2011): the life of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014): HBO series based on the illegal alcohol business and organized crime in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the era of National Prohibition (1920-1933) (WRITE ABOUT 2 OR MORE EPISODES)
The Untouchables (1987): federal governments effort to bring down Al Capone
Modern Times (1936): Factory worker cracks under the strain of his job and goes nuts in the streets during the Great Depression
Grapes of Wrath (1940): Oklahoma farmers forced to move to California during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, based on the novel by John Steinbeck
The Great Debaters (2007): A newly formed debate team from Wiley College, a small black college in Marshall, Texas, went on to challenge the Harvard debate team for the 1935 national championship
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970): attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II
Pearl Harbor (2001): attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II
Band of Brothers (2001): HBO miniseries based on Easy Company of the US Army 101st Airborne division in Europe during World War II (WRITE ABOUT 2 OR MORE EPISODES)
The Pacific (2010): HBO miniseries based on American Marines in the Pacific during World War II (WRITE ABOUT 2 OR MORE EPISODES)
Patton (1970): General George Patton during World War II
Saving Private Ryan (1998): World War II invasion of Normandy (D-Day) and beyond
Fury (2014): American tank crew in Europe during the final months of World War II
Tuskegee Airmen (1995) (HBO TV): African-American pilots in World War II
Red Tails (2012): African-American pilots in World War II
Zoot Suit (1981): A fictionalized version of the Sleepy Lagoon case and the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots during World War II
Hiroshima (1995): the decision to use the atomic bomb during World War II
Emperor (2012): Post-World War II Japan, General Douglas MacArthur orders an investigation to determine if the Emperor of Japan should be tried as a war criminal.
MacArthur (1977): Douglas MacArther during World War II and the Korean War
The Good Shepherd (2006): the early history of the Central Intelligence Agency
Good Night, Good Luck (2005): broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow vs. Senator Joseph McCarthy
Thirteen Days (2000): JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Dr. Strange Love or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): Cold War paranoia erupts into possible nuclear war
Mad Men (2007-2015): AMC series based around an ad agency during the 1960s (WRITE ABOUT 2 OR MORE EPISODES)
Malcolm X (1992): life of Malcolm X
Selma (2014): Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 1965 march for voting rights in Selma Alabama
Ali (2001): life of boxing legend Mohammad Ali
George Wallace (1997) (TV): Alabama governor George Wallace during the Civil Rights movement
Cesar Chavez (2014): Biographical story of labor leader and civil-rights activist Cesar Chavez
Walkout (2006): East Los Angeles student civil rights protests
Muhammad Alis Greatest Fight (2013): The politics and Supreme Court case surrounding Muhammad Alis refusal to fight in the Vietnam War based on his conscientious objection
We Were Soldiers (2002): Battle of Ia Drang during Vietnam War
Platoon (1986): American soldiers during the Vietnam War, based on the real life experiences of director Oliver Stone
All the Presidents Men (1976): journalists who broke the Watergate scandal
Narcos (2015-): Netflix Original Series about Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, cocaine, and the US War on Drugs? (WRITE ABOUT 2 OR MORE EPISODES)
The Americans (2013-): FX series about deep-cover Soviet Agents during the 1980s (WRITE ABOUT 2 OR MORE EPISODES)
Charlie Wilsons War (2007): The political side of the United States covert activities during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, 1979-1989
Too Big to Fail (2011) (TV): HBO movie chronicling the financial meltdown of 2008, and centering on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson