History In The Movies: Fact Or Fiction

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Assessment 5 Instructions: History in the Movies: Fact or Fiction

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  • PRINT
  • Write an essay that assesses the accuracy of a Hollywood movie about a particular historical event, movement, or person, using credible sources for support.

Introduction

Squealing tires and the metallic screech of cars colliding. You whirl around to find two cars crumpled into each other in the intersection. Moments later, the police arrive. As they question you and the other witnesses, you are surprised that everyone has a slightly different story. The red car was speeding. No, the gray one ran the red light. But wait, you are sure you saw a dog run through the road, and that’s why both cars swerved. Who should the police officer believe? And how can the police officer confirm what really happened?

Much like our police officer faced with a variety of different versions of an accident, historians (and history learners like you) also face conflicting information in their research of important events. Throughout history, there are numerous examples of how experts disagree on exactly what happened, when, and where. In short, not all sources of information are created equal. So claims need to be taken with a grain of salt and should be carefully verified. When faced with conflicting information, historians understand the importance of corroborating or confirming their research, by finding additional sources of supporting evidence—like interviewing multiple witnesses at the scene of an accident.

In this fifth assessment, you will apply your communication and problem-solving skills to determine the accuracy of a Hollywood movie about a particular historical event, movement, or person and corroborate historical information and interpretations. By practicing strong problem solving, you not only can ensure that you are looking at all sides of an issue (and that even marginalized groups have a say), but you can also better understand and bolster your sources to make a compelling argument. Outside of this course, corroborating information before you act in the workplace, or even in your family life, can help you solve problems faster and more effectively. It can also help you avoid making a decision based on subjective or misleading information.

Overview

What role do Hollywood movies play in educating the public about historical events or figures? How do we know what’s fact and what’s fiction when we watch these movies? In this assessment, you will put yourself in the shoes of a historian as you write an essay that analyzes a movie about a historical event, person, or issue.

Preparation

Choose and watch a Hollywood film about an event, person (or people), or movement in American history. The film should not be a documentary. Choose from the list below, or contact your instructor if you have another film in mind. As you watch your movie, take careful notes, noting how the filmmakers use setting, dialogue, lighting, and music to portray the historical events, person, or movement. Once you’ve watched and taken notes on your chosen movie, locate credible sources about the historical events or people portrayed in your film. At least one of your sources should be a scholarly book or scholarly article from the Capella Library.

Possible movies to select:

  • A League of Their Own (1992)
  • All the President’s Men (1976)
  • Amelia (2009)
  • Amistad (1997)
  • Apollo 13 (1995)
  • Battle of the Sexes (2017)
  • Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
  • Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
  • Cesar Chavez (2014)
  • Dances with Wolves (1990)
  • Detroit (2017)
  • Free State of Jones (2016)
  • Gangs of New York (2002)
  • Gettysburg (1993)
  • Glory (1989)
  • Hidden Figures (2016)
  • JFK (1991)
  • Lincoln (2012)
  • Loving (2016)
  • Malcolm X (1992)
  • Matewan (1987)
  • Milk (2018)
  • Mississippi Burning (1988)
  • Modern Times (1934)
  • Norma Rae (1979)
  • North Country (2005)
  • On the Basis of Sex (2018)
  • Platoon (1986)
  • Rosewood (1997)
  • Saving Private Ryan (1998)
  • Selma (2014)
  • The Great Debaters (2007)
  • The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
  • The Molly Maguires (1970)
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
  • Titanic (1997)
  • 12 Years a Slave (2013)

Instructions

Step 1: Summarize a movie about a historical event, person, or movement.

  • Clearly identify the movie you are reviewing.
  • Describe the main idea and key points and events in your movie.

Step 2: Analyze a movie to separate historical fact from fiction.

  • Discuss the historical accuracies and inaccuracies of your movie, using credible sources for support.

Step 3: Explain the impact of a movie on the public’s understanding of a historical event, person, or movement.

  • Address how your film might impact the audience’s understanding of the historical event, issue, and/or person. In other words, what are the consequences of the movie’s portrayal for our current understanding of a historical event, issue, or person?

Step 4: Describe changes that would improve a movie’s portrayal of a historical event, person, or movement.

  • Explain how you would improve the film to provide a more accurate portrayal of a historical event, person, or movement.
  • Also, consider any important information or perspectives missing from the movie. What information or perspectives might be added?

Step 5: Integrate credible sources to support the analysis of a historical movie.

  • Identify credible sources about the event, issue, and/or people in your movie, and use those sources to support your arguments in Steps 2, 3, and 4.

Step 6: Write coherently with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.

  • Include headings (based on the steps above, which align with the scoring guide criteria) to organize your work.

Additional Requirements

Your submission should meet the following requirements:

  • Written communication:Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
  • Sources:A minimum of 3 credible sources are required, with at least one scholarly book or article from the Capella Library. Review the previous assessment resources for information about how to determine the credibility of a source.
  • Citations and formatting: Include a title page and reference page formatted according to current APA style and format guidelines. Review Evidence and APAfor more information.
  • Font and font-size: Times New Roman, 12-point.
  • Length:4–6 pages of text (in addition to the title and reference page).

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

  • Competency 1: Analyze historical resources to determine credibility and validity.
    • Integrate credible sources to support the analysis of a historical movie.
  • Competency 2: Determine the causes and long-term impacts of a historical event.
    • Summarize a movie about a historical event, person, or movement.
    • Analyze a movie to separate historical fact from fiction.
  • Competency 3: Explain lessons learned from U.S. historical events and their potential influence on a current problem or situation.
    • Explain the impact of a movie on the public’s understanding of a historical event, person, or movement.
    • Describe changes that would improve a movie’s portrayal of a historical event, person, or movement.
  • Competency 4: Address assessment purpose in a well-organized manner, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
    • Write coherently with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
  • SCORING GUIDE

Use the scoring guide to understand how your assessment will be evaluated.

VIEW SCORING GUIDE

History in the Movies: Fact or Fiction Scoring Guide

CRITERIA NON-PERFORMANCE BASIC PROFICIENT DISTINGUISHED
Summarize a movie about a historical event, person, or movement. Does not summarize a movie about a historical event, person, or movement. Partially summarizes a movie about a historical event, person, or movement. Summarizes a movie about a historical event, person, or movement. Summarizes a movie about a historical event, person, or movement, including details and examples for support.
Analyze a movie to separate historical fact from fiction. Does not analyze a movie to separate historical fact from fiction. Analyzes a movie to separate historical fact from fiction, but the analysis is incomplete or incorrect. Analyzes a movie to separate historical fact from fiction. Analyzes a movie to separate historical fact from fiction, demonstrating strong critical thinking skills.
Explain the impact of a movie on the public’s understanding of a historical event, person, or movement. Does not explain the impact of a movie on the public’s understanding of a historical event, person, or movement. Partially explains the impact of a movie on the public’s understanding of a historical event, person, or movement. Explains the impact of a movie on the public’s understanding of a historical event, person, or movement. Explains in detail with supporting examples the impact of a movie on the public’s understanding of a historical event, person, or movement.
Describe changes that would improve a movie’s portrayal of a historical event, person, or movement. Does not describe changes that would improve a movie’s portrayal of a historical event, person, or movement. Describes one change that would improve a movie’s portrayal of a historical event, person, or movement. Describes changes that would improve a movie’s portrayal of a historical event, person, or movement. Describes changes that would improve a movie’s portrayal of a historical event, person, or movement, including examples for support.
Integrate credible sources to support an analysis of a historical movie. Does not integrate credible sources to support an analysis of a historical movie. Integrates one credible source to support an analysis of a historical movie. Integrates credible sources to support an analysis of a historical movie. Integrates credible sources to support an analysis of a historical movie, using correct citation format.
Write coherently with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics. Does not write coherently with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics. Writes coherently with some errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics. Writes coherently with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics. Writes coherently with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics, using headings to organize content.

Resources: Essential Outcomes

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  • PRINT
  • As you have learned throughout this course, our ability to understand the past helps us to prepare for a successful future. This is not just crucial for studying history. Being able to think like a historian is critical in your own life as well. It can help you understand the cause and impact of a new policy at your job, know which resources you should trust when you are researching online, and adapt to changes in your home life, such as a big move or a new baby. It can even help you use the knowledge you gain to make decisions, like who to vote for in the next election, and help you share the reasoning behind those decisions with others in a convincing way.

During this course you have focused on four essential learning outcomes:

  • Problem solving to identify issues, weigh evidence, and make well-informed decisions.
  • Communication to articulate an argument, use persuasion, and present a conclusion to your audience.
  • Information literacy to apply inquiry and analysis skills to the ability to locate, analyze, and use knowledge and resources appropriately.
  • Innovative thinking to develop the creative thinking skills necessary to create innovative solutions and the agility to embrace and adapt to change.

Developing these key outcomes in this course has helped you think about history and your world in a new way. You’ve learned how to accurately gather and analyze information, compare and contrast sources, make evidence-based decisions, present arguments, and persuade your audience. And you can use those same skills outside of this course to solve problems, communicate your thoughts effectively, utilize new technology, and adapt to any situation. Just like anything else, you will need to keep practicing the skills you’ve learned to help you perform your best. The more you practice, the more confident you will be.

Application of Essential Outcomes

Have you ever been confronted with two versions of the same story? It can be hard to know which to believe, right? Historians and students of history (like you) often face the same challenge. In this week’s Capella Stories, biographer and historian Kate Clifford Larson walks us through important moments in Harriet Tubman’s life and reveals the critical thinking steps she took to determine their historical accuracy. How will these same steps strengthen your problem-solving ability and help you think critically in your own life? Learn how Harriet Tubman’s biographer used the six steps of critical thinking to discover the real story of this fascinating American hero.

Resources: History of the United States

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  • PRINT
  • For this assessment, you will explore a movie about a historical event, person, or movement from American history. The following chapters provide many options from which to choose. Read more about the event you chose as your topic.
    • Montoya, M., Belmonte, L. A., Guarneri, C. J., Hackel, S., Hartigan-O’Connor, E., & Kurashige, L. (2018). Global Americans: A history of the United States. Cengage Learning. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.
      • Chapter 7, “American Experiments, 1776-1789,” pages 184-215.
      • Chapter 9, “Markets and Democracy, 1790–1840,” pages 248–277.
      • Chapter 12, “Expansion, Slavery, and the Coming of the Civil War, 1848–1861,” pages 340–369.
      • Chapter 13, “The American Civil War, 1861–1865,” pages 370–401.
      • Chapter 14, “Reunion and Retreat: Reconstruction, 1865–1877,” pages 402–431.
      • Chapter 15, “Incorporation of the U.S. West, 1862–1917,” pages 432–461.
      • Chapter 16, “The Making of Industrial America, 1877–1917,” pages 462–491.
      • Chapter 17, “Politics of Reforms, 1877–1917,” pages 502–519.
      • Chapter 18, “Projecting Power, 1875-1920,” pages 522-553.
      • Chapter 19, “Managing Modernity, 1919–1929,” pages 554–585.
      • Chapter 20, “Great Depression, New Deal, and Impending War, 1929–1939,” pages 586–617.
      • Chapter 21, “The World at War, 1939–1945,” pages 618–649.
      • Chapter 22, “The Cold War, 1945–1965,” pages 650–679.
      • Chapter 23, “Prosperity and the Cold War Economy, 1945–1965,” pages 680–709.
      • Chapter 24, “Civil Rights and Human Rights, 1945–1965,” pages 710–739.
      • Chapter 25, “The Vietnam War Era, 1965–1975,” pages 740–771.
      • Chapter 26, “The Global Conservative Shift, 1975–1988,” pages 772–803.
      • Chapter 27, “Closer Together, Further Apart, 1988–2000,” pages 803–837.