Instructions for Film Analysis
The Film Analysis consists of selecting a film and writing a 600-1200 word (roughly 2-4 pages) critical analysis/assessment of the degree to which the film accurately reflects U.S. history as we have studied it in our class. You should devote the first part of your essay (approximately one-fourth) to summarizing the plot of the movie. But the bulk of your essay (approximately three-fourths) should offer a “history versus Hollywood” critique of the film. It should not discuss items such as how well it was directed, the quality of the acting, the musical score, or what movie critics thought of the film. The focus should be on the historical accuracy of the film.
A list of movies to choose from is available on eCampus under the handouts link. See “Extra Credit Film List.” If you wish to do your assignment based on a movie that is not on the list, you must first ask for permission from the instructor. Essays written on history documentaries will receive a grade of zero. Assignments containing plagiarism will receive a grade of zero. Because our course ends in 1877, you cannot do your extra credit assignment on a film based in a time period after that year. Films must also be based on events in U.S. History, not other countries or regions of the world.
You may use outside sources, but if you do, be careful to rely on the work of scholars and subject area experts rather than on movie reviews or critiques, which as you know are all over the internet. (For example, if this were History 1301 and you watched The Revenant (2015), a useful source would be the Museum of the Mountain Man’s website about the true story of Hugh Glass: Hugh Glass: fact versus fiction.) Another potentially useful source is the History versus Hollywood website. Students may not use websites such as Internet Movie Database or Rotten Tomatoes.
