HIS 101 Extra Credit Assignment Historical Film Review Instructions
(Revised May 2021)
What: A critical review of any of the historically based films on the lists provided by the instructor. Movies not found on the lists should be presented to the instructor for approval prior to submitting the review for credit.
Where: Many of these films can be found for rent/sale at any of the available rental outlets (Redbox etc.) or some of the discount department stores such as Wal Mart, K Mart, and Target. Some films are available at the county library, or perhaps in the GTC library. For those students with cable television, the following networks often broadcast some of these titles (frequently early in the morning): AMC (American Movie Classics), TCM (Turner Classic Movies), TBS, TNT, History Channel, A&E, and perhaps Netflix, Amazon Prime Streaming, Hulu, etc. When the broadcast times are incompatible for the student, look into programming the DVR to record the movie for later viewing at a more convenient time. A number of the older films are extremely obscure and may be quite difficult to locate but one never knows what may be released or “pop up” on television.
How: The student will watch one of the films from the list. Using sources from class, or other books, journals, websites, or historical documents, the student will review the film from a historical perspective. The main objective is to analyze as much as possible the accuracy of the historical content in the motion picture. Be specific and use at least four to five examples from the film and your source material. The format of the review should follow the example given on the reverse of the instructions. You must include some historical analysis with source material noted to receive credit.
When: The reviews must be submitted to the instructor before or on the day of the appropriate unit test (this includes the final exam). Reviews turned in after the test receive no credit.
Why: The student can expect one to two points added to the score of the corresponding unit test for successfully completing the extra credit assignment. The student may complete up to two extra credit submissions per unit for a possible total of sixteen points across the four total units.
A Final Note: Good luck, have fun, learn something and don’t scorch the popcorn.
Mr. Bryan’s Disclaimer: The instructor is not responsible for any video/DVD rental late fees accrued by the student in the completion of the extra credit assignment.
FORMAT PARTICULARS
Format of Review: The student must use this format as a guideline for typing their extra credit film review. The review must be typed, double spaced and at least two pages total length. If the proper amount of examples and analysis are included the length requirement should present little difficulty. Failure to meet the criteria of the assignment will result in either one or zero points rather than two. These topic headings are not to scale with the expected amount of information for each but are intended as a guide.
Student’s Name, Date, Course and Section: (mandatory for credit)
Name of Film: (I need to know this too, otherwise it’s a puzzle)
Year Produced: (I usually provide the year but you never know…it may impact the way the information is presented or how the story is told)
Principal Actors/Actresses by Actual Name & Character Played: (note any actual historical personalities portrayed in the movie, such as Benjamin Franklin, Abigail Adams, Frederick Douglass, Tecumseh, etc.-this does not mean list the entire cast and crew!)
Brief Plot Summary: (very brief, this should not be the main part of the review)
Comparative Analysis-History versus Hollywood (this is the critical area, be explicit in your critique-play historian for the moment! Note: Look under the section marked HOW if you’re unsure what to do.):
Personal Impression of the Film (optional but fun-this is where the student can make known any personal thoughts, feelings or impressions about the movie):
Overall Review-Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Very Bad, Sucked Worse than Any Film Ever (or a system of points, stars, thumbs up, etc.) This is a combination rating. This takes into account both the historical accuracy and dramatic narrative quality, acting ability, etc. of the particular film.
Works Cited-This section is necessary to show where you went for information used in your historical analysis. Follow standard guidelines used when writing an essay for the works cited part.
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