Film/Podcast Response

 

Due date:  Monday, March 22 (11:59 p.m.)

Objective: You will choose one of the films or podcasts listed below and write a response to it. In this assignment you will briefly summarize the film/podcast (1-2 paragraphs), explain your reaction to it (2-3 paragraphs), and analyze it as an historical source (3-5 paragraphs).

Assignment parameters: Responses should be 3 pages in length, double-spaced, 12-point font, with standard, one-inch margins. Any words you use other than your own, including those from the book, must be placed within quotation marks and must be cited (either in-text citations or footnotes/endnotes). Failure to quote words not your own is plagiarism.

You should consider the following questions:

Summarize the film/podcast (1-2 paragraphs).

1. What is the general subject matter of the film/podcast?
2. How does it relate to the course module in which it is located?

Explain your reaction (2-3 paragraphs).

1. Have you learned about the film’s/podcast’s subject matter before?
2. Does the information in the film/podcast confirm what you already knew or does it provide new insights, sources, or context?
3. Does the film/podcast make you think in a new way about the subject matter?
4. Was there any particular part that stands out to you? Why?

Analyze it as an historical source (3-5 paragraphs).

1. Why was this film/podcast produced? What is the creator’s intention in filming/recording it?
2. Does it reveal any biases? How do you know?
3. What strategies did the creator use to draw the audience in? Are these strategies effective? Why or why not?
4. How does the film/podcast add to the public’s knowledge about the American past and present?

List of Films/Podcasts

America Inside Out, Season 1, Episode 1: “Re-Righting History” (Module 1)

Ben Franklin’s World, Episode 139, “Andrés Reséndez, The Other Slavery: Indian Enslavement in the Americas” (Module 2)

Ben Franklin’s World, Episode 228: “Eric Hinderaker, The Boston Massacre” (Module 3)

We Shall Remain, Episode 2, “Tecumseh’s Vision” (Module 4)

“The Economy that Slavery Built,” episode 2 of the New York Times’s 1619 Project podcast (Module 5)

Slavery by Another Name (Module 6 and 8)

The Gilded Age (Module 7 and 8)

Political Scandals, Episode 30, “Crédit Mobilier” (Module 7)

New York Public Radio, On the Media, “Empire State of Mind, Episode 2” (Module 8)

Triangle Fire (Module 9)