History 404 Film and History: Modern Latin America
Summer 2010
Dale Graden
I. Learning Module One
May 17 to 21: Colonial Legacies
1. Behind the Sun
2. A Place in the World
3. The Violin
23rd May: required “movie reviews” due on two (2) of the above three films
II. Learning Module Two
May 24 to 28: Indigenous cultures
4. Motorcycle Diaries
5. Cocalero
30th May first required film/book critique due on film and book The Motorcycle Diaries
III. Learning Module Three
June 1 to June 4: Cuba’s Revolution and after
6. Che, part one
7. Havana
8. Before Night Falls
9. Strawberry and Chocolate
June 6: Second optional film/book critique due on Che and/or Havana and Paterson, Contesting Castro; or film/book critique on Before Night Falls and/or Strawberry and Chocolate and Ojito, Finding Mañana
IV. Learning Module Four
June 7 to June 11: Haitian history and culture
10. The Serpent and the Rainbow
11. The Agronomist
13th of June third optional film/book critique due on The Agronomist and Farmer
V. Learning Module Five
June 14 to June 18: Mexamerica
12. Lone Star
13. Babel
June 21 to June 25 : Mexamerica
14. Traffic
15. Bread and Roses
25th June fourth optional film/book critique due on one or
more of the Mexamerica films above and Urrea, The Devil’s Highway
Be sure also that you have submitted the final three movie reviews by 25th
June.
Books
Che Guevera, The Motorcycle Diaries
Paul Farmer, The Uses of Haiti
Luis Alberto Urrea, The Devil’s Highway
Thomas G. Paterson, Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution
Mirta Ojito, Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus
Assignments
The film/book critique relates one or more films to a specific book. You pick a theme or themes and analyze them in a coherent essay. Estimated length is 3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced. You are required to write on the film and book The Motorcycle Diaries. Then choose two other critiques from three options.
The 3-4 page critique of a film(s) or documentary along with an assigned reading or reading of your choice ensures that you have watched the film critically and that you have read the book thoroughly. Your paper should address a theme or themes that you consider relevant and worthy of analysis. Please do not submit a superficial overview of the film and reading in your essay. Rather, point out what you consider to be central ideas or themes addressed in the film and reading(s). Don’t hesitate to make comparisons to other books or to express your own opinions or interpretations.
Please, write the critique two or three days before the due date, so that you can return to the computer the day before you hand it to me and make corrections and refinements. I have read hundreds of these essays, and I know when someone has scribbled down a bunch of ideas the night before and when the assignment has been approached seriously. I believe that these short papers are among the most important exercises that you can do as a student at a university. Why do I believe this, you ask! Because many students graduate from universities and colleges across the land unable to read effectively and to write with insight. You are welcome to write as many times as you wish, and I will count your highest marks toward your final grade.
The film review is one page analysis of a theme of interest to you in a film. You are required to write on two of the first three films in week one (Behind the Sun, A Place in the World, The Violin) and then choose three other films that are not covered in your film/book critiques.
Online discussion
Everyone is welcome to post comment at any time about any of the films or readings for online discussion. I can respond to specific questions or comments through these posts.
Grading
Twenty-five (25) points for each of the three critiques (film and book): total of seventy-five (75) points.
Five (5) points for each film review (five films): total of twenty-five (25) points.
On line sources
A helpful and concise description of how to write a book critique can be found at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/writecenter/web/critique.html
Helpful examples of book critiques can be read in "The New York Review of Books" at http://www.nybooks.com/
and in "The London Review of Books" at : http://www.lrb.co.uk/
Insightful
reviews of films can be read in the journal Film and History:
http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/
and in the
magazine Cineaste
http://www.cineaste.com/
To sum up: three film / book critiques: first is required, numbers two and three a choice out of four options.
Five film reviews, the first two required (out of three options in week one) and three others from any film listed in the rest of the syllabus.
I. In learning module one, two required film reviews out of three options.
II. In learning module two, the first required film / book critique. Also in module two, optional film review of Cocalero.
III. In learning module three, second optional film / book critique. Also in module three, optional film reviews
IV. In learning module four, third optional film / book critique. Also in module four, optional film review or reviews
V. In learning module five, fourth optional film / book critique. Also in module five, optional film review or reviews.
By June 25th, all three film / book critiques will have been submitted, and all five film reviews will have been submitted.