Paper #1 Assignment – Film as a Historical Source

Paper #1 Assignment: Film as Historical Source

The Assignment

Your assignment is to analyze one of our films as a historical source. Your paper should do more than analyze the film as a story or as a text or as cinema. Rather, it should examine the film as a document of its time, or as a commentary upon the era that it depicts. That is, your paper should present a historical interpretation of a particular film. To do so, you will need to combine your analysis of the film with some outside research (as described below). For this assignment, I limit you to films made between 1945 and 1967.

As you work on your argument, refer back to “How to Talk About Film and History,” especially 7. Film & History, on our Handouts page. You might also look again at “How to Talk Like a Historian,” on our Handouts page.

You may choose to write about one of the films we’ve watched together, one of the films on our reserve list, or (with my written approval) another film produced in Europe in this era.

Additional Details

Your goal is to develop (and present) a historical interpretation. To do this well, you will want to know the answers to the following questions: What is the context for the making of the film? Who made it? When and where? Under what conditions? What was happening in this period (in politics, the economy, society, culture)? What exactly is depicted in the film? How accurately does the film represent events and experience? How does the film make its appeal? Does the film have a message? You are not simply going to answer all of these questions one by one in your paper. However, you need these answers before you can sit down to come up with your interpretation.

To develop your historical interpretation, you will need to look outside the film itself, to the historical context, as viewed through William Hitchcock or other sources, which might be primary sources from the time or secondary sources by historians. Toward that end, I have put several important books on reserve at the library, including histories of European cinema and histories of postwar Europe. I have also posted several articles and chapter selections to the Additional Readings folder of our Moodle Readings Folder. I also share a set of “Links for Historical Research” on our Links for Film & History page.

Ok, these links will lead to a lot of additional material. I do not expect you to do weeks of research(!), just to find one outside source that helps put the film into historical context and to read carefully in a chapter or article (say 10 to 25 pp. of an outside source). So, if you want to develop an argument about The Third Man and postwar economic crisis, you might look to important primary source or secondary source on the postwar black market.

Some suggestions for the writing of your paper: Don’t spend more than three or four paragraphs summarizing the film or its cinematic appeal. And don’t try to examine every aspect of the film. Indeed, you may be most successful by focusing on a particular aspect of the film that deserves close analysis and that opens the way to a historical consideration. Above all, be sure that your paper presents a clear historical interpretation of the film.

And a note on the ethical use of information

Most of our films are classics and have been widely discussed for decades. You won’t have trouble finding films reviews or scholarly discussions. Now, you do not need to read these to write a strong history paper! But if you do read outside sources on the film, be sure to acknowledge any that you use in your paper – as the source of information, or the source of interpretation – in a citation.

Use citations – footnotes – to show how you know what you know. It is not enough to list a book or article in the bibliography. Your footnotes should point to the precise page.

If you have any questions about the ethical use of information, see “What is Plagiarism?” on our Handouts page.

Criteria of Evaluation

  • Does the paper present an interesting historical interpretation of a particular film?
  • Does the paper demonstrate mastery of the film?
  • Does the paper demonstrate mastery of historical context – with the use of at least one outside source?
  • Does it deliver the historical interpretation with well-chosen examples and strong analysis?
  • Does it cite sources to demonstrate the source of your knowledge?
  • Is it well organized (with a strong structure and well-organized paragraphs)?
  • Is it well written (in clear, precise, direct prose)?
  • Is it free of errors of grammar or spelling?
  • Is it formatted correctly?
  • Is it interesting?