Introduction:

This essay assignment will break from our usual non-fiction format and explore how fictional historical narratives are used to influence and inspire our understanding of American history.  Below is a list of some historical films that you will be able to choose from.  Once you choose one, you will watch it, and then write a review essay of it.  I will grade essays out of 100 points.  This essay is worth 10% of your final grade.

Essay Instructions:

• Pick a film or TV episode from the list.
• Watch said film or TV show.
• Write a 750-1000 word review of your chosen media. 
• Turn in your essay by 11:59 pm on November 7^th.  (There will be extra credit for early submission.  See below)

Essay Guidelines:

In order to write a strong essay, students must address the following questions.  (I recommend shaping these six prompts into six paragraph long answers):

*See the below rubric for exact grading criteria. 

1. 1. Introduction
      • What did you choose to write about?
      • Why did you choose it?
      • Brief summary of the media.
   2. If possible, how does the media connect to topics discussed in class? 
      • This can be as simple as an idea or a concept, or if we have already covered the subject you can draw a connection. 
      • Do not write: "this movie was about the Civil  War and we haven't covered this yet." 
      • Instead, write:  "The concept of total war introduced in this Civil War movie reminds me of our class reading on the Spanish conquest of the Americas." 
      • Each media will be different in its connections.
        
   3. How historically accurate is your selected media? Describe any of the following:
      • Factual errors
      • Missed opportunities
      • Your own assessment on how the media portrays a particular person or event
   4. In your opinion, is this piece of media a work of “Good” or “Bad” history?
      • This is not a question of whether or not the subject matter is morally good or bad, but instead whether or not the adaptive decisions made were good or bad choices.
      • Did they use a lot of theatrical license?  Did the Hollywood it up?
      • For example, you could still say the film Schindler's List is "good history" even if the film's setting is utterly horrific. 
   5. Describe the historic context of the year that your media was made in. So if you watch a film from 1972, describe how the events of that year might have shaped the historical impressions of the people and events of the film. 
      
      • In other words, how might have the time period your chosen media was made influence the overall perspective on the topics the film addresses?  This may require some external research to answer.  Please site any sources used.
      • For example, what has changed in American life between the premiere of  The Birth of Nation (1915) and The Birth of a Nation (2016) that also creates two very different narratives on the issue of slavery? 
      • If you select a work of popular media from the present-day or the past decade, here you can insert ongoing debates and topics in the news cycle to the content of your media.  
   6. Conclusion:
      • Summarize your essay.
      • Conclude any arguments made.

Writing Guidelines:

• Your essay is due by 11:59 pm on November 7^th.
  
• Please write a thoughtful essay of 750 to 1000 words.
  • Please use 12 point, Times New Roman font.
  • Lines should be double spaced.
  • Use 1 inch margins.
• Please save it as a Word document (or something similar) and upload the file to this page.
• Cite, in an academic style (Chicago, MLA, APA...), your sources.
  • This means, when you refer or use evidence from a source to support your argument, you must say where that information comes from.
  • For help with citation style, I've  posted a citation style reference page here.
    • If you do not have a preference, please use the Chicago Manual of Style
• This essay is graded out of 100 points and is worth 10% of your Final Grade.
  • I will grade this in a similar fashion to how I grade Discussion Posts.  I will look for a clear answer to the question and evidence to support the answer.  I will also look for citation on sources used, including your chosen media.    
  •  Take your time watching and reviewing the film or TV show you picked.  Watching it more than once and taking notes are good ideas.
  • For max points, I recommend the following template:
    • Start with an introductory paragraph including the name of the media and some details about it, maybe why you chose it.
    • Outline what you will discuss in your intro paragraph.
    • Follow with a few paragraphs that answer the four questions in the Essay Guidelines section of these instructions.
    • Sum up your review with a conclusion paragraph.
    • Include a formatted (Chicago, MLA, APA) bibliography/works cited page.  This page does not count towards the overall word count.  At minimum, it should include the film or TV show you chose in proper bibliographic format.

Extra Credit:

I will award extra credit for early submission.  The essay is due no later than November 7th (Week 11).  Extra Credit breaks down on the following timeline:

10 Points - Submit by 11:59 pm on 10/3 (Week 6)

8 Points - Submit by 11:59 pm on 10/10 (Week 7)

6 Points - Submit by 11:59 pm on 10/17 (Week 8)

4 Points - Submit by 11:59 pm on 10/24 (Week 9)

2 Points - Submit by 11:59 pm on 10/31 (Week 10)

0 points Extra Credit, must submit essay by 11/7 (Week 11)

Media to Choose From:

The following options are presented in no particular order.  I've done my best to ensure all links work.  If you have issuers, let me know.  You will need to view the titles on the list through your own access to streaming platforms or online resources.  I am not requiring anyone to spend additional funds to access any of the suggested media.  Several options are available through the UCF Library. 

If you have an appropriate film/TV show in mind that you do not see on the list, email me and we can discuss it as an option.

The Good Lord Bird (2020) (Watch Episode 1) - Available on Showtime

The memoirs of Henry Shackleford, a slave in Kansas during the Bleeding Kansas era, are discovered in a Delaware church. Henry, nicknamed "Little Onion" for eating a particularly rancid onion, accidentally encounters abolitionist John Brown in a tavern. Brown mistakes Henry for a girl and gives him a dress to wear; Shackleford wears a dress for much of the novel. The two join together, and Henry narrates his encounters with Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and the events at John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.

Link to The Good Lord Bird Trailer Links to an external site.

Divided Loyalties (1990) (Available on You Tube)

Story of Joseph Brant, chief of the Mohawks, and the events that led to the birth of Canada as a nation. During the time of the American Revolution, while Britain faces full scale insurrection in its American colonies, the great Indian empire of the Six Nations must choose between longtime British allies and the American Patriots, whose democratic ideals they share.

Link to Divided Loyalties (Full Film) Links to an external site.

Dances With Wolves (1990) (Available on Netflix and other platforms)

A Civil War soldier develops a relationship with a band of Lakota Indians. Attracted by the simplicity of their lifestyle, he chooses to leave his former life behind to be with them. Having observed him, they give the name Dances With Wolves. Soon he is a welcomed member of the tribe and falls in love with a white woman who has been raised in the tribe. Tragedy results when Union soldiers arrive with designs on the land.

Link to Dances With Wolves Trailer Links to an external site.

Little Big Man (1970) - Available on Amazon Prime

Chronicles the long and troubled history of Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), a 121-year- old man whose family was killed by the Pawnee Indians when he was only 10. He’s saved by the Cheyenne (longtime enemy of the Pawnee) who raise him as one of their own tribe members. Jack comes to love and respect the Indi- ans who refer to themselves as “human beings.” Throughout the film Jack is torn between two worlds. The world of white men who are often depicted as religious hypocrites, murderous gunslingers, racist brutes and money hungry capitalists willing to do anything in order to make a buck. And the more earth conscious world of the Native Americans who are trying to survive while their own way of life, iden- tity and human dignity is being stripped from them by the U.S. Government.

Link to Little Big Man Trailer Links to an external site.

Last of the Mohicans Definitive Director's Cut (1992) - Available on You Tube and Amazon Prime

Director Michael Mann based this lushly romantic version of the James Fenimore Cooper novel more on his memory of the 1936 film version (starring Randolph Scott) than on Cooper's novel (in fact, Philip Dunne's 1936 screenplay is cited as source material for this film). Set in the 1750s during the French and Indian War, the story concerns Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), the European-born adopted son of Mohican scout Chingachgook (Russell Means). Hawkeye and his party, which also includes the Mohican Uncas (Eric Schweig), joins up with a group of Britons who have recently arrived in the Colonies. 

Link to Last of the Mohicans Trailer Links to an external site.

Turn: Washington's Spies (2014-2017) (Watch Episode 1) - Available on Netflix

The show covers events from 1776 to 1781, and features a farmer from Setauket, New York and his childhood friends. They form an unlikely group of spies called the Culper Ring, which eventually helps to turn the tide during the American Revolutionary War. The series begins in October 1776, shortly after British victories recapture Long Island and the Port of New York for the Crown, and leave General George Washington's army in dire straits. 

Link to Turn Season 1 Trailer Links to an external site.

The Patriot (2000) - Available on Netflix

Link to The Patriot Trailer Links to an external site.

Hamilton (2020) - Available on Disney +

The film is edited together from three performances of Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Midtown Manhattan in June 2016 with most of the original principal Broadway cast members,  combined with a few "setup shots" recorded without an audience present.

Link to Hamilton Trailer Links to an external site.

John Adams (2008) (Watch Episode1) - Available on HBO Max

Adapted from David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, this lavish seven-part miniseries chronicles the life of Founding Father John Adams, starting with the Boston Massacre of 1770 through his years as an ambassador in Europe, then his terms as vice president and president of the United States, up to his death on July 4, 1826.

Link to John Adams Trailer Links to an external site.

1776 (1972) - Available on various platforms

The nation's fathers harmonize their way through the founding of America in this musical adapted from a popular Broadway show. Colonial representatives gather in Philadelphia with the aim of establishing a set of governmental rules for the burgeoning United States. Benjamin Franklin (Howard da Silva) and John Adams (William Daniels) charge Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard) with the work of writing a statement announcing the new country's emancipation from British rule.

Link to 1776 Trailer Links to an external site.

The Book of Negroes (2015) (Watch Episode 1) - Available on multiple platforms

At the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, British authorities evacuated thousands of Loyalists of African descent to Canada. The names of free black refugees were recorded in a document labeled “The Book of Negroes,” and Canadian novelist Lawrence Hill borrowed that title. In 2015, Hill turned his award-winning novel into a six-episode miniseries with writer-director Clement Virgo. This globe-spanning story follows a woman kidnapped in Niger, enslaved in South Carolina, and evacuated to Nova Scotia; she then returns to Africa to help found Sierra Leone. The Book of Negroes thus explores personal and political liberty, war, and nation-building—but not confined to the U.S.

Link to The Book of Negroes Trailer Links to an external site.

April Morning (1988)  - Available on You Tube

Link to April Morning Full Film Links to an external site.

The Birth of a Nation (1915) - Available on You Tube

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine in director D.W. Griffith's controversial Civil War epic. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron (Henry B. Walthall) is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman (Lillian Gish) petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father (Ralph Lewis) and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch (George Siegmann).

Link to The Birth of a Nation 1915 Full Film Links to an external site.

The Birth of a Nation (2016) - Available on multiple platforms

Nat Turner is an enslaved Baptist preacher who lives on a Virginia plantation owned by Samuel Turner. With rumors of insurrection in the air, a cleric convinces Samuel that Nate should sermonize to other slaves, thereby quelling any notions of an uprising. As Nate witnesses the horrific treatment of his fellow man, he realizes that he can no longer just stand by and preach. On Aug. 21, 1831, Turner's quest for justice and freedom leads to a violent and historic rebellion in Southampton County.

Link to The Birth of a Nation 2016 Trailer Links to an external site.

Glory (1989) - Available on multiple platforms

Following the Battle of Antietam, Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) is offered command of the United States' first all-African-American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. With junior officer Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes), Shaw puts together a strong and proud unit, including the escaped slave Trip (Denzel Washington) and the wise gravedigger John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman). At first limited to menial manual tasks, the regiment fights to be placed in the heat of battle.

Link to Glory Trailer Links to an external site.

Amistad (1997) - Available on HBO Max and at the UCF Library Website

Link to Amistad on UCF Library Links to an external site.

Harriet (2020) - Available on UCF Library Website

Link to Harriet Trailer Links to an external site.

Link to Harriet on UCF Library Links to an external site.

Lincoln (2012) - Available on HBO Max and at the UCF Library Website