Cultural Artifact Assignment Instructions

 The Cultural Artifact Assignment is designed to see if students can effectively analyze a film’s historical content. While the student can briefly discuss aesthetics (costumes, color choices,

music, editing, direction), the focus of the paper is to consider the film’s authenticity and place it into proper historical context. Not only will the student be responsible for analyzing the contents of the film, but also taking a broader look at when the film was made. What else was going on in the world when this film was being made? How do you think this effected the filmmaker?

Students are not simply summarizing the film, but rather dissecting it. How does this film connect to what we are discussing in class?

 

Aside from class lectures, the student will use appropriate secondary sources to place the film into historical context. The student should include his or her own thoughts about whether the film succeeded in portraying a certain and historical period or figure and relate its content to current-day events and the lessons to be learned in our modern-day world.

 

For the final submission, the student must compose an academic paper writing about the film’s plot and historical argument. The student must use direct evidence from the film to back up the claims made in their paper. The student must also give their own original analysis, informing the reader if the film did a good job in representing a certain historical figure or period. The final submission of this paper is not the same as the rough draft assignment. For this paper, the

student must follow these guidelines:

 

1.)  The paper must have an introductory paragraph, three separate body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

 

2.)  The paper must be formatted in Chicago style. This means using footnotes instead of in-text citations. A reminder that every direct quote or claim you make must be cited. No works cited

page is needed with this assignment, let your footnotes do the work for you.

 

3.)  The paper must be three pages double spaced, or 750 words. Your paper length may be longer depending on your use of footnotes. If there is something you found interesting about the film,

but doesn’t fit into the theme of your paper, you can discuss it using footnotes.

 

4.)  The student must use 1-2 secondary sources, preferably from an academic publisher, to place their film into proper historical context. Free places to find books on your subject include: the

Lamar University Library, your local library, and the Internet Archive. All secondary sources must be cited in accordance with Chicago style.

1.)  Your paper must have a clever title, which is centered and not underlined.

 

2.)  Film titles are italicized. When you introduce the film for the first time, be sure to include the year in parentheses. For example: Gangs of New York (2002). When referring to a major

character for the first time, be sure to include the actor’s name in parentheses. For example: “Bill the Butcher (Daniel-Day Lewis) is a major antagonist in Gangs of New York.”

 

3.)  Remember that the film is the subject of your paper, not a character from the film. How does the film accomplish the goals listed on the first page? You may refer to the director when

introducing the film (for example: “In Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (2002)…”), but since film is a collaborative effort, make the film your subject.

4.)  Remember, these are cultural artifacts from the past. When writing about the film, be sure to do it in past tense.

 

5.)  This is a good example of what your first page should look like, including footnotes. On the top of the right-hand corner of the page, the student should include: their name, class

number/semester, project name, and a word count. You should also include a centered page number in the footer.