Overview
Drawing on both lectures and readings, write an essay answering the following prompt:
How does the movie Black Panther (2018) represent different ideas, people, and events of African American history?
This essay does not need a unifying thesis. Instead you should analyze scenes in the film that represent in some way ideas, people, and events covered in class. You should connect aspects of the film to a minimum of 4 readings and 4 lectures. At least half of the readings and lectures you use/cite must come from after the midterm.
In some cases, the film might explicitly mention or depict a person or event. In other cases, a character in the film's words or actions might exemplify the view of someone we have read or learned about. For example, if you see similarities in how Killmonger and Marcus Garvey view the world, explain those similarities by quoting things Killmonger says alongside the Marcus Garvey reading we did (and/or the lecture that covered Marcus Garvey's ideas). If you think an aspect of the movie depicts the inequalities described by Michelle Alexander in her discussion of the New Jim Crow, explain just how the movie represents those ideas using direct quotations from the Alexander reading and analysis of relevant scenes. If you see similarities in actions of T'Challa and maroon communities, use readings and lectures about maroon communities alongside detailed descriptions of T'Challah's actions. If you see similarities in how Wakanda is depicted and some of the African societies we have covered in lecture, explain what aspects of Wakanda appear similar to specific details from that lecture. (If you find relevant information or images in the slides, feel free to mention those). These are just examples--there are several directions you can take this in.
In this paper, I will evaluate you on:
- How well you analyze the film. Rather than just talking in general terms about what happens in the film, the best papers will quote dialog (you should take notes on the movie as you watch it), refer to specific images and scenes in detail, and engage key aspects of plot and characterization.
- How well you explain how the movie represents ideas from class. Better papers will explain the fully the connection between the idea expressed in a scene from the movie and and idea expressed in reading or lecture. You can discuss ideas from more than 4 lectures and more than 4 readings, but it is better to explain 8 ideas fully than 15 ideas in little depth. Part of your job in the assignment is to prioritize which ideas you see most fully represented in the movie, and which you can best explain.
- How well you demonstrate understanding of class material in your analysis. Better papers will quote readings and show detailed knowledge of lectures (thought you are not expected to quote lectures directly).
- Your ability to draw from class materials across the course. Better papers will discuss people, ideas, and events from several different time periods we have studied.
When referring to these sources, include citations in parentheses at the end of sentence to show where you got the information from. Include the author’s full name name and, if appropriate, the page number. If there is no name attached to the source, cite a shortened version of the title. You must include a citation any time you use information you learned from one of the class sources (rather than your own idea). This remains true even if you do not quote the source directly.
Examples: (Marcus Garvey)
(Michelle Alexander, 26)
(Uncivil Podcast)
For lectures, make sure you include a title as well as my name. Otherwise, it will appear that you have only cited one lecture.
(Thomas, World War I and the New Negro)
(Thomas, The Haitian Revolution)
When quoting sources, do not quote large sections. The vast majority of the answer should be your own analysis using brief passages (a few words, at most a sentence or two) from a source to support each point you make. You may cite each source like this multiple times if it helps support your argument, but make sure your own analysis constitutes the majority of the answer.
Provide a works cited page at the end of the essay, listing all the readings and lectures you have used. The works cited only needs to include authors' full names and titles for each reading and lecture. The works cited page does not count toward the word count.
The paper should be uploaded as a MS word document, and should be double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, in 12-point legible font. It must be between 1000 and 1500 words long. Please upload your final paper here by the 11.59pm on December 13th in exam week.