Research Paper on a film of your choice.

For this, you should choose a film that was released before the end of the year 2005 (it is a history paper, after all). Then, choose a historical context in which you will examine the film. This is probably the most important aspect of the assignment. First, you should make note of what stands out to you about the film: what is salient. Then, think about the historical conditions that might provide insight into that aspect of the film or the film as a whole. As an example, the Gemünden essay, as I discussed in class, explores To Be or Not To Be in the following contexts:
The context of Lubitsch’s status as an exile filmmaker
The context of the history of Hollywood censorship, particularly the widely held prohibition against explicitly identifying Jewish characters
The context of the performativity of the Nazi party

For a short paper like this one, you should choose only one context. The context can be related to the film industry, the history of film aesthetics, a cultural trend or change (second wave feminism, the Vietnam War, etc.), or something else. Don’t just analyze the film in isolation—papers like this can be great, but don’t work for this class. If you choose a film that is about a historical event or takes place in the past, your context should still be related to the time period in which the film was made, not the time period that is represented on screen.
In all cases, keep the focus narrow, avoiding grandiose statements that are impossible to adequately support. Remember that the cultural production of any historical moment cannot be wholly defined by a single style, aesthetic, or cultural object. For instance, just because some 1950s media idealized the suburban family does not mean that all media from that time did.

Then, find sources. You should have a minimum of five sources—labeled as primary or secondary. These should be relevant to your paper. Due to the fact that you may not have access to a library, I will not require a minimum number of sources beyond this, so they can either be all primary, or all secondary, or a mix. The film itself would be a primary source.

The final version of the paper should present a clear analysis of the film in a specific historical context. The best papers will argue a thesis and provide evidence to support it, rather than simply describe the film and context. Pay attention to structure, grammar, paragraph breaks, and so on. Make this a polished document.

There should also be a bibliography that lists your sources following the MLA or Chicago (notes/bibliography) citation style. In this bibliography, you should specify which are primary and which are secondary, like so:

Kramer, Peter. The New Hollywood: From Bonnie and Clyde to Star Wars. New York: Wallflower, 2005. Secondary source.

This is Chicago style. You may also use the MLA style, which is similar. The Purdue OWL website has useful pages on each.