Silence Film and Europe in the Modern World Essay

Silence Film and Europe in the Modern World Essay

Instructions/Descriptions

Silence Film and Europe in the Modern World Essay

History and Film Response Paper, Option 1

Assignment

Prepare a short essay of 3-4 pages which explains (1) how the seventeenth century has been remembered and characterized in the assigned film and (2) how that source relates to course content and to central themes from this course.

Students will complete one out of the four possible film response papers over the course of the semester. Silence is option 1.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Students display knowledge about the origins and nature of contemporary issues and develop a foundation for future comparative understanding.

Students think, speak, and write critically about primary and secondary historical sources by examining diverse interpretations of past events and ideas in their historical contexts.

Content

The Response Paper will address how the film presents key themes concerning the history of the seventeenth century, and how the film relates to the assigned reading from weeks 1-3. Instructions for this assignment include the complete prompt (here in the content section), and the rubric for writing your response paper (below in the evaluation section).

The History and Film Response Paper is an opportunity to reflect on key themes from the first three weeks in this course. We have studied the religious reforms of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, including the formation of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). We examined the place of Europeans in the world of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and we focused on the changing nature of states and empires. And we considered the seventeenth century as a period of generalized crisis, with religious, political, and environmental dimensions.

The worldview and experiences of three Jesuits are the focus of Martin Scorsese’s Silence (2016). Their journey is shaped by larger historical processes—the growth of states and empires, the general crisis of the seventeenth century, and the religious reformations.

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Please watch Silence at Swank Digital Campus:  https://library.ohio-state.edu/record=e1002092~S7

Then write a written response to the film and to course readings.

Organize your paper into four sections of approximately equal length that respond to the prompt listed here. There is no need to write an introduction or conclusion paragraph.

Begin by writing about the film. What are the central themes or questions that this film is exploring? Where did the writer and director focus their attention? What is their interpretation of seventeenth-century Europeans and the worlds they inhabited and negotiated? In other words, what does this source communicate about seventeenth-century European history?

Then, examine how the film relates to the assigned content from weeks 1-3. Please use evidence from the assigned Berenson textbook, chapters 1-3. You may choose to focus in greater depth on any aspect of the content we have covered so far (for example, focus on the changes to religious institutions, the place of religion in early modern life, or the expansion of European empire and the shifting place of Europeans in the world). It’s better to write a strong evaluation of one topic rather than trying to cover everything.

Relate the film to the course content you presented. What happens when you view the film with the historical record in mind? Does the film align with the scholarly evidence summarized and presented in the textbook? It’s ok to think that these two sources are far apart or that they are closely related. In either case, use examples from the film and the textbook to support your interpretation.

Reflect on your findings from prompt three—how do we as historians interpret the ways that representations of the past like Silence fit and do not fit the historical record. To what extent is the film informed by historical scholarship? What choices are the writers in this project making? Are the characters’ motivations informed by the choices that you would understand as being the choices that were faced by the people at the time?

To consider these questions, please listen to the interview with historians Hannah Grieg and Greg Jenner as they discuss their work as historical advisors of popular television series on the HistoryExtra podcast (the official podcast of the BBC History Magazine). Please listen to minutes 7:59-20:10 from the September 8, 2016 episode, “Poldark and historical tv drama” available at this link: https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/poldark…

Successful papers will be based upon the student’s original argument, use of relevant evidence from the film and the textbook, and analysis of the evidence presented in the paper. For a guide to writing in this manner, see: https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-res…

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Before turning in the paper, please proofread for clarity and organization. A successful paper will be clearly organized and compellingly written so that the reader can follow the student’s reasoning throughout the paper. Please be sure to proofread for typographical errors, grammatical errors, etc.

The final paper should be 3 full pages of text (not including the student’s header on the first page), but not more than 4 full pages of text, with 1-inch margins, double spacing, and page numbers.  The font should be Times New Roman (or comparable), size 12.

The essay must be submitted in a .doc, .docx, or .pdf format via the appropriate Carmen dropbox.

Evaluation

The Film Response Paper will be assessed according to the attached rubric (30 points possible).

Assistance

If you have any questions about this assignment, please contact Prof. Bond (bond.282), or your assigned GA, Rob Matina (matina.2) or Justin Salgado (salgado.32).

If you are interested in more support for your writing, The Writing Center offers a range of online services:  https://cstw.osu.edu/make-writing-center-appointme…

Silence Film and Europe in the Modern World Essay

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