1960s Movie Assignment: JFK

Due Monday October 19 2009
The point of watching a movie set in the decade we are about to study is to get you in the mood of the decade. In teaching this course a few times, I have noticed that each decade we study seems to be so different from the current decade that students have a hard time truly grasping it. We will watch a documentary about each decade, but all those facts and events don't seem to help students grasp the feeling of the decade, the prevailing mood of the decade, how people who lived then thought, what was normal to them, what was important to them.

So when you watch one of the movies set in the decade we are about to study, try to absorb the mood of the decade. Try to get a feeling for what it might be like to live in that decade.

Requirements

1. Your paper must be 500 words long. You may write more. In order to find out how many words you have written, you can go to http://www.wordcounttool.com/ and paste your text in.
   
2. Your paper MUST be emailed to Wende at wendemm@gmail.com by 3pm pacific time on 10/19/2009 (see Late Policy).
3. Your paper text must be in the body of the email you send.
4. Your email must have "CFS" in the subject line.

Assignment
After you write this paper/reflection, please set it aside for a day and then read it over, correcting mistakes and making sure that you came to some sort of conclusion at the end of your paper. This is a serious essay. In order to get full points, you need to have engaged deeply with the questions.

For this essay, please rent and watch the Oliver Stone film JFK, released in 1991. Not every video store will have a copy of this movie as it is older. See the right side panel of this blog for the telephone numbers of two video stores that do carry the film. Call and try to reserve the film before you go to any video store. Netflix also carries the film.

• Watch the movie carefully, trying to get a deep feel for the differences in the culture between present time and the 1960s. Identify three deep differences. Be careful in doing this. In order to do this, you will have to pay close attention to the movie. If you have never seen the film, you may have to watch it twice. It is a captivating story and it may absorb you. In that case, go back and watch it a second time to be able to gather evidence for the position you will take in the essay you will write.
• You may be able to find the movie online somewhere. In my google search I found the following link.
  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3GlGaZP5W4 (this is in parts. look on the right hand side for the subsequent parts.)
  - http://mymovees.com/archives/watch-jfk/
  Be aware I have not tested this link. Be cautious when visiting any website or downloading any content. The instructor and Portland State takes no responsibility for students watching films for this course online and would always recommend renting the film.
  
• Just as in the last essay, the question was "what are the rules?", in this essay the question is "what are the deep differences?"
• To caution you again, you must find deep differences. Differences in fashion, cars, etc. will not receive points.
• Remember that you will cite scenes from the movie to prove the three deep differences you find and discuss thoroughly.

The rubric for grading this essay is as follows:
7 points total

• 1 point for a creative title
  
• 1 point for a robust and thorough introduction
• 1 point for the first deep difference (only if an appropriate scene is cited and then discussed thoroughly.)
• 1 point for the second deep difference (only if an appropriate scene is cited and then discussed thoroughly.)
• 1 point for the three deep difference (only if an appropriate scene is cited and then discussed thoroughly.)
• 1 point for a robust and thorough conclusion
• 1 point for treating the title of the film correctly according to a nationally accepted citation style of your choosing