Pick one of the following three prompts and only answer one.
Your answer should be 2.5 – 3.5 pages, 12 pt font, Times New Roman, double spaced, 1” margins.
All answers should make use of readings and lectures to answer the questions, no outside research
When using readings, lectures, and films, be clear to mark out that you are doing so with citations. Use MLA format (Author last name, page #) or for movies (Director’s last name, approximate time stamp), no bibliography required. Example in question 1
Your answer should not be composed of just quotes from readings or lectures, I want to see how you apply these materials. Use quotes only when short and necessary, otherwise paraphrase.
Review the rubric prior to writing your response so that you know what we are looking for
Prompts:
In “The Presence in the Past” Trouillot argues that “the problem of historical representation is how to represent that ghost, something that is and yet is not” (Trouillot, 147). Discuss this quote in relation to 300 (2006). Be sure to reference both lectures and assigned readings in your discussion. Argue what the “ghost” of the 300 Spartans might be and how that affects reception of this history.
In reference to both Black Orpheus (1959) and O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) we have discussed how myths can be flexible. Recent reception scholars, such as Hardwick, have argued that reception is a bidirectional process. Pick one: Black Orpheus or O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? and describe implications these works have on both our understandings of the ancient and modern worlds.
Hayden White argues that narrative works, even historical ones, must use the same processes as fiction. Do you agree or disagree? Use one of the films we have seen thus far (O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?, 300, or Black Orpheus) to guide your discussion and support your argument.
