Crash: Lower Bloom’s Taxonomy
1. Aristotle said that characters in tragedy were inherently good, but they inexplicably (unexplainably) do bad things. He called this being . . . *
a. consistently inconsisent
b. harmartia
c. hubris
d. denouement
2. Where does the film take place? *
a. Los Angeles
b. San Diego
c. San Fransisco
d. New York City
3. Which character is best described as a black LAPD detective who pushes the closest people in his life away? *
a. Graham Waters (Don Cheadle)
b. John Ryan (Matt Dillon)
c. Peter Waters (Larenz Tate)
b. The Locksmith (Michael Pena)
d. Farhad, the shop owner (Shaun Toob)
4.Which character’s conflict involves being overly submissive when faced with white authority figures? *
a. Christine Thayer (Thandie Newton)
b. Cameron Thayer (Terrance Howard)
c. Anthony (Ludacris/Chris Bridges)
d. John Ryan (Matt Dillon)
e. Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock)
5. Which character averts his eyes after talking to his wife while talking to his black assistant, implying that he is sleeping with his assistant in an illicit affair? *
a. DA Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser)
b. Tommy (Ryan Phillipe)
c. Dorri (Bahar Soomekh)
d. Lucien (Dato Bakhtadze)
e. The “Chinaman” (Greg Joung Paik)
6. In the film’s opening scene (exposition), Graham Waters refers to LA as a city where people hide behind . . . *
a. each other
b. walls of metal and glass
c. crashing cars
d. blank bullets
e. racist remarks
7. LA is best called what figurative language term because while it refers to one city, it really could mean any big city. *
a. metonymy
b. simile
c. personification
d. oxymoron
8. In our pre-film notes, what term denotatively matches the following definitions: “not easily disentangled,” “a difference between one’s inner and outer personas,” and “emotionally charged mental ideas often associated with repression.” *
a. conceit
b. symbolism
c. tragedy
d. complex
9.From our pre-film notes, what term, coined by W.E.B. DuBois, suggests that the American Negro growing up in Jim Crow America felt him/herself “torn in two” by a desire to be an American yet escape its racism? *
a. double consciousness
b. metaphorical wall of metal and glass
c. inciting incident
d. Freytag’s Pyramid
10. Which term matches the image below, the release of pent up emotions during a moment of catastrophe? *
a. denouement
b. catharsis
c. resolution
d. intrapersonal conflict
Daniel (the locksmith) holds his daughter, Lara, thinking she’d been shot.
11. What is the LITERAL REASON that Farhad, the Persian shopowner’s, gun does not kill the locksmith’s daughter? *
a. Because she’s protected by an imaginary “impenetrable cloak”
b. Because Farhad never loaded the gun
c. Because his daughter, Dorri, had purchased blank bullets in the beginning of the film
d. Because Farhad simply missed
12. What does Anthony choose to do at the end of the scene and how does this make him complex? *
a. He frees the trafficked prisoners from Asia; it shows he cares about more than stealing and money
b. He frees the trafficked prisoners from Asia; it shows he has a “moral center” similar to Aristotle’s “inner good.”
c. He sells the Asian prisoners for $500 each; it shows he is more evil than we thought.
d. He sells the van but keeps the Asian prisoners for himself; it shows he will help them out later.
13. Which of these types of conflict is synonymous with person vs. self conflict (e.g. guilt felt by Anthony after attempting to rob a black man)? *
a. interpersonal conflict
b. person vs. supernatural conflict
c. intrapersonal conflict
d. person vs. society conflict
14. Assistant District Attorney Flanagan asks Graham Waters whether or not the city should “hang” Conklin for shooting the undercover black police officer. Remember, Conklin, a white police officer, was under investigation for his third shooting of a black man, though in turns out his shooting of this one was likely justified. In this context, “hang” means . . . *
a. prosecute
b. lynch
c. tie a noose around
d. dangle
English-2: Answer the questions below. Each response must be a minimum of four sentences: an ANSWER, EVIDENCE (a reference to the film), and TWO sentences explaining HOW that scene from the film SUPPORTS your answer.
15. What is the name of the character whom you tracked? *
16. Would you consider him/her to be a protagonist (experiences conflict), an antagonist (causes conflict), or both? Explain. *
17. What specific conflicts does your character experience or cause? *
18. Give an example of how the conflict gets worse or temporarily gets better in the film’s rising action. Be sure to state if your example shows it getting better or worse and explain. *
19. What is your character’s flaw? Is this a tragic flaw, meaning is he/she blind to it and does it result in you having pity or fear for him/her? *
20. What is your character’s purpose or motivation (what does he/she want most?) What is the moment in the film when he/she experiences the opposite of this (peripety?) *
21. Does your character suffer in his/her moment of peripety? Explain. *
22. Does your character have an epiphany? What does he/she learn about him/herself, others, or society? *
23. How is your character complex or “consistently inconsistent?” Explain, citing evidence. *
24. Does your character change? How so? Is this a physical, emotional, moral, cognitive, action-based, or spiritual change? Explain. *
25. Extra Credit for Eng-2 (Put N/A if you are skipping); required for AP/ECE: When the white gun store owner mocks Farhad, the Persian/Iranian shop owner, “Are you making insult at me,” which word does not use proper English, in context? *
a. at
b. insult
c. me
d. you
26. Extra Credit for Eng-2 (Put N/A if you are skipping); required for AP/ECE: In the question above, what word should you replace and why? *
a. at; it is wrong idiomatic preposition (particle) because you insult someone (not “at someone)
b. insult; it is not the most accurate way to describe the racist denigration occuring
c. me; it uses the wrong form of a personal pronoun
d. you; it is unclear if “you” is second person singular or plural
27. What’s the most important message (theme) we should learn about real life or real people from your character? *
Aristotelian Tragedy Vocabulary
Annotations and Applications to Crash
Answer these questions in a paragraph NO LESS than five sentences. Each paragraph will have a DEEFENSIBLE THESIS (an answer that provides a logical, plausible answer but one that someone else might disagree with), EVIDENCE (a quote or well-described scene from the film) and ELABORATION (the reason WHY or HOW this evidence supports your THESIS.
A) What does Graham Waters mean he says that people in LA “live behind walls of metal glass so much that they miss the sense of touch” to the point they “crash” into each other? How does this ring true in the film?
B) Citing a direct quote from the passage on W.E.B. DuBois’s double consciousness and a detailed paraphrasing of scenes from the film, explain how the film demonstrates ideas found in DuBois’s double consciousness.
28. What are Aristotle’s three unities? How many of them does the film adhere to? For each unity, explain why the film adheres to it or doesn’t. Responses must be at least four sentences. *
29. Answer in a paragraph NO LESS than five sentences. Each paragraph will have a DEEFENSIBLE THESIS (an answer that provides a logical, plausible answer but one that someone else might disagree with), EVIDENCE (a quote or well-described scene from the film) and ELABORATION (the reason WHY or HOW this evidence supports your THESIS. What does Graham Waters mean he says that people in LA “live behind walls of metal glass so much that they miss the sense of touch” to the point they “crash” into each other? How does this ring true in the film? *
30. Answer in a paragraph NO LESS than five sentences. Each paragraph will have a DEEFENSIBLE THESIS (an answer that provides a logical, plausible answer but one that someone else might disagree with), EVIDENCE (a quote or well-described scene from the film) and ELABORATION (the reason WHY or HOW this evidence supports your THESIS. Citing a direct quote from the passage on W.E.B. DuBois’s double consciousness and a detailed paraphrasing of scenes from the film, explain how the film demonstrates ideas found in DuBois’s double consciousness. *
31. Choose any scene from the film in which a cathartic moment occurs. Which definition of “catharsis” best matches this scene and why? *
32. Grammar Score
