Prompt: During this stage of African American Cinematic Development, which includes the World War II and early Civil Rights Movement years, we see the portrayals of African Americans beginning to change in “mainstream” American cinema, even the rise of some African American Film Stars. Using one of the films from this unit (Stormy Weather, Pinky, Carmen Jones, or The Defiant Ones), write an essay that explains why and how this change begins and how African American identity further develops in society at large.
Directions: Write a three-to-five paged, double-spaced essay (The Works Cited Page is not included in the page count; in other words, the actual essay must be at least three complete pages long.). You are expected to use MLA formatting, MLA in-text citation, and include a MLA works cited page. Refer to the MLA Handbook or the online resource at the Purdue OWL. You can also look at the short guide examples that are posted on BBLearn. Don’t forget to include a creative title.
Be sure to do the following: 1) clearly state your thesis statement; 2) organize and develop your explanation effectively; 3) choose your words carefully; 4) use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure; 5) use at least two direct quotes from the primary source (one of the film(s) not the documentaries); 6) use at least one direct quote from one of the secondary source(s) (i.e. the textbook or the documentaries); 7) use at least one direct quote from a peer-reviewed secondary source (i.e. journal article or book (not the textbook)) (Quotes should be no longer than four sentences.); and 8) incorporate at least one key African American concept or theme (Refer back to PowerPoint.).
