LITERATURE AND FILM

Order Description
Part I 2 pages
Discuss the thematic significance of one (1) of the series of screen-captures on the accompanying pages. Using the information in the five shots, explain how the various compositional choices (such things as lighting, camera angle, camera movement, setting, acting, blocking, costume, etc) help to convey what you consider to be the director’s theme(s). It is not necessary to discuss each individual frame; however, when referring to a specific example name the frame from which it comes.
Part II 3 pages
To what degree do you think Cooper is responsible for setting up an American heroic ideal in The Last of the Mohicans? Compare Hawk-eye to the hero of D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation and explain whether you believe the heroism of Cooper’s Frontiersman is readily visible in him or her. If so, in what ways? If not, how does her or she differ.

Part III 4 pages
Using the novel of Owen Wister’s The Virginian and the film of Fred Zinneman’s High Noon, explain what you see as the single core trait that American culture holds to be essential in its heroes.

INSTRUCTIONS: Students MUST complete all three (3) sections of the exam. No secondary sources are required, but primary sources are expected to be referenced directly to provide adequate defense of your arguments. Citations MUST appear in MLA format. Papers MUST BE double-spaced in 12-point Times Roman with 1” margins at top, bottom and sides.