Drawing specific examples from the assigned reading, write a three to four (3-4) page paper analyzing how pop culture (television, film, art, music, etc.) influences how people understand American History. Is this influence beneficial or harmful? Explain why. Most of your paper should be an analysis of primary and secondary sources, but conclude with a discussion about how pop culture has influenced your understanding of U.S. history.
Prepare
In addition to Fighting Over the Founders and your textbook you can also consult the following sources:
Gallagher, Gary W. Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood & Popular Art Shape What We Know About the Civil War. The University of North Carolina Press, 2008. (Introduction)
Collins, Peter C. ed. The Columbia Companion to American History on Film: How the Movies Have Portrayed the American Past. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. (Available electronically through the Walker Library but the Introduction is available below.)
Rhoden, Nancy L. (Nancy Lee). “Patriots,Villains, and the Quest for Liberty: How American Film has Depicted the American Revolution.” Canadian Review of American Studies 37, no. 2 (2007): 205-238.
You are allowed to use outside sources but you MUST cite them. If you do not you will be marked down significantly.
