5 page paper (Due in 13 hours)

PROMPT FOR THE BIRTH OF A NATION TERM PAPER

Overview: As with all artists, movie makers possess tools that have the power to uplift or to harm. In the right hands, film makers can enlighten, inspire, inform, and encourage viewers. Film makers can bring us to laughter, to tears, or to awesome wonder. Film directors can motivate viewers to act in ways that will help others and benefit the natural environment.

But others may, and sometimes have, used their craft for malevolent purposes, to the extent of distorting reality. In the book, D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation, Melvyn Stokes offers a careful look at a film that sent shock waves throughout the Unites States for a wide variety of reasons over a century ago. Adapted from Thomas Dixon’s play, The Clansman, The Birth of a Nation (1915) is a landmark in its cinematic techniques that are utilized to this very day. Unfortunately, Griffith used his film-making innovations to create a piece that perpetuated wildly inaccurate, racist views about black people (especially black men) and which sought to champion as true the myth of the Confederacy’s “Lost Cause.” It is not a stretch to argue that The Birth of a Nation contributed to multiple attacks on black towns during the late 1910s/early 1920s and brought a rise in the lynching of black bodies. Indeed, the movie tapped into long-standing fears of not a few whites about the “threats” of black advancement and of increased immigration of peoples of color, all seen as threatening to the Social Darwinism and prevailing practices in the era’s race relations.

Understandably, African Americans reacted with alarm upon hearing of the impending release of The Birth of a Nation. They tried various means to halt the screenings or, at least, to lessen their impact. But owing to judicial setbacks at times, the lack of financial resources of new African American organizations, the indifference of some whites to the film, and internal divisions within black organizations or between black leaders, campaigns to shut down the movie’s release and widespread distribution met only with very limited success. White allies could be found here and there, but they, too, were no match for the

proponents’ financial and political resources and the prevailing racial paradigm five decades after the end of the Civil War.

Sadly, these views of race, based on European privilege and exclusion of “non-whites,” trouble American society to this very day. They are reflected in many officials in elected office, in the hate crimes of the present, in the brazen spouting of hateful rhetoric hurled at religious and ethnic minorities, and in similar ways to others who fall outside of a narrow group devoted to white supremacy and the lifestyle of oppressing others. Melvyn Stokes’ book, therefore, paints a picture of a world a century ago that, in many ways, resembles our own.

Goals for this assignment: This project, worth 35% of your grade, is designed to meet the following objections:

• To show the power of cinema to persuade and its role in perpetuating myth and stereotypes. 


• To explore strategies and tactics used to shut down or to disseminate this film. 


• To uncover problems and setbacks proponents and opponents had in their campaigns. 


• To investigate the race relations of the early twentieth century. 


• To cast light onto the hatred and intolerance of the early 1900s. 


• To show ways the challenges of yesteryear still confront us today.

Instructions: The completed paper will consist of four components: an introduction; brief summation of one chapter followed by specific examples from that same chapter; brief summation of a second chapter followed by specific examples from that same chapter; and your choice of analysis of content from both chapters (see below). The requirement is to cover any two chapters (1- 8).

Begin your paper by furnishing an introduction of one-half to one page (maximum) in length to preview for the reader your paper’s content. In your introduction, briefly acknowledge the author and the name of the book, identify the chapters selected and mention (in passing) the types of aspects that you will be examining.

The first two parts of your paper will focus on showing the facts without analysis. Part One (core coverage) of your paper will involve a detailed examination of the first chapter that you’re about to explore. Begin by giving a one paragraph synopsis of the central points of the chapter. The remainder of objective coverage for that chapter will be to furnish specific examples of what you’re covering. The specific examples should largely be paraphrased. But feel free to include some direct quotes. Part two (in core coverage) of your paper will resemble the first part. Give a one-paragraph synopsis of the central ideas of that chapter. Then furnish specific examples to illustrate content.

Let’s look at a chapter to get a better idea of what I mean by “specific examples.” Chapter 6, “Fighting a Vicious Film,” clearly centers on forms of substantial opposition to the screenings of this highly controversial film. The first few pages focus on details about the battle in Los Angeles. Part of it shows some of the ways the young NAACP organizationally was ill equipped to oppose the film’s proponents. Furthermore, the NAACP found difficulties in mounting challenges based on censorship. The first section of chapter 6 also covers forms of ambivalence by white liberals on practical ways to deal with this film. (Did they dislike censorship more than they rejected the film’s malevolent message?) The next part of the chapter looks at the role of the National Board of Censorship, which took some actions that black

rights groups didn’t always favor. Each of the remaining sections of chapter 6 furnish details about opposition campaigns in specific cities. Throughout the remaining city campaigns, you will see the impact of politicians and judges, which gave the opponents of The Birth of a Nation only partial satisfaction (but often limited their legal options).

So far, you’ve been simply offering factual material without analysis. Part Three (core coverage) of your paper will center on assessment of content. There are a few different ways you can analyze Stokes’ book, D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. One way is to compare and contrast two chapters holding similar content. For example: chapters six and eight center on ways groups (such as the NAACP) and individuals (example: Monroe Trotter) tried to prevent screenings from taking place. You might address questions such as the following: what complications did opponents of The Birth of a Nation face in mounting their campaign to prevent screenings? Why did the latter campaigns (such as in chapter eight) yield somewhat different results that what transpired earlier? You could focus on comparing and contrasting Thomas Dixon with D.W. Griffith (chapters two and three, respectively). In what ways did Griffith’s view of race relations compare with that of Thomas Dixon? How did Griffith’s life and experiences compare with or differ from those of Dixon? Analysis of content in D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation can be based mainly on a careful examination of ideology and worldview. Or it could be based mainly on practical conditions and campaigns, to support or to campaign against this film. In essence, I will leave it up to you to

determine the type of analysis that you do. Feel free, as well, to include a brief comment about your overall reaction to this book.

Although a strong paper can be written based strictly on content from Stokes’ book, if you use additional (outside) sources (such as to show the long-term impact of The Birth of a Nation), you will need to acknowledge them, too, in your notations. Please keep in mind that the

use of additional (outside) sources should be regarded as spice (used sparingly). After all, the focus of this paper is on D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation, not on other sources!

Here are the technical requirements for this assignment. The prose of your paper should be (on average, but more if possible) about five pages long, double-spaced, with twelve-point font and one-inch margins. Be sure to paginate (number each page) and write both the class designation and the section number on the front page (AFAM 335, sect. 02). Title the assignment and include the date you completed it. An optional title page will not be included in the total number of pages. (A five-page paper is not a title page and four pages of content, for instance.) Avoid large amounts of blank space between sections, as this is bad formatting! (Instead, use sectional headings (discussed below).

In order to acknowledge correctly the precise locations of content (directly quoted and paraphrased), you will need endnotes. (Please see the examples of notations that I will post in Course Guides.) If you’re unsure of where to insert a notation, here is a good rule of thumb: place the superscript of that endnote at the end of the paragraph to which it refers. (A superscript is a small number, raised slightly above the line of type, which indicates the material before the superscript is being acknowledged.) In the case of endnotes, each endnote is placed at the very end of your paper.) Notations will add about 1⁄2 to one page to your paper. So a paper containing about five pages of prose will be about six pages long when the notations—endnotes--are added. Endnotes are required and are done in the format of The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition. (For more on notation formatting, please look at The Chicago Manual of Style. The address for the link is:

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation- guide-1.html

I am somewhat flexible as to the exact page count. But avoid extremes. A successful paper can be a little short of five pages (not including notes). But a three-pager (possibly covering only one chapter or full of

general statements, not supported with specific examples) will be too brief. By contrast, a paper of fifteen pages (heavily redundant, too wordy, excessively detailed, or poorly formatted) will need to be trimmed or otherwise adjusted. Please contact me before the very last minute if you face any problems regarding this assignment.

You will need to have a way to easily indicate when one section has ended and another one begins. In order to achieve this, be sure to have sectional headings. For a sectional heading, you might write something like, “Details of chapter two,” or “Content in ch. 2: Thomas Dixon, Jr.” For the analysis section, you might write something like, “Assessments,” “Chapter Analyses,” or something similar.

EXTRA CREDIT: If you choose to write an additional chapter (three in total) from Melvyn Stokes, D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation, your grade will be raised 2/3 of a grade. However, if I judge your extra credit to be too brief or superficial (such as only one page of summation and analysis), you can expect to receive only partial credit (1/3 letter grade boost). To receive the extra credit, you will need to add an additional two pages (minimum) of prose to the entire paper.

This is how the structure of an extra credit paper will look: general introduction for the entire paper; content (without analysis) of the first chapter you’re covering; content (without analysis) of the second chapter you’re covering; content (without analysis) of the third chapter

you’re covering; analysis of the three chapters of Stokes. Remember: extra credit will make your paper about eight pages long (including notations).