Students are required to view THREE documentary films of their choice dealing broadly with core civil liberties that have been protected over time within our Constitution, by laws passed by Congress, and by various court decisions. The documentaries that you choose must be nonfiction. This means that a film that shows fictional representations–even historical fiction–are excluded from use. This is important because some of the links below have information on both fiction movies and nonfiction movies/documentaries. Please consult me if you are unclear on this. Below are web links to three lists that can give you some guidance on such documentaries:
https://missliberty.com/tag/freedom-of-speech/ (Links to an external site.)
https://nordvpn.com/blog/freedom-of-speech-movies/ (Links to an external site.)
https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/Civil%20liberties%20themed%20movies.pdf (Links to an external site.)
You may choose other relevant documentaries that meet the description in the first paragraph by searching PBS, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc… If you are unsure about the relevance of a documentary, feel free to consult me. Also, you may consult this UNCW resource:
https://fod-infobase-com.liblink.uncw.edu/nd_Home.aspx (Links to an external site.) (at this source, you can conduct key word searches)
For this final assignment, you will be required to write an analytical essay that integrates summaries of the three documentaries that you choose into a narrative on major civil liberties issues that have been prominent over the past several years in the United States (the Snowden leaks, Wikileaks, free speech on social media–i.e. the censoring of President Trump, hate speech, BLM protests, Antifa riots, the COVID-19 shut downs, vaccine debates, the Jan. 6th Capitol riot, etc). In general, how do the ideas of the documentaries you viewed interweave into the civil liberties issues of contemporary America? Students will have broad discretion on how they develop their essays–so long as they meet the general guidelines found in the first two sentences of this paragraph.
In addition to using information from the documentaries and your textbook, you will need to conduct library/Internet research that will assist you in developing your analytical essay. You will need to compile and use at least FIVE additional outside sources. You may use ONE newspaper article but the rest of your sources should come from scholarly journals, reputable magazines, books, Think Tank publications, and other reputable film documentary sources. If you are unsure if a source will count, please contact me. The use of these sources should be part of the development of your narrative regarding the three documentaries that you choose to view and analyze.
Your final essay should be at least 6 FULL double-spaced pages in length (1-inch margins on all sides, 12pt Times New Roman font) PLUS a reference page. The actual summarization of the documentaries should take no more than 1.5 pages of the 6 page total. Your document must be paginated and must have section headings to provide your paper with a logical sequence as well as a professional look. Please make sure to include page numbers. Use the Chicago Manual of Style to format your footnotes/parenthetical cites AND/OR the reference page–which is separate from the six to seven pages of work you will complete. See these online resources:
https://shsulibraryguides.org/chicago/examples (Links to an external site.)
https://research.wou.edu/c.php?g=551307&p=3784272
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