What were some of your observations about how the film begins? What were some of the things that stood out for you? Is there anything notable about how Ethan is introduced? (Since this should be a conversation, you don’t have to answer all of these questions about a scene; you should comment based on what has not been said but also based on your own interests.)
Digital Assignment #4–A Battle Scene
Question 4: There are quite a few battle scenes in The Searchers. Comment on the one I played in class (it begins it at 29:50 minutes). What can you say here, among many other things, about comparative masculinities? Also, what can you say about film form and these epic battle scenes?
Digital Assignment #5–The Ending
Question #5: Think about those last few scenes and shots that make up the ending of The Searchers (1:55:00). By the end, what kinds of claims about masculinity, family, and nation has this film made? 
What kinds of arguments can you make about how it ends? Play close attention, again, to film style as you share your reflections.
A Short Guide to Writing About Film
Use this link to retrieve the excerpt from A Short Guide to Writing About Film. Use it to refresh your memory on key film terms and to read a few sample papers. 
Full Citation:
Corrigan, Timothy. A Short Guide to Writing About Film. New York: Longman, 1998. 34-77.
Week 3: The Best Years of Our Lives
Describe a moment from the film that depicts one of the challenges of demobilization and reintegration. 
What is the overall mood (atmosphere, feeling and sentiment) of this film? Describe a moment that captures that mood and again refer to a specific scene.
Think about some aspects of film form (lighting, editing, cinematography and camera movement, music) as you watch the film. Pick out one formal aspect and explain how it works to make a specific statement about a character in the movie (male or female). 
Week 2: Popeye and Willie and Joe Questions of the Week
***Before you can answer all of these questions, you need to read the selections on the Willie and Joe comic strip, watch Popeye, and read an article on WWII. For the readings click on this link and download the 3 PDFs. The link will take you to a UDrive folder for ENG 279. Willie and Joe (from Up Front) and \”The Good War\” article
1. View all of the Popeye films/clips (they are not considered “episodes,” rather they are theatrical short films) on this website. Based on your viewing of these films, is Popeye an American superhero? Why or why not? What did you see in these films that helps you support your view? Please refer to specific textual/visual examples.
2. Select a moment from the written account of Bill Mauldin’s experiences in Up Front or an image from the Willie and Joe comic strip. What kind of comment about American masculinity does Mauldin seem to be making in your selection? 
3. As you read through Neil Wynn’s “The ‘Good War’: The Second World War and Postwar American Society,” pick out one historical fact or example that he uses that you can imagine was influential in shaping wartime or postwar American masculine ideals.
Notes: The full bibliographic citation for Wynn’s “The Good War” is on the cover sheet to the file. Here is the bibliographic information that you need for the Up Front/Willie and Joe excerpts:
Mauldin, Bill. Up Front. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1945.
Popeye WWII Episodes (For Monday and Wednesday)
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/-j1YfR2Z0hA" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
1. FLEETS OF STREN’TH
Released: Mar 13, 1942
Studio: Max Fleischer
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/wEK45-_5y0s" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
2. YOU’RE A SAP, MR. JAP
Released: Aug 7, 1942
Director: Dan Gordon
Studio: Paramount / Famous Studios
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/6ACltvhNXSI" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
3. SCRAP THE JAPS
Released: Nov 20, 1942
Director: Seymour Kneitel
Studio: Paramount / Famous Studios
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/OHo91px5YTs" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
4. SPINACH FER BRITAIN
Released: Jan 22, 1943
Director: I. Sparber
Studio: Paramount / Famous Studios
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/2qfcPJS5IBc" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
5. SEEIN’ RED WHITE ‘N’ BLUE
Released: Feb 19, 1943
Director: Dan Gordon
Studio: Paramount / Famous Studios
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/wzEJUlTOmd8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
6. PIP-EYE, PUP-EYE, POOP-EYE AN’ PEEP-EYE
Released: Apr 10, 1943
Studio: Max Fleischer
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/e4BwkRYnGuM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
7. MANY TANKS
Released: May 15, 1944
Studio: Max Fleischer
Black Masculinity and American Visual Culture
Here are a few clips of black male performers–like Lincoln Perry (Stepin Fetchit) and Bill Robinson (Bojangles)–who were working before and during the early years of of Sidney Poitier’s career. At the time, American movie and television audiences were far more familiar with these kinds of representations of black masculinity than they were with what Poitier came to represent.
A. Stepin Fetchit–Lazy Richard
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/f69GdiSZ-NA" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
B. Bojangles (with Shirley Temple)
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/AjCFYpWDmfM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
C. Cartoon version of Amos n’ Andy (with white performers doing the voices)
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/xIrdgyd-i3w" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Week 1 Blog Discussion: The Defiant Ones (1958)
Question 1: What does this film seem to be saying about black masculinity?
Question 2: What does this film say it means to be an American? What wish for the country is embedded here? When you answer this question, please use a concrete example from one specific scene from the film to support your argument.