Paper Assignment - American Revolution

Your paper is due Wednesday, April 22^nd. You have the option of selecting either of the books/movies noted below, but if your choice is Babits's Devil of a Whipping, then you will have to rent the film The Patriot and view it on your own (we will watch several segments of the film in class, but not the entire film).

Option 1: Read Babits's Devil of a Whipping, on the battle of Cowpens, and watch the film The Patriot. Write a 4-7 page paper comparing and contrasting the way both depict the war. .What role do irregular forces play in both depictions? What role do regular forces play? How are the British depicted? Which gives a fuller picture of the social and economic conditions that contributed to the military situation? What explanation for the American victory emerges from each? Accepting that a movie is "fiction," are there ways in which the movie takes too great license with history? Are their ways in which the movie does a better job in capturing essential elements of the story perhaps lost in Babits's historical account? You need not answer these questions in order or answer all of them; rather, your paper should present a focused, well-organized comparison between book and film.

Option 2: Read Van Buskirk's Generous Enemies, on New York during the Revolution, and watch Mary Silliman's War (in class). Both depict the disruptions that war caused to family, community, and economy. Compare these depictions. About whom do we learn in each depiction? Does the author or director have obvious sympathies (and, if so, for whom)? How do the two depictions contrast in their portrayal of the position of women? Of those engaged in combat? Of the genteel and well-off as opposed to the unskilled, young, and poor? Of black Americans? Which of the two gave you a better sense of what the war was like for ordinary people in the New York/southwestern Connecticut region? Why? You need not answer these questions in order or answer all of them; rather, your paper should present a focused, well-organized comparison between book and film. Note: if you miss the showing or Mary Silliman's War in class or want to view it again, the library's Media Center (basement of the Kilmer Library) has a copy that can be viewed in the library.