MTA 280 (“Movies and Politics: Whiteness and Masculinity”)
Instructor: Walter Metz
Spring 2002
Sample Final Exam
Section One: Identifications
Each question is worth 5 points. Suggested time: 5 minutes each.
For each film listed below, describe briefly the clip that we watched in class. Then, briefly indicate how this clip related to the course in terms of the study of masculinity. Finally, suggest one of the articles that you read that would most help you analyze the clip. Briefly describe your rationale for choosing this article.
1. Son of the Sheik
2. Ordinary People
3. The Best Years of Our Lives
4. The Cheat
5. Chinatown
Section Two: Short Answer Questions
Please write a few paragraphs in answer to each of the three of the questions below. Each question is worth 15 points. Suggested time per question: 15 minutes.
1. For Monday, April 15, you were to read either Carol Clover or Dave Kehr in order to discuss how the 1970s featured a backlash against “second wave” feminism. Briefly explore how your chosen author shows how a particular genre (type of film) can be read as representative of this backlash against feminism.
2. Choose two of the chapters from Susan Faludi’s Stiffed. Briefly compare these chapters in terms of how she uses her interviews to support the overall claim that contemporary American masculinity is ornamental. Then, use one of her interviewees to suggest a connection with one of the characters in In the Company of Men.
3. For the first day of this section of the course, Monday, March 25, you were to read either Faludi’s chapter 1 (The Son, the Moon, and the Stars) or Laurel Davis’ “Profiting from the Masculinity Crisis.” In the former, masculinity is defined via Space, while in the latter, it is defined via Sports. Briefly explain how masculinity is so defined in your chosen article. Then, briefly discuss how this topic of space or sports came up in the course in later readings or discussions.
Section Three: Essay Question
Please write an essay-format answer (2-4 blue book pages or so, 8-10 paragraphs or so) in response to the question below. This question is worth 30 points. The question is designed to take about 40 minutes to answer.
This section of the course has attempted to theorize the reinvention of traditional masculinity into a more progressive form. Choose three of the essays that you’ve read for this course (but preferably not ones you’ve already discussed in this exam) that coherently argue the need for such a redefinition. Compare and contrast these essays both in terms of their content and methodology. Then, apply the arguments of these essays to the characters and situations in the film, Shower. In the course of your answer, be sure to discuss particular scenes from the film to support your argument.
This page was last updated on February 14, 2003
Questions or Comments? Please phone me at (406) 994-6403 or send an e-mail to: metz@montana.edu
Walter Metz, Department of Media and Theatre Arts, Montana State University--Bozeman