Literature and Film Freedom and Identity Summary

GERMAN Holocaust Literature and Film- Freedom and Identity

For the second essay, we focus on several texts, incl. children survivor stories, Still Alive, and several of the films viewed since the last essay, incl. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Europa Europa, The Pawnbroker and The Invisibles, which have all been concerned with the process of loss, hiding, and reclamation of identity. You have also made some initial thoughts on what it means to be free, under what circumstances does it become a challenge or a danger to be authentic? Which scenes or passages of these texts (incl. films) have challenged or strengthened your beliefs/convictions about the role freedom plays in the ability to express your authentic being, to know who you are, and express your identity?

• Write a 400-800 word essay that answers the prompt – avoid summarizing and focus on an analysis of representation/ aesthetics and personal reflection/ development. Please write the word count at the top of the essay.
• Please remember that this should include an analysis of specific scenes/passages and will require you to cite supporting evidence through specific examples from Still Alive as well as one film and one other text (film or literature).
• Examples from written texts should be cited in MLA style, and you should include a Works Cited page. For the purposes of this essay, you should include films in your Works Cited list, but you do not need to include in-text citations for these.

• What to Include

  • An analysis of the content (i.e. topics, views, and opinions) and how it interacts with your own beliefs.
  • An analysis of the form (i.e. structural, aesthetic, and linguistic choices) and its impact on your impression of the event.
  • Include scenes/passages from three texts to illustrate your argument. One must be Still Alive. and one must be a film.

  TIPS

  • Begin with your definition of what your concept of freedom is and how it is challenged in the texts.
  • Ask a question of each text you want to include and then attempt to answer it. Keep the focus on a single element – the question that includes an explanation of how and why.
  • You don’t have to agree with me! You may experience and interpret the texts differently, just provide and explain your evidence from the text that supports your interpretation.