Cultural Representation Assignment | Culture
I would like you to write a reflection paper addressing cultural representation as presented in a movie. I am including the assignment in Module 3 so you may begin thinking of a topic for this assignment, but the final paper is not due until July 8. Below you will find a complete guideline for this assignment and I will post a copy of the assignment under “Course Schedule and Policies.” The drop box to submit this assignment is located in Module 7 as that is the week this assignment is due. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Choose one of the films below as your subject for a reflection paper discussing intercultural communication:
Django Unchained Million Dollar Arm Wonder Woman
Crash Belle Hidden Figures
Gran Torino Pretty Woman Alien
Joy Luck Club Under the Tuscan Sky The Help
My Big Fat Greek Wedding Beast of the Southern Wild Avatar
Slumdog Millionaire Hotel Rwanda Birdcage
Pride and Prejudice Remember the Titans Spanglish
Star Trek Into Darkness Bend it Like Beckham Crazy Rich Asians
You will write a reflection paper on one of the above-listed movies and you must include the following background and synopsis:
Give an introductory synopsis of the film to establish background.
Next, you will evaluate the strengths and limitations of the communicative choices the characters make based on their culture. For example, in some cultures it is not appropriate to question authority, so how would this influence the way a child may speak to a parent or student may speak to an instructor? Explain with examples. Do you see signs of ethnocentrism? Is there a character who experiences culture shock or has a difficult time becoming acculturated to a new culture? Do we see examples of collectivism versus individualism, high context versus low context, or masculine versus feminine? Be sure to include specific examples from the film to support your observations. Apply what you have learned in class and in the text on culture in your analysis.
What type of communication barriers existed between the characters in the movie due to cultural differences? For example, what difficulties might arise when someone from an individualistic culture communicates with someone from a collectivist culture? Can you give at least two specific examples?
You will also reflect on the following:
Did you enjoy the movie? Why or why not? Give solid opinions for the reasons.
Identify at least three differences/similarities between your culture and the culture(s) portrayed in the movie.
Explain what you most/least appreciated in the movie
Explain one or more things that you have learned that you want to share with others.
A detailed rubrics describing how the reflection paper will be graded is provided under “Course Documents.” Your paper should be 4 to 5 pages in MLA format.
