1) The document provides instructions for an analysis paper assignment on three films from different decades - The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Bigger Than Life (1956), and Advise and Consent (1962). 2) Students must choose one of the films, analyze how it depicts issues of its time period based on guiding questions, and write a paper between 500-1000 words using MLA or Chicago citation style. 3) The document provides context and guiding questions for each film on topics like returning veterans after WWII, suburban life and addiction in the 1950s, and politics during the Red Scare era of the 1960s.

1. analysis paper 2 1
Being able to interpret history goes beyond just reading books and articles. Many today look
at cultural outlets like films, music, magazines, and other forms of entertainment to get a
better understand of how societies presented and understood issues of the day. These could
be salutary portrayals or subversive criticisms. For this assignment you will choose of the
films listed below and write a paper analyzing the film based on the questions provided for
each one. Essays should be no shorter than 500 words and preferably no longer than 1000.
You may use all kinds of sources to bolster your arguments including but not limited to class
readings, film reviews, academic articles (check JSTOR), or websites [for websites please
consult with me in advance on their validity]. Your papers will be in MLA format with 1 inch
margins, double-spaced, in 12 pt Times New Roman font and include citations for your
sources. Please use Chicago Style citation with footnotes and a works cited page or MLA
style in text citations with a works cited page. Citations must be used for quotes taken from
the movie. Remember to consider the time period in which each film was made and how
each comments upon their respective time period.Each of the following films can be found
on the Canvas Page in the “Pages Tab.” Click “View All Pages” and you will see a page for
each of them at the bottom of the page.The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) won seven
Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is ranked as one of the best American films
ever made according to the American Film Institute as well as the Internet Movie Database.
Write an analysis of the film’s depiction of the anxieties of returning veterans and
difficulties of post-war demobilization. In your analysis consider the following questions to
guide you: What are the problems the three leads face in adjusting to peacetime American
society? Consider how one is married with children and relatively wealthy, the other is
married to a wartime bride he hardly knew and works a lower-class job, and one is
physically disabled from the war. What are things that have changed since they have been
away and what are some of their barriers to doing what they want after serving their
country? Does this film give a hopeful impression of the future for returning veterans and
the United States?Bigger Than Life (1956) is a film about a man having a crisis and whose
medicine for a rare illness becomes an addiction in the setting of 1950s suburbia. It seems
that the pressures of maintaining an image of success and inability to obtain that image are
what drives him to addiction. Write an analysis of how the film presents the 1950s. What
are the differences between the image of the “fabulous fifties― advertised with the
realities as presented in the film. Consider the following questions when writing your
analysis: How does the film present American suburban life? Why is the main character Ed

2. not satisfied with his life when he seems to have everything that 1950s society advertised
for happiness? What do the pills do that makes Ed feel better and how is this related to the
“organization man― complacency of the time? Do you think the film is supporting or
indicting the image of the happy American suburban family life of the 1950s?Advise and
Consent (1962) is a film about political intrigue that was advertised as being “ripped
straight from the headlines.― Analyze the films depiction of American politics in the early
1960s and describe how it depicts certain political movements and ideologies of the time.
Consider these questions in your analysis. How does the depict the influence of the Red and
Lavender Scares. How does the Red Scare and the fear of looking soft to the Soviet Union
affect certain congressmen’s views? For example, Leftingwell being asked if he is an
“egghead― or how he would negotiate with the Soviet Union? How is the fear of
homosexual inversion or being found out? What overall impression does the film give of the
American government? Use scenes and characters from the film to bolster your answers.