Outcome Chart - Manitoba - Cinema as a Witness to Modern History Social Studies 12

Skills

Specific Expectations

Students will:

  • analyze representations of 20th century events, ideas and ideologies, figures, trends, societies, and cultures as interpreted and portrayed in a variety of film genres
  • critically view and respond to selected films from local and Canadian film, international film, and American mass media productions
  • compare the purposes and techniques that distinguish various film genres, including drama and documentary, based on films that include historical content or interpretation
  • analyze the evolution of film techniques over time
  • write film critiques that show evidence of historical thinking and critical media literacy
  • conduct historical research to evaluate the accuracy of representations of 20th century history and society in film

Lessons that meet Grade 12 expectations

Elements of historical thinking

Overall Expectations

Throughout this course, students need to be guided to think as historians, and also to think as informed and critical film viewers. In their questioning, viewing, research, and response, students need to take into consideration the following elements of historical thinking:

  • selection, interpretation and use of historical evidence
  • evaluation of the importance of historical events
  • analysis of the causes and effects, both short-term and long-term, of historical events
  • observation of continuity and change in the human condition over time
  • consideration of the perspectives of people who lived in the past
  • reflection on the ethical dimension of historical events and interpretations.

Specific Expectations

Through the viewing and analysis of selected documentary and feature films, students will enrich their historical literacy and apply the elements of critical historical thinking:

  • Significance: assess how films of various genres represent significant historical events, ideas, developments and figures since the beginning of the 20th century; understand that film can be used to create and share a public narrative of the past by establishing the significance of selected events and figures;
  • Evidence: interpret primary and secondary source evidence of 20th century world history as it is portrayed in a variety of film genres; assess how various film genres use evidence to create and support historical narrative;
  • Continuity and change: observe and describe patterns of continuity and change over time as represented in documentary and dramatic film; analyze various cinematic perspectives and representations of progress and decline, conflict and resolution in historical narratives; reflect on film depictions of enduring and fleeting elements of the human condition since the beginning of the 20th century;
  • Cause and consequence:analyze film representations of the complex causes and consequences of historical events, and of the role of human intentions, decisions, and acts in history; assess the long-term impact of decisions and developments of the past;
  • Historical perspective: adopt a historical perspective in order to envisage and interpret the past as it was experienced by the people who lived in it; develop empathy for the experiences and aspirations of people who lived in the past; understand the sense in which the past differs from the present and represents a particular and unique element of human experience;
  • Moral dimension: consider the moral dimension of the actions and decisions of people who lived the past; assess the value judgements that influence and underlay film representations of historical events; consider the responsibilities of the present in the light of history

Lessons that meet Grade 12 expectations

Elements of critical media literacy

Specific Expectations

Students must learn a new way of viewing film, by mastering a critical awareness of the principles of media literacy:

  • cinema is a form of media, and as such represents and interprets reality without simply reflecting =reality
  • every film is constructed using a technical language and creative rules
  • different people respond differently to the same film, and interpret its message in different ways
  • film-making incorporates values and points of view and seeks to convey a message
  • cinema may be studied as a means of artistic expression, a means of political or social influence, or a means of financial gain (an enterprise)
  • cinema is in part a reflection of the time and place in which it was created and viewed.

Lessons that meet Grade 12 expectations