J.

Mitchell-Wagner 1

Characterization Analysis (250 to 500 Words)

Considerations
Behavior

Character Name:
Professor. Tolson
Strong, resolute,
He has passion for
debate team.

Appearance (What
does the character
look like? What does
he/she wear?)

He always wear suit.

Sometimes he was
Smoking. He was tall
and skinny.

Character Name:
Samantha
She is only female on
debate team but she is
brave and strong
woman.
She has short hair, tall
and skinny. She was
wearing blouse, skirt
and jacket.

Race, Gender, Class

Black, Male, Middle

class

Black, Female,
Middle class

Dialogue

Im here to help you

to find, take back, and
keep your righteous
mind.

No, the time for

justice the time for
freedom, and the time
for equality is always
right now!

Feelings

Strong, worried

Sad, mad, nervous,

scary

Afraid, scary, sad

nervous, Positive

Close-up shots,
Diagetic

Close-up shots
Some parts have Lowkey but most of parts
have Neutral light.
Diagetic

Wiley College (Wiley

college was African
American college
and hence typically
only debated against
teams from black
colleges,
During 1930s,

Wiley College,
During 1930s,

Crosscutting shots on
screen that apply a
mixture of sidewise
tracking shots, closeup shots, point-ofview shots.
Wiley College,
During 1930s,

Directors/Writers
Craft
(See Film
Terminology)

The Settings Effects

on the Character
(Setting includes time,
place, & attitudes)

Character Name:
James Farmer, Jr
He was young, but he
has humor and
modest.

He was 14 years old

young black boy.
Middle class
We do what we have
to do in order to do
what we want to do.

He was young and he

always wear suit. He
was not tall and little
bit chubby.

J. Mitchell-Wagner 2

Viewers Choice
I am not interest in debate and I do not have much knowledge about debate. However this movie does not
need much knowledge about debate. Each speech scene was really touching. Through this movie, I could
learn more about historical background. During that time, Wiley college debate team proved African
American people were exactly alike as white people and debate team gave hope to African American
people.