Independent Study Proposal-Spring Semester 2016

Oak Park River Forest High School

Teresa J. Madden

As with all history, the Hollywood stories will change based on the times in which the stories are
told.
Prompt-How does Hollywood's portrayal of WWII change over the time period of 1941-2000s?
In what areas do you see these changes and what are possible reasons why the stories change
overtime? What moral, political, and social values do these films reflect overtime?
The first 2-3 weeks will be dedicated to learning about how WWII has been reinterpreted over
time in academia. Explore WWII historiography to look for patterns and changes in the historical
scholarship. Analyze how the "originalists" discussed WWII. Search for revisionist histories in
the 1960s and 1970s. Examine what changes "post-revisionists" made in the more conservative
80s and 90s. Look for current work to see modern themes.
The next task is to research, based on box office numbers, the most popular Hollywood WWII
films from each era to watch. Ideally I will watch a total of ten films.
-Four films from the 40s & 50s (to really solidify my understanding of how Hollywood
originally conceptualized the war)
-Two films from the 60s &70s
-Two films from the 80s & 90s
-Two films from 2000-2015
The aim for this will be to identify changes in the later periods of time.
See if the changes in the Hollywood films reflect the historic interpretations during those eras,
and if they do not, look to identify reasons why this may be.
Record/Explore key themes that each film highlights and how they present it. A starter list of
examples to analyze in the movies are,
-American Pride
-The brutality of the war
-The importance of U.S. involvement during the war
-Heroism
-The enemy
-Gender
-Race
Explore the moral, political, and social changes during each time period that may have affected
how Hollywood movies portrayed WWII.
The last 2-3 weeks of the semester will be reserved for crafting the final product.

An essay in response to the prompt will be completed. In addition, to crafting a lesson.

Goals
-Optimize individual skills for becoming a self-reliant, self-motivated, and disciplined student
-Improve literacy skills
-Improve analytical skills through examining scholarly articles and films
-Gain a better understanding of how WWII was interpreted throughout the decades