REQUIRED FORUM: This Discussion Forum is over Bluebird, Bluebird and the re-emergence of the KKK subsequent to the popularity of D.W. Griffith’s landmark (and now infamous) film Birth of a Nation (1915). This Forum is worth 100 points.
INSTRUCTIONS
Your initial Discussion post should address everything asked and be a minimum 500 words (though I suspect it might take more words to properly respond what’s being asked), which is about 2/3 of a page on a normally formatted Word document. (This is a total word count for your original posting, addressing all questions asked, not 500 words for each question.) If in doubt about the number of words you’ve written, I recommend visiting https://wordcounter.net and simply copy/paste in your response; you will instantaneously get your word count. (You can also copy/past your writing into a Word document to view the word count.)
When addressing the discussion questions, remember to do all of the following:
YOU MUST INCLUDE FREQUENT AND SUBSTANTIAL QUOTES FROM BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD, GIVE ME LIBERTY!, THE AMERICAN YAWP PRIMARY SOURCE READER, AND EVEN YOUR OWN LIFE EXPERIENCES IN THE FORUM.
Enter your responses directly in the text box provided inside the discussion tool – do not attached separate documents or other files;
write in complete sentences, in essay/paragraph form, using proper punctuation and mechanics;
use MLA in-line citations to cite and quote examples from the texts that support your responses; like so (Niderost 43); for sections of the podcasts that support your response, use the range of hours, minutes, and seconds minute mark, like so (In The Past Lane 00:19:30-00:20:17).and
number your responses so that they correspond to the numbered questions.
Again, when citing audio or video, include the time range as indicated in the media viewer using this format in place of page numbers. See also Purdue’s OWL guide for MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics, specifically the “Time-based media sources” section at the bottom of the page, as well as https://library.nwacc.edu/mla/in-text (bottom of page).
After contributing your own post, you must also respond to two of your colleagues’ posts. These responses should be “substantive” replies “expanding the level of discussion,” no fewer than 100 words each. Do not just write a sentence or two of agreement, approval; rather, give some thoughtful, substantive feedback.
NOTE: I WILL NOT GRADE RESPONSES THAT DO NOT MEET THE MIN. WORD COUNT, NOR WILL I GRADE RESPONSES THAT ARE NOT NUMBERED TO CORRESPOND TO THE QUESTIONS ASKED. Another reminder: As with any in-class, written assignment: YOU CANNOT COPY/PAST MATERIAL FROM THE INTERNET TO USE AS ANSWERS TO YOUR LONG-ANSWER QUIZ QUESTIONS OR YOUR DISCUSSION POSTINGS. THIS IS PLAGIARISM, WHETHER YOU INTEND IT OR NOT. See here in Course Resources for a tutorial (short) on plagiarism.
If you need help on initiating a discussion thread, see here in the Instructional Resources content module (note that the video was made in/for a different course, but the info is basically the same). Note also that you must first make an original post before you can comment on or even see anyone else’s post.
TOPIC
Bluebird, Bluebird, “Birth of a Nation and the Second KKK.” Make sure to watch the clips in Day # 5, plus those below (the first is from our “Announcements” and the other two are similar). See here and here. Here are some questions to consider as well.
Bluebird, Bluebird is a novel by Attica Locke that, although set in modern-day Texas, addresses various themes of the African American experience and the legacy of Reconstruction in the Lone Star state. Read and discuss your thoughts about the importance TWO of the following quotes below and how it relates to some of the themes of Locke’s novel. You must add a THIRD QUOTE from the book that you found equally significant (there is more on The Birth of a Nation below the quotes).
The Lord hadn’t made a soul Geneva wouldn’t feed.
— Narrator (“Shelby County”)
Importance?
In the wake of Obama, America had told on itself.
— Narrator (chapter 1)
Importance?
Her people stayed because they were poor; the Matthews’s stayed because they were not.
— Narrator (chapter 4)
Importance?
The nobility is in the fight, son, in all things.
— William (chapter 4)
Importance?
Coming home is not asking for it.
— Darren (chapter 11)
Importance?
[. . .] he knew that folks grappling with sudden death often blame themselves to some degree, even when it makes no sense.
— Narrator (chapter 13)
Importance?
Whether either of them liked it or not, there was no getting around it: they were family.
— Narrator (chapter 17)
Importance?
He didn’t want to see a man in this room, couldn’t afford to see flesh behind that sheriff’s badge.
— Narrator (chapter 19)
Importance?
If he did this thing – walked out there and let them use his black face to tell a bank of reporters that there was nothing to see here [. . .] he could get his badge back and go home.
— Narrator (chapter 22)
Importance?
It both saddened and infuriated him that he wore a badge that meant nothing to either woman, that justice and despondency were so inextricably intertwined that the former was often not worth the trouble of the latter.
— Narrator (chapter 23)
D.W. Griffith’s 1915 landmark film The Birth of a Nation “took advantage of American anxiety to target blacks, immigrants, Roman Catholics, and Jews” by stoking fears especially among Southern Whites that these groups would “destroy the America that whites had come to know” (Jon Meacham, The Soul of America, 18). The film aided in the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan, which was originally established during the period of Reconstruction. The film is an example of how art, politics, and history continually inform one another, and shows how each one is presented and represented within the others. Using the assigned readings for this topic, answer the questions below. You must use MLA in-line citation style (exactly as I did in the first sentence of this paragraph) to quote and reference from the books those pages (or location nr. (“loc.”) if using an e-text) that support each of your responses.
Quoting and citing from Eric Niderost’s excerpted chapter “Silent Cinema as Historical Mythmaker: The Birth of a Nation” in chapter 2 of Hollywood’s America (click link to library’s ebook), around pages 42–50, respond to both questions:
What inspired D.W. Griffith to make The Birth of a Nation? Specifically, what source material did he use, and what personal or biographical history and memories did he draw from?
What historical message or narrative was Griffith presenting to the American public about the Civil War and Reconstruction? How, specifically, is Locke’s account in Bluebird, Bluebird different? Why is it different, do you think?
For historical background and context, review some of the readings, especially the excerpted Chapter 4, “The New and Good Thing in the World” from Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America (click link to library’s ebook). Next, listen to the linked podcasts 100 Years Later, What’s The Legacy Of ‘Birth Of A Nation’? on NPR’s All Things Considered (approx. 8 min.) and The Second Coming of the KKK in the 1920s on the In The Past Lane podcast (discussion of the film begins around the 00:09:10 mark, but for the purposes of this response you should start around the 00:07:20 mark and listen to about 00:10:07). Then answer at least THREE of the following:
Referring to the All Things Considered podcast, What was it in the film that Black Americans found so “grotesque”?
Referring to the In The Past Lane podcast, What was the “key part” of the film that tapped into racial fears among White Americans, including in the North?
Referring to either podcast, How was the film received by White America? Why was it so popular and appealing?
Again, for help on citing a podcast, refer to “Time-based media sources” section of the Online Writing Lab.
Having read about the film and seen some of the clips in the Submodule on this topic, how would you feel about the film’s screening today, whether in class or in a theater, even if it was screened for educational/historical purposes? (This is personal reflection, so no need to cite from the texts for this last response.)
BONUS
Answer both questions:
Referring to the In The Past Lane podcast, What role did women play in the Second Ku Klux Klan (listen from around the 00:19:25 mark to the 00:20:00 mark)?
Citing and quoting chapter 4 of Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America, specifically those pages that discuss the film and the reemergence of the KKK), What role did U.S. President Woodrow Wilson play in popularizing and legitimizing the film, and what does this say about the power and influence of our political leaders (especially presidents) in shaping public opinion about history, justice, and race?
Again, number your responses to correspond with the numbered questions, and address everything asked. If you have any of your own questions about the assignment, do not hesitate to write me. Take your time and really think about these discussion topics and responses. Do not simply jot down some responses; rather, write in full sentences and paragraphs, in essay-like form, using proper punctuation, spelling, grammar, and mechanics
