Watch the documentary The Invisible City
Before you write: Watch the film carefully with a critical eye. Consider the purpose of the
assignment. As you watch the film, make observations and take notes of, for example, situations,
scenes and quotes that might start leading to connections with key concepts learned in class. This is
where the chart: Identifying concepts in the documentary can be useful. Keep in mind that there is a
lot of information and details in the documentary that will not be as relevant to your analysis. For
example, many students are drawn to work of Ainsworth Morgan, a teacher from the communitybased program Pathways to Education that Kendall and Mikey attend and focus the essay on the
importance of being that kind of teacher. As important as his work is, this type of analysis does not
meet the expectations for this assignment.
Focus your essay: Watch the film a second time. This time you want to focus on the connections you
have initially identified between the key concepts and the situations in the film. It is possible that in
your initial notes from the first viewing, you have identified more than three concepts. Then, it is
time to focus your essay. The following questions may be useful: (1) which key concepts best capture
the life experiences of these two Black teenagers? (2) Does this scene in the documentary is a good
example of X concept? Why? (3) Is concept X being presented in the film, in this particular
situation? How? Review the course material to support your analysis. Think carefully on the key
concepts that you will discuss on the essay. Remember, your essay should demonstrate that you can
identify in the documentary key concepts learned in the course. You can use the chart: Identifying
concepts in the documentary to focus the analysis.
Definition of key concepts: As in previous assignments, you must use the sociological definitions of
the concepts you analyze in this assignment. Do not use definitions from general dictionaries, as they
are often incomplete.
How many and what concepts can be used in the essay?
You are encouraged to focus your essay on three key concepts. The goal of the assignment is not to
identify all the concepts learned in the course. Rather, the goal is that you identify key concepts that
explain the lived experiences of the Black teenagers featured in the documentary. The following is a
list of concepts learned in this course. The list is not exhaustive. There are other concepts we have
learned in class that you can use in your analysis.
Colour-blind/ness
Cycle of poverty
Discrimination
Equal opportunity
Implicit bias
Individual racism
Structural/systemic racism
3
Individual and structural understandings of poverty
Internalized oppression and internalized dominance (These two concepts must be analyzed in
tandem).
Intersectionality
Knowledge construction/knowledge is socially constructed
Meritocracy
Prejudice
Privilege
Racelessness
Stereotypes
