HOTEL
RWANDA
&
COLLAPSE
extra-credit assignment
(extracredit1)
EXTRA-CREDIT
WORTH: 750 Fritz-points (or the equivalent
of 3 regular assignments)
MINIMUM GRADE TO RECEIVE EXTRA-CREDIT: C+ (extra-credit
can only help you, it can not hurt you; I simply add points to your
final score. But you must always cross a certain grade threshold to
receive those extra-points)
1)
This assignment, like ALL assignments in this class, must be typed.
See handout on class expectations
2)
You MUST use blackboard's digital dropbox (details here)
to submit this homework; if you do not use microsoft word,
be sure to follow these directions
3 ) BE
SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE.
All files should be saved on your computer
as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"),
followed by the first two letters of your first name, followed
by an underscore ("_"), followed by the
assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein were to submit
assignment extracredit1, the file name would be:
hussein_sa_extracredit1.doc
THIS
IS ASSIGNMENT EXTRACREDIT1
In 1994 almost one million people were killed in a systematic genocide
in the central African country of Rwanda.
This
extra-credit assignment will compare two different interpretations
of the genocide: the first is found in a recent popular film, Hotel
Rwanda, the second is from a chapter from a recent book by Jared
Diamond
-- a
Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar -- entitled Collapse.
Moreover, the assignment makes use of interviews with some of the
Hutu killers convicted for their involvement in the genocide from
a book called, The
Machete Season.
For
this extra-credit paper you will need to:
A)
watch the film Hotel Rwanda (available at the 3 Hour reserves in the
John Jay Library),
B)
read a chapter from Jared Diamond’s book collapse (available
on electronic reserves)
C)
read a chapter from The Machete Season
(available
on electronic reserves)
D) write a 700 - 1000 word paper.
The film Hotel Rwanda and Collapse employ and provide
differing explanations as to why the genocide
in Rwanda occurred.
In this paper of 700 - 1000 words, compare their interpretations by
contrasting what each considers to be the ROOT
causes of the conflict (obviously, the downing of the President's
plane sparks the genocide -- but what are the underlying
causes?). Using the information contained in the readings
-- including the oral interviews from The Machete Season --
as evidence, which interpretation do you find more compelling and
(more importantly) why?
A)
Be sure to use direct quotations of 10 words or fewer in your paper
- if you are unsure how to omit unnecessary
information from a quotation, see here.
(very useful)
B) be sure that you have at least 13 points of evidence, with at least
5 points coming from the film and 8 from the readings. You must have
at least 3 pieces of evidences from each reading.
BUT ABOVE ALL ELSE – DO NOT SIMPLY SUMMARIZE THE MOVIE’S
INTERPREATION AND THEN SUMMARIZE DIAMOND’S. RATHER, ANALYTICALLY
COMPARE THE TWO. HOW AND WHY DO THEY DIFFER?
Some Writing
Hints
1) Be sure to organize your paper around a thesis
that answers the “how” and “why” questions
we have discussed in class.
2) Be sure to identify your cl/ev/wa structures
3) To write this paper, you must clearly understand
how both the film and Diamond interpret the root cause of
the genocide. Be sure you think carefuly about this idea before moving
on to write the paper. In particular, Diamond's interpretation will
require some thinking to grasp. See (4) below regarding
reading hints.
.
4 ) Diamond’s book Collapse can be
a little complex, so you will ABSOLUTELY want to look at the following
READING HINTS
| READING
HINTS (important!)
A) Between pp. 314 – 318, Diamond sketches out
the “usual interpretation” of the genocide;
but as he says (p. 314), “I shall mention later some respects
in which this usual interpretation is wrong, incomplete,
or oversimplified”). So, don’t get confused between
Diamond’s summary of other, "usual" interpretations
and his own interpretation. To make matters even more complex,
these “usual accounts” of the genocide themselves
critique popular accounts that attribute the genocide to “ancient
tribal hatreds”.
So in Diamond's
book one finds:
1)
“popular accounts” that stress “ancient
tribal hatreds”
2) “usual accounts” (such as that by
Human Rights Watch) that stress “deliberate choice of
a modern elite to foster hatred and fear to keep itself in
power” (see p. 317)
3) Diamond’s own analysis, which begins on
p. 318 (starting with “But there is also evidence that
other considerations contributed as well…”)
Do not confuse the “popular accounts” with the
“usual accounts” or Diamond's own analysis.There
are three distinct set of "accounts" that Diamond
describes -- only one is his own. Moreover, make sure you
understand how and with what evidence
Diamond critiques the other explanations for the
genocide.
B)
Be sure you understand why the Kanama province is so important
to Diamond’s analysis and critique of other explanations
(see 1,2, and 3 from above). You
absolutely should include your understanding of these issues
in your paper. In short, be sure you know
how and why the evidence from the Kanama province challenges
both the (1) "popular accounts" and (2) the "usual
accounts"
C) Be sure you understand why Andre and Platteau’s
data is so unusual and valuable (and absolutely
include your understanding in your paper).
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