The test will consist of short answer questions. You will have the opportunity to select from four of six options. The following list is intended to provide a guide for studying. Questions on the exam will require critical and analytical thought as well as the integration of information from the course beyond the basic memorization of these terms. Please bring either a large “blue book” or blank sheets of paper on which you can write your responses.
Films
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Office Space
Fight Club
V for Vendetta
Good Night and Good Luck
Birth of a Nation
Long Walk Home
Do the Right Thing
Wag the Dog
Canadian Bacon
Network
Bob Roberts
The Candidate
Bulworth
Green Berets
Heaven and Earth
Apocalypse Now
Salvador
Reader
Chapter One: United States Government and Politics
Chapter Three: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
Chapter Six: Interest Groups
Chapter Seven: Political Parties
Chapter Eight: Elections and Campaigns
Chapter Ten: The Legislature
Chapter Eleven: The President and the Bureaucracy
Chapter Thirteen: Foreign Policy
Parenti
In its entirety
Topics
The power of popular films to reinforce/create cultural values
The Theme of Power v. Freedom and how this theme is represented in the films we have seen and the Thoreau reading
Central Conflict and political themes in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
How One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is representative of U.S. society
How power imposes its will on individuals and the role of the individuals in the imposition of this power as presented in Cuckoo’s Nest, Office Space, Fight Club, V for Vendetta
The degree to which major studio films require a protagonist or hero to portray social movements or hero-against-the-system storylines
The depiction of race in films as discussed in class and in the Parenti reading
News media’s norm of objectivity and how this affects how the media re-present the message of political actors
Braunwarth article on the importance of the news media and their responsibility to provide certain types of information
The role of interest groups and money in the behavior of politicians and their need to get re-elected
How and why the news agenda can be manipulated by political actors
Why don’t the media comment on or criticize the misleading statements of political actors?
News media driven by what people want to see rather than what they need to know
The ability to raise substantive and complex issues in political campaigns
Role of character attacks in politics
Role of powerful interest groups in political campaigns
Role of reporters/documentary filmmakers in political films
Public morality v. personal morality
Different foreign policy perspectives as presented in films we have seen
Justifications for committing troops abroad from the perspective of the attackers and the attacked
8800 Grossmont College Drive
El Cajon, California 92020
619-644-7000
Accessibility
Social Media Accounts
