ia_2009_c_pedro

=Evaluation of Sources (250-400 words) Tips]=


 * __ SOURCE A __**

// Forrest met Jenny after being fighting in Vietnam. // Forrest Gump (1994)

__EXT. COMMUNE IN NEW MEXICO - NIGHT__ //A hippie gives Jenny a sugar cube of acid as they sit in front of a roaring fire//. __EXT. HOLLYWOOD/WALK OF FAME - DAY__ //A star with the name "Jean Harlow" on the sidewalk. Jenny and two other girls sing on the sidewalk and collect change from the passersby. Jenny plays the guitar.// //A young hippie looks over his faded Volkswagen at the girls.// **[ALL OF THE ABOVE NEEDS TO GO INTO AN APPENDIX TO SAVE YOUR WORD COUNT]** This source A is related to the Hippie movement mentioned before. We can find the bases of a real hippie: “//discovered ways to expand her mind…to live in harmony”.// This extract taken from the film belongs to the script and so all the descriptions and practices of the characters are clearly stated. Nevertheless it’s necessary to say that the word “hippie” is never mentioned in the film. This can be explained by the fact that Forrest doesn’t really realize about this cultural movement and so doesn’t criticize it. This source obviously has limitations; it’s not a primary source and being a film, some facts have been changed or adapted to attract more the audience (the purpose).
 * FORREST (V.O.)**- She told me about all the travellin' she's done.
 * FORREST (V.O.)** - And how she'd discovered ways to expand her mind and learn how to live in harmony.
 * FORREST (V.O.)** - ...which must be out west somewhere, 'cause she made it all the way to California.
 * JENNY (sings)** - "Smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love on another right now"
 * YOUNG HIPPIE** - Hey, anybody want to go to San Francisco?
 * JENNY** - I'll go.
 * YOUNG HIPPIE** - Far out!

Poor analysis by your standards. You need to outline (a) Things the scene says / shows which clearly match historical sources about the hippie movement - e.g. the acid craze, which gave birth to pyschadelic movement e.g. Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead...I even recognise that lyric from Jenny - it's from "Let's Go Together", a song by Jefferson Starship, an album called "Blows against the Empire" (1970) - massively obscure except for complete music-headed-trivia-kings like me; (b) Things it leaves out / simplifies which don't match your sources - e.g. the movement was not just about getting "spaced out" but was also highly political - e.g. the protest songs of Country Joe and the Fish and Joan Baez at Woodstock (look them up).


 * __ SOURCE B

__**// Lieutenant Dan talking to Forrest in the military hospital. // Forrest Gump (1994) //Lt. Dan pulls Forrest to the floor, and holds Forrest down.// //Lt. Dan looks at Forrest, lets go of Forrest and rolls.//
 * LT. DAN** - Now, you listen to me. We all have a destiny. Nothing just happens, it's all part of a plan. I should have died out there with my men! But now, I'm nothing but a goddamned cripple! A legless freak. Look! Look! Look at me! Do you see that? Do you know what it's like not to be able to use your legs
 * FORREST** - Well... Yes, sir, I do.
 * LT. DAN** - Did you hear what I said? You cheated me. I had a destiny. I was supposed to die in the field! With honor! That was my destiny! And you cheated me out of it! You understand what I'm saying, Gump? This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to me. I had a destiny. I was Lieutenant Dan Tyler.
 * FORREST** - Yo-You're still Lieutenant Dan.

//Lt. Dan sits up as Forrest looks at him.//
 * LT. DAN** - Look at me. What am I gonna do now? What am I gonna do now?

[again, this should go into the Appendix as Appendix 2] This Source B is related to the Vietnam War. It describes from a personal point of view the horror of the war; manifested on Lieutenant Dan’s mutilation. It is valuable because there are cases of people who were seriously wounded and that obviously changed their lives. Lieutenant Dan is presented not as a patriot but as a person that would prefer dying with his men while fighting for his country rather than being a “crippled” the rest of his entire life. In terms of limitations, these are the same as for Source B, since both of them have been taken from the original film. In terms of purpose, as mentioned above, the horror of the war, represented by Lieutenant Dan’s amputated legs is designed to impress the audience. Again, weak! You need to go through the same process: look at things it says which are backed up by other sources - e.g. something about the injuries suffered by veterans, the true story of Tom Cruise's "Born on 4th July" clearly has parallels with this scene; the fact that these men came back feeling as if their actions were not merely unappreciated but resented. On the "Limitations" side, maybe it does not provide us with enough detail about the causes for this devastating conflict due to the fact that as a feature film it is more interested in the "human story" rather than the detailed politics (etc). = =