GDIV 229: Intercultural Encounters
Short Paper 2
Students Name: Asaad Halawnai
Course Title: Intercultural Encounters
Professors Name: Stefania Benini
Date: Spring 2019
Short paper #2
La Haine is a 1995 drama film that directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. The events of the movie took place in France, and it was mainly focused on three friends from different ethnic backgrounds who were trying to face the struggles that faced them in their lives in a city called banlieues in France. (Kassovitz). The three young men were first Vinze a young Jewish who wanted to revenge from the police, and he was always trying to show the aggressive face, and he wished to kill the police, but he could not kill any policeman because he was kind and could not do it. Instead by the end of the movie, he got shot that killed him by police. The second character was Hubert an afro France who was a boxer, and he was selling drugs as well to get the money so he can help his family. Also, he hated the police like Vinze, but the difference between them was that Hubert was able to kill a police officer while Vinze was not. The last character was Said an Arab Maghrib, and he was loving his friends and liked to hang out with them. Also, he was in between the two in which when Vinz and Hubert dispute with each other, he was the one who tried to get them together again. So, the three young men were treated differently from the public, police, and other people as well and that because they had different ethnicity and roots. For example, the police violence against the people who had a different ethnic background, in which the entire movie the police was chasing the three young men especially Hubert and Said because Hubert was black, and Said Muslim. That means the France government or society encouraged the idea of racism and hatred to other ethnic groups, and that affected the people who diaspora from other countries to France with the hope that they would find a better life, but they surprised by the bad treatment from the police and society. Thus, that caused the people with a different ethnicity to face problems like fewer job opportunities which lead them to work as a drug dealer or other bad jobs to get some money to live like what happened with Hurburt. Another struggle that they would face because of the France system was an education in which they did not have the opportunity to get a proper education. Even if they got an education, they would not have the chance to have a proper job. So, the ethnic minority groups in France was facing many struggles from the government, and police that made their life harder and even impossible to live.
Works Cited
Dubreil, and Sebastien. “Rebels with a Cause: (Re)Defining Identities and Culture in Contemporary French Cinema.” L2 Journal, 14 Jan. 2011, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/86n1q1j2#author
Kassovitz, Mathieu, director. La Haine. Amazon, 1995, www.amazon.com/Haine-English-Subtitled-Vincent-Cassel/dp/B00A5IZABQ/ref=tmm_aiv_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=.
Murray, Graham. “France: The Riots and the Republic.” Race & Class, vol. 47, no. 4, Apr. 2006, pp. 26–45, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0306396806063856#articleCitationDownloadContainer
Task: Research and find two or more scholarly source that you feel adds a theoretical framework to your discussion of either (Expatriates and Little Mother to her) or La Haine by itself, Give an account of each source and how the ideas they bring up might offer a fuller understanding of the short story, the novel or the films.
Requirements
• 4 pages, MLA for citation
You can pick the angle you prefer to examine the texts. Some possible discussions could be the idea of home,
diaspora, identity, homeland, hybridity.
Make sure that in your paper you will have these aspect examined:
Aspect 1: Discussion of the sources.
Provide a summary of the articles (book chapters or books) that identifies the main argument that the author is making and adds other relevant details. Reference the texts specifically by quoting from them.
Aspect 2: Discussion of the topic related to the reading.
Relate the idea(s) from the source above and apply them to an analysis of the text or texts you have chosen. Here you are creating your own prompt/thesis. Construct your own argument and support it with evidence from the text, quotations etc. Somewhere in your discussion of the theme/idea you have chosen, you will also integrate the sources. This could be as part of your thesis or to support or develop a point in one of your body paragraphs.
Sources
Find articles on a topic that we have been considering through the course or that might relate to the text. You can refer to our Blackboard discussion board to get some ideas about this. This should be scholarly articles in a journal or book (you can also reference a whole book) – not from a newspaper or non-scholarly magazine. Be careful about where you find your sources. You need to be able to relate your thesis to the material you’re writing about. You’re looking for something that gives you an idea about how to think about the text.
Grading
It is very important to use supporting examples from the text and thoughtful analysis of those examples to illustrate your points. I will look for the following in your essay:
• Use of appropriate examples from the text and from the secondary sources that illustrate and support your claims: quotations and brief paraphrases.
• Careful and thoughtful analysis and explanation of those textual examples and what they show.
• Proper use of MLA for in-text citations, the Works Cited page, and general format.
• Objective presentation of the text avoiding subjective response (limited “I,” no “you”) and summary.
• A conclusion that does not simply repeat the thesis, but add some analysis, giving the reader something to think about.
Rubric:
GRADING CRITERIA | POINTS |
Writing. The paper is well-written with coherent sentences, proper use of grammar, and has been carefully checked for typos and misspellings. The author uses an objective voice (not “I think…”) | / 13 |
Thesis. The paper presents a clear thesis/main point/arugment that is followed through in the body of the paper. This thesis responds to the ideas expressed in the secondary sources. | / 20 |
Structure. The paper has a logical structure that includes an introduction, central paragraphs that elaborate the main argument, and a conclusion. | / 13 |
Evidence. The paper includes quotes from the text and/or brief paraphrases of it that provide evidence for the main argument and are well integrated into the paper. The author comments on the quotations. Citation is included and correct. | / 20 |
Secondary Sources. The paper demonstrates an understanding of the content and argument of the sources and incorporates them smoothly and intelligently into discussion of the text. Citation is included and correct. | /13 |
Analysis. The paper does not simply describe the events of the novel or film, but offers a further level of critical analysis that introduces a point of interest to the material being studied. | / 21 |
Total | / 100 |