Amreeka summary

Amreeka Scene Analysis, Fall 2015, CORE 110 - Uhrig

PROMPT: Analyze from Amreeka the scene you found most powerful. (3 pages minimum, double-spaced, MLA format)

Due: September 14

For this assignment, you will write an analysis of a scene from the film Amreeka. The entire film is on YouTube, at the following link:

https://youtu.be/2vyts5lvdwU

It has also been placed on the Core Blackboard site ( ORG-CORE-110-2015FA:The Human Experience ). Thus, you have an opportunity to review the film, and once you have picked your scene, watch it several times. Think about watching your scene at least once with the sound off, to become more aware of what’s happening visually.

Your paper will need to include these elements, probably, though not necessarily, in this order:

· A brief synopsis or summary of the scene (assume your audience includes people who have not seen the film)

· A brief description of the characters, the setting, and where we are in the plot.

· A more in depth analysis of the scene, to give your reader a very close look at what happens, who says and does what, how it looks and sounds, what most important details stick with you and have the greatest impact

· Finally, and specifically, what the scene contributes to the film overall

When writing about particular characters, it is standard to use their character name and include the actor’s name in parentheses. You would only need the actor’s name the first time you mention the character. Here’s an example from Roger Ebert’s film review of Amreeka: “Her son Fadi (Melkar Muallem) finds an ally in Salma (Alia Shawkat), a cousin about the same age.”

Review criteria:

· Writer sets up the review by identifying the film title, the year it was made, and the director.

· Writer summarizes or offers a concise and accurate synopsis of the scene for potential viewers.

· Writer articulates the scene’s purpose, theme or argument

· Writer provides sufficient detail in his or her analysis, and gives good reasons for his or her claims on the scene.

· Writer controls language at the sentence lever, edits for punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

The Characters:

Nisreen Faour as Muna

Melkar Muallem as Fadi

Alia Shawkat as Salma

Hiam Abbass as Raghda

Abu Warda as Doctor Yussef

Joseph Ziegler as Principal

Written and directed by Cherien Dabis

Some powerful scenes you may wish to consider include:

· The checkpoint scenes that begin approximately at 3:30 and 10:30 in the film

· The scene where Muna and Fadi go through U.S. Customs (17:40-19:49)

· Fadi’s first day at school (and his younger cousin before that helping him choose what to wear) (29:12-34:05); there is another powerful scene in the classroom beginning at 41:50

· Two scenes: Muna and Raghda talking about being homesick; Muna and Raghda at the Arabic grocery store on life back in Palestine (35:00--39)

· The scenes at White Castle are rich for the way we see Muna adjusting to her new life, and for the relationships she starts to form beyond her family with high school dropout Matt and Fadi’s high school principal, a Polish-American Jew.

· The ending of the film begins with Muna running the drive-through at White Castle. That scene and the scene that follows in the van as she and her extended family and their guest, the principal, go to an Arab restaurant would reward careful analysis, as would the last scene of their meal in the restaurant.