Project Ideas...

[novadawn969]

I have a bit of catching up to do here, but first I'm going to sit outside for a bit.
The wind beacons me...
I'm sure there'll be rain soon also.


So I have a question.
I have a project in U.S. History due in a couple weeks...
I'm thinking of doing it on horror movies/stories in American history or something along those lines.
Should I do that, or the pathetic Alamo project idea instead???
And if I do, where would I start?
Or do you have any better ideas?

Well, I'm off. :p

[bwind22]

What exactly is your assignment?

[Doc Faustus]

Depending on the time frame in US History, you could do it on the beginning of horror films, you could do it on other horror topics too, like Poe or Lovecraft and the influence of the golden age of pulp.

[ferretchucker]

horror advancement in the Us could be interesting. You could speak about how times have changed and what used to be scary is now on daytime television. And novels too.

[mordrid]

If this is a US History project, you could use horror movies as a symbol of political and social turmoil in society.Examples would be the civil rights movement and Night of the Living Dead, the exanpsion of free market with Dawn of the Dead, Vietnam backlash with movies like the Hills have Eyes and Last House on the Left.

[Mictlantechutli]

How about a project on how, due to the absence of a better way to inform the public about current events, historical falsehoods in America were created by pop culture.

eg. Christopher Columbus sailed west to prove the world was round....WRONG. A round earth was common knowledge at that that time. But Washington Irving thought it made a compelling story, and he was the most popular writer in the world when he wrote The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus

or

April 18, 1775 - A man rides from Boston to NYC and down into Pennsylvania warning the people of the impending British Invasion "The British are coming" and his name was...

Israel Bissel

You were thinking Paul Revere? He rode from Cambridge to Boston - just a few miles. Why is he more famous? At the beginning of the US Civil War Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (a Unionist) wanted to write a poem that would stir the souls of Americans, something patriotic and thrilling. And Israel Bissel wasn't a good hero name...too Jewish sounding, we like our heroes goy in the US. So the poem goes...

"Listen my children and you shall hear of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,
Twas the eighteenth of April in '75, hardly a man is now alive who remembers that famous day and year"

[monalisa]

Hauntings/Ghost stories in US History. Google will give you lots of interesting places to look for info.

How are things, Nova? Haven't talked to you in a while. PM me if ya want. :)

[AmericanManiac]

Urban Legends and how they evolve, how they were started, the length of how long they stayed.

[Papillon Noir]

Honestly, I think the Alamo is a great idea! There's a lot of great history with that place and the whole last battle with Santa Ana where they lost the Alamo is really interesting. Davy Crocket and Jim Bowie died there during that battle.

I actually went there one time--it's super tiny! It is also just randomly in the middle of San Antonio. It's weird to think that at one time that stood all by itself until the city built up around it. Cool place though.

[stubbornforgey]

history into black slavery ??

custers last fall..?
americas introduction into the war..?

what else..ummm..

Clinton and lewinsky..now thats horror at its best.

[novadawn969]

Those are some really good ides.
I really like yours, mordrid.

The project is, we have to choose between three things:
- One person can write a 20-25 page report on anything to do with U.S. History. (This is the one I chose. I don't work too well in groups.) It can only have 1 internet source.
- 3-5 people can make a 5-10 minute film on any significant event in U.S. History.
- 2-4 people can make a scale model of something that represents America, with a 5 page report to go along with it that describes the general information (where it was built/created, how long ago, etc...) and why you think it represents America


If I do anything to do with any of these ideas, I have to make sure its big enough a subject to fill at least 17 pages. We're allowed to use pictures, charts and things like that.

Last year I had the same teacher for World History. He let me do Greek Mythology. I got 30+ pages in, but barely even scraped the Major deities.
Then again, Greek Mythology is a huge subject.


I was originally going to do the Alamo, pero I couldn't find much on anything besides the battle.
He told me that I need every scrape I can get. I'm afraid I might not be able to get more than 8 or 9 pages. :(
I did originally have a partner, and we were going to do the model, pero she was asked to withdraw on account of her newly discovered pregnancy.
And yes, they can do that in private schools.

I've decided I wanted to do it on something that has more to do with the subject I love.
I'd go way over the limit there.
So, of course, I chose horror.
:p



I'm going to go back over your ideas and try to get something from that.
If you have any more, don't be afraid to post.
I haven't made a decision yet.

[mordrid]

If you really want to do horror movies in your report, I would do the suggestion I made, how horror movies parrellel the issues of the day it was made. You can add in movies like Swamp Thing with the threat of big industry destroying the environment or Nightmare on Elm Street with the increase awareness of child abuse.

[novadawn969]

If you really want to do horror movies in your report, I would do the suggestion I made, how horror movies parrellel the issues of the day it was made. You can add in movies like Swamp Thing with the threat of big industry destroying the environment or Nightmare on Elm Street with the increase awareness of child abuse.



I do really like your idea.
There always is a parallel in movies and the struggles going on in that time.
My dad and I were talking the other day.
The guy who made the Twilight Zone based the series on this.

I think I will.
I'm going to have to do a lot of research on what went on during certain movies and see if I can find any of my own.
Thanks. :p

[monalisa]

One more suggestion for ya, although it sounds like you've chosen your topic already, and admittedly, I like mordrid's idea better too. But, what the hell. Guess what is haunted....The Alamo. Do a Google search on 'Haunted Alamo'. I'm sure many historic places are haunted. Might be interesting to read about just for fun too. I know I'm gonna, I love reading stuff like that.

Good luck on whatever topic you choose. I'm sure it'll be interesting. :)