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Sisters and Brothers Film Analysis

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Sisters and Brothers Film Analysis

Question 1:

Kent Monkman draws parallels between the experiences of Native boarding American boarding school students and the near destruction of the bison, and I believe that the bison and the boarding school students were exposed in the same conditions like the bison. The short film is filled with short images of the Indigenous children in the residential school system who are compared with the running bison herds, thus making a powerful statement regarding the colonial violence in Canada. I believe that Monkman was prompted to make the comparison due to the closeness in the lives of the residential boarding students and the bison herds, always in unrest trying to keep up with their master’s orders.

Based on the short film, there are several similarities that Monkman provides in the film. One of the similarities is derived from the text note that claims that more than 6,000 children died in the residential schools, while many of them were never returned to their families, but left in unmarked graves. Similarly, the bison herds are among the species that suffered greatly upon the arrival of the white settlers in Canada that led to colonization. The bison species were nearly exterminated by the colonial settlers the same way thousands of boarding school students lose their lives in unclear circumstances. Just like the unmarked graves of the children, the bison were hunted and killed, a depiction of suffering in the hands of a bigger force that regards the life of the indigenous people as nothing and less precious. Another similarity is that the bison herds are controlled and carefully spied to monitor their movements. The same case happens to the boarding school students, making them lead a miserable life.

Question 2:

After the opening scene where the cowboys are shown herding bison into holding pens, the next scene shows children running to catch the bus with parents watching them as they enter the bus. Monkman conveys a message that the boarding students are compared to the bison closely monitored and thus have no freedom. Like the bison herds, the students can’t decide what is best for them but relies on the superiors to make decisions.

Question 3:

In the middle of the film, children are taught how to use a sewing machine, mopping floors, and preparing to eat, and these scenes are repeated several times in quick succession. By using repetition, Monkman conveys a message of routine habits. Thus he is trying to say that life in residential schools is a repeat of events that happened yesterday and the previous day, and therefore nothing new is learned. A routine habit that is repeated over time makes the students seem like they have been programmed to do the activities.

Question 4:

Near the end of the film, the bison herd is seen closing a river. They are running as if they have been chased and thus are running out of being frightened. They are running for safety since they can no longer live in peace in their grazing land due to conflict with humans. By depicting the bison herds running in such a manner, Monkman is trying to make a statement regarding the resilience of the Native American cultures. They will not be able to hold to their cultures for long before they are broken by the colonial settlers. Their cultures will no longer hold, and they will be like the bison, always running in their native land.

Question 5:

According to the film, more than 6,000 children died in Canadian residential schools. Their fate was that many were not returned to their families as it is the tradition for the Canadians, and most of them were buried in unmarked graves.

Works Cited

Kent Monkman. Sisters and Brothers 2015. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/KJYkH-mbsrk?t=1

Schindler’s List Bibliography

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Schindler’s List Bibliography

1. Goodman, Nancy R. “Opening the Mind to Trauma Through Oscillations of Focus: Learning From the Film Schindler’s List: Nancy R. Goodman.” The Power of Witnessing. Routledge, 2012. 273-279.

The article is about the film ‘Schindler’s List’ by Steven Spielberg produced in the year 1993. It states that the film attracted a large audience especially people who had never seen a Holocaust film before, and this was the same around across the globe. As the newspapers appeared, the film obtained more popularity and acclaim resulting to the opening of dialogues. The film opened on March 3rd 1993 in Frankfurt, Germany the residential area for Oscar Schindler where he resided since age 16 of his life, Steven Spielberg was in the audience. According to the article, the film was received differently across the globe, with New York having the headlines “The Holocaust returned to Germany today with the opening of the movie Schindler’s List and the reopening of a national debate about guilt, courage and the unresolved mysteries of murder.” Spielberg used his production skills, bringing knowledge of the death and dehumanization to the cinematic screens without repelling the audience. Overall, the direction of the film forged a path of realities of the Holocaust, and thus allowed the audience to find and as well keep some movement in their minds, therefore, demonstrating the development of trauma through witnessing. As a result of the film’s greatness, it won a lot of trophies in the United States, including that of the best director. 

2. Ott, Brian L., and Carl R. Burgchardt. “On critical-rhetorical pedagogy: Dialoging with Schindler’s List.” Western Journal of Communication 77.1 (2013): 14-33.

The article is an analysis of the film “Schindler’s List.” According to the article, the two prevailing critical paradigms regarding media and rhetorical studies can be characterized by the artistic and ideological elements of the film. The two analytical modes impose a final signified on the text despite having evident differences, implying that each of the approach emphasizes that its critical interpretation as being authoritative, however none of the mode is perfectly suited for the broad aims of the critical pedagogy which values the dynamic and always unfinished interplay among the citizens, texts and students. The article draws on Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion regarding dialogism and offers an alternative critical paradigm that emphasizes on the lived experiences of the students as well as promoting agentive citizenship. The CRP paradigm relates to dialogical criticism. It situates in a much larger network of political and pedagogical discourses. The article has incorporated the use of provisional sketches to illustrate the use of the critical-rhetorical pedagogy, as it is presented in Schindler’s List by Stephen Spielberg. 

3. Tabraiz, Anas. “The holocaust as film and literature in Schindler’s List.” Creative Forum. Vol. 21. No. 1-2. Bahri Publications, 2008.

The article is an analysis of the film ‘Schindler List,’ through telling of an Australian Writer Thomas Keneally who wrote a book from an inspiration from the account of Poldek Pfefferberg, the owner of the shop where he had gone shopping. The shop owner narrated how he and his wife were among the 1200 Jews saved by Oscar Schindler, where later, Keneally transformed the narrative into a docu-novel named ‘Schindler’s Ark’ published in the year 1982. It is through the book’s account that the film “Schindler’s List was derived, including all the horrors of the Holocaust in Germany and how the Jews were saved. Similar to the film, the central character is Schindler as he was involved in formulating the list of Jews to be saved. The docu-novel follows a back and forth narrative in time that includes several narratives to provide a better idea of the history of the Holocaust.             

Sandbu, Chapter Nine Answers

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Sandbu, Chapter Nine Answers

Question one

Countries have continuously joined the United Nations intending to ensure human beings’ rights are strengthened globally. Human beings’ morals are now not overly being relied upon with the establishment of the standard human rights. The moral conduct of individuals is essential in any society, and the moral conduct materials are still important despite the formulation of the standard human rights. Moral right violations can easily be combated by referring to the documents. Also, new laws pertaining to the protection of individuals’ moral values can be formulated to help strengthen the human rights laws. Therefore, the declaration of human rights laws or other moral conduct must incorporate the moral right law for it to be justified. If the laws do not incorporate the moral rights, the laws might be insufficient to be used in the society.

According to the law, individuals have the right to periodic holidays accompanied by payment. Nonetheless, the law is not clear about who should pay people to stay at home and not be productive. The law should stipulate who is responsible for ensuring the people get their rights to a paid holiday. Also, it should clearly state who will make the payments to the individuals. Human rights make provisions that allow for the well-being of human beings. Individuals need to rest periodically and still be able to meet their basic needs. Nonetheless, morally people would desire to hand over such privileges to their employees. The desire is there, but the capability to do the act might not be there. Employers can barely pay their employees’ decent wages for their work, let alone pay them for staying at home on holiday. Therefore, moral duty is different for the different individuals and is also dependent on their capability to pay. Some of the human rights laws may consequently not be rights but merely privileges that an individual can receive from their employer. It is one thing to demand an employer to execute these rights to their employees, but it is also morally wrong if the employer cannot meet such costs.

Question Two

The Asian values were defended in the 1990s where people started believing that the Universal Rights of human beings provided by the UN may not be universal after all. The rights are applicable in the Western society, where the country has developed. Nonetheless, the Asian government use of morals may be wrong as some of the moral rights are debatable. For Example, the moral right to torture people may be permissive in Asia but humanly wrong. Countries need to have uniformity in the common rights that have been justified to be good for the well-being of their people and the safety of foreign visitors and industries.

Question Three

In the Utilitarian tradition, rights are applied using the moral values of the society. The determination of right or wrong is based upon the need to achieve happiness for the majority of people. Hence, the moral value that derives happiness for the majority of people is taken up as a right. Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill also believed that morally right laws shows promote pleasure and happiness. John believed that rights need to be formulated to benefit the people, hence the promotion of liberty.

Question Four

It is essential to note that if a justifiable treatment of human beings can be found, it is crucial to apply it to everyone. Nonetheless, the moral justification of the rights needs to be evaluated. If a moral right can be granted without causing any form of damage to other people, then they ought to be allowed to practice it. The moral duty of any nation should be to improve its people’s livelihood through the adaptation of justifiable moral responsibilities. The notion of free will and consent is applied as well; the individuals have the right to choose what they desire. Nonetheless, the harmony of the society should not be compromised.