Greetings:
If you wish to watch Daughter from Danang again before the in-class essay on Monday, it is available on YouTube.
FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH
Print out the discussion questions below and bring to class. You need not write out answers, but come to class prepared to discuss these questions. If you have specific and logically supported responses to each of these questions, the in class essay on Monday should go well for you.
DAUGHTER FROM DANANG--DISCUSSION QUESTIONS---THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. One reviewer describes the film as a “gut-wrenching examination of the way cultural differences and emotional expectations collide.” Would you agree this is an accurate description? Why or why not? Explain specifically.
2. Were there parts of the film that made you feel uncomfortable? If so, what were those parts and can you articulate why they made you feel uncomfortable?
3. Heidi acutely feels that she has been rejected by two mothers: her birth mother who gave her up and her Tennessee mother, whose cold, untouching demeanor drove a wedge between them. How does this fact impact Heidi and what she ultimately experiences when she returns to Vietnam?
4. The film is considered a very powerful one by many other small filmmakers as well as many reviewers. In your opinion, what makes this an effective or ineffective film?
5. What preconceived ideas about home are proven inaccurate after viewing the film?
6. In an interview with the filmmakers, they admit that when they decided to film Heidi’s return to Vietnam, they assumed that the reunion would be a healing story, a kind of full circle coming home. The war in Vietnam was long over and they felt they could create a film that would ease the collective pain that is still connected to the war. Instead, what they did discover?
7. Some viewers have condemned Heidi for representing an aspect of American culture that they believe is selfish and individualized. What do you think and feel about Heidi’s reaction for the family’s request for money?
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REMINDER FOR MONDAY--remember to bring a blue or green book. Size does not matter--small or large--either is acceptable.
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Below you will find Packet #3, due on Wednesday February 22nd. Remember! A Q & C is due for this packet.
PACKET #3 (two short stories to read)
1. "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck
http://nbu.bg/webs/amb/american/4/steinbeck/chrysanthemums.htm
2. "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver
http://christchurchlr.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/A-Small-Good-Thing.pdf
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