Essay
Questions: Choose Three (60%) * Do not repeat in your choices.
Give the original number of your questions in the answers. (題號要寫下來)
2002/1/13
1. Representing the city: There are different ways of having an overall representation of a city: mapping is one, doing census is another, and taking a lot of pictures of the city is the third. Choose two of the following texts and discuss how differently they deal with one's attempts at having a general understanding/organization of a city:
"The Street That Got Mislaid," "Canvas of Time," "Topographies," Straight for the Heart,
and I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
2. Race Relations: What does the census info offered here (census: http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/canada/class/census.ppt ) tell us about the differences between Montreal and Toronto? Does it help or not help you understand the films and stories on race relations of these two cities we have read? If it helps, statistics still do not tell us everything. In response, please choose two of the following and analyze how they deal with race relations:3. History and National Identity: Both Lea Pool and Jacques Leduc think that Montreal is a forgetful city. Maybe to avoid forgetting, several filmmakers deal with Montreal's history, or the characters past in the context of Quebec's history. How do they do that? To be more specific, choose two texts to analyze 1) how the public history of Quebec/Montreal and/or the characters' personal history are presented, 2) how the characters are under the influence of both, and 3) what sense of national identity the texts present. Choose two from the following texts:
"Snakebite," "North," "Piety" La Sarrasine, "Pigeon in Lemon Sauce," Masala, In the Skin of a Lion
No, Le confessionnal, "Views from Elsewhere," "Canvas of Time," Night Zoo.
4. Love and Obsession, Social Position and Personal Space: Several of our texts show the characters, out of fear or loss, are obsessed (or "pre-occupied") by some thing, person or memory. How and why are they obsessed? How do they deal with it? How is their way of obsession and exoticism related to their social position and/or personal sense of space? Choose two from the following texts:
"I'm Running for my Life""At the Lisbon Plate," Robber Bride, Exotica, Straight for the Heart.5. Technologies and Spaces of Flows: Technologies is one of the main reasons for the increase of postmodern spaces of flows in the city, which, in turns, break down the boundaries between public and private spheres, leads to senses of instability (or even apocalypse), and allows more possibilities of chance encounter. Choose two of the following texts and discuss how they deal with human relationships under the influences of technologies and spaces of flows.
"In Various Restaurants" Last Night & Eldorado "Crates of Stars," "Rescue," Cosmos6. Compare Montreal vu par and Cosmos in terms of the themes they deal with, the Montreal they present respectively, the presentation of racial minorities, as well as the way they put together six directors' work.