Question

In at least two well developed paragraph’s identify a novel a poem or a film that is greatly influenced by its historical context. Explain the historical context and its affect on the creative work you have identified?

Answer 1

I'll give you a fun, less conventional answer: Inglorious Basterds directed by Quentin Tarantino. It's historical fiction in the purest way as it actually changes history in the final few minutes entirely. Taking place in Nazi occupied France, the film features the Furor himself as well as his head of propaganda Joseph Goebbels as they are taken down by the American apache force The Basterds. The movie portrays the sentiments that the French, Americans, Brits, and Germans held for one another at the time. Also the movie is a hell of a ride. More conventional answers would include The Hunt for Red October, Bravehart, Schindler's List, Argo, and Saving Private Ryan, though I doubt your classmates will answer the same for any of those.

Answer 2

Well, here, at the least, are some suggestions of novels that are very much based in historical contexts and brief explanations:

Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston): Hurston expands upon African American success in the United States. It follows a young black woman who is looking for love and it is written in black vernacular which, while at points hard to read, allows for a better insight into the minds of African Americans during this time period. (another good one to look into is Beloved)

Ghosts (Henrik Ibsen) (or any other of his plays): Ibsen's one of my favorite authors at least. In his play, Ghosts, Ibsen writes about a mother and son relationship primarily (though there are many other attributes prevalent throughout the story). In particular, Ibsen writes about syphilis in a way that dramatically reflects the era in which he wrote. He avoids saying what the illness the character has due to the stigma that even mentioning the name brings among audiences of the time. Instead, he cleverly alludes to it. Furthermore, Ibsen contrasts the belief that women are to be owned (particularly that a women should rely on her father, and that women are unable to hold estates). Religion is also expanded upon. While these topics are brought up, many of them serve to contrast the beliefs of the time.

Animal Farm/1984 (George Orwell): Fairly simple to talk about. Orwell talks about the nature of the Soviet Union's revolution (Animal Farm) and takes on an outside perspective as well as an internal perspective. 1984 is where the concept Big Brother came from and is another interesting and relevant read.

Slaughterhouse 5 (Kurt Vonnegut): Vonnegut is another of my favorite authors because he tackles war with such precision. His story is not only based around the historical setting and surroundings of WWII but it talks about the way people thought about it and the way that PTSD has an effect on the people who served in the war.

Great Gatsby: Great Gatsby is rife with connections to the Lost Generation and to the 1920s. In particular, the way that women are portrayed in the novel and the way in which Gatsby is written as a member of the lost generation to some extent, can be expanded upon.