Read the full paper’s instruction/ prompt attached document below. [Film 1] The Dream is Now, Joaquin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqYptDgq3T0 [Film 2] The Dream is Now, Joaquin [Film 3] A Better Life, Carlos Please search Google to read a summary of this films! [Prompt] The last time comprehensive immigration reform was passed in the United States was 1986 when President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). The final three films we saw for class—Voces Inocentes, A Better Life, and The Dream is Now—focus on immigrants (Mexican, Salvadoran, European) and their struggles to survive and achieve their dreams. However, many times, as we see in the films, their lives become like a nightmare. Rather than obtaining a better life, their lives become bare, precarious, and dangerous. Such uncertainty generates great anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. Living through a civil war and seeing your family members and friends die also generates what has been called intergenerational trauma, as we saw in Smoke Signals and Mi Familia.
[Question 1] Having seen Voces Inocentes and A Better Life, what are your feelings, thoughts, and emotions? What scenes from each film had the greatest emotional impact on you? Did these films bring you to tears? (20 points)
[Question 2] Why do you suppose these films—and The Dream is Now—were made? Why do all three films emphasize stories over facts and historical analysis? What are the pros and cons of focusing on stories when discussing immigration reform? (40 points)
[Question 3] Finally, talk about immigrants and their struggles for a better life. Why do so many find their lives bare rather than better? What does bare life look like in these films? Why is life becoming more bare, more precarious, more nightmarish for so many people? How can we change that? Will immigrants ever achieve their dreams? Will you? (40 points) [Structure] Papers should be 3-4 pages long. Please follow all previous guidelines for the past two papers. Double space all pages, number pages, 1” margins, 12” Times New Roman font, separate title page, separate page for references, etc. Make sure you include quotes from all three films in your paper as well as one comment/quochote from Oscar Torres’ guest lecture.
