Post-Imperialism In the World Today
Honor Code Level 3
Enduring Understanding:
Imperialism has a destabilizing effect on the peoples and nations colonized. The effects are far-reaching and are the
cause of many of today’s conflicts around the world.
Student Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate understanding of the conditions which gave rise to and the on-going effects of Imperialism:
 Option One: Watch a movie which depicts an aspect of imperialism and read either the novel upon which the
movie is based or a novel about the region in which the movie is based. Write a thesis-driven, multi-paragraph
essay in which you state how the movie does or does not accurately depict historical events. Use a least three
outside sources to support your argument. Include a Works Cited in your final draft.
o Example thesis: “Although the novel, Heart of Darkness, and the movie, Apocalypse Now, have
different settings separated by two continents and a score of years, both portray the unraveling of a
colonized nation as a result of hegemonic policies.”
o Example of thesis: “The events depicted in the movie The Motorcycle Diaries are hardly recognizable
from the novel of the same name because of the movie’s focus on the fame of the main character, Che,
rather than the inequities in the societies he so eloquently chronicles.”
 Option Two: Watch a movie or read a novel that depicts an aspect of imperialism. Write a thesis-driven, multiparagraph essay in which you state whether or not the movie/novel accurately depicts actual events, using
primary and secondary sources to support your argument. If you choose to watch a movie you have already
seen, you must also watch a documentary on the same topic. Accompany your research with an annotated
bibliography of at least five outside sources.
o Example of thesis: “Hotel Rwanda so accurately depicts the events of the Hutu-driven genocide of 1994,
including audio and video footage of actual events, that it leaves the viewer feeling as if she were
watching a documentary, rather than a fictional adaptation of those events.”
 **Option Three: Create a thesis-driven, multi-media presentation, using primary documents, such as Google
Maps, political cartoons, news footage, video and/or audio clips, diaries, interviews, newspaper articles, etc., to
chronicle the events which lead to a region’s being colonized and the eventual “falling apart” of the region as
imperialist forces withdraw. If you can, find a social network or blog on which the effects of colonialism are
currently being discussed. Include an annotated bibliography of at least five sources with your presentation,
using the correct MLA format. Present your project to the class in a five- to seven-minute presentation in which
you address the question: How did the region change as a result of imperialism? Include a bibliography of media
and print sources used. Be sure the classroom technology supports your presentation’s format.
**Choose this option only if you are proficient in the technology required.
 Option Four: Capitalism has been decried as the new Imperialism. Create a montage of images, electronic or
otherwise, showing the conditions of workers around the world who produce the goods wealthy nations
consume. Include a thesis-driven essay in which you defend or attack capitalistic ventures in less-developed
countries. Include an annotated bibliography of five sources you consult in your research and a Works Cited
page in which you list any sources you cite in the text of your essay. Present your product and your thesis to the
class in a five- to seven-minute presentation.
Possible Regions and Related Media or Literature for Post-Imperialism Unit: These are meant to be suggestions. You may find many
other possible titles in your own research.
Region
Somalia
Sierra Leone
Video/Audio Clip
Black Hawk Down
Blood Diamonds
French Indo-China
Nothern Africa
South Africa/Africa in general
Indochine
The English Patient
Shaka Zulu; Zulu Dawn; Cry, The
Beloved Country; The African Queen;
Tsosti; Nowhere in Africa; Yesterday
(HBO Special); A Dry White Season
The Poisonwood Bible
Behind Enemy Lines
Apocalypse Now
Che
Torn Allegiance; Breaker Morant
Out of Africa
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India;
Ghandi; Earth; City of Joy
A Passage to India; Untouchable;
Heart and Dust; The God of Small
Things; Midnight’s Children; The
Moor’s Last Sigh; A Train to Pakistan
Hong he gu (Red River Valley)
Michael Collins; The Wind that
Shakes the Barley
Jose Rizal
Che
In the Name of the Father
Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness
The Constant Gardener
Last King of Scotland
Heart of Darkness
Hawaii
Motorcycle Diaries
Motorcycle Diaries
Congo
Bosnia
Viet Nam/Congo
Cuba
Boer War
Kenya
India
India
Tibet
Ireland
Phillipines
Cuba/Africa
Ireland
Congo
Kenya
Uganda
Congo
Hawaii
Latin America
Latin America
Liberia
Middle East; Israel/Palestine
Israel/Palestine
Iran
Darfur
Rwanda
Sudan
Nigeria
Exodus
Sometimes in April (HBO Special);
Ghosts of Rwanda; Hotel Rwanda
Lost Boys of Sudan
Dreams of Dust
Related Literature
Black Hawk Down
Blood Diamonds; Long Way Gone;
The Bite of the Mango
The English Patient
Zulu and Zulu Dawn; Cry, The
Beloved Country; A Dry White
Season; Zulu Dog; The Poisonwood
Bible; July’s People; Zulu Heart
Basher 5-2
Heart of Darkness
Che
Breaker Morant
Out of Africa
The God of Small Things
A Passage to India; Slumdog
Millionaire; a Train to Pakistan
Trinity
Noli Me Tanger (not in English)
El Negrero (not in English)
In the Name of the Father
King Leopold’s Ghost
The Constant Gardener
Last King of Scotland
The Mission Song
Hawaii
Open Veins of Latin America
Motorcycle Diaries
Redemption Road
Blood Brothers
The Yellow Wind; Exodus
Honeymoon in Tehran; Lipstick Jihad
The Translator