• Identify the major themes, sub-themes, purpose, and point of view of the content/narrative of the film.
• Summarize the narrative of the film and explain its relevance to our discussion of this topic.
• Discuss specifically how the film-maker uses space, time, light, and color to enhance/convey his message/purpose. Provide specific examples from the film that support your viewpoint.
• Evaluate, with specific points from the film, the extent to which the film-maker achieves his purpose and present your critical response to the film (what you felt worked/didn’t, what you liked/didn’t, and why).
• Provide a works cited page listing any outside sources you consulted. Cite direct quotes, paraphrases, etc. Consult the Chicago Manual of Style for appropriate style guidelines.
(Note: even internet sources must be documented!) Use 12 font and Times New Roman.
America before Columbus
The film attempts to review America after the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Before Christopher Columbus set sail in search of new lands and adventure, natives that grew their own crops and reared their own set of animals originally inhabited the lands he was about to set sail. These natives, sometimes referred to as savages had their own sets of culture and norms that they adhered. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1942; he found the situation exactly as depicted in the first lines of this summary (Trebbi). America was not the new world it was forecasted to be; instead, it consisted of remarkably old inhabitants that had established a system for themselves with their own infrastructure, personified channels, jetties and orchards. The documentary focuses on the exchanges that the explorers brought about that affected the lives of the natives. The exchanges were inevitable, and some were advantageous while some were debilitating.
The Europeans that toured the Americas introduced bees for honey. Ultimately, the bees did more than what they were intended. Pollination of the East Coast orchards took place, because of these honeybees (Trebbi). Fruits that the Europeans brought with them gave rise to propagation of more because of pollination by the bees. As such, there was a realization of high yields of fruits like apples that Europeans introduced in the ‘new world’. With the eradication of older species of animals like mammoths and ancient breeds of horses, Columbus arrived in the Americas with the first modern breed of horses. With this introduction, the natives slowly began to domesticate animals like llamas for transportation of heavy materials and tools. The documentary also features the water bodies that according to European explorers had a substantial amount of water animals such as fishes.
According to the documentary, when the explorers introduced potatoes in the region, it inspired a rise in the American population through trade and necessity for potatoes. The first batch of explorers and conquistadors comprised of navigators and sailors much like Christopher Columbus. With the arrival of Columbus, the wilderness that the natives once exploited became a controlled landscape. The lands had massive vegetation of different breeds, consisting of crops that arrived with the explorers like wheat and dandelion. Other animals introduced to the region include e turkey. After a while, the period between 1942 and 1943 saw the cultivation of several more crops including grains like maize and leguminous crops like beans that were otherwise not found before the arrival of Christopher. As much as the European explorers brought change in terms of introduction of new crops and animals, a lot of foreign diseases and germs came with them. Eventually, the germs infected the natives and not having immunity or cure, many succumbed.
The film seems to center on mostly positive aspects of Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the Americas and neglects to explore other aspects. The exchange might have been one sided as it seems the Europeans did not learn much from interacting with the natives (National Geographic). For instance, the spread of certain germs and diseases like syphilis can be attributed largely to the European explorers (Trebbi). The film mentions that the natives died from disease but fails to mention how they contracted them. There was also annihilation of members of the Americas region that the film neglects to look into in detail. Overall, focus of the film is the exchange in terms of new material between the new arrivals of European explorers and the natives of the American region.
Works Cited
Trebbi Christina. America before Columbus. 2009.
America before Columbus, National Geographic retrieved from <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brSPQ7sUE84>. 2012.
