L&S 40C

HOLLYWOOD: THE PLACE, THE FANTASY, THE INDUSTRY

MIDTERM EXAM, FALL 2019

This exam consists of SIX identifications, TWO short answer questions, and ONE essay. For each part of the exam,
you will choose from a selection of options or questions. You will have one hour and thirty minutes to complete
the exam. Indicate clearly which option(s) you have chosen. If you do not understand an exam question, ask for
clarification. The goal is to demonstrate your mastery of the texts/films in the course and to situate your
arguments about the texts in the context of our course.

Part I: Identifications (Total 18 points, 3 points each)

 Choose SIX items and define what the term is,  and also why it is significant  (historically, culturally, or textually, as
may be appropriate). Please limit your answers to roughly 2 or 3 sentences each. Write your responses on the
attached pages. THIS SECTION IS CLOSED BOOK.

1. Movie Palace
2. Wild Boys of the Road
3. Cinema of Attractions
4. D.W. Griffith
5. Busby Berkeley
6. Pickfair
7. Sunkist
8. Louis B. Mayer

Part II: Short Answer Questions (Total 30 points, 15 points each)

Respond to TWO of the following questions. Your responses should be roughly 150 words in length (about a
paragraph). “A” range answers must demonstrate that you understand the main point of the reading and can
evaluate (briefly) its significance. THIS SECTION IS CLOSED BOOK.

1. In “Origins and Early Growth of the Hollywood Movie Industry,” Allen Scott says that the climate was not
responsible for the film industry centering in Southern California. Why? How does he account for “Hollywood?”

2. In Charles Eckert’s “The Carole Lombard in Macy’s Window,” Eckert claims that throughout the 1920’s and the
Great Depression, America had become “consumer minded”. Explain what he means by this and what did
Hollywood have to do with this development?

3. What is the role of place/the built environment in Nathanael West’s novel, the Day of the Locust?

Part III: Essay (Total 52 points)

Choose ONE prompt and write an integrated coherent essay in response. You should refer to three texts from our
course, including films, readings, lectures, images. The point is to construct an argument and support it with
evidence. THIS SECTION IS OPEN NOTE, OPEN BOOK. (…no electronic devices unless you have a DSP
accommodation, or have the novel on a kindle.)

1. Throughout our course, we’ve encountered ideas linking Hollywood and dreams, from descriptions of the
industry as “dream factory,” to movies as a “dream” space, and to films as a means of creating desire and fantasy.
Consider the position of we, the audience. Which is more true: that we are the creators and owners of our dreams
and fantasies? Or that we have our dreams and fantasies made for us? Use examples from course readings or films
to support your response.

2. According to Hozic, the “dependency on stars and their intimacy also carried an internal contradiction that
would eventually bring down the Hollywood studio system.” Why? What is the role of the star system in
Hollywood? How did Hollywood movies about movies engage the question of stardom?
American Studies10 Fall 2017 Midterm

Professors Lovell and Moran

General: The number of minutes for each question is equal to the value for that question, (e.g.
5 minutes equals 5 points); use your time wisely. This is an 80-minute exam (that includes 5
minutes to look over the exam).

Put your name on the outside cover of the exam booklet. Put a 5-digit number on the inside of
the cover of the exam booklet and put the same number on the first page of lined paper.

No cell phones, computers, palm pilots or similar devices may be used or in sight during the
exam except where prescribed by DSP. No student may leave the room for the first hour of the
exam.

I.Identifications. Give the significance within the context of this course of 10 of the 11
following in one or two sentences (3 minutes each):

1. Just price of bread

2. Crisco
3. Montage
4. Hot Tamale Louie
5. Seedless Washington Navel
6. Ghost Town
7. Visual Quotation
8. Chicken livers
9. First Image p. 2
10. Second Image p. 2
11. Bonbon

II. Short essay (choose one) (10 minutes: one or two paragraphs)

1. Describe, being very specific, the various ways Novella Carpenter acquired

her education.

2. List the ways Peter Rabbit is a parable about foodways, economic theory, and

social behaviors. Picking one facet of that tale, discuss it in terms of one

reading (of your choice) you have done this term.

3. What is the difference between a farmer and a grower, according to Walker

and what are the implications of that distinction for the development of California
agriculture.
III.Long essay (choose one) (35 minutes) It is a good idea to make an outline before
starting your essay.

1. Selecting three foods of your choice, and three readings of your choice, discuss the
interface between the Old World and the New World. Reference pertinent lectures
as well as your selected readings.
2. What can the study of food tell us about the history of a place. Using at least 3 of
your readings and drawing on lecture material write an essay about how food gives
us information that is not otherwise availabl

AS 10 Midterm exam p. 2 Id. 9:

Id. 10: