1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.
In the textbook, Foster mentions that Chaplin's professional independence gave him the opportunity to explore the comedy of "Pathos." I find this ironic because comedy typically does not imply pathos or sympathy. Chaplin's character in "The Gold Rush" portrayed an average man who could relate to his audience; he was quiet, shy, and kept to himself. This film was mainly a comedy, but some parts of the movie I think were intended to tap to the audience's emotions; this was especially seen when Chaplin invited Georgia and her friends over to his house for a New Year's dinner. When Georgia did not show up, the audience should feel sorry and sad for Chaplin. He never did any harm and his intentions were only good.
The harsh weather and lack of food played a big role in this film. The weather threw Big Jim and Chaplin off course and invited themselves into Black Larsen's house. Going days without any food, Thanksgiving dinner was Chaplin's shoe. Along with eating the shoe, Big Jim kept picturing Chaplin as a chicken and he did care if he was hallucinating or not because he was starving. At the time that this was an awkward image for people to see, since cannibalism is such a heinous thing.
The premise for "The Gold Rush" was to go out on this big adventure in hopes of finding gold. Finding gold was all that was on people's mind since not many people had money. This was people's ticket to glory. They were hardworking people who did everything for a living and to make sure they had food to put on the table. This also played into the premise of this film.
2) Find a related article and summarize the content.
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/5779/The-Gold-Rush/articles.html
An article related to the film is from Turner Classic Movies(TCM). The article overall gives a brief summary as to what the movie was about. It also gave a few examples of things that happened in the movie that the audience would not have known. The shoe that Big Jim ate was actually made of licorice. The article was pretty insightful and provides a good understanding of the film.
3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.
The article did not affect my overall thought on the film. I believed the film was well written and had a great plot. Going into this film I did not know what to expect, since it was a silent film, but I was hooked from beginning to end. The article supported my opinion of this film.
4) Write a critical analysis of the film.
This particular film had a well-written plot with a unique story. It seemed as if Chaplin was a perfectionist and had to get the best shot possible for every scene. The dry, slapstick comedy accompanied with a sappy love story with a woman who didn't even acknowledge his existence was enjoyable and appealing. The way Chaplin portrayed a lonely, shy, quiet man looking for love, really set up the drama in the movie and led to Georgia standing him up on New Year's Eve.
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM
1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) ( x ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) ( x ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.
4) ( x ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.
5) ( x ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) ( x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.
7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) ( x ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.
Name: Brandon Rossi Date: 10/1/13
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