After each in-class screening, students will submit two discussion questions, one formal and one ideological or theoretical or historical in nature. These will be used to foster class discussion, and they could show up on your participation exercises and exams (yes, you’re helping to create your exams!). A good question

• provides opportunity for discussion and/or debate
• contributes to the weekly lecture
• requires more than a yes/no, true/false answer
• cites specifics (e.g., a film, scenes, actors, dates, shots, textbook page numbers, chapters, etc.).

Below are some sample discussion questions on film noir and Double Indemnity (1944).

Formal

• Why is it significant that Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is an insurance salesman? In other words, why does that career choice work so well with the narrative of Double Indemnity?
• What is the significance of the floral pattern on Phyllis Dietrichson’s costume(s)? What does that say about her character?

Historical / Ideological / Theoretical

• What does the (extremely) close bond between Walter Neff and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) suggest about male-male and male-female relationships in the 1940s? What is the possibility of a homoerotic subtext in Double Indemnity?
• Why does the couple insist on meeting in a grocery store? What does the store/setting tell us, if anything, about consumption in the 1940s?

Reminder: All questions must be submitted at the end of class, and like participation exercises, they may not be made up. Questions will be graded as follows: 5 points, superior; 4 points, good; 3 points, adequate; 2 points, deficient; 1 point, failing.