Citizen Kane (Narrative)

This guide accompanies a lecture on narrative elements and Citizen Kane. A guide for cinematography and Kane may be found here.

1. Answer before you watch: what do you know about the film Citizen Kane? What expectations (if any) do you have about the film?
2. What is News on the March? What do you learn from it?
3. Who are the major characters in the film, and what are their relationships to Kane?
4. In 1-2 sentences, what is the story of Citizen Kane?
5. What is the plot of Citizen Kane?
6. Regarding character development, what external changes take place in the film? And do any internal changes take place? With whom specifically?
7. Is the “News on the March” sequence diegetic information or nondiegetic?
8. What is the narrative duration of the deterioration of Kane’s first marriage?
9. What is the “Declaration of Principles”?
10. Motifs are elements that recur in an artistic or literary work. List at least two motifs in this film and their functions.
11. What are some of Kane’s traits as a character? What about him is likeable? What is unlikable?
12. From what narrative perspective is Citizen Kane told? First-person (subjective)? Third-person (omniscient)? Both? How do you know?
13. How many flashbacks are used in Citizen Kane? Does this narrative structure confuse you? Why or why not?
14. How does Citizen Kane fit the model for the classical Hollywood narrative?
15. Answer after you watch: this film is constantly listed as #1 on the American Film Institute’s (AFI) list of Top 100 Greatest Films. After seeing the film in its entirety, can you think of any reason(s) why that is?