Watch: The Baraka Link: https://www.documentarytube.com/videos/baraka
Read: David Abram’s philosophy
The filmmaker is making an argument even though there is no narrator, no script, and no words at all. The argument is made by appealing to your subjective sensory and emotional experience through the use of images and music.
TAKE NOTES: Use the following outline to take notes as you watch the film:
Before industrial civilization:
Good things
Bad things
Industrial Civilization today
Good things
Bad things
Use the following paragraph outline for your paper:
State your thesis: “In this paper I will [support OR challenge] the filmmaker’s position on the truth of industrial civilization.”
What is the filmmaker’s truth claim about industrial civilization? What evidence is presented for this claim in the film? Use several examples from the film to convey the position.
Consider the filmmaker’s opposition that views today’s industrial civilization as entirely positive. What evidence is presented in the film against this view?
Using your critical thinking skills to make the case for your thesis:
If you are challenging the filmmaker’s truth claim, then point out what is missing from the film, what is exaggerated, what is “biased” or “ideological.”
If you are supporting the filmmaker’s truth claim, then use your own experiences to reinforce the examples and evidence they give.
Use a quote from David Abram’s essay to support your view or to present your opposition’s view.
Conclude with your view on whether this “inter-subjective” path is the best way to know the truth about reality.
