Www.laurathrower.com



Your Name ___________________________________

“The Butler” Viewing Guide

Directions: Watch the movie! Think as you watch. Complete the questions before or after you watch it. Some of these you probably already know the answers to if you’ve been learning and paying attention in class. Movies make you smarter.

1. At the start of the movie, while the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote is on screen, what is the image being shown in the foreground? Use your vocabulary! ____________________________________________ Which muckraker wrote a book about this in the South in the early 1900s? ____________________________________

2. In what year does the movie open? _________________ Using terminology you have learned in class, what is most likely Cecil’s father’s job on this farm? ________________________________________

3. Cecil says the “laws are against us”. What was the more common name for those laws in the South that segregated the races? ________________________________________________ These laws that allowed “separate but equal” facilities were legalized by the Supreme Court case of 1896, ______________________________________________________.

4. When Cecil is slapped by man in the hotel he robbed, WHY does the man tell Cecil not to call himself a “house nigger”? _________________________________________________________________________________________

5. As the movie fast forwards to 1957, what is the name of the social movement that was just starting to gear up in the during the time period? __________________________________________________

6. In the bar at the hotel where Cecil gets a job, he overhears a conversation about a now famous Supreme Court case. Who is the chief justice that wrote the unanimous opinion in this case? _____________________________What is the name of the case the men are discussing? _______________________________________________________

7. RANDOM TRIVIA! Do you know what the name of the young black boy Oprah’s character is talking about in the kitchen? (he “talked to the white woman and got himself killed”) _______________________________________

8. In what Washington, D.C. location does Cecil earn a promotion from his hotel job to work in? ______________________

9. During the 1957 Presidential administration of _______________________________, there is an Oval Office discussion Cecil overhears about a situation in Little Rock, Arkansas. What will this President ultimately do in this situation he is discussing? ______________________________________________________________________________________

10. Cecil tells Lewis as he is leaving for Fisk, “you the first”. What does he mean? _________________________________

11. Who is the man that comes in the kitchen to talk to the butlers? _________________________ He will not win this 1960 election. Many historians agree this man lost the election because it was the first time a __________________________ had been televised, an “image” won over the issues. The winner of this 1960 election will be_____________________. This President’s famous speech/social programs will become known as the “New ____________________________.”

12. Lewis joins a group that teaches and prepares him to take place in a new non-violent protest tactic. What was this tactic called? ___________________________ (TRIVIA: The first one of these took place in _________________________, North Carolina at a Woolworth’s lunch counter). What is the most famous of these groups that taught its members non violent protest tactics? ___________________________________________________

13. When President Kennedy is watching the protests on television, these images are famous tactics used by the Alabama Police Commissioner whose name was ________________________________________.

14. What does President Kennedy ask Congress to do in this televised speech to Congress in 1963?

15. Kennedy famously traveled with his wife to _____________________, Texas to gain support from Southern white Democrats for the 1964 election. What happens while he is there? ___________________________________________.

16. Why does Cecil say Ms. Kennedy refused to take off her infamous “pink dress” that day? _______________________________________________________________________

17. What President takes over in 1963 after the assassination? ______________________________ The name given to this President’s social programs passed at home will become known as “The ____________________________________”

18. In 1964, Cecil says he passed the “greatest piece of legislation since Lincoln freed the slaves”. What Act is he referring to? ______________________________________________________

19. During one of President Johnson’s famous “meetings” (on the toilet), he tells his staff to “call CORE” among other groups. What does CORE stand for? ____________________________________________________________

20. What is the name of the legislation passed after Johnson’s famous speech on voting rights in 1965? _____________________________________________

21. Images are shown of the war that becomes known as “Johnson’s War” and also “the living room war”. What is the name of this war? _________________________________________ What is the name of the people U.S. soldiers were sent to fight during this war (nicknamed “Charlie”)_______________________________________

22. During the scene with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lewis, MLK tells Lewis the work his butler father does is effective and “subversive” to changing the mind of the white man. Explain what he means by that:

23. In what city and state was MLK assassinated? ________________________________ What happens in Cecil’s neighborhood directly after people learn of MLK’s assassination? __________________________________________

24. At the dinner scene with Lewis and his girlfriend, what political organization do they say they have joined? __________________________________________. Who started this group? ________________________________

25. What happens to Cecil’s youngest son, Charlie by the end of the movie? ____________________

26. Cecil has a conversation with President Nixon who says “there’s talk of me resigning”. What scandal is he talking about? ______________________________________. Is he later impeached or does he resign? ________________

27. By the 1980’s, what job does Lewis Gaines finally hold? ___________________________________________

28. Which President is helpful in finally seeing the black butlers will earn equal pay for equal work? _________________

29. What legislation does President Reagan say he will veto if Congress passes it? _______________________________

30. What is the last President Cecil Gaines sees elected? __________________________________________

31. Whose tie does he wear in the final scene and whose tie clip does he put on? ______________ and__________________

32. Explain why YOU think he choose to wear memories of these two Presidents as he goes to the White House one last time:

33. There is a lot of “television” watching throughout this movie. List 3 specific historical events you have learned about that are seen on television that had a huge impact on change in America.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download