Using Film as a Secondary Source

Feature films represent the events, people, and time period depicted in their narratives in much the same way as a textbook or other secondary source treats the past. However, Hollywood films contain unique features that both add to and detract from their validity as secondary sources. The following case illustrates the potential for using film as a secondary source through examining the practices of a teacher using The Alamo (2004) (Figure 6.1) to teach about the Westward Expansion (see Table 6.2 for a description of the film).