In Class Essay: Citizen Kane

Write an essay using one of the questions or quotes below as your focal point.  Carefully consider what your thesis will be and then craft an essay around your main point that includes:

• An inviting introduction, or “hook”
• A conclusion that does more than simply restate your thesis
• Supporting evidence from the film that shows rather than tells the reader why your point is valid

You will need to have evidence of some form of prewriting, and your final draft needs to be 2-3 pages in length (double spaced, front and back).  If you finish early, be sure to go back and check your work for spelling and grammatical errors.

Essay Topics

1. At the end of the film the reporter remarks, "I don't think any word can explain a man's life."  How does the film support this?
   
    
2. “The truth about any man can only be calculated by the sum of everything that has been said about him” - Orson Welles. Discuss how Welles portrays this idea in his film Citizen Kane.
   
    
3. Orson Welles believed that Kane was: “a very great man and a mediocre individual.” Discuss how this is shown to be true in the film.

4. What is the significance of “rosebud” and how does Orson Welles reveal its meaning in Citizen Kane?

5. “Numerous writers have described the net effect of Citizen Kane's characterization of the titular figure as the depiction of a man lacking a soul, a collection of appearances and empty gestures devoid of any deep or lasting values, a figure having no inner mind or soul, no true consciousness or moral worth.” David LaBoeuf.  Discuss.

6. “Citizen Kane involves us in a stream of conscious chronological narrative dance” - Dan Jardaine. Discuss how the narrative works in the film. Who is the narrator?