Assignment
We have viewed four films of the classical western film genre directed by John Ford (Stagecoach, 1939 and My Darling Clementine, 1946); Howard Hawks (Red River, 1948) and George Stevens (Shane, 1953). Choose any two films and compare/contrast how the hero (Ringo Kid, Wyatt Earp, Tom Dunson and/or Matt Garth, Shane) of the western genre develops and/or evolves in these films.
Students must use at least one of the assigned readings as a critical source to support the argument. The paper should be a thesis driven interpretative essay about the films using narrative and visual evidence along with the critical readings to support your claims. Think of the films as texts that we are "reading" and discuss the films as literary or philosophical texts. Do not retell the narrative of the films, but use the narratives of the films as supporting evidence of your arguments. Students do not need to cover every aspect of the films, but focus on a particular theme and develop this theme in relation to the two films.