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Ms. Deborah
Evans Office: 221 Adirondack House Syllabus T 9/5 Introductions. Who/what is the "classic western hero"? Week 1 Foundations of a myth: frontiersmen and captives T 9/12 Foundations of a myth: John Filson, The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon Th 9/14 "The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon and A Narrative of the Captivity and Extraordinary Escape of Mrs. Francis Scott" (1786) and "From The Crockett Almanacs" (1835-56) Week 2 First round of writing workshops T 9/19 Draft workshop essay #1 Th 9/21 Draft workshop essay #1 F 9/22 Essay #1 due Week 3 The Leatherstocking tales: a literary hero for a new America T 9/26 James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (1826) Th 9/28 Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans Evening film screening: Last of the Mohicans (1992) Week 4 The dime western T 10/3 The dime western: Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter(1860); Seth Jones, or the Captives of the Frontier (1861); Deadwood Dick, the Prince of the Road (1877); and Franke Reade, the Inventor, Chasing the James Boys (1890) [in Reading the West, Bill Brown, ed.] Oral reports. Th 10/5 Draft workshop essay #2
Week 5 Mark Twain as western writer. T 10/10 Mark Twain, "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"; selections from Roughing It (1872) Th 10/12 Draft workshop essay #2 Week 6 The frontier ‘closes’: Turner’s frontier thesis and its implications. M 10/16 Essay #2 due. T 10/17 Frederick Jackson Turner, The Significance of the Frontier in American History (1893). Stephen Crane, "The Blue Hotel" (1899). Th 10/19 Library workshop. Week 7 The prototype of the modern western: Wister’s gentleman cowboy
T 10/28 Owen Wister, The Virginian Th 10/26 Owen Wister, The Virginian Evening film screening: The Virginian Week 8 The battered gunfighter, et al.: Zane’s heroes for the proletariat T 10/31 Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) Th 11/2 Draft workshop, Essay #3 Evening film screening: High Noon Week 9 Alternative hero(ines): reading Austin and Cather T 11/7 Mary Austin, The Land of Little Rain (1903) Th 11/9 Draft workshop, Essay #3
Week 10 Hero(ines) continued . . . T 11/14 Willa Cather, O Pioneers! (1913) Th 11/16 Cather, O Pioneers! Evening film screening: Heroines on the big screen--selections from Johnny Guitar, The Ballad of Little Jo; Bad Girls; The Quick and the Dead Week 11 Thanksgiving break–see deadlines below T 11/21 Esssay #3 due. Follow Friday class schedule today. Individual conferences scheduled this week to discuss final essay. View Sam Peckinpaw’s The Wild Bunch on your own. Th 11/23 Thanksgiving break. Week 12 Contemporary revisions of the western hero T 11/28 Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian (1985) Th 11/30 Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian Evening film screening: Lone Star. Week 13 More contemporary visions. . . T 12/5 Draft workshop, Essay 4 Th 12/7 Sam Shepard, True West. Draft workshop, Essay 4 Evening film screening: Unforgiven M 12/11 Essay #4 and final portfolio due. |
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