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Essay Instructions: Review of the movie "Dances with Wolves"

The idea of the ssignment is for you to offer your own critical reflection on the film "Dances With Woves". Adopt a point of view on the film and discuss evidence from the film in your review. This should be and independent interpretation of the film.

Essay Instructions: The class is named “Image of the West”. The goal of the paper is to show how the movie Dances with Wolves uses the western frontier to serve a cultural/political purposes. The paper needs place the movie in the context of the time it was written/filmed and the influence the time might have had on the movie. Since it was written during the Reagan presidency and filmed shortly after he left office it should mention Reagan's influence on reviving the image of a cowboy (i.e. always seen going to his Ranch and being shown on a horse dressed in Western wear). This is a possible reason for the renewed popularity of the Western movie. Also another topic to mention might be the culture of political correctness that developed during the Reagan administration. During the filming of the movie the director went to great pains and expense to use fake animals when possible and for the dead animals they used road kill and carcasses of animals from taxidermists. The organization People for the ethical treatment of animals became popular during this time this might be something to mention. A lot of time was also spent on the correct use of Indian dress and language. Kevin Costner got special honors from “some” Indian tribe for his portrayal of the Indians. Any other events/conflicts going on in the world that might that have had an influence on the movie can be mentioned. The professor likes footnotes but endnotes can be used.

Essay Instructions: Write two responses/reactions for the films Dances with Wolves and City Slickers. Do they fit into the western genre? Personally, I did not think that City Slickers fit into the western genre, it was more of a comedy than a western. They used western iconography in the film but does that necessarily make a movie western? On the other hand, I enjoyed watching Dances with Wolves, but can you consider that a real western also? Or is it drama?
Answer these questions and any of your personal reactions to those films would be really good.

Essay Instructions: After reading "America Past and Present Volume I to 1877" Sixth Edition, authors, Robert A. Divine, T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson and R. Hall Williams. I (the student)must view a film about a particular historical event or figure(Dances with Wolves), and write a paper comparing the portrayal in the film to my research on the chosen topic. For example, a student might choose to research whether or not the costumes in the film were true to the period. This paper will be approximetely 12 pages, double-spaced, and will contain footnotes and references. I would like to compare maybe how the Sioux indians lived during that period, i.e food, clothing, shelter. I'm not sure what to write on, maybe you can help out here. It very important that you understand that this paper is to make a comparison between the movie "Dances with Wolves" and the text book mentioned above. If you need me to fax some journals I will just let me know. Thanks, Phillis