American Studies 101: Myths of the American West

Instructor Ewan Magie

E-mail: emagie@bcc.ctc.edu

Tentative Course Schedule: 21 Class Sessions

Course Schedule and Structure: This course includes a lot of material, especially films. We will be progressing rapidly, so be sure to read and screen the essays and films ahead of the timeline dates as much as you can. By reading and screening ahead, you will give yourself more time to write your critical response papers, as well as more time to absorb facts and ideas about the material.

Most of the class time will be run seminar style. This means that class discussion and participation is a mandatory part of the learning in this class. Always bring your copy of the texts to class (excepting the films, of course), along with your critical response papers. Being able to refer to specific parts of each text is essential to effective seminar discussion.

Week 1: Jan. 2-6

3 Course Introduction: Asking questions

How do we understand the American West? What does it mean to U.S. citizens today? What did it mean at different points in U.S. history? How have those meanings changed?

Analysis of in-class text: William Kittredge’s “Drinking and Driving”

5 History and Cultural Myth: The Power of Ideas and Stories; Using film to understand history and myth; Essential Western Myths in Film and Literature

DUE: Response to Stegner

The West, Then and Now: Considering Historical Differences and Understanding the Past from the Perspective of the Present

Week 2: Jan. 9-13

10 DUE: Responses to McGuane and “The Western” (on BCC Library Reserve

12 DUE: Responses to Kittredge

DUE: My Darling Clementine

Week 3: Jan. 16-20

17 DUE: Response to McMurtry

DUE: Response to Stagecoach

19 DUE: Response to Ehrlich

DUE: Response to The Searchers

Week 4: Jan. 23-27

24 DUE: Response to Abbey

DUE: Response to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence

26 DUE: Response to High Noon

Week 5: Jan. 30-3

31 DUE: Response to Doig

DUE: Response to The Wild Bunch

2 NO CLASS

Week 6: Feb. 6-10 7 ***MID-TERM EXAMINATION***

9 DUE: Response to Alexie

DUE: Response to Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid

Considering the Revision of Old Myths: New Interpretations of Traditional Myths

Week 7: Feb. 13-17

14 DUE: Response to Santiago Baca

DUE: Response to Thelma and Louise

16 DUE: Response to Unforgiven

Week 8: Feb. 20-24

21 DUE: Response to Limerick

DUE: Response to Brokeback Mountain

23 DUE: Response to Solnit

Week 9: Feb. 27-3

28 DUE: Response to Tempest Williams

DUE: Response to A Fistful Of Dollars

2 DUE: Response to Silko

Week 10: Mar.6-10

7 DUE: Response to Duncan

DUE: Response to Star Wars

9 DUE: Rough Draft of 5-Page Paper

Week 11: Mar.13-17

14 DUE: Final Draft of 5-Page Paper

DUE: Response to Bladerunner

16 FINAL EXAM PREP

Week 12: Mar. 20-23 21 DUE: PORTFOLIOS/FINAL EXAM