Wyatt Earp Paper

I've been thinking about what I could possibly write about. There are a few things that are present throughout the movie and also occurred alot throughout the West. The first idea was about how the movie did a really good job at portraying Wyatt Earp's life as a whole, instead of just showing his time in Tombstone and what happened at the legendary O.K. corral. The movie is very detailed and from what I have researched is fairly accurate.
The next idea was the theme of a family unit in the west. Wyatt kept his family at a higher standard than anyone else and would do anything for his family, even kill. That kind of bond is present in the movie and was present in Wyatt's life. His family moved together as a whole and stayed together. Everyone else were just strangers.

Wyatt Earp

With my presentation on Wyatt Earp its hard to tell what it is def. going to be about. The movie is basically a documentary in some ways about Wyatt's life. So possibly I could talk about how the movie portrays a person who was possibly one of the best lawmen in the west during the 19th century, but also how he was a devout pacifist. It is still up in the air, but it will be somewhat like that I guess.

The movie is very action packed, and with Doc Holliday around it adds some comic relief. Doc is dying of TB so he is constantly ready to die and looks as if he is on a constant alcohol binge.

Writing Topic

I think I'm gonna write about the idea of the Native American struggle against the white man and how it is portrayed throughout Smoke Signals. There were many instances where Victor and Thomas came across white people, and they often acted differentely towards them than you see them act towards other Natives. But that is just an idea. I think that is a pretty stable idea and it happens more than once in Smoke Signals

Iowa Interview

I really enjoy reading/watching things associated with Sherman Alexie. He is a brilliant minded guy and it shows greatly in his writings. In this interview there were many things that really caught my interest. I thought it was sort of ironic when he was talking about Natives and the idea of environmentalism. It is very strereotypical to think of Natives as "one with nature" or something along those lines, but hearing the idea of a Native American littering is often thought of as farfetched. Alexie's views on the matter shed a little reality to this common stereotype. I really love Alexie's views of white men in comparison to Natives. Overall the interview was interesting, and just adds more to the persona I would expect of Sherman Alexie.

Native American Movies

This article was full of information. I didn't know half the stuff it says about the Native American film industry. One thing I found rather funny is when they said that the guy who played Geronimo had to put on make-up so he would look more like a white man, and less like a Native American.

It is evident that Smoke Signals is a historical breakthrough in Native cinema. I found it interesting how the whole movie was directed, written, and everything else by Natives. And it's a good movie so far. The article mentioned the acting roles being a little thin and not up to par, but I don't see why they should be, or why they should be like any roles played by any other ethnicities. I think that the actors/characters acting roles are up to interpretation and judgement by the person watching the film. Since every viewer is different, they may like great actors, they may like people who aren't the greatest actors.

With the release of the movie I think people who see the movie won't view Natives with war paint and feather headresses. They see the real aspect of Native life on the reservation and beyond it's borders.

Phoenix, Arizona/ Sherman Alexie

This story has been my favorite story we've read for this class so far. The story kept me interested, and it was so easy to read that I sort of wish there was more to it. I like how Alexie put in brief instances from these guys past in between the guys journey to Phoenix.

The story has a somewhat sad tone, but throughout there is alot of satire, and it adds a comical sense to the story. I found it sad how in the end the guys acted like they couldn't be comrades anymore, like they were when they were younger. Overall, it was a really good story, and I look forward to seeing more stories like this from Alexie.

Fleur

The story about the woman Fleur was somewhat confusing at parts, but still a good story. I like how in the beginning and throughout the story there is a sense of mysticism related to this girl. In the beginning people who associate with her mysteriously die and there is a sense of superstition. I think it is sort of ludicrous, but people in the story kept their distance. The question of her baby's daddy is interesting. The story doesn't give you closure, but you can somewhat assume what happened, but it is still open for interepretation.

The story is very detailed, and I'm glad it is. If the story contained less detail I wouldn't want to read. The imagery helps you get a vivid sense of the story and these details help you create the scenarios in your mind when reading. After reading the end of the story you are left with the same amount of mystery about Fleur as you are presented with in the beginning, and that is what I liked about the story.

Wendy Rose

These poems were fairly decent. The first and second really stood out. I would say they sort of had some traits in both of them that could be seen in the other. The feeling you get from reading these poems is really wretched. They flow brilliantly, and the point is clear. You get a sense of angst and animosity from her poetry and when you're done reading them they leave you feeling bad. Or at least thats the way it affected me.

Truganinny

This poem was interesting. The woman is dying and her last wishes are for her friends to take her and hide her after she dies so the "people" can't find her. It said that her husband was stuffed and mounted. Thats pretty ridiculous. She wanted to be hidden under the mountain or put in the ocean, but in the end she was stuffed and put on display just like her husband. She was the last full-blooded Aborigine.

Crimes

So I think that this reading is fairly interesting. I found it sort of ridiculous. It seemed like it could possibly be a rant. I don't think that someone should get worked up about a mascot or anything of that nature. They are just names of teams and stuff. I think that if you get mad about something as little as that you need to find something else to get mad about. Its just nonsense.

I thought this pic was pretty funny, especially in the relevance to the subject. This guy was my room mate last semester when I lived in Statesboro. I think his High-School were the warriors or something like that. He is a really white guy, he has no Indian in his blood.

Note to a Culture Vulture, How to write the Great American Indian Novel

I thought the Culture Vulture poem was pretty interesting. Louis talked about the theft of the Native American identity. It was pretty funny in the end where he was hating on the so called "indian" author being successful. You can def. see a tension and underlying feeling of anger in the writing.

How to write the Great American Indian Novel was quite interesting too. It was like How to Play Indian that we read a few weeks ago. Alexie is defining how the white man is slowly trying to become more like the indians, and the Indian culture is somewhat dying because of the invasion of the white man into their culture. The last line is great, "In the Great American Indian novel...all of the white people will be Indians and all of the Indians will be ghosts." I think that line puts a real backbone in the idea that the white man is slowly turning himself into an Indian, and that the real Indians are dying because of this.

Cowboy

This story was very interesting. I enjoyed getting a sense of the guy's everyday life, instead of him going on some long drawn out journey and overcoming his fate or something. It is a fairly simple story, and thats what I like about it.

I found it funny when he was talking about the calves and heifers and how the whole point in a cow is to turn itself into meat as fast as it can so somebody can eat it.

When he was talking about how he got hit in the face with a rock from the manure spreader and he ran the rig into the irrigation system. All that was rather funny.

I think its interesting how the guy never calls the old man by his name, he just calls him the "old sumbitch"

Overall, the story was really good. I think it was interesting how in the end the guy just rode off instead of stickin around. It was what you would imagine a cowboy doing.

"Gun's goin off"

Well, Brokeback Mountain was exactly what you would think it was. I never saw the movie, and don't plan to. The story was slow and then all of a sudden it is ridiculous. I didn't find the story that interesting, or really fun to read. One thing I found interesting was after the first night in the tent when Ennis said, "I'm not no queer." That statement is so hypocritical. He obviously participated in gay sex with another man. I would say thats not only queer, but really queer.

I also think that Jack and Ennis being "cowboys", well sheep-herders with Stetson's, and them being homosexual is something not often expected of the cowboy culture. Cowboy's usually aren't affiliated with that, and it was a bold move on the writer's part, so I guess she gets an award for originality.

The story isn't bad, the general plot and how the story unfolds is somewhat sad. If Ennis would've been a young cowgirl it would just be another mushy romance that would be on the cheap book rack at the Wal-Mart. It is a sad story because Jack is supposedly killed for the way he was, and Ennis couldn't get his ashes.

I could definitely see why it was a popular, and un-popular story to many people. Many things in the world you have to read or interpret with an open mind.

Cormac McCarthy

This story was interesting, but it wasn't exactly what I would read in my spare time just for an easy read. Its very descriptive. I found it hard to wade through the description, just to get to the theme. It was pretty gruesome, I've read things that are a little more vulgar and distasteful but this one is up on the list. The description lives up to what I've heard about McCarthy writings, especially like in "The Road." I believe that some of the descriptive details aren't necessary, but also in a way without them the story would lose a big attribute. Some things that don't add to the story could have been taken out, and the story wouldn't have been effected. It is like McCarthy didn't know what was needed and what wasn't so he threw everything in the story.

Frayling, NPR

I'm not a huge fan of NPR, but maybe I will be when I turn 50 like my parents. NPR is a pretty informative station though. I found this segment pretty interesting. I liked learning alot about Leone and him growing up watching movies like "Stagecoach," and others if they weren't banned by Mussolini. I found it really cool how when people quit making westerns in Hollywood Leone decided to start making his own westerns, but made them with more action and less talk. And he did all this without even learning how to speak full english.

Leone also got rid of the ideal "good" guy who was clean shaven, but added the grungy, "not washed in three weeks" looking guy. Also how he got rid of the perfect western town, and added the dusty and grungy ghost town really adds to his movies. Leone definitely put the balls in western movies.

"Jesus Christ, it's Henry Fonda"

Spaghetti westerns have always interested me. I like how the italians wanted to make their movies like the ones made in hollywood. But the movies being cast by italians added a certain type of twist. Espcecially in the eerie music always being played in the background. Also the cinematography was excellent. You can definitely tell the directors really wanted the movies to look good. Also the close ups and gun dueling/gunfight scenes. I found it really cool how Lucas commented on Leone's use of music to add a sense of epic-ism while Lucas was filming Star Wars.

Throughout the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly you can see these traits added by the Italians. The movie is really a good movie, and it will always be a classic. Clint Eastwood's acting is good, and without him I don't think the movie would've been as good.

Possible Essay Topics

I think that writing the essay about the Jesse Jame's story would be fairly interesting. Mostly about how the West portrayed in the story was driven by greed, and when justice needed to be pursued it was always tainted by the fact of money being involved. It is present that both the detectives and Jesse's gang were constantly wanting more money and when the detectives could've easily killed Jesse they were always worried more about his bounty and buried treasure than him being brought to justice. I really think there could be alot written about this topic, and many accounts in the story to support the idea.

The John Wayne Readings

I found the On "Dear John Wayne" reading fairly interesting. It talked about how in the movie John said that everything we see belongs to us (the white man) and it reminded me of that Dr. Seuss story Yertle the Turtle. In the story Yertle is the king turtle and he believes that everything he sees is in his kingdom, so he takes advantage of other turtles to see farther and become more powerful.

"About John Wayne" was interesting because I didn't know John Wayne wasn't originally name John Wayne. I never knew he changed his name when he wanted to become more famous. I never knew he was a family man. I knew he went to USC but not majoring in Pre-law, and I didn't know he dropped out. Overall, he had a very successful life.

Playboy? Damnit John

I hope ya'll found this interview as interesting as I did. At first I totally agree with John and his assumption of the movie business as it was and it is very prevalent today, and possibly worse. I love how he hates on Easy Rider. Thats a movie my mom had to sneak out to go see. I've recently seen it and I thought it wasn't that bad. Our millenium based generation is used to almost every movie having a sexual scene. The one in Easy Rider is slightly graphic, but by today's standards its barely a rated R movie. Just think about what they had to say in 1970.

When John starts talking about the Indians I think he is a pretty fair dude. When he made the joke about the Indians buying back Alcatraz for what the colonists gave for Manhattan was pretty funny. Especially b/c Manhattan was brought from a tribe of Indians who didnt own it.

I also like John's ideas about socialism. The idea of Socialism is great. Communism too. But the reality is that a pure socialistic/communistic society cannot exist on a large scale. I really have respect for John's answer to the question, because there could've been a way more ignorant and biased answer there, but he handled it in a very respectable fashion.

And when John tells the guy his sex-life is none of his God-damn business that made the whole interview. Its an attention grabber.

How to Play Indian

This is great. Instead of how to successfully portray indian life, submit to the Hollywood fiction and act as if your job is to be defeated by the white man. I definitely would have to say myself that my favorite rule on how to play indian would be number 13. "As you lack stirrups, manage somehow to entangle your feet in the reins, so that, when you are shot, you are dragged after your mount." It just seems like in most "indian killing" movies this one is present, even when the indians are somehow riding bare-back. Its crazy how hollywood can invent just another way to make indians lesser than the white man.

Old John

John Wayne has always been one of my father's favorite actors. I haven't seen many movies with John in them, but the ones I have seen I really liked. He is definitely worthy of being a cowboy. He really does well at the character. I dont think I've ever seen a picture of him when he isn't dressed up in the western attire.

I expect quality from John's movies. Like I said, I've never seen a bad John Wayne movie. When people say western they think of John Wayne. He is just classic.

The Lone Ranger

Very interesting to say the least. You can definitely tell its 50's hollywood. Especially when the ranger conveniently finds a spring coming out of the rocks, and when Tonto comes by just in the right time to save him. It is like reality doesn't exist.

What I find more interesting is Tonto. He is protrayed as an indian, but his speech is horrible. I don't doubt the fact that many native americans couldn't speak english well, but they all didn't speak it horribly in short choppy sentences did they? He is obviously supposed to be portrayed as the lesser of the two men. Why couldn't the lone ranger run into an intelligent Native American?

I also like how the Lone Ranger is so set on the bringing of justice down upon the outlaws. When compared to the story about Jesse James the people trying to catch the outlaws were more worried about the bounty and fame. But the Ranger doesn't even want his identity to be known.

Dime Novel, Jesse James

I would have to say the most interesting thing that came from the group discussion is how we agreed that no matter what Novel was read, the endings were all somewhat in a way disappointing. The people who read the Jesse James novel were surprised by the lack of justice brought down upon Jesse at the end of the story. Also, in California Joe he goes through the whole story triumphing many encounters, and then gets shot while on his porch. I just found that one hilarious. Its like the end to a bad thriller movie.

If I were going to write a paper on Jesse James I would probly write it about how both the detectives and Jesse were driven by greed. They both were always want money. The detectives weren't trying to bring justice upon Jesse and his gang. They wanted the bounty and the buried treasure that was so rich in wealth. Jesse could have escaped if he wanted to, but he wanted to rob another train or anther bank. The detectives could have killed Jesse many times but they wanted him alive. I found it interesting how these gangs were greedy.

Jesse James, Chapters 8-13

What??? Jesse didnt die in a hail of gunfire? How can the "bad" guy not die. How could they finish a story like that? I really dislike the lack of closure the story had at the end. The detective didnt even go back for the treasure or to finish Jesse off.

One of the weirdest things about this story is the lack of justice you find amongst the detectives, and Lawson the most. Instead of them caring about bringing the James gang to justice, which they did to some extent, but only for the rewards that came with it. Lawson didnt rescue the boy for the kid's well-being. He got him for the judge who was offering him money to pay him. The detectives were only tracking down Jesse for the large bounty on his head, not because they wanted to be heroes.

Also the story is very interesting in the fact that its not about Jesse James. Its about Lawson, the detective, trying to hunt him down. It surprised me that the narrator was someone of an outside source rather than Jesse James himself or another outlaw amongst his gang. It seemed unusual in the manner that it wassn't all about Jesse James.

Jesse James Chapters. 4,5,6,7

Jesse and his gang successfully rob the train. It was interesting at how easily the train conductors gave up the cash on the train, without even one shot fired. The undercover detective gets found out by the gang, but only to escape with the help of Jesse's wife. The detective meets back up with his fellow detectives, and plan to ambush the outlaws upon their next bank robbery. Sheppard gets figured out, but escapes while putting a bullet in Jesse's neck that wasn't fatal. When the detectives approach the town they were distracted by some cattlemen who ended up being Jesse's gang members. They tie a Chinaman to a bull and the bull tears apart the city and causes a diversion for the robbers to escape. The whole time the detectives assumed that Jesse was dead. Two men bring in "Jesse's body" and want to claim the reward. Bill Lawson figures out its not Jesse, but also recognizes Jesse disguised among the crowd. A vicious mob chases Jesse out of town, unfotunately not killing him. Hear-say about a future train heist is amidst and the detectives plan to be on the train this time.

I'm curious as if the detectives will be able to kill any of the gang members, maybe even Jesse, Frank, or one of the Younger brothers when they attack the train. Its funny how Jesse and his gang is always one step ahead of the detectives.

Jesse James Chapters 1,2,3

The story about the Chicago detective under disguise amongst the Jame's gang is great. The story is full of shoutouts, murders, and robberies one would expect in a story about a group of bandits in the Wild West. The doctor who has infiltrated the gang's ranks by a plot through Jesse's ex-lover who has died is slowly gaining Jesse's trust, and when he gets his chance will try to capture both Frank and Jesse but also the woman's child who Jesse has abducted. Jesse and his gang are planning a big "job" and I can't wait and see what happens to the doctor, and whether he captures the Jame's brothers.

Baum, Charlot, and Deloria Readings

I was very surprised when I read Baum's editorials about Native Americans. From the same brain who wrote The Wizard of Oz somehow wrote these very biased accounts. Baum states that the white race, "by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indian." Those words right there show a very anti-diverse point of view which was shared by most Americans in this time period. Following the Wounded Knee Massacre Baum wrote another editorial stating, "in or to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untambable creatures from the face of the Earth." Baum even admits that the Massacre was a wrong doing towards the native people and still believes the genocide of the Native Americans should be carried out. This reinforces Baum's idea of the White superiority over Native Americans.

In Deloria's American Indians and American Identities he contemplates the reasons for the colonists who dumped the tea into the Boston Harbor. I believe the reason for these colonist's actions was because they knew people's ways of viewing natives. The colonists new people viewed natives as savage, and untame. I also believe that they dressed up as natives to escape the expected behavior that should come from the "British" people. Who are often found to be very elegant, and the idea of the revolting to the established government. So if they dressed as a people known for their animosity established by the press and those who feared natives.

Charlot shows the reader how the native race is not "savage, untame or untamable." Charlot lived peacefully on his lands until his people were forced onto the reservations in Washington. As if relocation wasn't a hard enough punishment, his people were taxed like any other citizens of the country. I believe that if a person doesn't have the same rights as others shouldn't be taxed. The Flathead people didn't even get the opportunity to live where they pleased so therefore they shouldn't have been taxed.

"Noble Savage," Helen Hunt Jackson, and Zitkala Sa Readings

These readings were really interesting, and for the most part I wanted to be able to keep on reading more about these entries. It dumbfounds me on how inhumane and unacceptable a certain race can be towards people of another race. Just because someone's skin is darker and they believe in different religions or ways to live doesn't mean that they should be treated horribly or called "savages." In the Helen Hunt Jackson entry The Ponca indians did nothing to deserve what they had brought down upon them. They should not have had to go through starvation and exile. They met American settlers with open arms towards peace, and in the end got shot in the back. I'm very surprised that excerpts like this were able to be published during the 19th century, and after they were people still did little for the Native Americans.

Zitkala Sa's story as a young indian girl was very interesting. It showed a first person point of view from the Indians that isn't often found in literature talking about the Old West. You could definitely feel the animosity her mother felt towards the white settlers moving into the west. Her accounts as a young girl show how innocent and unknowing she was about their situation. At least she was given a chance to be educated in school, but I think you can educate someone while still having the respect to let them keep their culture and heritage. The missionaries didnt have to Easternize them just to teach them.