English 300: The Western
Midterm Exam Study Sheet
In studying for the midterm, be sure that you know the authors of the literary works we have read
and the directors and release dates of the films. READ THE ASSIGNED READINGS. The quiz
you took last week did not indicate that you had completed all assigned readings. The exam will
include fill-in-the blank questions about terminology, names, and dates; identifications of
characters, situations, and objects/motifs from the films and literary works; two or three short
essays based on questions similar to those listed below; and a technical and thematic reading of a
film clip.
Terminology from Film Art and class discussion for which you are responsible:
mise-en-scene and its elements
cinematography
continuity editing
prop
motif
three-point lighting
low-key lighting
high-key lighting
key light
fill light
back light
chiaroscuro
cast shadows
attached shadows
deep space
shallow space
deep/shallow focus
racking focus
short-focal length (wide-angle lens)
middle-focal length (normal lens)
long-focal length (telephoto lens)
planes of the image
superimposition
matte shot
aspect ratio
pan
tracking/dolly shot
crane shot
tilt
high-angle shot
low-angle shot
straight-on angle
Master shot
close-up
medium shot
American shot
long shot
establishing shot
eyeline match
shot/reverse shot
on-screen space
off-screen space
point-of-view shot
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Literary terms
focal character: a character in a film or literary work whose range of knowledge is closely
followed by the narrator; a character through whom perceptions are filtered in film or a literary
work
range of knowledge: Do we know more or less than the character knows? If we know more, our
range of knowledge is “wider” than the character’s; if we know less, our range of knowledge is
narrower. Some characters have a wider range of knowledge than others.
metaphor: The representation of one thing by another related or similar thing. A metaphor is a
trope, or figure of speech, that expresses a relationship of resemblance between two things.
metonymy: Like metaphor, metonymy is a figure of speech based on substitution, a trope.
Whereas in metaphors two things are related by resemblance, (my love literally resembles a fire,
for example, because both burn), in metonymy the two terms are related through (sometimes
arbitrary) association or proximity. Objects in films and literature often have both metonymical
and metaphorical meanings at the same time.
ideology: A set of ideas or a system of thought, often at least partially unconscious, by which we
judge the world. This set of ideas, shared by a social group, are often taken for granted as natural
or inherently true.
point of view: The vantage point or stance from which a story is told; the eye and mind through
which the action is perceived and filtered. There are two general narrative points of view, first
person and third person, which depend on whether the narrator stands within the story or outside
it. The most common third person narrative perspective is called the omniscient point of view.
An omniscient point of view allows the narrator to read the thoughts of the characters. In limited
or restricted omniscience, only certain thoughts, or the thoughts of certain characters, may be
available to the narrator.
Essay Questions
1. What is “Manifest Destiny”? What are some of the important historical events of the 19th and
20th Centuries that are important background information for understanding Western films
(check the links on the “Working Notes” page of the web site)? Discuss how specific films or
literary works illustrate “Manifest Destiny.” For example, how is the replacement of the Indians
by figures like Ryker and then the homesteaders shown to be “good and natural” in Shane (or,
using different types of characters, in The Searchers)?
2. Are there moments in any of the films or literary works where that Manifest Destiny is placed
in doubt? What specific scenes or narrative devices in The Searchers, for example, might serve
to undermine Mrs. Jorgensen’s claim that the Anglos—“Texicans”—belong on the land?
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3. What scenes and images does Hell’s Hinges use to depict Blaze Tracy as a “good bad man”?
How is Reverend Henley represented as a “bad good man”? Look at Question 5 and think about
how Tracy and Henley work with respect to the figure of the outsider-hero.
4. Describe the representation of women and ethnic minorities in Hell’s Hinges. Discuss in
detail specific scenes representing women and minorities and how these individuals and groups
of people fit into the overall meaning of the film. How does religion figure in the way women
and minorities are depicted?
5. The outsider-hero (“intruder-redeemer”), partly civilized, partly savage is a recurrent figure in
the Western. Describe how these “heroes” are represented, including costume, behavior, social
interactions and final destinies. How does a figure such as the Ringo Kid both differ from and
anticipate someone like Ethan in The Searchers? Compare Shane as an “outsider” figure to Wyatt
Earp in My Darling Clementine.
6. What kinds of “oppositions” does Schatz (55) describe the Western as setting up? How are those
oppositions resolved? Describe some people and places who seem to be important in the
reconciliation of opposites. The saloon is a familiar locus for these kinds of issues. Discuss how
the saloon settings in The Westerner, My Darling Clementine, and Shane).
7. What are the major differences between the story and film versions of Stagecoach? Think of the
differences in characters, situations, and outcomes. Why might Ford and his writers have chosen to
make these changes?
8. How is social hypocrisy depicted in Stagecoach? Compare the “Petticoat Brigade” in Hell’s
Hinges to the “Ladies’ Law and Order League” in Stagecoach. How do the two films convey
different attitudes about these two groups in visual terms?
9. How is mise-en-scène used to depict the social differences and alliances between the characters
in Stagecoach? Discuss, for example, the scenes inside the stagecoach itself, the scene around the
dinner table, the childbirth scene, etc.
10. What is the role played by the image of Lily Langtry in The Westerner? How does “mimetic
desire” regulate the relationship between Cole and Bean? How does that ostensible desire for a
woman serve to mask the film’s homoeroticism (if you think that there is homoeroticism in the film)?
11. In both The Westerner and My Darling Clementine, Walter Brennan’s character represents the
excesses of patriarchy and the problem of establishing law in the West. Discuss several scenes
where the rule of this violent, clannish male is established and undermined.
12. Working from Question 10, describe how socially appropriate masculinity helps Earp establish
law and order in Tombstone. (See Creekmur’s essay.) How is Doc Holliday (as well as the
Clantons) a problematic character in his way of living his masculinity? How do elements like
theatricality, costume, and props serve to lay out these problems for the film viewer?
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13. What role do the two women play in the dynamics of the relations between men in My Darling
Clementine? How are the women set in opposition in terms of race and culture? (E.g., how is
Chihuahua linked to animals in the film? What do you make of Earp’s remark that she should get
back to the Apache reservation, “where she belongs”? How is she dressed and lit, as compared to
Clementine?)
14. How does the stump scene in the novel Shane differ from the same scene in the film? What are
the different roles men and women play in these two versions? Be sure to discuss the language of
the novel and the visuals of the film. Discuss the significant differences between two of the other
scenes adapted from the novel to the film.
15. What is the “initiate hero” (Schatz) and what role does he play in films such as Shane? The
Searchers? Discuss how point of view is handled in each film with respect to this initiate-hero.
16. How does Shane both support the nuclear family as a positive and valuable entity and imply
that the nuclear family is somehow lacking something essential? (These are concerns that were
being voiced in America in 1952, when the film was released.) How is this conveyed visually and
aurally in the film? How do other westerns, such as Stagecoach, reflect the anxieties and social
problems of the period in which they were made?
17. How are Blaze Tracy, Reverend/Captain Clayton, Ethan Edwards and Tayo "divided
characters”? What visual elements are used to convey their internal and external divisions?
18. Ford draws a number of equivalences between the white and Indian cultures in The
Searchers. For example, the ending of the film seems to place the whites and Indians in the
position the other group occupied at the beginning of the film. In addition, Ethan is specifically
identified with the Indians he hates through costume, behavior, knowledge, etc.--indeed, you
might call him Scar’s “double.” Similarly, Laurie and Look are explicitly compared and
contrasted as young women on the verge of marriage. Choose one or two of these or other
equivalencies you see drawn between whites and Indians in the film and discuss their thematic
importance. Be sure to discuss visual elements and dialogue in support of your thesis.
19. How does The Searchers raise questions that it doesn't answer, for both the audience and the
characters in the film? How does this film answer some of the questions it raises through visual
means? You may refer to Lehman’s essay on this topic, but try to add some original insights of
your own.
20. Trace the motif of the “arch” or “doorway” in The Searchers. What is the significance of
the repetition of the arch pattern as doorway, cave, wigwam entrance, and so forth in the film?
Be sure to discuss a broad range of specific instances in which this visual pattern appears and
include a reading of the meaning of this pattern. Again, you may refer to Lehman’s essay on this
topic, but try to add some original insights of your own.
21. How are The Searchers and The Return of Navajo Boy both stories about “returns”? What
deep meanings do those returns have in each of these films? Is there an implied critique of The
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Searchers (and other Westerns’) representation of Native Americans in The Return of Navajo
Boy? How does the latter film depict the industrial elements of Hollywood film in their
intersection with Native American lives?
22. How does Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative set up the kinds of images and fears of
Native Americans that are depicted in later Westerns? How do you read the “truth” of
Rowlandson’s story? What, for example, are we to make of her account of the Indians’ cruel
treatment of their prisoners? Would there be a context that would change the way the reader
perceives the behavior of the Indians?
23. How does Ceremony differ from The Searchers in its depiction of a warrior’s return home?
What is the importance of the ceremony in both the novel and in Ford’s film?
24. Reflect on the role of religion in the works we’ve studied. How is religion used to justify
certain actions? How is it shown as an active force in forging communities? In re-integrating
individuals to communities? Which films and written works present religion positively or
negatively? Which have complex representations of religion?
25. Replace the word religion with violence in the previous question (#24) and discuss its
implications in 2 films we’ve examined in class.
26. How are the notions of “hybridity” and “miscegenation” treated in the works we’ve studied?
Where have we seen miscegenation presented as menacing? How has the Western hero evolved
as a hybrid of different cultures and modes of life? How does Ceremony present a complex view
of the issues of miscegenation and hybridity?
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