The Stereotypical Old-West Hero
Gunsmoke was the longest running radio show ever made. It is based on the historical city of Dodge. The series is centered around the character of Matt Dillon, who is the U.S. Marshall at Dodge. Each episode is one of his adventures, usually with his fellow helper, Chester, in keeping the peace and bringing justice in the area. Dillon's independence, sense of justice, and keen problem solving ever epitomize the stereotypical old-west hero.
No matter what situation arises in Dodge, or the surrounding area, Matt Dillon is able to resolve it most often without the help of anyone else except for his faithful follower Chester. Whenever Dillon hears of a problem, he immediately goes to see what the trouble is with Chester. He doesn't listen to anyone and only brings more people if it would go better with his plan. In the episode, "Tecetta", Dillon boldly asks three gunmen to give up their guns at a bar and then tells them to leave the next morning. He says it in such a way that is unquestionable and demanding of respect. And people listen! In the episode, "The Buffalo Hunter", when Dillon and Chester go searching for the villain, Gatloff, they run into one of his skinners whose been shot. Always the independent spirit, Dillon commands Chester to stay with the man saying, "I'll ride on by myself".
Dillon's sense of justice is extremely refined. He always has a keen view on how to solve the problem at hand, and usually it is something that nobody else has thought of. Dillon makes claims such as, "I don't think someone would accidentally pour 50-60 lbs. of lead in their own face", to which Chester then replies, "Oh Mr. Dillon, I hadn't thought of that". When one of the new bar girls, Tacetta, is kidnapped by Dorgan, Dillon has a plan ready. He decides to take a group of 12 men rather than just himself and Chester so that they will intimidate Dorgan, who has been judged by Dillon as having a weaker character. Dillon also knows how to decide when to go after someone and when not to. In "The Buffalo Hunter" Dillon know that Gatloff killed his own worker, but, since he doesn't have proof, he waits until Gatloff does something else that will incriminate him. Similarly, when Dorgan is killed by Horn and Watson in "Tecetta", Dillon waits until Watson causes trouble as a drunkard to get the truth out of him.
When considering the attributes of the Old West lawman, the mind frequently turns to the lawmen made familiar through works of fiction, created for the purposes of entertainment. One specific example of such a fictional depiction of "the lawman" exists in the episodic radio series entitled, "Gunsmoke." In this series, Matt Dillon, the Sheriff of Dodge City, repeatedly exhibits many qualities, which could be labeled as stereotypical. After analyzing several Gunsmoke episodes, and reviewing the analyses of many others, one trait, which seems to be present in Matt Dillon, is that of invincibility. Matt Dillon shoots the "bad guy" but never gets shot. He is always victorious. He always wins. We can see this pattern exemplified in three diverse situations. First, Dillon always wins a face to face gunfight. Secondly, Dillon is victorious even when he is ambushed or unprepared for an attack. And finally, Dillon wins even when no physical violence or gunplay takes place.
The old-west lawman is an American hero and represents the ideals of American society. He is immediately thought of when one contemplates strength of character and other fine qualities. As an irreplaceable part of American tradition, his characteristics are looked upon as a model to all other Americans. Much of what is known about the old-west lawman comes from stories of fiction one of these being the radio program Gunsmoke. Matt Dillon, a U.S. Marshall, plays the lead role in this favorite American radio series. In each episode he beats the odds as he protects his home of Dodge City. Demonstrating the qualities of the old-west lawman, Matt Dillon, of Gunsmoke, is trusting, respectful, and courageous.
Gunsmoke, starring William Conrad as Sheriff Matt Dillon, was the longest running western radio program ever to air. It is the story of a country that moved west, and the man who moved with it. Matt Dillon's fairness, caring, and stern attitude epitomize the stereotypical old-west lawman.
After the Civil War, Americans abandoned the sectional emphasis caused by slavery and developed a national focus. During the period from 1865-1890, Americans completed the settlement of the West. For the farmers and ranchers, the American West was a land of opportunity because land was cheap and the Homestead Act provided land to farmers, including immigrants and blacks, in order to grow crops, raise cattle and make a profit. The American West was also seen as a land of opportunity for miners due to the gold and silver rush in the far west which they believed would make them rich. However, both groups faced many challenges and few achieved great wealth.
In her novel The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey looks at how history can be misconstrued through the more convenient reinterpretation of the person in power, and as such, can become part of our common understanding, not being true knowledge at all, but simply hearsay. In The Daughter of Time Josephine claims that 40 million school books can’t be wrong but then goes on to argue that the traditional view of Richard III as a power obsessed, blood thirsty monster is fiction made credible by Thomas More and given authenticity by William Shakespeare. Inspector Alan Grant looks into the murder of the princes in the tower out of boredom. Tey uses Grant to critique the way history is delivered to the public and the ability of historians to shape facts to present the argument they believe.
The winds of frustration with the government swept through the states. The public was tired of the unreliable continental dollar, the inability to repay soldiers for war service, and the overall insufficiencies of the government. Angry, emblazoned citizens voiced their feelings through uprisings, like Bacon and Shay’s rebellions. Shockwaves of perturbed feelings resonated strongly in the minds of the leaders of the states and national government. It was time for the well bred, well fed, well wed, well read, and well read, to go back to the drawing board and supply the nation with a democratic, republic that worked. The Constitutional Convention that is so widely renowned throughout history, (and rightly so), was summoned to meet in Philadelphia, behind closed doors, to re-work the framework of our land.
While Shakespeare was writing Richard III, he was limited in options of sources that depicted the history of Richard III. In regards to the nature in which the playwright portrayed the king, “Shakespeare borrowed these negative details from other sources such as Thomas More and enemies of Richard who dishonestly wrote the majority of his history” (“Historiography”). According to the University of Michigan, “Sir Thomas More had been born in 1478, seven years before the Battle at Bosworth, too young to remember anything first hand. More spent a portion of his youth in the household of Dr. John Morton. We may assume that More’s writings were based on what he heard and learned while there. Morton was one of Richard III’s bitterest enemies and we must view his recollections as tainted and biased” (“Historiography”). With this information, it is evident that More’s writing was heavily influenced by Tudor propaganda. His historical accounts of Richard III in his 1513 publication of The History of King Richard the Third portrays him in a light very similar to Shakespeare’s. More, describi...
Of the 55 delegates sent to the Constitutional Convention, only 39 signed the completed document. Some did not even stay through the entire event because they felt it was headed in a direction that they could not support. These men had different reasons for their objections, some of which are discussed in this paper, but most importantly, they felt that the Constitution would threaten Liberty rather than secure it. The ratification of the Constitution was an essential first step to secure and stabilize this new national, but the voices and views of the Anti-Federalist were also very important. The first amendments to the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, were due in much part to satisfy those voices and established many of the rights that we still hold dear today.
Newman, Roger K., ed. The Constitution and Its Amendments. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference, 1999. Print.
Shakespeare constructs King Richard III to perform his contextual agenda, or to perpetrate political propaganda in the light of a historical power struggle, mirroring the political concerns of his era through his adaptation and selection of source material. Shakespeare’s influences include Thomas More’s The History of King Richard the Third, both constructing a certain historical perspective of the play. The negative perspective of Richard III’s character is a perpetuation of established Tudor history, where Vergil constructed a history intermixed with Tudor history, and More’s connection to John Morton affected the villainous image of the tyrannous king. This negative image is accentuated through the antithesis of Richards treachery in juxtaposition of Richmond’s devotion, exemplified in the parallelism of ‘God and Saint George! Richmond and victory.’ The need to legitimize Elizabeth’s reign influenced Shakespeare’s portra...
Late eighteenth and early nineteenth century was the beginning of creating a difference in the way delinquents were handled. Historically, an offender who was above seven years of age was imprisoned together with the adults. Though an offender who was between seven and fourteen years of age was presumed as one who is not able to form the required criminal intent it gave the prosecutor room to prove otherwise. A house referred to as the New York House of Refuge was established by reformers in 1824, and it was meant to curb the problem of sending a child offender to an adult jail. In 1899 a juvenile court was established in Cook County, Illinois and another one in April 1905 in Birmingham (Shore). There was an educational reform movement that advocated for reform in juvenile justice. The movement was referred to as the Society for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency. The main issue that legislation and movements sought to address was the separation of delinquents from the adult offenders. In a case of an adult offender the court looks at the act committed. However, with the emergence of juvenile courts the focus is on the delinquent who is viewed as a child, and who needs to be helped. In the spirit of ensuring that trials against children were handled in a speedy and in a confidential manner, children below fourteen years were tried immediately before two magistrates (19th Century Bedford Gaol).
In "The Thematic Paradigm", Robert Ray explains how there are two distinctly different heroes, the outlaw hero and the official hero. The official hero embraces common values and traditional beliefs, while the outlaw has a clear sense of right and wrong but operates above the law (Ray). Ray explains how the role of an outlaw hero has many traits. "The attractiveness of the outlaw hero's childishness and propensity to whims, tantrums, and emotional decisions derived from America's cult of childhood", states Ray. (309) Ray also says, "To the outlaw hero's inconsistence on private standards of right and wrong, the official hero offered the admonition, you cannot take the law into your own hands." (312) The values of these two traditional heroes contrasts clearly. Society favors the outlaw hero because we identify with that character more. We see ourselves more so in the outlaw hero than in the official hero. The outlaw hero has the "childlike" qualities that most of us wish we had as adults. To civilians it may seem that the outlaw hero lives more of a fantasy life that we all wish to have.
To begin with, Indiana Jones is brave. Whether it’s against Nazis, cultists or Mccarthyist thugs, Indiana Jones, who is a archaeologist and saves ancient artifacts, stands up for what he believes in, without exception. (from raiders of the lost ark)For him to be a man and admit to his fear of snakes and overcome his fear is a sign of an epic hero. In Raiders he begins as a kind of cynic, preferring to seek out the ark for it’s own sake but eventually takes up the cause because he knows that Belloq and his Nazi benefactors are after power and care nothing for knowledge. Secondly, he’s also a regular person like you and me. While he may occasionally show a cynical streak or a twinge of self interest, Indiana Jones buckles down and proves himself
The first scene in the film is a montage of grainy black and white scenes of Polish life before the Nazi invasion on Poland. The footage shows a dated world with old English style building and technology, people are shown walking about the town in aged clothing. The grainy dated look of the film also makes the scenes appear gloomy but relaxed at the same time. These images are used to drive the notion that it is set in a time long ago, in a different era. This scene is a critical part in the film as it refines the time and emotion, in which the film is set, so the audience can relate better to the characters and what is happening to them.
The view that ICT could help to raise educational standards dates back to the 1950’s and it builds on some of the original findings by a Harvard psychologist named Skinner in 1954 and 1958 (adapted from Machin et al., 2006). Skinner claimed that new technologies in schools could make learning dramatically more efficient (Machin et al., 2006, p.7). There are many other types of technology usage in the mathematics classroom such as calculators, smart-boards, overhead projectors, television and DVD players, however since the advent of the Internet most of these technologies have been encompassed into WBT and WBL applications. The assessment practices will address formative, summative, Assessing Pupil Progress (APP) and Assessment for Learning (AFL) as WBT applications does lend itself to many different assessment strategies. This essay will attempt to examine the benefits and...