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The Myth of the American Outlaw

Essay Instructions:
For this assignment, you will be writing an analytical critique of the book or film of your choice. A critique is a “formalized, critical reading of a passage” that you will then turn into an “evaluation in order to deepen your reader's (and your own) understanding….” Your critique should address the book or film as it relates to the theme of our class—the myth of the American outlaw. Therefore, you will need to focus your analysis and critique on a careful examination of the book or film in terms of one or more our class themes. Do not simply provide a summary of the movie. About conclusions: the closure of this particular paper is very important in that your overall evaluation of how successful the film is—or not—coupled with how you've connected the course themes with the context of the film, needs to be clearly stated or reiterated. Simply stated—your reader wants to know if the book or film that you selected is worth seeing and why. Requirements: -At least 3 full pages of text. -MLA format -Use at least 3 outside sources (Movie/Book should be used as one of your sources) -Separate Works Cited page. -Sufficient in-text citations from all of your sources. Please use page numbers to indicate where quote is located in the text, example: (McCarthy 15), or (15). For film references, give context of scene, character and plot in order to make the citation relevant to your reader.
Essay Sample Content Preview:
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The Myth of the American Outlaw
The oulaw is a common figure in American folklore because this figure represents a number of contradiction. He is an image of crime, violence and fear, and at the same time, of fearlessness, independence and dedication. The outlaw is surrounded by legend, a man riding on a black horse, alone. His one hand holds a smoking revolver, and his saddlebags are bulging with new treasures accumulated from his exploits. He is a robber and a criminal. He threatens the society`s safety and security, but at the same time, he signifies the hope of the people, their resistance an oppressive authority and a corrupt society. For many people, the outlaw personifies the true meaning of democracy. He is not bounded by race, wealth and education. The outlaw is "born of injustice and reflects a wish for rebellion" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{527d94d4-0e4b-4bd3-b590-e7cfec352b45} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Prassel", "given" : "Frank Richard" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1937" ] ] }, "publisher" : "University of Oklahoma Press", "publisher-place" : "Oklahoma", "title" : "The Great American Outlaw: A Legacy of Fact and Fiction", "type" : "book" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=527d94d4-0e4b-4bd3-b590-e7cfec352b45" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Prassel xii)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Prassel)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Prassel xii). His figure is very old, but it is never out of date. He is enigma of American history, and his presence have been subjected to a number of discussions. Is a myth or a real personality? Is he good or bad? Is he a freeman or a criminal? This review of the movie American Outlaws attempts to determine why the outlaw has become a prominent figure in American history and what it represents. At the end of the review, the author hopes to connect the movie with the myth of the outlaw and determine whether it is worth seeing or not.
Released in 2001, the American Outlaws is a retelling of the story of Jesse James (portrayed by Colin Farrell) and his brother Frank (Gabriel Macht). Just like the traditional story, Jesse and his brother fights to protect their family against the threats of a railroad company attempting to force people in their area to sell their farms. Jesse and his gang plots to rob the bank where the company stores its funds, the gang succeeds and are hunted down by the company`s henchmen. This is where the story revolves. The gang relies on Jesse to bail them out in tough situation, hence earning Jesse the name, "the lone ranger".
While the movie was admirable because of the strength of character shown by Jesse`s gang, it is simply inaccurate. According one review, "To say that the film plays fast and loose with history is an understatement" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{bda3305f-ba70-45a6-8eca-82ab88bc7359} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "/reviews/american-outlaws.htm", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011", "11", "15" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "family" : "Allen", "given" : "Andrew" } ], "container-title" : "History On Film", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "title" : "American Outlaws", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=bda3305f-ba70-45a6-8eca-82ab88bc7359" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Allen)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Allen). The James gang were young men who fought against Union soldiers who had no horses and were armed only with single shot rifles. Jesse James was not a super raider, as the movie suggests, he could not have killed 20 to 30 Union solders on his own without getting a scratch in the process. If he was, why was there a need for a gang? Wouldn`t it have been enough that he had two people, his brother and their friend Cole Younger, especiall...
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