andallthat.co.uk
  • Blog
  • GCSE / A Level Topics
    • America 1789-1900
    • Antisemitism
    • British Radicalism 1789-1900
    • Crusades
    • Elizabeth I
    • Germany 1919-45
    • Historical Interpretations
    • Historic Environment
    • International Relations 1900-2000
    • Italian Renaissance
    • Medicine
    • Medieval Kings
    • Russia 1855-1921
    • Soviet Russia
    • Politics Files
  • KS3 Topics
    • Interpretations
    • Stand-Alone Lessons
    • NEW KS3 File Store
    • OLD KS3 File Store
    • Student Resources
  • Advice
    • GCSE Options
    • A Level Options
    • Personal Studies
    • University Applications >
      • Choosing Courses
      • General Advice
      • Personal Statements
      • Predicted Grades
  • Teachers
    • YHEP Teach Meet
    • Stand-Alone Lessons >
      • Ancient World
      • Medieval World
      • Early Modern
      • Industrial Revolution
      • Modern World
      • Post-Modern World
    • KS3 Teaching Resources
  • MeetTheHistorians
  • Trips
  • About
    • SubBlog
  • Contact

Film Review: Smoke Signals

8/14/2013

0 Comments

 
Smoke Signals is something of a ground breaking film in the category of Westerns, in that it has been written, directed, produced by and starred in by American Indians. The film itself is adaptation of a short story collection by Sherman Alexie "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven". Director Chris Eyre turns this into a fantastic, funny and intimate film which won both the Audience Award and the Filmmakers' Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival 1998.

Smoke Signals tells the story of two very different young men, brought up in a small town on the "Rez". When Victor is called away urgently to Phoenix, the two young men are thrown together when Thomas offers to pay for his trip. The remainder of the film looks at how the characters deal with themselves, each other and their shared histories as both struggle to come to terms with their relationship with Victor's drunken father. 

The road movie theme is really something of an aside. What makes this a brilliant and darkly funny movie, is that it offers an honest insight into the lives of Indians on the Reservations in the late 1990s, without resorting to the kind of exploitation so common in white-directed films of the period. Indeed, Dances with Wolves is lampooned in a conversation where Victor tires to teach Thomas how to be a real Indian. As film critic Roger Ebert notes in his own analysis of the film "There's a particular satisfaction in listening to people talk about what they know well and care about. The subject isn't as important as the feeling. Listen to them discuss the ins and outs of an Indian specialty known as "frybread,'' and you will sense what they know about the world." 

At the very least, this might be something of an antidote to Johnny' Depp in the Lone Ranger.
Indeed at one point in the film, a woman remarks to the odd duo "Hey, you two were just like the Lone Ranger and Tonto."
"No" replies Thomas, "We are more like Tonto and Tonto."
Try it - you might just love it

Mr F
0 Comments

Westerns: Want something to watch this summer? The 10 best Westerns of all time!! #historyteacher #americanwest #tweko

7/28/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Guardian has compiled a list of the 10 best Westerns of all time. It is well worth a look. Even if you can only watch one or two of these, it will help you access the idea of the myth of the West which is so central to the USA's understanding of itself. 

Can I highly recommend Stagecoach (no. 10) as a brilliant Western, I am not too sure about the Man from Laramie however...

Highly disappointingly, George Steven's Shane (1953) has not made the list. This is by far and away the best Western I have seen. If you have not seen Shane, what are you waiting for - go get a slice of American history!

The full list is HERE. 

Comment if you have any other good recommendations.

0 Comments

What is the West? Comparative Wests & History

5/16/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
What exactly is the West? What on earth are Comparative Wests? And why on earth should you care? Historians Brian Codding, Douglas Bird, Ethan Blue, Jon Christensen & Richard White introduce you to the newest way of thinking about the history of the American West.

Read the introduction and key essays on what the West means today by following the link HERE

Can I particularly recommend the introduction HERE and Darren Jorgensen's comparison of the myth of the cowboy in the US and Australia HERE.

occasion_v05i01_jorgensen_032213.pdf
File Size: 882 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

The Myth of the Cowboy: Hobsbawm

3/24/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
How did the lone cowboy hero become such a potent figure in American culture? 

A great little feature from the Guardian, which is also an extract from "Fractured Times", Hobsbawm's last book. Here Hobsbawm follows a trail from cheap novels and B-westerns to Ronald Reagan...


Finally a proper Marxist take on the West!!!


Thanks to Miss Devey for this find


Link: HERE

0 Comments

Myth of the West - Rich Hall: How the West was Lost

2/10/2013

1 Comment

 
A fantastic documentary from comedian Rich Hall looking at the decline of the Western as a genre. Be warned there is some strong language but a great watch none-the-less. Also check out Rich's other documentary on Native Americans.

Rich Hall's How the West was Lost from A Ford on Vimeo.

1 Comment

Ken Burns' "The West" - Full Series

11/25/2012

2 Comments

 
Picture
A fantastic series by Ken Burns and Steven Ives which explores the West through the writings of New Western Historians such as Patty Limerick and Richard White. If you have the time this is a brilliant watch from start to finish!! If not, I have put a guide on so you can pick specific parts which might be useful. There is an accompanying website which you will find HERE too.

Click READ MORE to see the videos

pocket_guide_to_ken.docx
File Size: 18 kb
File Type: docx
Download File


Read More
2 Comments

Western History Association Spring Newsletter

9/25/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
I have attached a copy of the latest newsletter from the Western History Association. Some great little articles in this quarter including:



  • “Teaching the West On the Conservative-Liberal Divide,” by Andrea Radke-Moss
  • “Cowboys, Aliens, and Other Folks: Teaching the West in Popular Culture,” by Richard Aquila
  • “Confronting the Mythic West in U.S. High School History Classes,” by Christi Carlson, Katie Piehl, Heather Walker, Lori Wright, and Paula Wright
  • “Establishing a Baseline in Western Historiography: The Graduate Reading Seminar,” by Durwood Ball
  • “Forty Years with Bob Hine and the Textbook, The American West: An Interpretive History,” by John Mack Faragher
  • “Teaching the Environmental History of the North American West,” by Jay Taylor
  • “Yes, Virginia, Indians Are Still Here: Teaching Native American History,” by Andrew Fisher
  • “Both Sides Now: Teaching the West North of the 49th Parallel,” by Betsy Jameson
  • “Teaching Borderlands History for a New Generation,” by Samuel Truett

2012whaspringnewsletter.pdf
File Size: 3687 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

PBS - Western Myths

3/11/2012

0 Comments

 
Some nice little documentaries on key Western figures - all available to watch online
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Custer's Last Stand - The Myth

5/22/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and investigate the truth in the myth. Some good historical background and debate.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112xfd

Also available on Skydrive HERE
0 Comments

The 1893 World Exposition: A Contest of Cultures

12/8/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
Highbrow or lowbrow? James Gilbert looks at the competing visions of American civilisation on offer at Chicago's fin de siécle Exposition of 1893.

Link to article HERE

the_1893_world_exposition__a_contest_of_cultures.pdf
File Size: 142 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

    Teaching Resources

    Archives

    September 2020
    May 2018
    March 2018
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    September 2011
    May 2011
    December 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    March 2010
    November 2009
    June 2009

    Categories

    All
    Abolition
    Activities
    Articles
    Audio
    Bibliography
    Black Americans
    Book Review
    Borderlands
    Business
    Chief Joseph
    Cities
    Civil Rights
    Civil War
    Comparative
    Conflict
    Cowboys
    Cpd
    Custer
    Exams
    Expansion
    Files
    Frontier
    General
    Gold Miners
    Historiography
    Homesteaders
    Indians
    Indian Wars
    Industry
    Key Reading
    Lessons
    Links
    Mexican War
    Missionaries
    Mormons
    Mountain Men
    Mr Ford
    Myth
    Narrative
    Natives
    New Western History
    Overview
    Politicians
    Racism
    Railroad
    Reconstruction
    Reservations
    Resource
    Revision
    Settlement
    Slavery
    Teaching Resoures
    Timeline
    Turner
    Video
    Videos
    Westerns
    Wha
    Women
    Worksheets
    You Really Should Teach

    RSS Feed

    Tweets by @AndAllThatWeb
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.