Popular Culture and Mass Society
Frontiers and Borderlands

Texts addressed in first midterm:

Frederick Jackson Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" (1893)--Questions to Consider

John Ford, Stagecoach (1939)--Questions to Consider

John Ford, The Searchers (1956)--Questions to Consider

Richard Slotkin, "The Significance of the Frontier Myth in American History," from Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America (1992)

James Fenimore Cooper, selections from The Last of the Mohicans (1826)--Questions to Consider

Lydia Maria Child, selections from Hobomok (1824)--Questions to Consider

Zitkala-Sa [aka Gertrude Simmons Bonnin], selections from "Impressions of an Indian Childhood" (1900)--Questions to Consider

Bret Harte, selections from "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and Other Short Stories (1870)*--Questions to Consider

Mark Twain, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1865/1875) and "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" (1895), in Humorous Stories and Sketches*; and selections from Roughing It (1891)--Questions to Consider

IDENTIFICATIONS:

You should be prepared to identify selections from the texts (multiple choice) which will be like the selection listed below:

     "I do not think that the announcement [of Cherokee Sal's death in childbirth] disturbed them much, except in speculation as to the fate of the child. "Can he live now?" was asked of Stumpy. The answer was doubtful. The only other being of Cherokee Sal's sex and maternal condition in the settlement was an ass. There was some conjecture as to fitness, but the experiment was tried. It was less problematical than the ancient treatment of Romulus and Remus, and apparently as successful."

This selection is taken from:

A) James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans

B) Brett Harte, "The Luck of Roaring Camp"

C) Mark Twain, Roughing It

D) Lydia Maria Child, Hobomok

SHORT ANSWERS:

You should be prepared to answer brief questions about the content of the course, like the following:

A) What is Popular Culture?

B) What is the difference between "Highbrow" and "Lowbrow" Culture? Give examples of each to illustrate.

C) What is meant by the term "cultural hegemony"? How does this concept explain the power and "cultural work" of popular culture?

D) Why is "the cowboy" such a central image of "Americanness" in American popular culture?

E) What is the "Frontier Thesis" and why is it important in American history?

ESSAY QUESTIONS:

You should be prepared to anwer the following essay questions, providing examples drawn from the course texts to support your argument.

A) Discuss Western genre in two or three of the texts we have used so far in the course. What are the characteristics which identify the Western film and story as a genre? To answer this, think of the Western films and stories you have seen and read, and refer to the selected reading from Richard Slotkin's Gunfighter Nation. What are the types of characters which appear in the Western? What do they represent?

B) Discuss the place of "borders" in two or three of the texts we have used so far in the course. Richard Slotkin argues that central to the myth of the frontier is the maintenance of borders. What kind of borders are drawn and maintained in these stories and films? How are they represented? Who crosses these borders, how, and why?

C) Discuss the place of landscapes and nature in two or three of the texts we have used so far in the course. What are the landscapes represented in them? In what ways do these landscapes become like characters in the stories? What do the landscapes do in the stories? Which characters (or types of characters) is (or are) in the landscape and which is (or are) simply on it?

You will be allowed to bring a 5x7" notecard into the examination with you, on which you may put notes and reminders to yourself. This card will be submitted with your examination.