attachments_06-04-2012_23-41-26 / 13 western

• 13 -

Read the following text and be ready to answer the questions given below.

Western

In the United States, the western has had an extremely rich history that spans many genres (comedy, drama, tragedy, parody, musical, etc.). The western film traces its roots back to “The Great Train Robbery”, a silent film directed by Edwin S. Porter and starring Broncho Billy Anderson. Released in 1903, the film's popularity opened the door for Anderson to become the screen's first cowboy star, making several hundred Western movie shorts.

Westerns, by definition, are set in the American West, almost always in the 19th century. Many incorporate the Civil War into the plot, or into the background, although the west was not touched by the war. However, their setting may extend further back to the time of the American colonial period or forward to the mid-twentieth century. They may also range geographically from Mexico to Canada.

Many westerns involve characters who wander from town to town, their sole possessions consisting of clothing, a gun, and a horse. Cowboys and Gunslingers play prominent roles in Western movies. In spite of depicting fights with Indians "revisionist" Westerns give the natives sympathetic treatment. Other recurring themes of westerns include western treks, and groups of bandits terrorizing small towns.

The Western takes these simple elements and uses them to tell morality tales, usually setting them against spectacular American landscapes. Specific settings include lonely isolated forts, ranch houses, the isolated homestead, the saloon or the jail.

1. How you can define a Western?

2. What’s the traditional plot of a Western?

3. What characters does a Western usually involve?