ENGL215: English Composition II
Dances with Wolves Writing Guidelines

Assignment

For the third writing assignment, you'll be writing an analysis of a recent film which explores western themes, Dances with Wolves. In this film, John Dunbar, a decorated Civil War veteran, takes a post in the west where he meets and becomes friends with the Sioux. As he comes to know them, he begins to identify with their way of life and is forced to make difficult decisions about which world he wishes to live in.

The film begins with a more or less traditional treatment of Native Americans, but gradually shifts the viewers' sympathies toward the Sioux. Your assignment is to analyze the film, make a claim about how the film influences the viewers' perceptions of and sympathies for Native Americans, the so-called Indians, then report this claim with its support in writing.

Background

You probably know enough about the American West to remember that white Americans quickly saw the potential of the frontier, but found this territory already inhabited by groups of people who seemed primitive and uncivilized to their European ways. In order to settle the west, Americans first had to remove the Indians to other locations, which they did in at least two great "removals," first in the 1830's and later in the 1870's and 80's.

Literary and cinematic treatment of Native Americans has traditionally been from the white, European perspective, but in the last fifteen to twenty years, films have begun to appear which examine the Indian problem from more sympathetic positions. Dances with Wolves is one of these films which attempts to portray how misunderstood and mistreated America's first peoples were.

Directions

1. Use the study guide below to help you take notes and to organize your writing.

2. Make a claim (see Chapter 5 of Writing Analytically for more on claims) about how the film shifts the viewer's sympathy toward the Sioux.

3. Use the 10 on 1 strategy (see pp. 87-96 of the Writing Analytically textbook for more on this strategy) to develop support for your claim about how the film shifts the viewer's sympathies.

4. Draw evidence from at least five additional, non-film sources to support your claim. You may draw from any other source you find useful. You may, for instance, use notes from Dr. Summitt's lecture. Do additional research in the library or on the Internet to find out more about the film, about the stars of the film, about the Sioux, or about any other aspect of the film you'd like to understand in more detail. Use Questia to help you locate these five additional sources.

5. Cite your internal references with phrases like "When Dunbar first meets the Sioux..." or "In the scene where Dunbar ..." so that it will be clear to your reader when you are using the film to support your observations. If you make use of web-based sources, you obviously will be unable to refer to page numbers since there aren't any. For print sources be sure to give the page number where you find the information. Your borrowed information should follow this format:

   According to Bob McNormal, "the Sioux were a highly peaceful people whose eventual demise resulted from the complete annihilation of the bison" (26).

   OR

   Gennie Gwenth writes that "the Sioux put up a valiant and heroic struggle against white incursions, but in the end were no match for the superior numbers of the white soldiers and settlers" (57).

6. Your document should be 3-5 pages in length, double-spaced. Include an Andrews University cover page which you'll find in your syllabus.

7. Document the film as follows:

   Costner, Kevin, dir. Dances with Wolves. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, and Rodney A. Grant. 1990. Videocassette. Orion, 1991.

   Document any other sources you may use according to MLA guidelines in your textbook or handbook. See pages 339-346 in Writing Analytically or 593-612 in your Bedford Handbook. If you have trouble finding out how to document your sources, be sure to contact me.

Study Questions

1. How does the opening of the film depict John Dunbar? What sort of man is he? How is he presented as a person who is to be respected? In what ways does he seem to be a person whose assumptions about the Indians are to be trusted?

2. How are Indians first presented in the film? What is our first introduction to them? How does this first introduction appear to support our stereotypes of Indians?

3. How would you describe Dunbar's growing friendship with the Sioux? What is their first meeting like? How does their friendship grow? What events draw them closer together? What events eventually test their friendship?

4. What decisions does Dunbar eventually have to make in terms of his relationship with the Sioux? Why does he make the decisions he makes? Are these decisions justified? Why or why not?

5. What is the film's effect on the viewer? How are the viewer's sympathies drawn to the Sioux's plight? What events in the story accomplish this shift?