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     For this assignment, I chose to write about my favorite western, and tell you why it is my favorite.  I couldn't think of many, but after a half hour of racking my brain, and goofing off, I came up with the movie, Tombstone.   I liked this movie for a variety of reasons including Doc Holiday's character, Wyatt Erp's character, and the environment.

     The first reason I'll talk about is the environment.   I like how the old West was very blunt, but had honor.  If someone made you mad, you could work it out there, or it would be a gunfight later.  And they showed up, which is the honor part.  It was a harsh, but overall fair environment.   Good or bad, all men respected ladies.  If you had enemies, you watched your back.  Usually, a gunfight would be fair and square.   It has become a cliché, "meet me at high noon...".  What is really compelling is that you could go anywhere.  You could drift, and the government didn't arrest you for not having a permanent address, or for tax evasion.  Those problems didn't exist, which made it easy to just go where you wanted.  As long as you were an overall good person, didn't make enemies, and kept yourself busy, you were well off.   It was an overall good environment, much like today, except with honor, and some dignity.

     The second reason I liked this movie was because of Wyatt Erp's character.  If there ever was a lawman... Kurt Russell does an awesome job.  After his brothers are killed, he gets really motivated, like an angel of vengeance.  His words, "Tell them I'm commin', and Hell's commin with me!"   You can tell he's not in a good mood, but on a more serious note, it's backed by so much rage, that it makes your hair stand on end.  He has a wife, but she's so drugged up, that he doesn't even mess with her.  But his honor binds him, he takes care of her, and doesn't give up till later in the movie.  He tries, but he's not happy, so he drifts away.  Wyatt Erp had to be a cool guy.  He was a normal down to earth guy, but he was driven.  As long as you didn't do him wrong, you were O.K., but once you messed with him, you were dead.

     The third reason I liked this movie was because of Doc Holiday's character.  Doc is played by Val Kilmer.  Doc was awesome with a gun, but a jokester at the same time.  He had tuberculosis, and was drunk half the time, but he still was an awesome shot.  At one point, when he's drunk, he's seeing double, but he tells the bad guy, "That's O.K., I've got a gun for each of you."  In another part, one of the bad guys in trying to intimidate Doc, and he starts twirling his gun.   Everyone watches, and claps when he finishes.  Then it's Doc's turn.  He picks up a tin cup, and does the exact same twirling with the tin cup.  He was basically a smarta$$.  But he had the skill to back him up if anyone wanted trouble.   Not only that, but he was smart. According to the movie, he could speak fluent Latin.   How many people in the old West could do that?  He was an awesome character.

     The three reasons I liked the movie Tombstone, were because of the environment, Wyatt Erp's character, and Doc Holiday's character.  If you lived in the old West, do you think you could survive?  Would you be able to live up to the code of the Old West?

     One day, in the middle of summer, a car came zooming down a road.  It pulled off the road, and onto a dirt lane that ran through a field.   It stopped in front of an old broken down farmhouse, and two people got out.  They walked up to the front door, and went inside.  Once inside, they looked around the living room, but found nothing more than old furniture, lamps, and lots of dust.  It was the same throughout all the other rooms on the first floor.  When they went downstairs though, they found something very disturbing.  The basement was empty!  As they ran back upstairs in horror, there was a sound upstairs.  They were now apprehensious about what they should do.  Should they investigate upstairs?   Should they leave as soon as possible?  They decided to investigate.   They slowly climbed the stairs, listening to each one creak as they passed.  As they reached the top, they entered a long, dark hallway.  At the end was a door, slightly ajar, with an eerie light shining through the crack.  They heard the sound again, but still couldn’t tell what was in the room.  They started for the door, scared, but curious at the same time.  As they reached it, they heard the noise again, and with their curiousity overwhelming them, they opened the door to find.....

     At this point, you can write your own ending to this story as the assignment was originally supposed to be.  If you'd rather just read my ending, here you go!  :)

     .....a virtually empty room!  There was some furniture, some boxes, and assorted odds and ends, but nothing else.  So what made that noise???   There it is again!  Oh, it’s a bird, up in the rafters... it must have flown in the open window and made it’s nest inside the shelter of the house.  They left the house, a little shaken by all the excitement, but otherwise fine.  They got in their car, drove back down the dirt lane, pulled on to the road, and zoomed off in a cloud of dust.

     To begin, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is a book by Mark Twain that begins in the 19th century, but takes place mostly in 6th Century England.   In the book, a man named Hank Morgan, who works in a munitions factory, gets in a fight with one of his rebellious employees, is hit over the head with a crowbar, and wakes up in the 6th century, in Arthur’s court.  The story is his story, and at the beginning it is the 19th century, and he is a visitor at Warwick castle.  He gives a manuscript to the man there and goes to a room to sleep.   The rest of the story takes place in the 6th century, as the man reads the manuscript, and is the account of Hank’s adventures in that time period.  While he is in the 6th century, Hank uses his knowledge of Science and lack of superstition to win him one of the highest positions in the country.   He slowly works towards a more modern, more civilized, nation where there is no Monarchy, only a modern 19th century Republic.  His main help is a young man who he names Clarence.   Clarence learns fast and quickly catches up to speed.  Hank’s patience serves him well as he gains a reputation, and lays the foundation of his new country.  He marries a woman named Sandy, and they have a kid.  By the end, he has a train station, telephones, guns, monetary system, schools, a military, and many other things that weren’t to be invented for centuries to come.  But it is the end.  Hank grows careless from dealing with “harmless” ignorant knights, and receives a knife wound which doesn’t seem to heal even with what modern day medicine he has given them.  He has managed to kill off knight errantry, and has basically destroyed the idea of nobility.  But alas, Merlin, who he has undermined the whole time, gets his revenge.  He makes Hank sleep for 13 centuries.  Which brings us to the end of the book, where Hank is back in his own time.  He is asleep in the 19th century, crying out for Sandy and his daughter, Hello-Central.  The man knows not what to do as Hank rambles on in his sleep about dreaming that he was supposed to live in the 19th century and not the 6th, and the whole time, Hank is praising that he lives in the 6th century and that he’s glad that he doesn’t live in th 19th.   He dies that way, wishing he were back in the 6th, not knowing he really belongs in the 19th.

     Which brings me to the point of this paper.  This paper is a comparison of the above described book and the modern movie, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court.   From this point on, Twain’s work will be called “the novel” while the new video, will be referred to as “the movie”.  The movie follows much of the same principals, but involves many modern day things that weren’t around in Twain’s time, such as roller blades, CD players, and many other things.   The four things that I’m comparing and contrasting are, the main characters and how they are brought into the story, how the main characters are placed in the medieval time period, the knowledge the main characters take to the medieval period, and how they use the knowledge they have.   This is what my paper is.

     The first topic I’m comparing and contrasting is the main characters and how they are brought into the story.  In Twain’s novel, Hank Morgan is sent in to the 6th century after being beaten over the head with a crowbar, while in the movie, the boy falls in a peculiar looking round hole during an earthquake.  There is one major difference in the two stories at this point.   The novel uses the term “transposition of epochs-and bodies”, which basically means he was hit so hard, it knocked him back 13 centuries.  As soon as Hank rouses himself, he is put upon by Sir Lancelot, and put in the dungeon.  He remembers a solar eclipse is about to happen, and decides to tell them he will blot out the sun the next day, where upon they decide, with Merlin’s help, to burn him that day.  Poor unlucky Hank.  In the movie, the boy is cheerily selected by Merlin.  Merlin chooses the boy because he knew the boy had a good heart.   Merlin surely had no part of Hank’s selection.  Which brings up the fact that in the novel, Merlin is a fake, and can’t really do any magic, and in the movie, he’s the all-powerful sorcerer he’s always made out to be.

     The next point that I’m going to compare and contrast is how the main characters are placed in that medieval period.  As stated above, Hank is immediately placed under suspicion, and placed in the dungeon, and about to be burned, when he gets lucky, and he realizes he was told the wrong date.  He instantly becomes a rival of Merlin, but gains the awe of the multitudes.   The boy in the movie, accidentally lands on the “evil” Black Knight, and is from that point on, a hero.   He meets the princess, and loves her, while Hank slowly falls in love with Sandy because in that time, the only way to lose her was to be beaten in battle.  Both Hank and the boy earn high positions though.  Both Hank and the boy make trips into the peasants realm with the King in disguise.  Both teach the King to have more respect for the lower class.  The boy is accepted by most, almost immediately though, while Hank, being looked at in awe, is never truly accepted.

     The 3rd compare and contrast point between the book and the novel is the knowledge the main characters take to the medieval period.  Hank takes what’s in his head which is the knowledge of mechanics and explosives.  Hank knows modern government, and all the knowledge people collect over 20 years or more.  The boy knows about music, roller blades, how to have fun, and the basics of right and wrong.  Neither fit in the 6th century.  The boy knows close to nothing about government, but he knows how to ask other people to do things for him.

     The last compare and contrast point in this paper is how the main characters use the knowledge they have.  In the novel, Hank uses his knowledge to take over medieval England.   He slowly works into a position of power by using Science to perform apparent “miracles”.   He undermines any party he’s against such as the knights, the church, the nobility, and Merlin.   Meanwhile, the boy in the movie uses his knowlege to have fun.  Unlike Hank, the boy has brought things with him.  He has his rollerblades which he shows to a blacksmith, who then copies them as best he can.  He has a bike made, which Hank also does.  He surprises everyone by playing a CD as loud as he can, and he somehow gets a CD player to shoot a laser out of itself and blind a soldier.  He also teaches the blacksmith how to make metal alloys that he learned in shop.   The boy never tries to take over though, and is glad to be back when he goes home.

     There were many similarities and differences between the novel and the movie such as the main characters and how they are brought into the story, how the main characters were placed in the medieval time period, the knowledge the main characters take to the medieval period, and how they use the knowledge they have.  These four things were the topic of my paper.  If you were somehow sent into the 6th century, how do you think you would fare?