West Side Story Essays

1. In Cofer 's essay, the incidents on the bus, in the hotel, and at the poetry reading were all humiliating situations in which people associated Cofer with the Latina stereotype. The drunk, young man sand "Maria" from West Side Story when he saw Cofer. The drunk man in the hotel sang "Don 't Cry for Me, Argentina" and "La Bamba" when Cofer was walking to her room. The lady at the poetry reading mistaken Cofer as the waitress and ordered coffee. These situations were caused by the widespread stereotype

Anna Ryan Professor Craig Friend HI 345 (001) April 14, 2023 West Side Story: 1961 and 2021 Comparison Though there are sixty years of separation between the two films, West Side Story (1961) and West Side Story (2021), both of these films highlight societal shifts and problems. These films share several similarities, such as basic storylines, music, and themes, however, the new film provides a deeper emphasis on the change in societal awareness of issues such as cross-culture communities, prejudice

Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, and West Side Story are equally affected by their friends and others close to them, but are influenced in evidently dissimilar ways. The influences exerted by characters are important to analyze so that their variations can be fully noted and understood. Despite fulfilling twin roles, the Nurse and Anita provide very distinct impacts to Juliet and Maria as the courses of their respective stories unfold. Having lost her own child at a young age, Nurse

Joslyn Arteaga Gana April 06, 2016 Visual Analysis Paper: West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of Focus Aldo Maldonado, a Nuyorican conceptual artist has focused on issues of identity. He was born in Utuado, Puerto Rico and moved to New York City at the age of seventeen. Aldo’s, West Side Story Upside Down, Backwards, Sideways and Out of Focus, communicates the idea of identity and how it has changed in circumstances. His identity has always been the Puerto Rican culture which

West Side Story is a musical modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This story was originally converted for use on stage by Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins and was first shown on stage in 1957. It is set in New York City's Upper West Side in the 1950s. The musical focuses on the rivalry between two gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. These two gangs are the Jets, consisting of only white American men and women, and the Sharks from Puerto Rico. These themes relate to Romeo

The musical West Side Story is without a doubt one of the most popular and memorable musicals ever to be created. The makers of the musical include composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim and librettist Arthur Laurents. This musical is often analyzed for being based off of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, however there are other underlying themes that should be acknowledged as well. In particular there is a constant stream of racism seen throughout the play. From Lieutenant

West Side Story is a Broadway musical in which related to Romeo and Juliet. In New York, there are two gang who want to take control over the upper west side turf. It become more complicated when one of the gang member fall in love with the rival’s sister. There are so many dancing and singing scenes that is not important in history that could of been left out. One historical event was when the Puerto Ricans came to American. The first group of Puerto Ricans immigrated to New York City in the

The color and social structure in the film west side story supports the plot and story of the film in a variety of ways. West side story is a film that incorporates music, dancing and singing as well as the movie 's status as a musical making it primarily formalistic, with a great focus on the artistic aspects of the film. Coupled with the technical aspects in this film that do a brilliant job of portraying a sad story as fun and enjoyable movie. However, it still manages to demonstrate a variety

The film West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Tony Kushner argues that to be accepted in America, one must have “American” attributes such as having white skin, speaking English, and being rich/owning property. Those who do not fit these attributes are outcasts in society. West Side Story is a musical that explores the relationships between ethnic and cultural identities, violence, and discrimination in New York. The film is about two gangs, the Jets, a group of white Americans

Exploration Document Leimaris Cruz Rosa HUM200 Cultural Artifacts For my artifact project, I have chosen to analyze the 1961 film West Side Story and compare it to William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. The reason behind this is the cultural connection I have with the film and its obvious ties and draws to the former. West Side Story is a film adaptation of a 1957 Broadway musical with the same name. It was directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. This musical was inspired, as I said before

Romeo vs. Tony Character and Theme Comparison William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Arthur Laurent’s West Side Story were both tragic, romantic, works. West Side Story was a close variation of the play Romeo and Juliet, but the author of West Side Story changed characteristics of Tony to differ from his Romeo and Juliet equivalent, Romeo. Tony became more of an introverted, optimistic, and innocent character. On the other hand, Romeo was outgoing, seemingly bipolar, and violent. These changes

and unconventional with a wider variety of musical genres; from vaudeville and Latin rhythms to bebop fugue and quasi-operatic ensembles. West Side Story is also important with regards to making significant changes in the concept of musical theatre. Before this musical was brought out, musicals generally focussed on more pleasant, light-hearted subjects. West Side Story’s use of street slang, a dark urban landscape, and the subject of gang warfare, therefore challenged the normally accepted, and controversial

West Side Story; The Discrimination Behind the Song and Dance According to Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez, The musical (West Side Story) projects ethnic difference as a threat to the territorial, racial and linguistic identity, as well as to the national and imperial subjectivity of Anglo Americans. The musical, uses plot points, characters, music, dialogue and dances as a distraction from the ethnic and racial discrimination against Puerto Rican immigrants of that time. West Side Story may not necessarily

MAJOR ESSAY The West Side Story is popular for adapting the classic romantic tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet" (Anonymous). On the other hand, Porgy and Bess is an opera with regard black residents in South Carolina. Basically, this film is based on the history of race in America. Since these two films involve different plot, this paper will discuss how these stories differ or what they have in common. Aside from that, the setting of each film will be provided, as well as the characters, its synopsis

In the musical West Side Story, the portrayal of the “Jets” and the “Sharks” highlight the issues of race and ethnicity that impact the formation of identity. In an article, “On Broadway”, Sylviane Gold argues that “musicals have reflected and perpetuated the racial rifts and injustices of American society” (81). West Side Story brings across the racial and ethnic divide of an America dealing with issues of identity and an influx of immigrants both in terms of its presentation of the character as

‘West Side Story (1961) was the second highest-grossing film of the year in the United States and swept the Academy Awards, winning ten Oscars, including Best Picture – more than any other musical. It garnered uniformly enthusiastic critical accolades (…). The soundtrack album was one of the best-selling LPs off all time up to that point.’ (Keith, page 100) West Side Story is known as one of the greatest musicals of all the time. Furthermore, the fusion of the magnificent play of colors with splendid

Javeon Lane Mrs. Hughes ALA 8 4 May 2016 Terribly Tragic Story Far too much death can be caused over something as trivial as a city block. West Side Story, released in 1961, starts in the middle of a conflict between an American gang known as the Jets and a Puerto Rican gang known as the Sharks. Tony, previous leader of the Jets, falls in love with a Shark girl named Maria. Riff, leader of the Jets, and Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, plan a large gang fight in an attempt to win control over the

2 rival gangs fight for power on the streets of New York, but something goes wrong. West Side Story by Irving Shulman is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. 2 gangs fight on the street of West Side New York, while 2 lovers get in between the crossfire of the 2 gangs, Jets and Sharks. Through Tony killing Bernardo, Tony not hearing the full truth, and Tony trying to find Chino, it is clear that Tony is responsible for his death. Tony killed Bernardo, he makes a mistake and Chino finds out saying to

West Side Story is one of the darkest musical dramas of its time. It changed the face of musicals forever with its dark themes and social commentary. Opening in 1957, on September the 26th at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York, no one in the audience could have predicted the heartache and social cognizance they would be taking away from this modern day musical. Set in an ethnic, working class neighbourhood of New York in the 1950’s, West Side Story elaborates on issues such as racism, sexism

Ryan Bardwell English 1101 Derek Theiss 6 October, 2015 Making a Difference, One Note at a Time West Side Story began as a Broadway play in 1957, then was made into an Academy Award winning film in 1961. The popular film is best known for its singing and dancing to outstanding music for a moving story. These memorable songs are the creation of none other than the brilliant Leonard Bernstein. He was not only a composer, but also a conductor and pianist with a passion for obtaining world peace