ENG 239 Review for Exam 3 The exam will cover the following: Scorsese, Martin. Goodfellas (1990) “The Gangster Movie” (PDF) Information about the Gangster Genre: Source/History: The 1930s is when gangster films became popular, mostly due to the Prohibition Era (which lasted through the 1920s until 1933) and the emergence of real-life gangsters and organized crime. Conventions/characteristics of classic gangster films: Setting: gangster/crime films are like noir films, usually set in the “bad” areas of cities, to provide a view of the secret world of the criminal. Plot: the gangster or crime film is developed around the sinister actions of criminals or gangsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. There is some overlap between criminal and gangster films and film noir, especially in their cynical views of the world. Gangster movies often highlight or glorify the rise and fall of a particular criminal(s), gang, bank robber, murderer or lawbreaker in personal power struggles or conflict with law and order figures, an underling or competitive colleague, or a rival gang. Protagonist: film gangsters are usually materialistic, street-smart, immoral, power-hungry, ambitious, and self-destructive. Rivalry with other criminals in gangster warfare is often a significant plot characteristic. They rise to power with a tough cruel exterior while showing an ambitious desire for success and recognition, but underneath they can occasionally express sensitivity and gentleness. Women: almost always secondary or minor characters, whose roles are defined by their relation to the men in the film: wives, mistresses, mothers, etc. Themes of the genre: Gangster films are morality tales: while gangsters can be sympathetic figures, they are ultimately bad guys and are inevitably arrested or killed by the end. Pre-1960s films, like noir films, reinforce conventional notions of authority, such as depicting the police as incorruptible “good guys” who get the job done. Post-1960s films make the gangsters more heroic, or show the traditional “good guys” to be as corrupt, if not more so, than their underworld counterparts. Gangster films are often the inverse of American Dream narratives, also known as “rags-to-riches stories”: American Dream success stories turned upside down in which criminals live in an inverted dream world of success and wealth. The gangster functions as the doppelganger of “respectable” men in power, such as politicians and corporate presidents,” parodying the American drive to succeed. Gangsters are promoted just like people in “regular” jobs; but the standards they must meet (murdering, stealing, etc.) are vastly different. Limits of the American Dream and American excess: the American Dream is sometimes depicted as false or accessible to only the “right” kinds of people. Often from poor immigrant families, ...

1. ENG 239
Review for Exam 3
The exam will cover the following:
Scorsese, Martin. Goodfellas (1990)
“The Gangster Movie” (PDF)
Information about the Gangster Genre:
Source/History:
The 1930s is when gangster films became popular, mostly due
to the Prohibition Era (which lasted through the 1920s until
1933) and the emergence of real-life gangsters and organized
crime.
Conventions/characteristics of classic gangster films:
Setting: gangster/crime films are like noir films, usually set in
the “bad” areas of cities, to provide a view of the secret world
of the criminal.
Plot: the gangster or crime film is developed around the sinister
actions of criminals or
gangsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or
ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and
murdering their way through life. There is some overlap
between criminal and gangster films and film noir, especially in
their cynical views of the world.
Gangster movies often highlight or glorify the rise and fall of a
particular criminal(s), gang, bank robber, murderer or
lawbreaker in personal power struggles or conflict with law and
order figures, an underling or competitive colleague, or a rival
gang.

2. Protagonist: film gangsters are usually materialistic, street-
smart, immoral, power-hungry, ambitious, and self-destructive.
Rivalry with other criminals in gangster warfare is often a
significant plot characteristic. They rise to power with a tough
cruel exterior while showing an ambitious desire for success
and recognition, but underneath they can occasionally express
sensitivity and gentleness.
Women: almost always secondary or minor characters, whose
roles are defined by their relation to the men in the film: wives,
mistresses, mothers, etc.
Themes of the genre:
Gangster films are morality tales: while gangsters can be
sympathetic figures,
they are ultimately bad guys and are inevitably arrested or
killed by the end. Pre-1960s films, like noir films, reinforce
conventional notions of authority, such as depicting the police
as incorruptible “good guys” who get the job done. Post-1960s
films make the gangsters more heroic, or show the traditional
“good guys” to be as corrupt, if not more so, than their
underworld counterparts.
Gangster films are often the inverse of American Dream
narratives, also known as “rags-to-riches stories”: American
Dream success stories turned upside down in which criminals
live in an inverted dream world of success and wealth.
The gangster functions as the doppelganger of “respectable”
men in power, such as politicians and corporate presidents,”
parodying the American drive to succeed. Gangsters are
promoted just like people in “regular” jobs; but the standards
they must meet (murdering, stealing, etc.) are vastly different.

3. Limits of the American Dream and American excess: the
American Dream is sometimes depicted as false or accessible to
only the “right” kinds of people. Often from poor immigrant
families, characters become gangsters all other "normal"
avenues to the top are unavailable to them. When a gangster
becomes successful, he can sometimes become too greedy and
have too much success, which makes him careless or distorts his
view of himself and the world around him, and too preoccupied
with building up his power or wealth.
Although in pre-1960s gangster films, gangsters are doomed to
failure and death (usually violent), criminals are sometimes
portrayed as the victims of circumstance, because the stories are
told from their point of view.
During the late 1960s, the genre shifts and begins to depict the
gangster as the hero. The genre also becomes much more
violent.
Critics have argued that the gangster film has a double appeal:
audiences can vicariously experience the gangster lifestyle,
which includes corruption and violence, and also witness the
gangster’s ultimate downfall and punishment, thus reinforcing
the normalcy of the audience’s lives. Earlier gangster films
tended to punish the gangster, either by having him killed or put
in jail.
The Mafia subgenre:
Mafia films are a subcategory of the gangster film genre.
Unlike gangster films, which can focus on a diverse range of
gangsters and gangster groups, mafia films focus on the exploits
of the Sicilian-founded Cosa Nostra (“Our Thing” or “This
Thing of Ours”), which dates back to the fifteenth century.
Evolution of the mafia film: In the 50s, film portrayals of

4. gangsterism shifted from focusing on independent gangsters to
organized crime taking over (the Mob). The late 1960s saw the
emergence of the gangster as romantic hero. Bonnie and Clyde
(1967) was a landmark film that turned a crime spree into a
thing of beauty, two criminals into heroes.
This portrait of the criminal as human being was directly related
to the social upheavals of the 1960s and the Vietnam War as the
concept of "enemy" grew confusing. The context of Watergate
also influenced the films’ moral schemes, in which cops and
criminals bear troubling resemblance to one another.
The gangster is also portrayed as a family member of a family,
but one who will not hesitate to kill other members of his
family, thus emphasizing both the nurturing and destructive
aspects of families. Families offer a sense of belonging and
identity, but also they know best how to get to a person, and
what his vulnerabilities are. In addition to families, gangs are
also depicted as similar to corporations, military organizations.
For this exam, you should be able to discuss the conventions of
the gangster film in relation to Goodfellas, as well as the
characters and the following themes:
The American Dream (or lack thereof), especially Henry’s
perception of it
The behavioral, business, moral, and social codes of the Mafia
(i.e., rules of conduct, promotion,
specific language or terminology they use)
The Cicero “Family” and Henry Hill’s family: note the parallels
between the degeneration of each
entity. Each one becomes dysfunctional at about the same time,
and Henry is disloyal to each one as well.
Corruption in “legitimate” society (i.e., law enforcement) and
within the Mafia itself
Direct Address

5. Flashback
Freeze-Frame
Friendship/loyalty: its role within the Family and the family
Gender attitudes and roles within the genre and the film
Justice and how it is defined within the Mafia
Point-of-view shot
Scorsese’s use of music
Tracking shot
Violence: its role, how it is depicted, its effect on the characters
Voiceover narration
The major characters from Goodfellas:
Be ready to discuss their role in the story, their motivations,
and themes they reflect:
Henry Hill, Karen Hill, Jimmy Conway, Tommy DeVito, Paulie
Cicero, Morrie Kessler, Billy Batts,
Janice Rossi (Henry’s girlfriend)
You should be familiar with some of the secondary characters as
well: Sandy (Henry’s second girlfriend);
Sonny (the owner of the restaurant that Paulie takes over and
Tommy and Henry eventually burn down), Stacks Edwards
(Samuel L. Jackson’s character), Tommy’s mother, Mrs. DeVito
Format:
The format will be exactly the same as for Exams 1 and 2:
Short Answer
Choose FIVE of the following (20 points each, 100 total).
Identify the film, speaker(s) and context (if applicable), and
explain the thematic significance of the term, quote, dialogue,
or character to the work as a whole (20 points each, 100 total).

6. ENG 239
Review for
Exam
3
The exam will cover the following
:
Scorsese, Martin
.
Goodfellas
(1990
)
“The Gangster Movie”
(PDF)
Information about t
he Gangster Genre
:
Source/
History
:
The

7. 1930s is when gangster films became popular, mostly due to the
Prohibition Era
(which lasted through the 1920s until 1933) and the emergence
of real
-
life gangsters and
organized crime.
Con
ventions/characteristics
of classic gangster films
:
Setting
:
g
angster/crime films are
like noir films,
usually set in
the “bad” areas of
cities, to
provide a view of th
e secret world of the criminal.
Plot:
the gangster or crime film is developed around the sinister
actions of criminals or

8. gangsters, particularly
bankrobbers, underworld fi
gures, or ruthless hoodlums who
operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way
through life. There is some
overlap between criminal and gangster films and film noir,
especially in their cynical views
of the world.
G
angster movies
often highlight or glorify the rise and fall of a particular
criminal(s), gang,
bank
robber, murderer or lawbreaker
in personal power struggles or conflict with law and
order figures, an underling or competitive colleague, or a rival
gang.
Protagonist
:
f
ilm gangsters are usually materialistic, stree
t
-
smart, immoral, power
-
hungry,
ambitious

9. , and self
-
destructive. Rivalry with other criminals in gangster warfare is
often a
significant plot characteristic. They rise to
power with a tough cr
uel exterior
while showing
an ambitious desire for success and recognition, but underneath
they can
occasionally
express sensitivity and gentleness.
Women:
almost always secondary or minor characters, whose roles are
defined by their relation
to the men in the film: wives, mistresses, mothers, etc.
Themes
of the genre
:
G
angster
films are morality tales: while gangsters can be sympathetic
figures,
they ar

10. e ultimately bad guys and are inevitably arreste
d or killed by the end. Pre
-
196
0s
films, like noir films, reinforce conventional notions of
authority, such as depicting the
police as incorruptible “good guys” who get the job done.
Post
-
1960s films make t
he
gangsters more heroic, or show the traditional “good guys” to
be as corrupt, if not more
so, than their underworld counterparts.
Gangster films are often the inverse of
American Dream
narratives, also known as “rags
-
to
-
riches stories
”:
American Dream
success stories turned upside down
in which
criminals live in an inverted dream world of suc
cess and wealth.

11. The gangster
functions as the
doppelganger
of “respectable
” men in power
, such as
politicians and corporate presidents
,”
parodying the American drive to succeed
.
Gangsters are promoted just like people in “regular” jobs; but
the standards they must
meet (murdering, stealing, etc.) are vastly different.
ENG 239
Review for Exam 3
The exam will cover the following:
Scorsese, Martin. Goodfellas (1990)
“The Gangster Movie” (PDF)
Information about the Gangster Genre:
Source/History:
The 1930s is when gangster films became popular, mostly due
to the Prohibition Era
(which lasted through the 1920s until 1933) and the emergence
of real-life gangsters and
organized crime.
Conventions/characteristics of classic gangster films:

12. Setting: gangster/crime films are like noir films, usually set in
the “bad” areas of cities, to
provide a view of the secret world of the criminal.
Plot: the gangster or crime film is developed around the sinister
actions of criminals or
gangsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or
ruthless hoodlums who
operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way
through life. There is some
overlap between criminal and gangster films and film noir,
especially in their cynical views
of the world.
Gangster movies often highlight or glorify the rise and fall of a
particular criminal(s), gang,
bank robber, murderer or lawbreaker in personal power
struggles or conflict with law and
order figures, an underling or competitive colleague, or a rival
gang.
Protagonist: film gangsters are usually materialistic, street-
smart, immoral, power-hungry,
ambitious, and self-destructive. Rivalry with other criminals in
gangster warfare is often a
significant plot characteristic. They rise to power with a tough
cruel exterior while showing
an ambitious desire for success and recognition, but underneath
they can occasionally
express sensitivity and gentleness.
Women: almost always secondary or minor characters, whose
roles are defined by their relation
to the men in the film: wives, mistresses, mothers, etc.

13. Themes of the genre:
Gangster films are morality tales: while gangsters can be
sympathetic figures,
they are ultimately bad guys and are inevitably arrested or
killed by the end. Pre-1960s
films, like noir films, reinforce conventional notions of
authority, such as depicting the
police as incorruptible “good guys” who get the job done. Post-
1960s films make the
gangsters more heroic, or show the traditional “good guys” to
be as corrupt, if not more
so, than their underworld counterparts.
Gangster films are often the inverse of American Dream
narratives, also known as “rags-
to-riches stories”: American Dream success stories turned
upside down in which
criminals live in an inverted dream world of success and wealth.
The gangster functions as the doppelganger of “respectable”
men in power, such as
politicians and corporate presidents,” parodying the American
drive to succeed.
Gangsters are promoted just like people in “regular” jobs; but
the standards they must
meet (murdering, stealing, etc.) are vastly different.