...**** ******** Humanities 17 Mr. **** 10/20/12 Citizen Kane, Orson Wells (1941): employed new cinematographic advances for film. Wells, use of camera placement, movement and the entire editing process paved the way for a new era of filmmaking. His brilliant use of Iconic imagery, help to tell the story of Charles Foster Kane. The opening of this scene seems to be one of childhood innocence. A young Charles, sledding down a hill. The blind edit straight to the snowball hitting the sign of Mrs. Kane’s boarding house can be considered an iconic image for what’s to come. The over the shoulder shot of his mother talking to Charles still has the focus on Charles and his innocence. As the camera pulls backwards you get a better idea of what’s going on. In the negative space, while mother and father are talking to Mr. Thatcher you see Charles still childishly playing in the snow. Having no idea he is about to given away. The camera following Mrs. Kane back to the window then the close-up of her face shows the intensity of her emotion she has for selling her son. The close-up of Charles face makes you feel his pain and anger as it transitions to another iconic image of the empty sled gathering snow, letting you know Charles is gone. In the dining room with Emily the lighting is focused on Emily who is centered in the shot. The lighting and her appearing brighter shows that for now she is the main focus. As the camera moves in it accentuates the love between them. The straight...
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...commentary on the themes of dangers of knowledge and hubris, and monstrosity via playing God and losing innocence. “‘I imagine you may deduce an apt moral from my tale...nor can I doubt but that my tale conveys in its series internal evidence of the truth of the events of which it is composed’” (19). Through Frankenstein’s voice Shelley describes the greatest moral she has to offer from the suffering depicted in her story: the dangers of discovery and knowledge, which is that sometimes, however well-meant and innocent the intent may be, the expected result of scientific pursuits can turn out completely different than expected. Shelley’s prime example of this is the Creature and all the destruction he brings in his wake. So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein -- more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation (33). This is the epiphany that leads to the creation of the Creature, undoubtedly a somewhat naive and enthusiastic motivation, with no ill intent and no thought for the possible consequences of such ambitions. Yet, while the dangers of knowledge is one of Shelley’s themes, danger often being associated with darkness, a motif Shelley uses for knowledge is light. This is to show how, while knowledge appears to be indiscriminately brilliant and good: “What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?” it...
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...Defined by Merriam-Webster, symbolism is the use of symbols to express or represent ideas or qualities in literature, art, etc. By using this literary device, authors can convey complex conditions with great depth and powerful imagery. Symbols play vital roles in a great deal of brilliant novels because they can help to explain one’s inner feelings and the reasons why they do certain things. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the red hunting hat serves as the most important symbol in the novel, which portrays Holden’s constant feelings of alienation, innocence, and protection. By wearing the red hunting hat, the protagonist alienates himself from society and his fear of the phony adult world. When he first purchased the...
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...Through his writing he left a legacy, especially through two of his more well known works, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. In Songs of Innocence, the title represents the vibe he writes in. The depth and meaning behind is has so often been overlooked, yet so simple and innocent is the sound (Munson 5). In Blake’s poem “The Lamb” he writes of a lamb, who is so gentle and tender, and brings peace to the speaker of the poem. Christianity is present in line 14 when the speaker tis the lamb that the one who made him is also a lamb (Smith 146). The lamb is described to be innocent, and is to represent the Lamb of God. Christ was often referred to as the Lamb of Peace, the Lord’s Shepherd, and Prince of Peace. The lamb is known to be a symbol of peace. In line three of the poem, the speaker says that the lamb’s creator instructs it to feed in the meadows. This is...
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...In Plato’s Apology Socrates is being tried by Anytus and Meletus for two new charges: “corrupting the young, and not acknowledging the gods of the city acknowledges, but new daimonic activities instead” (Morgan 2005, 51). Throughout Plato’s Apology and Euthyphro Socrates uses complex rhetoric to challenge the charges brought against him based on his thoughts and understanding of what is right and wrong. He never once states he is not guilty nor does he provide reasons to support his innocence. He suggests rather that he is on a divine mission stating “this is what the god orders me to do, and I think there is no greater blessing for the city than my service to the god” (Morgan 2005, 55). Socrates uses his trial as an opportunity to show inconsistencies in the charges themselves, through questioning his accusers. Socrates remains true to him-self, a philosopher, and finds fulfillment out of the process rather than the outcome “…for the unexamined life is not worth living for men…” (Morgan 2005, 60) Socrates should be found guilty as his intentions to continue to practice the life of a philosopher may not have been morally wrong, his methods however unlawful during Athenian times. Socrates was not a member of a modern day society where innovative thought was encouraged, and freedom of speech tolerated. He chose to be a member of Athenian society therefore needed to conform to the requirements set out by the city. Suggesting other God’s and questioning the Gods of the city do not...
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...Jem, endure tough love from their community, but learn many things from the treatment they received. During the book, as the Harper Lee expresses the themes she uses symbols to interpret them. The major themes in the story are revealed within symbols, such as, a mockingbird, an oak tree, and geraniums. The mockingbird is used in To Kill a Mockingbird to symbolize innocence. An example of a mockingbird could be Tom Robinson. While Atticus was talking to Jem and Scout he said, Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(90). When Jem and Scout asked Miss. Maudie, their close family friend, about what Atticus told them, she told them, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy ...but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (93). In comparison, Tom was a very kind, caring, and helpful person and never did anything to harm anyone. Tom is the mockingbird in his situation because he only was trying to help poor Mayella and his good deeds ended up backfiring on him. Unfortunately, Tom’s innocence did not save his life and in the end he lost it. The theme of this section of the book is prejudice, because Tom was convicted and killed of something he did not do only because of the color of his skin. Another key symbol used in the book is an oak tree in the yard of an eccentric character by the name of Boo Radley. Boo grew up in a home with its windows shut all...
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...comes across Eugenio, a childhood friend who is currently occupying his uncle’s derelict property (later we come to know it’s also Eugenio’s childhood home) for the summer. While this premise sets the scene for vast amounts of sexual tension and scenes of two young twenty somethings getting sweaty in and around a charming but crumbling Argentinian home it also offers it’s audience a chance to reflect on the excitement of attraction, the pure laze and welcomed melancholy of long summer days, how nostalgia colors our need to be closer to someone from our past and how innocence in it’s purest form is something that needs to be celebrated. The initial scenes of Martin’s destitute life, are truly heart wrenching. Everything is shown subtly, there are no emotionally manipulative scenes here, no internal sorrow ridden monologues and no tears, despite the lack of all these tried and tested cinematic devices, the brilliant screenplay alone draws you in and makes you feel for Martin. It was hard to watch Martin take showers from public taps, and store the money he is given for his work as a handy man in a rusty tin he hides away in a patch of empty land in a suburb he calls his “home”. Acts of kindness shown to him are shot in a simple, uncomplicated fashion and as these scenes warm your heart they equally make you feel perturbed at how poverty isn’t just a concept attributed to slum dwellers in a third world country it’s just there… all around us… and this should seem like the most obvious...
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...Innocence Lost Shena Shepard English 111 Jennifer Fielder Shena Shepard English 111 Jennifer Fielder June 8, 2011 Innocence Lost As I lay battered, bruised, and beaten I opened my eyes and looked toward the sky and asked the Lord “Why me? Why did you let that man take my innocence from me”? As I slowly try to get myself together I kept thinking to myself am I going to make it, will this affect my family, and will I change? Who would do this to a fourteen year old girl, I thought to myself, still lying in the ditch trying to wrap my mind around the situation. Then that’s when I told myself, “Shena, you have to get up and you have to muster up enough strength to run and run until you can find help.” I slowly tried to get up; however, every time I did I felt pain from every angle of my body. This only reminded me of the horrible things that just happened to me. I keep replaying this incident in my mind, him pushing me from behind as I was walking my bike down the steep hill. He then drugged me into the ditch behind the school, near the playground. I could hear myself scuffling, screaming and pleading for help, while he is telling me, “to shut up or I will kill you.” At that point I felt like I had to fight for my life. Therefore, I fought hard slapping him, punching him, kicking him, and biting him. I did everything I could to get him to stop and to leave me alone, but nothing worked. The next thing I knew, I felt pain between my legs from him pushing deeper...
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...One of the techniques used in the ad is the rhetorical element of pathos. The scene with the nuclear explosion in the background while candidate Lyndon B. Johnson was speaking in a harsh manner, created an atmosphere of terror and turmoil for American citizens. The age of the little girl, her lack of knowledge, and the daisy symbolize the purity, innocence, and beauty America has. Johnson is persistent when it comes to the United States needing a conservative president who will acknowledge every single possibility before declaring war, while also making sure that Americans will retain their patriotism toward the nation. The ad has a negative tone, it clearly contrasts the safety and future of America, the innocence of America's children, with the danger of atomic weapons and by extension with the danger of Goldwater as a leader. The Daisy ad contrasts these ideas with Johnson's authoritative claim that he values life and survival, and that the upcoming election is the time for Americans to choose between preserving the future and death. Without naming Goldwater, the advertisement clearly conveyed its strong central message: Goldwater was more likely than Johnson to use atomic...
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...Throughout history, pride has blinded even the most brilliant people, leading to extreme anguish for themselves and others. A classic example is the main character, Victor, in the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. Through Shelley’s development of Victor Frankenstein, an intelligent man who is driven by hopes of achieving, she demonstrates how excessive pride and hopes of success can ruin a person and lead them into a path of despair. Throughout the story Shelley continues to develop the character of Victor Frankenstein, unveiling the intensity and vastness of Victor’s pride. During the beginning of the story, Victor indulges in his success at the University of Ingolstadt and becomes overcome by his knowledge, as he states that he “succeeded...
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...The Cave Hallucination: Eddie and Emily as Adam and Eve In Ken Russell’s Altered States (1980), a brilliant scientist called Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) conducts experiments on himself which cause him to hallucinate and experience revelations that parallel Christian mythology. Each hallucination becomes stronger than previous ones, and reveals more each time about Jessup’s quest for absolute truth. In one of the film’s hallucination scenes, Jessup and his wife Emily (Blair Brown) are portrayed as Adam and Eve in Paradise. Through the use of lighting effects and colorful imagery, Eddie and Emily are cast from the Garden and suffer the consequences brought about by Jessup’s vain attempts to obtain the Ultimate Truth. Eddie Jessup succumbs to the same temptation that overtook Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden: the desire for the infinite knowledge that belongs solely to God. While participating in a mystical Mexican ritual, Eddie Jessup experiences an intense hallucination in which he and his wife Emily are depicted as Adam and Eve. The pair are shown sitting at a table in an expansive and beautiful garden. Their clothes are all white and look to be of the 19th century, suggesting a pure timelessness that is unmarred by sin of any kind. Emily looks up and sees a serpent above her. Lights are flashing like fireworks and the music intensifies contributing to the growing feeling of temptation that the scene evokes. Emily gives in to the serpent’s enticement and takes a bite of...
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...Tatiana Bartosic English 101 – 4006 Assignment Sheet Evaluation 15 November 2012 Redemption Within Walls There is something that needs to be said about slavery; no, not the physical manacles that were bounded around ankles and wrists but the imaginative ones given to us by those of higher authority – as William Blake once decried “mind-forged manacles.” Andy Dufresne’s character in Shawshank Redemption offers a brilliant message to any audience – old or young – about the power of resilience under imprisonment. There is more to life than what is inside the walls that surround you; in such, “imprisonment” was merely an imaginative force that is constructed by the mental realms. At least, that was Shawshank Redemption’s attempted conveyance; Dufresne’s character, conceptualized and manifested by the director Frank Darabont, both humanizes as well as critiques the imprisoned and the idea of imprisonment. Set in the 1940s, when Rita Hayworth, an over-the-top sex symbol in the American film industry, was alive and flourishing, Shawshank Redemption takes the ordinary lives of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding (Morgan Freemand), Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton), the hotshot Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows), and Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore), and coalesces them altogether to set the stage for one of the greatest stories ever set in the dusty grounds of Shawshank State Penitentiary in Maine. Everything from Andy’s imprisonment to his eventual escape was integral events...
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...Born into Brothels is a documentary focusing on the lives of a group of children who were born and live in the “red light” district of India, specifically the children of prostitutes. The documentary was well received by critics and won multiple awards, including an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. With such positive reception, it is important to examine what made this documentary so successful; its success can be broken down into two main components, method of delivery and subject matter. The film is shot almost entirely by a single camera, with no additional cameramen or microphone equipment. Much of the footage from the early part of the film was not intended to be included in the documentary, but was a side note of the Zana Briski’s original intent filming her experience in the red light district of India. However, as she got to know the children she began focusing the filming more on them and their situation. This leads the camera work related to the children in the early part of the file to be very rough, as Briski is often holding the camera while trying to interact with the children. When Briski is not holding the camera it is in a stationary position filming her, so it cannot capture the children’s part of the scene easily, only their voices. This is one of the film’s strengths, as it gives a first person feel to the storytelling, placing the viewer with the children and in the city just as Briski experienced it rather than just observing it in travel log...
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...The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a touching play about the lost dreams of a southern family and their struggle to escape reality. The play is a memory play and therefore very poetic in mood, setting, and dialogue. Tom Wingfield serves as the narrator as well as a character in the play. Tom lives with his Southern belle mother, Amanda, and his painfully shy sister, Laura. According to Margaret Thornton: “William wrote to himself about himself” (1). Thus, Glass Menagerie’s plot closely mirrors actual events in the author's life. Because Williams related so well to the characters and situations, he was able to portray the play's theme through his creative use of symbolism. The Glass Menagerie reflects Williams's own life so much that it could be mistaken from his autobiography. The characters and situations of the play are much like those found in the small St. Louis apartment where Williams spent part of his life. Williams himself can be seen in the character Tom. Critic writer Andrea Peterson states: “The third Williams child, a boy named Dakin was born after the family moved from Columbus to St. Louis, Missouri, when Thomas was eight. It wasn’t long before the general malaise and unhappiness in young Thomas Lanier’s life would lead him to writing as an escape” (1). One not so obvious character is Mr. Wingfield, who is the absent father seen only by the looming picture hanging in the Wingfield's apartment...
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...While the notion of lynching is abhorrent to our Christian community , it is clear that certain members of our society have yet to grasp this concept, as seen by the 200 cases of illegal lynching that have occurred in the past decade. We recall the Thirteenth Amendment having abolished slavery in 1865, however it is obvious that many in the White community still view us Black men as unworthy of justice in a court of law. Despite the efforts of the brilliant lawyer Mr. Atticus Finch to present a convincing case, Mr Robinson was still unjustly convicted. Unfortunately, the twelve jurors, all White and by no means “a jury of his peers” ensured that Robinson’s sentence was not one that was justified by his actions, but rather one that was “deserved” by his skin colour. Disgraceful. In light of this injustice, we are reminded of the nine black teenagers who, all but one, were convicted and sentenced to death in 1931, Scottsboro, Alabama. Similarities are seen in the way that, despite an overwhelming lack of concrete evidence against the individuals in question, these men faced a real threat of lynching during the trial. They were eventually...
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