Briana Johnson
Pd.11
May 16, 2009
Initial Reaction #2
A.P. English III
The movie I chose for the Great American Films project was Crash. This movie is about the racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. There are many different characters shown throughout the movie, each with their own experiences and views. I believe that the movie portrayed how people on Earth deal with life, other people, and our experiences. Physical characteristics and racial differences are sometimes interpreted as traits that separate us. However, I don’t believe this. I believe that those two traits are what keep us apart. This leads to certain questions that Crash illustrates. What are the origins of prejudice? Do individual experiences fuel stereotypes? Is it easier to maintain existing stereotypes because things will never change? What stops us from overcoming these prejudices? Usually people think that racism occurs as a result of how you were brought up. In the movie Matt Dillon’s character shows a close bond with his father. So it would be natural to assume that he got racist beliefs from his father. However, this is not so. As it turns out his father wasn’t racist towards black people. Matt Dillon’s character formed his own views about black people because of his father’s negative experiences and as a member of the LAPD. Certain stereotypes have withstood the test of time, no matter how many strides have been made for racial equality. Sandra Bullock’s character made a statement about black and white relationships saying, “If a white woman sees two black men walking towards her and turns the other way, she’s a racist. Well I got scared and didn’t’ say anything, and the next thing I knew, I had a gun shoved in my head!” It is possible that stereotypes such as this have maintained through out time because people because so many people have kept them going. It is a well-known stereotype that black men are destined to be thugs, criminals, and drug dealers. The attitude that “Things will never change” may be partly responsible for the negative racial longevity we have been subjected to for all this time. Another problem that was shown in the film was racial profiling, which is when a person has an idea how another person is. Sandra Bullock’s character is a prime example of this. When she saw the Mexican locksmith, she thought that he was a gang-banger because of his shaved head, prison tattoos, and his pants around his a**.” She seemed to immediately know that he was going to sell her house key to one of his “homeys.” However, that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t a gang-banger, but a loving, caring, family-man.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
West Side Story
“West Side Story” Initial Reaction
“West Side Story” a musical directed by Jerome Robbins and written by Arthur Laurents was originally a play that opened in 1957. In 1961 the play was made into a movie due to its success. “West Side Story” is a sort of re-telling of “Romeo and Juliet”. The two families in “Romeo and Juliet” are the two gangs in “West Side Story”. Although, the story is set in the West Side of New York during the late 1950s the concept is still the same. When “West Side Story” first began I was a little skeptical about watching it. I didn’t know where the movie was set, who was in it, and I barely knew what it was about. All I knew was that it was a love story similar to “Romeo and Juliet”. It didn’t help matters when the first few minutes of the movie were filled with nothing but changing colors and weird lines in boxes, with music playing in the background. Finally, the movie began, I could see buildings actual buildings, and for a minute that’s all I could see. Buildings, Buildings and more buildings, it was complete torture. Finally, people were in the scene, but all they were doing was snapping. So I’m sitting there listening to what seemed to be mute people snapping off-rhythm. I had no idea what was going on. At last the characters started to talk and I felt sane again. The best part of the beginning of the movie was the first dance number. I thought it was a great performance, the best part of that whole number were when they actually started to walk and snap. I’ve wanted to see someone do that in real life. You can see the difference in dance styles of the two gangs. The Jets, which are the American gang, dance harder and the Sharks, which are the Puerto Rican gang, dance smoother. Everything in the beginning is very dramatic and theatrical which makes the movie even better. Some of the songs, mainly the ones Tony and Maria sing didn’t get my attention immediately. I was actually quite bored with them, but I eventually got into them halfway through the songs. My favorite song was the one after the dance. It was comical and catchy which are two things that I like about a song. The way the movie was shot was different than what I am used to looking at. The characters clothes, the way they talked, and even the way they moved were completely different than what I’m used to. I was surprised at the end when Tony died, even though, I kind of knew he would. It’s the cliché ending that everyone uses. Someone always has to die when friends or families are feuding and when that happens everyone forgets about their problems with everyone else and they all come together and help the lead character who has just lost their significant other, and even though, the ending was extremely cliché I really enjoyed it because they twisted it around just a tad bit, and made it slightly different than the rest of the movies out there.
I now understand why this movie has gotten so much praise over the years and why it won 10 Oscars when it first came out. It truly is a great movie and one the best musicals I have seen thus far in my life. I usually don’t like older movies, but this one was absolutely fantastic. “West Side Story” is one of those films that I could watch over and over again and never get tired of it, because it’s just that good.
“West Side Story” a musical directed by Jerome Robbins and written by Arthur Laurents was originally a play that opened in 1957. In 1961 the play was made into a movie due to its success. “West Side Story” is a sort of re-telling of “Romeo and Juliet”. The two families in “Romeo and Juliet” are the two gangs in “West Side Story”. Although, the story is set in the West Side of New York during the late 1950s the concept is still the same. When “West Side Story” first began I was a little skeptical about watching it. I didn’t know where the movie was set, who was in it, and I barely knew what it was about. All I knew was that it was a love story similar to “Romeo and Juliet”. It didn’t help matters when the first few minutes of the movie were filled with nothing but changing colors and weird lines in boxes, with music playing in the background. Finally, the movie began, I could see buildings actual buildings, and for a minute that’s all I could see. Buildings, Buildings and more buildings, it was complete torture. Finally, people were in the scene, but all they were doing was snapping. So I’m sitting there listening to what seemed to be mute people snapping off-rhythm. I had no idea what was going on. At last the characters started to talk and I felt sane again. The best part of the beginning of the movie was the first dance number. I thought it was a great performance, the best part of that whole number were when they actually started to walk and snap. I’ve wanted to see someone do that in real life. You can see the difference in dance styles of the two gangs. The Jets, which are the American gang, dance harder and the Sharks, which are the Puerto Rican gang, dance smoother. Everything in the beginning is very dramatic and theatrical which makes the movie even better. Some of the songs, mainly the ones Tony and Maria sing didn’t get my attention immediately. I was actually quite bored with them, but I eventually got into them halfway through the songs. My favorite song was the one after the dance. It was comical and catchy which are two things that I like about a song. The way the movie was shot was different than what I am used to looking at. The characters clothes, the way they talked, and even the way they moved were completely different than what I’m used to. I was surprised at the end when Tony died, even though, I kind of knew he would. It’s the cliché ending that everyone uses. Someone always has to die when friends or families are feuding and when that happens everyone forgets about their problems with everyone else and they all come together and help the lead character who has just lost their significant other, and even though, the ending was extremely cliché I really enjoyed it because they twisted it around just a tad bit, and made it slightly different than the rest of the movies out there.
I now understand why this movie has gotten so much praise over the years and why it won 10 Oscars when it first came out. It truly is a great movie and one the best musicals I have seen thus far in my life. I usually don’t like older movies, but this one was absolutely fantastic. “West Side Story” is one of those films that I could watch over and over again and never get tired of it, because it’s just that good.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Apply Thing From Class
The person I admire the most is my mom. She is caring, and generous. She does things for my little sister and I even if she doesn't have to. Her caring, and generosity are what keeps me going. Whenever I have to do something that requires her to take me from place to place, she complains but does it anyway because of her caring and generosity. My mom's caring and generosity are what I look forward to in my life.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Quote Blog Thingy
This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was.” (pg. 55)
This quote really stuck out to me because it begins to establish Hurston’s theme of male dominance and aggression. Hurston goes through the stages of abuse so the reader can see how Jody’s personality “changes” throughout the story. When Janie first met Jody he was very sweet on her. He would tell her how he wanted to make a wife out of her. When Logan had her working the plow he said, “You behind a plow! You ain’t got no mo’ business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday!” (pg. 29) I don’t believe planned to do all the things he did to Janie, but that still doesn’t make what he did right. He let his jealously get the best of him after they were together and started to try to control her, making her put head-rags on to cover her hair when she was in the store. I could tell right then that this was only the beginning. Things would get worse and worse until he finally hit her, which is exactly what happened. I believe that in the beginning Jody really loved Janie, however towards the end he progressively got more and more jealous and in the end he just snapped. Jody was the type of man who had to be the in control and couldn’t stand it when he felt like someone was doing better than him or looked better than him. Hurston’s theme of male dominance and aggression is most clearly shown through Jody. Although, the other main male characters also show signs of male dominance and aggression, Jody is the most obvious. He obviously has issues with being outdone so he always has to go the extra mile to beat everyone else out. Jody’s need to be protective of Janie is understandable, but when he begins to try and completely control Janie things get out of hand. It starts off with him just telling her to keep a head-rag on her head while she is in the store because he doesn’t want other guys looking at her hair. Her hair is there for him to look at and no one else.
Jody then starts to put her down to boost himself up. He begins to call her old and saggy when in fact it was actually him who was getting old and saggy. He knew this was happening and he knew she knew that it was happening. So in order to feel better about himself he begins to suck all the life out of Janie to the point where she doesn’t even reveal how she’s truly feeling. She shuts all her emotions in and doesn’t release them for years and years. When Jody finally dies its like a giant weight has been lifted off of her shoulders and she can finally say and do what she wants. In some ways Jody was good for her, but mostly he wasn’t. In the beginning he showed her what it was like to have everything she could have ever dreamed of, but she soon found out that good things come to an end. However, if it hadn’t been for Jody, Janie would have never met Tea Cake and would have been stuck with Logan for the rest of her life. So in the end it was all worth it because now Janie has finally found true love and is happier than she’s ever been.
This quote really stuck out to me because it begins to establish Hurston’s theme of male dominance and aggression. Hurston goes through the stages of abuse so the reader can see how Jody’s personality “changes” throughout the story. When Janie first met Jody he was very sweet on her. He would tell her how he wanted to make a wife out of her. When Logan had her working the plow he said, “You behind a plow! You ain’t got no mo’ business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday!” (pg. 29) I don’t believe planned to do all the things he did to Janie, but that still doesn’t make what he did right. He let his jealously get the best of him after they were together and started to try to control her, making her put head-rags on to cover her hair when she was in the store. I could tell right then that this was only the beginning. Things would get worse and worse until he finally hit her, which is exactly what happened. I believe that in the beginning Jody really loved Janie, however towards the end he progressively got more and more jealous and in the end he just snapped. Jody was the type of man who had to be the in control and couldn’t stand it when he felt like someone was doing better than him or looked better than him. Hurston’s theme of male dominance and aggression is most clearly shown through Jody. Although, the other main male characters also show signs of male dominance and aggression, Jody is the most obvious. He obviously has issues with being outdone so he always has to go the extra mile to beat everyone else out. Jody’s need to be protective of Janie is understandable, but when he begins to try and completely control Janie things get out of hand. It starts off with him just telling her to keep a head-rag on her head while she is in the store because he doesn’t want other guys looking at her hair. Her hair is there for him to look at and no one else.
Jody then starts to put her down to boost himself up. He begins to call her old and saggy when in fact it was actually him who was getting old and saggy. He knew this was happening and he knew she knew that it was happening. So in order to feel better about himself he begins to suck all the life out of Janie to the point where she doesn’t even reveal how she’s truly feeling. She shuts all her emotions in and doesn’t release them for years and years. When Jody finally dies its like a giant weight has been lifted off of her shoulders and she can finally say and do what she wants. In some ways Jody was good for her, but mostly he wasn’t. In the beginning he showed her what it was like to have everything she could have ever dreamed of, but she soon found out that good things come to an end. However, if it hadn’t been for Jody, Janie would have never met Tea Cake and would have been stuck with Logan for the rest of her life. So in the end it was all worth it because now Janie has finally found true love and is happier than she’s ever been.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
During the 19th and 20th century women’s roles in society began to change. They began to do things that they had not been able to do in the old times. In the older times women were supposed to basically only take care of their homes and families. They really weren’t allowed to do much else. However, things begin to change at the turn of the century. Women were doing things that would not have been approved of in the old times. “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” is the perfect example of this. The two main characters, Marjorie and Bernice, symbolized the change that came on the scene during this time. You have Marjorie who is considered a “popular” girl in those times because she has men falling all over her and Bernice who is considered dull because she doesn’t act as her Marjorie does. In earlier times things would have been much different. Marjorie would have most likely been outcasted from the women in town because of her actions and Bernice would have been looked upon as a fine young lady with good values and virtues. The way Marjorie is described throughout the story is not very pleasing. She seems mean, insensitive, and aggressive. She mocks the older women and their ways of attracting people. She obviously doesn’t like the old ways and would prefer if everyone would get with the new ways. Marjorie easily manipulated Bernice into changing to fit this new form of attracting people, showing her skill at manipulating people who are not as strong and aggressive as she is. Finally, she forced Bernice to cut off her beautiful locks of hair, stripping any confidence she may have gotten since changing herself. This shows the control some people can have over others by just using a few choice words. Bernice did get back at Marjorie for manipulating her and pushing her to get a bob by cutting off her own hair. It was a wonderful end to a wonderful story.
“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” showed how mean and horrid women can really be to each other, even if you’re related. This was a very dangerous age because you were never sure who you could trust as was shown in the story
“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” showed how mean and horrid women can really be to each other, even if you’re related. This was a very dangerous age because you were never sure who you could trust as was shown in the story
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
1. Alliteration- the repetition of an initial consonant sound.
Allusion- an indirect reference to someone or something.
Metaphor- a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance.
Simile- figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.
2. "Five score years ago" is an allusion to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. This was an appropriate and strong way to begin his speech because Abraham Lincoln was respected and highly thought of for him freeing the slaves after so many long, long years. When you hear Dr. King's opening phrase you immediately think of Lincoln's address and what went on during that time.
3. Declaration of Independence: "... the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."Bible: “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
4. An example of an alliteration is "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
5. An example of a metaphor “quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.”
6. An example of a simile “...justice rolls down like waters..."
7. This is an example of a metaphor. This would be an incredibly effective method of moving his audience because it reminds them of what their ancestors had to go through. It is a reminder of how segregation was only a step above freeing the slaves and that if they don't do something about it then they will end up back in the same situation that they have been in for years and years.
8. The phrases "Let freedom ring" and "Go back" are examples of anaphora.
9. The repetition of the phrase "I have a dream" has two effects on Dr. King's audience. First, it showed how this dream of one day everyone becoming equal was not going to happen in the near future because it was just that, a dream. Second, he likely wrote that phrase to inspire the audience and get them to see that someday everyone could be seen as equals.
Understanding the Dream
Allusion- an indirect reference to someone or something.
Metaphor- a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance.
Simile- figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.
2. "Five score years ago" is an allusion to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. This was an appropriate and strong way to begin his speech because Abraham Lincoln was respected and highly thought of for him freeing the slaves after so many long, long years. When you hear Dr. King's opening phrase you immediately think of Lincoln's address and what went on during that time.
3. Declaration of Independence: "... the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."Bible: “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
4. An example of an alliteration is "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
5. An example of a metaphor “quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.”
6. An example of a simile “...justice rolls down like waters..."
7. This is an example of a metaphor. This would be an incredibly effective method of moving his audience because it reminds them of what their ancestors had to go through. It is a reminder of how segregation was only a step above freeing the slaves and that if they don't do something about it then they will end up back in the same situation that they have been in for years and years.
8. The phrases "Let freedom ring" and "Go back" are examples of anaphora.
9. The repetition of the phrase "I have a dream" has two effects on Dr. King's audience. First, it showed how this dream of one day everyone becoming equal was not going to happen in the near future because it was just that, a dream. Second, he likely wrote that phrase to inspire the audience and get them to see that someday everyone could be seen as equals.
Understanding the Dream
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The Souls of Black Folk and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
2. I believe the dramatic numbered lists add a sense of importance to Du Bois's argument. It seemed as though Du Bois was comparing and contrasting his and Washington's lists. When he went over what Washington believed should happen for African Americans. Du Bois simply listed these suggestions, but for himself he actually inserted numbers, making sure you knew what his views were.
3. I believe Du Bois intercuts The Souls of Black Folk with the "Sorrow Songs" to give the chapter more meaning. Personally the chapter's were that much more attention grabbing because he added the "Sorrow Songs." The songs show how hard it was to be an African American in the early twentieth-century. They give you a better insight to the black experience than if he had simply started writing.
1. Edwards probably wanted to get his point across and he probably guessed that part of his audience weren't listening the entire time he repeated it over and over to insure that they knew what he was talking about. He also wants them to know how you don't get into heaven. Constantly repeating this message over and over again may cause his audience to worry more about if they were "chosen" to go to heaven or hell. Giving this monologue of wickedness a human face hits his audience closer to home. It has a better effect on them than it would if he were to just tell you what not to do.
2.
3.
4.
3. I believe Du Bois intercuts The Souls of Black Folk with the "Sorrow Songs" to give the chapter more meaning. Personally the chapter's were that much more attention grabbing because he added the "Sorrow Songs." The songs show how hard it was to be an African American in the early twentieth-century. They give you a better insight to the black experience than if he had simply started writing.
1. Edwards probably wanted to get his point across and he probably guessed that part of his audience weren't listening the entire time he repeated it over and over to insure that they knew what he was talking about. He also wants them to know how you don't get into heaven. Constantly repeating this message over and over again may cause his audience to worry more about if they were "chosen" to go to heaven or hell. Giving this monologue of wickedness a human face hits his audience closer to home. It has a better effect on them than it would if he were to just tell you what not to do.
2.
3.
4.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
