...Autobiographical Narrative Rough Draft Around mid-day July 2nd was when my life changed for the worse. I was helping my Dad take a part of his lawn mower out back to paint and clean up. We loaded the piece onto the trailer he hooked up to our four wheeler. He got on the front of the four wheeler and I got onto the back of it. And instead of doing the right thing, we decided we were going to take a short cut, which wasn’t a good idea. We have a little hill that we built for going up and going down. We turned on the four wheeler and went down the hill. About half way down the hill the part we were hauling started to slip around, and the piece we were hauling wasn’t light. My Dad reached around to stop it from falling and hitting my in the head,...
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...The Lover-Duras The Lover (French title: L'Amant) is an autobiographical novel by Marguerite Duras, published in 1984 by Les Éditions de Minuit. It has been translated to 43 languages. It was awarded the 1984 Prix Goncourt. The Lover is also a 1992 movie based on this novel, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Jane March and Tony Leung Ka Fai. The cast also included Lisa Faulkner. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Summary of the movie Set against the backdrop of French colonial Vietnam, The Lover reveals the intimacies and intricacies of a clandestine romance between a pubescent girl (Jane March), from a financially strapped French family and an older, wealthy Chinese man (Tony Leung Ka-Fai). The story is narrated by Jeanne Moreau, portraying a writer looking back on her youth. In 1929, a 15 year old nameless girl is traveling by ferry across the Mekong Delta, returning from a holiday at her family home in the village of Sadec, to her boarding school in Saigon. She attracts the attention of a 32 year old son of a Chinese business magnate, a young man of wealth and heir to a tidy fortune. He strikes up a conversation with the girl; she accepts a ride back to town in his chauffeured limousine. Compelled by the circumstances of her upbringing, this girl, the daughter of a bankrupt, manic-depressive widow, is newly awakened to the impending and all-too-real task of making her way alone in the world. Thus, she becomes his lover, until...
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...Jack Kerouac's Rejection of Traditional Values in On the Road One of the most notable aspects of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, is the author’s willingness todescribe his own behaviors and attitudes in ways that reject traditional values, but enable himto make observations about America. These range from things like excessive drinking, whichwould always be viewed negatively, to an interest in jazz and racial mixing, which would have been viewed negatively in the 1950’s but not today. Also, Kerouac was part of a literarymovement – the Beats – whose rejection of traditional values was well known. BecauseKerouac rejected traditional values, On the Road was very controversial, but it was alsoinfluential.On the Road is a clearly autobiographical book, in which “Kerouac makes no attempt toseparate himself from his narrator” (Bartlett 125). On the Road is based on Kerouac’s actualexperiences, and the characters are based on actual people who he knew. (Bartlett 120;Latham; Charters 410-411). Therefore, Kerouac admits to doing anything that the narrator, SalParadise, did.One form of behavior that would be always be viewed negatively is excessive drinking. Saloften admits to drinking, but Kerouac uses this to make some interesting observations. For example, there is the time when Sal is with his friend Terry, and her brother Rickey andRickey’s friend Ponzo. Since Ponzo is in the business of buying and selling manure, they planto spend the say looking for manure, but they end up spending the...
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...happier since”. Also, I noticed that the author seemed to be motivated to inspire readers to chase life’s experiences passionately until one is satisfied. In the essay the author uses two rhetorical modes: narration and description. Ms. Dillard uses narration to describe her perspective of what it was like to be a child in America. In addition to using narration she also describes the intricate details of that particular winter day “Six inches of new snow had just fallen. We were standing up to our boot tops in snow on a front yard trafficked Reynolds Street slowly and evenly; they were targets all but wrapped in red ribbons, cream puffs.” (91). In relation to the unit theme: The shaping of Identity this writing piece uses an autobiographical narrative and flashback writing techniques to portray the American Childhood. Ms. Dillard’s perspective of an American childhood was quite accurate and helped me to remember my own childhood. I really enjoyed that her essay didn’t portray her as overly girl but someone that could hang out with the guys, be a tomboy and be accepted. Moreover, Ms. Dillard’s success in her essay helped me to relate to a moment in my past when I chased my own passion of becoming a Nursing Assistant and...
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...has been considered autobiographical as well. Hurston reveals her personality through the interaction of the author’s, protagonist’s, narrator’s voices and through the narrative events. Hurston’s father has been lodged in many characteristics of Jody Stark. Like Jody, her father moved to a solely black town called Eatonville as in the novel. Her father John Hurston was also noted for “being very ambitious, hard-headed and having a prominent position of carpenter as well being a Baptist preacher and attaining a position of power within the South Florida Baptist Association”. (Robert 5) Like Jody, he sought out to be a leader within the fledgling community of Eatonville Janie similarly shares many characteristics with Hurston. One of...
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...Analysis of the text “To Sir, with love” By Eustace Braithwaite The text I’m going to comment on is entitled “To Sir, with love”, written by Eustace Braithwaite, a Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher and diplomat, best known for his stories of social conditions and racial discrimination. The passage under study is an excerpt from hid well-known novel “To Sir, with love”, that is an excellent autobiographical work, as it is based on his personal experience of teaching at a school in London’s East End. First, I would like to speak about the title of the text, because very often it can give you a hint about the content of the text. In this very case the first thought that came to my mind was that in the text may be a sir that receives a letter from somebody who loves him. After the first lecture of the text, I realized I wasn’t quite right, just partially right. Speaking about the structure of the title, I can say that it is expressed in a syntagm consisting of elements from human reality (sir) and from the spiritual one (love). The title has an expressive function, for it is realized by means of intention and emotionality. Also, it has a positive emotional status. The text tells the story of a teacher who came in a school in which every Friday morning the pupils were writing a Weekly Review – the headmaster’s pet scheme. The children were free to comment and criticize anything, as long as it was somehow linked with the school. The headmaster found advantages in that...
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...stories written by Junot Diaz narrates the experience of Hispanic Latino teenagers with different themes and from one part of life to another. He pictured the world of Drown as a rough, violent, poor and seemingly hopeless experiences. The compilation of stories narrated by Yunior tells his stories from different points of view of life. The events and experiences mentioned in this novel by Diaz are what most Hispanic teenagers go through. As the novel begins with “The fact that I am writing you in English already falsifies what I wanted to tell you.” (Drown). This epigraph in beginning by Gustavo Perez Firmat gives a clue of focusing Hispanic community. After reading the whole book my question is this book merely story telling or autobiographical? This question came to my mind by relating Diaz’s interview in Colbert’s show. Stephen Colbert, the host of show when asked him how he came to America, Diaz answered that his father first came to New York, settled here and called them over. Diaz also mentioned that he saw his dad the first time as he was away from family and once they landed to America his father took them to New Jersey which was weird according to Diaz. Same scenario was somewhat presented in beginning of Drown but through Yunior- the narrator. Diaz used the specific words and some symbols which the reader can almost feel the story as if it is real. Diaz, who was born in Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic and migrated to New Jersey when he was six; portrayed the...
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...arguments usually question or celebrate the transgressive potentials of the book (Giroux; Mendieta), or address issues of masculinity brought into the fore by their literary and cinematic representations emergent in the same decade (Tuss; Friday). However, few, if any, have addressed the literary aspirations of the text and its author. Although none of the approaches to the thematic concerns of Fight Club are unjustified, in the argument that follows I will suggest that conclusions drawn and critical judgments passed have been hasty, and not only failed to take into account the formal aspects of story-telling, but that the narrative features of Palahniuk’s text have largely went unexplored, and constitute a blind spot of the reception. Critics condemning or acclaiming the novel, and, indeed, many a cultic reader of Palahniuk ignored Fight Club as a literary narrative, and have inadvertently been repeating the catchphrases of the text, either reinforcing or trying to undermine what they have understood as their meaning. I see the significance of Palahniuk’s fiction and the literary event of Fight Club’s publication in somewhat different terms. Palahniuk’s emphasis and continued insistence on minimalism suggest that his fiction is properly understood as belonging to a literary tradition whose evaluation remains troubled and, for a large part, unsettled. Nevertheless,...
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...be found in the movie. What’s more, the lighting in this film is high-key lighting which connotes the meaning of happiness and serenity. Moreover, the mode of address in this film is indirect to the audience which was used the third person angle to encode the meaning to the audience. On the other hand, I choose this movie because of few reasons. Firstly, I love the main character- Zac Efron very much. He has acted in many teenage romance films before, for instance, High School Musical 1, 2 and3. After I watched the High School Musical, I admire his out-looking and his acting skills. Therefore, I choose this film. Besides, the narrative of this movie is very special, which is a non-linear structure and always include some flashback scenes. Firstly, I am going to analyzing the narrative structure of this text. As Todorov mentioned; narrative structure can be divided into 5 parts, which are equilibrium, disequilibrium conflict, recognition of disequilibrium, attempt to...
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...October 31, 2012 Point of View The short story, The Lady with the Pet Dog, written by Anton Chekhov is narrated in the omniscient, third person style. “From this point of view, the narrator can move from place to place and pass back and forth through time” (136). Also, “this narrator can report the characters’ thoughts and feelings aw well as what they say and do” (136). The all knowing speaker of this story tells us, the readers, all about the whirl wind affair of Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna in such a way that we can draw our own conclusions about their characters. The narrator, who plays no character part in this story, does seem to know everything about the lovebirds. S/he also explains each character’s personality and quips portions of their conversations. The conversations that we are told about give the reader insight into the feelings of Dmitry and Anna. We learn about their comings and goings from the narrator. In Yalta, the narrator tells us of the many social scenes like the esplanade, confectionery shop and a public garden. The narrator sees into the romantic situations of Dmitry and Anna’s hotel room encounters and the private conversations that also welcome the reader into the relationship. The pain and restraints of each character’s home and life are addresses by the narrator also. Whether ensconced in safe houses and relationships or free to roam while on vacation the reader learns it all from the narrator. The point of view of this...
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...Crash: Of Racial Discrimination and Stereotypes November 3rd, 2011 Crash: Of Racial Discrimination and Stereotypes Directed by Paul Haggis and produced in 2004, Crash was the Oscar Awards winner of Best Picture in 2006. Aside from Best Picture, the movie won only one other award: Best Original Screenplay for Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco. Despite its little recognition, Crash is an important movie to watch. Plot The plot of Crash is not about a typical, narrative story in the usual sense. Instead, it focuses on a theme or message and weaves several linked stories to highlight the theme. The movie is essentially about racial discrimination and the consequences of stereotyping people. Set in LA, the story covers a 24-hour period. The movie depicts the stories of several people whose lives are intertwined by accidental and casual encounters, usually on the streets. The characters in the story are people of varying ethnic groups: a bad and a good cop, a group of police investigators, a couple of teenage robbers, a DA and his wife, an Arab family, a Hispanic locksmith and his family, and an affluent African American movie director and his wife. The story revolves around how all of these people have deeply ingrained prejudices and how they themselves could suffer from discrimination. Theme and depiction Discrimination and stereotyping of people sometimes happen as a result of reinforcement of the behavior of the people being discriminatory...
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...Appendix C Rhetorical Modes Matrix Rhetorical modes are methods for effectively communicating through language and writing. Complete the following chart to identify the purpose and structure of the various rhetorical modes used in academic writing. Provide at least 2 tips for writing each type of rhetorical device. |Rhetorical Mode |Purpose – Explain when or why |Structure – Explain what organizational |Provide 2 tips for writing in | | |each rhetorical mode is used. |method works best with each rhetorical mode. |each rhetorical mode. | |Narration |Anytime you tell what happened |The organizational method that works best |Two tips for narrative writing| | |or tell a story you use |with narrative writing is chronological |are decide if the story is | | |narration. |order. |factual or fictional, and use | | | | |transitional words and | | | | |phrases. | | |The purpose of an illustration |Order of importance is the best way to |One tip is to use transitional| |Illustration |essay is to show or demonstrate |organize an illustration essay. |words...
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...This excerpt from Nabokov's Pnin focuses on the main character Pnin and how he is obsessed about his health and assumes every worst possibilities that could happen to him. In this extract Pnin is in a station waiting to board a bus to Cremona. Due to circumstances he has to leave his bag in the station and board the bus and that's when he starts getting paranoid and anxious that something is happening to him and he thinks to himself that it's because he left his bag in the station and something bad is going to happen to him. So he stops the bus, gets his refund and lands in the middle of a strange town and starts thinking more about why he is feeling the way he is. He manages to pull out all sort of discomfort he is feeling at that moment and questions everything he did the day earlier. It seems like this story was written from the viewpoint of Pnin's Physician and he knows that Pnin has always had the tendency to over think every situation that comes his way and has a way to make it look bad, like it's written in the excerpt, “...That the repulsive automation he lodged had developed consciousness of its own”. Pnin has also kept track of and noted down the date of all those time he got the same anxious feeling and he's very specific about it. He seem like a very fidgety and a nervous person as a whole. The narrators of this story sounds like he is also in the same state of mind as Pnin's because of the way he ponders about life, death and the world. Pnin seems very confused...
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...“The Gift of the Magi” Milton Wiscovitch Jr. ENG 125 Prof. Jennifer Chunn November 26, 2012 Theme and Narrative Elements of “The Gift of the Magi” O Henry’s short story written in 1906 “The Gift of the Magi” identifies the theme elements as poverty and love. The lack of money and living in a poor neighborhood affected both Della and Jim. They expressed their unconditional love for each other by sacrificing their most prized possessions in order to buy a Christmas gift. Through this act of love both Della and Jim saw how much they really loved each other by wanting to make their partner happy. This short story identifies that love has no boundaries over having money through self sacrifice when it comes to giving all you have for the one you love. The couple sacrificed items that brought them joy such as Della’s hair and Jim’s watch which was important to the both of them but wasn’t worth much financially (Clugston, 2010). The plot’s analysis centers around the initial situation which states that Della only has $1.87 to purchase her husband Jim a gift on Christmas Eve. Both Della and Jim are poor and love her husband more than in the whole world. Della’s long hair and Jim’s gold watch were the only things they had and gave them up for one another. In the conflict, Della sells her hair to get the money in order to purchase her husband Jim a gift. This solves the problem of not having enough money and later she finds the perfect present for her husband. This opposes...
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...The Role of Sound in The Thin Red Line Terrence Malick attempts to recreate a part of the war in the pacific on screen through the use of a variety of techniques in The Thin Red Line (1998). One of the most prevalent of these techniques is the use of sound in the movie. Unlike the majority of war movies this movie doesn’t feature a soundtrack that glorifies the battle scenes. The presence of periodic narration and a focus on natural sounds like wind and water moving across the landscape also set this film apart. These audio features combine flawlessly with video to create a very deep and seemingly realistic depiction of the horrors of war. There is little, if any, soundtrack in the intense scenes of battle. This stands out in contrast to the blockbuster action flicks that portray intense action as thrilling and exciting with high tempo musical scores. By creating this contrast with typical action movies Malick lets the audience know that this movie should not go down the same way as the latest Rambo movie does. When a musical soundtrack is present it is often sad and low or it is associated with the environment of the film, such as native islanders singing or sticks drumming against one another. The toned-down soundtrack gives the movie a more authentic feel. The musical soundtrack is most lighthearted when Pvt. Witt is with the natives, separated from the army and civilization. Malick also uses the soundtrack to highlight shifts in emotional scenes. An excellent example...
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