...watching O Brother Where Art Thou? Several factors lead to the impaction that a reader may face or feel including, but not limited to the obstacles they face, the characters’ goals, and the setting. To start off with, the characters’ actions is a reason that a literary journey can influence a reader. From The Odyssey, we can see that Odysseus’ main obstacle was the cyclops. What this means is that the cyclops impacted his journey because he had to defeat him. Additionally, from O Brother Where Art Thou? we can also see that they faced a major obstacle as well which was the law. To explain further this means that there were multiple times that their plan could have failed when...
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...Final Film Critique: O Brother, Where Art Thou? Robert L. Forbes ENG 225 Film: From Watching to Seeing. Instructor Ebony Gibson April 29, 2013 Final Film Critique: O Brother, Where Art Thou? Everyone likes to laugh, and this film is no stranger to the call. O Brother, Where Art Thou is indeed a comical action/adventure and musical romp Directed by Joel Coen and Produced by Ethan Coen. The Cast consist of many favorites in film such as George Clooney, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson. The film O Brother, according to well-known film critic Roger Ebert (2000), “is based on Homer’s The Odyssey” (p.1), this is an epic Greek poem around 700 B.C. Although the setting is much different, the Homeric journey of three would be prisoners of the late 1930s are similar to The Odyssey and its theme of perseverance. The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou however has a comical twist accompanied by great Gospel/Bluegrass music, and scenes that play into an allegorical concept including references to repentance and salvation during the depression of that era. The storyline in this movie the collaborating efforts of the Coen brothers and cinematographer Roger Deakins bring together...
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...Have you ever read a book and then watched the movie? When you are watching the movie you find some things similar, but most of it is different, right? I read the book The Odyssey and watched the movie O Brother Where Art Thou? I compared the similarities and the differences. When I was doing that, I found a lot of the same things in the movie as they were in the book. This was a movie and book that were different, but the same in different ways that were sometimes hidden in the storyline of O Brother Where Art Thou? I thought there were many similarities in the movie and in the book. One that really caught my attention was the prophecy. In the movie when the men were riding with the blind guy on the train track he said, “ You guys will seek a great fortune, but not the one you are looking for…” In the book Odysseus goes to the underworld and Tiresias of Thebes tells him, “ If you don’t show restraint and control you won’t make it home.” The prophecies are alike in many ways....
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...“O Brother Where Art Thou” review by Nicholas Drake “O Brother Where Art Thou” is a film, that if you have not yet seen it, you should do so. It takes little to know time to recognize the influence of Homer’s The Odyssey in the film, as it is based off of the epic. Set in rural Mississippi in the 1940’s, we join the story where Ulysses McGill (George Clooney), Pete (John Turturro), and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) are escaping prison in a search for a “hidden treasure”. Along their journey, the three cross paths with bank robbers, con artists, a mass baptism, and they almost see their demise. The music used in the film, contributes tremendously to its tone. The use of oldies and bluegrass music makes for a better viewing experience because of the visuals used in the film. Farmlands, cotton fields, dirt roads, and Dapper Dan’s hair pomade along with the music used in the film help create the experience of what life was like in rural Mississippi during the 1940’s. Ulysses McGill, played by George Clooney, acts as an Odysseus like character. Though his performance is not knock-your-socks-off good, Clooney does do the role justice and carries the sarcastic comedy that occurs frequently in the film. Turturro and Nelson’s characters, Pete and Delmar serve as sidekicks to Clooney but contribute to the plot seamlessly. Other characters like Big Dan played by John Goodman and Babyface Nelson played by Michael Baddalucco serve as plot twisters in the film. While their roles do not contribute...
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...Movie Summary- The Hero’s Journey For this assignment I decided to rewatch a movie I know that follows the hero’s journey very well, and that is “O Brother, Where Art Thou” by Joel Coen, starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson and John Goodman. The call to adventure in this movie is when the three farm workers decided to escape their work farm, and a black man that is blind predicts that their quest to fortune will give them nothing but failure. The refusal of the call is when Pete (one of the workers) doubts of the man’s prediction. The supernatural aid in this film is obviously the blind man that predicts the future. The first threshold the prisoners have to pass is to escape the farm they were sent to to work. The men enter the belly of the whale when Pete’s cousin calls the police to arrest the men for the money he would get in reward and the prisoners have to advance past this step...
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...In the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" there are many elements of The Odyssey used to explore aspects of modern American culture. For instance, in the beginning there was a scene in which people were getting baptized. Two of the three main characters, Delmar and Pete, wanted to join in because it forgave all of their sins. This shows that during the Great Depression, a lot of people looked to religion to help them out of their hard times. This also resembles the scene in The Odyssey with the lotus eaters. Another example is the “cyclops.” The man portrayed as the cyclops in the movie, Big Dan Teague, is a member of the Ku Klux Klan, a symbol of racism. He is later killed by a burning cross, which shows that racism is disheartening. A scene in the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" involves baptisms. The filmmakers, the Coen brothers, used the scene in Homer’s The Odyssey with the lotus eaters to develop this scene in the movie. The scenes are very similar in that they lure the men in and provide them with something they like; in the movie they are redeemed of their sins and in The Odyssey they are provided with food. In "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Delmar is the first to get baptized and he says, “Well I was lyin' - and I'm...
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...In the movie O Brother Where Art Thou we meet Ulysses Everett Mc Grill, who had escape from prison with Pete and Delmar. Pete, Delmar and Everett where chain together and Everett convince them to escape from prison in search of a treasure he had buried. Everett was the leader of the group and made the decision for them. As their journey began Everett intentions manifested slowly through the movie. What makes a hero, “Hero a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character” Dictonary.com. Everett is not a hero, he is an opportunist. He was charismatic and uses it to his advantage to fool Pete and Delmar to follow him on his journey. Everett motive to escape from prison was for his own selfish reason to see his wife. Pete and Delmar...
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...A multitude of books, movies, songs and other works are created based relatively close to original works, as is Oh Brother, Where Art Thou in relation to The Odyssey. Between the two works, countless similarities are found such as physical features and leadership skills. One specific portion of correlation comes from the cyclops scene in The Odyssey which is comparable to the scene that Big Dan is present in during Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. Throughout the whole scene it is easy to recognize slight resemblances. The first comparable component is physical. Both Big Dan and the Cyclops have only one eye. With this characteristic integrated into Big Dan, it is easy to conclude that the director of the film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou intended...
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...The Hero’s Journey was a concept created by Joseph Campbell. This concept was displayed in The Odyssey by Homer and in O, Brother, Where Art Thou? created by the Coen brothers. In O Brother Where Art Thou? and The Odyssey the many elements of the Hero’s Journey are evident in the two tales. Three elements are Meeting the Mentor; Allies, Tests, and Enemies; and Resurrection. The mentor between both of the tales are different, but they both hold the element of the Hero’s Journey. Meeting the Mentor is the 4th step in The Hero’s Journey, if you follow the original order. In O, Brother the mentor is the blind man they encounter at the beginning of the movie. The blind man is a mentor to Everett, the main character, because he gives him a prophecy to guide him. He says this prophecy while on the pump car when the trio gets onto it to escape. In The Odyssey the mentor is Athena. She appears a lot...
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...World Literature 2310 Postcolonial Analysis Postcolonial theory has many themes ranging from identity to hybridity. Many, if not all of these themes can be found in any literature reading. The theme that is the most interesting is oppression. Oppression can be displayed in many ways and forms within any literature reading and can be obvious, or very subtle. All the themes seem to flow together and are often times created from the effects of another theme. For example, oppression can be an effect of identity. Identity is how a person sees themselves and those that are not at the same class or level of knowledge as them. This starts the theme of oppression. Oppression is when someone has control or power over someone or a group of people and controls their actions and way of life. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the city of Uruk is ruled by Gilgamesh, who is part god and part human that was created by the gods. With his power as a ruler of Uruk, he created his own set of rules for the people of Uruk to follow that may not have been a part of their everyday lives before Gilgamesh arrived in their city. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, a townsperson tells Enkidu “Gilgamesh the king is about to celebrate marriage with the Queen of Love, and he still demands to be first with the bride, the king to be first, and the husband to follow”(6). This is one example of how Gilgamesh uses his power to oppress the lives of the people of Uruk to do as he says. Gilgamesh also takes the young sons...
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...with elementary emotions and reasoning. Victor Frankenstein, the Creature’s creator is shocked by his creation. Living a nightmare, Victor seeks rehabilitation and thus prepares to return home to his family. Unlike a relationship of father-to-son, Victor abandons the Creature in a futile attempt to rid himself of the nightmare he created. However, just before Victor leaves to go back home he receives news of his younger brother’s death. As he walks through the woods where his brother was killed, he catches a glimpse of the Creature and knows that he murdered his brother. As the novel progresses, more of Victors’ loved ones die at the hand of the Creature – even his fiancée. One day, Victor takes a vacation to the mountains to clear his head and ease his sorrow. However, as he is sitting atop a glacier, the Creature comes running toward him at an unprecedented speed. It is there that the Creature reveals his loneliness. The Creature exclaimed, “…you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill...
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...in the 15th Dragoons, a British army regiment, under the alias Silas Tomkyn Comberbache. After being rescued by his brothers, Coleridge returned to Cambridge, but he left again, in 1794, without having earned a degree. That year, Coleridge met the author Robert Southey, and together they dreamed about establishing a utopian community in the Pennsylvania wilderness of America. Southey, however, backed out of the project, and their dream was never realized. notable quote “No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same time a profound philosopher.” fyi Did you know that Samuel Taylor Coleridge . . . • developed a fascination with the supernatural at age five? • was known as a brilliant and captivating conversationalist? • was the most influential literary critic of his day? • liked to write poetry while walking? Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772–1834 Samuel Taylor Coleridge is famous for composing “Kubla Khan” and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” considered two of the greatest English poems. As a critic and philosopher, he may have done more than any other writer to spread the ideas of the English romantic movement. Precocious Reader The youngest of ten For more on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, visit the Literature Center at ClassZone.com. children, Coleridge grew up feeling rejected by his distant mother and bullied by his older brother Frank. These early experiences gave rise to feelings of insecurity and loneliness that plagued Coleridge throughout life...
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...The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (originally The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere) is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and was published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. Modern editions use a later revised version printed in 1817 that featured a gloss. Along with other poems in Lyrical Ballads, it was a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British Romantic literature. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner relates the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. The Mariner stops a man who is on the way to a wedding ceremony and begins to narrate a story. The Wedding-Guest's reaction turns from bemusement to impatience and fear to fascination as the Mariner's story progresses, as can be seen in the language style: for example, Coleridge uses narrative techniques such as personification and repetition to create either a sense of danger, of the supernatural or of serenity, depending on the mood of each of the different parts of the poem. The Mariner's tale begins with his ship departing on its journey. Despite initial good fortune, the ship is driven south off course by a storm and eventually reaches Antarctica. An albatross (symbolizing the Christian soul) appears and leads them out of the Antarctic but, even as the albatross is praised by the ship's crew, the Mariner shoots the bird ("with my cross-bow / I shot the albatross"). The crew is angry with the Mariner, believing the albatross...
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...like a modern day "bromantic comedy," you're right. Two Gentlemen of Verona is the great, great grandfather of buddy flicks like the 2009 comedy I Love You Man.) Written as early as 1590-91, Two Gentlemen appears to be William Shakespeare's first play. (As usual, some literary critics are divided over this issue, but we're going with the editors of The Norton Shakespeare and the editors of The Oxford Shakespeare on this one.) As Shakespeare's first theatrical effort, Two Gentlemenhas been referred to as a "limping forerunner" of Shakespeare's later works. Even famous literary scholar Harold Bloom says it's "the weakest of all Shakespeare's comedies." We, on the other hand, prefer to think of Two Gentlemen as Shakespeare's test kitchen, where a budding young playwright begins to work out the recipe for his "comedies" and begins to explore themes and conventions that he'll develop more fully in later works – particularly the themes of male friendship and heterosexual love, which come into conflict in plays like The Merchant of Veniceand also in Shakespeare's collection of Sonnets. Like all test kitchen creations, Two Gentlemen is far from perfect – there are multiple plot inconsistencies and many scenes feature only a couple of speakers at a time. On this latter point, Jean Howard notes that it's "as if Shakespeare had not yet mastered the skill of orchestrating a full complement of stage voices and bodies." The play is also notable for its controversial and somewhat bizarre...
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...Literary Analysis: Hamlet In the tragedy Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, Hamlet is this young man who experiences close relation death which was his father. He later finds out it was his uncle who murdered his father just to take heir to the throne. Hamlet constant brooding about death and humanity comes ahead. (Tennen) Hamlet is arguably the greatest dramatic character ever created from the moment we meet the crestfallen prince we are enraptured by his elegant intensity. (Mabillard) William Shakespeare hamlet follows the young prince Hamlet home to Denmark to attend his father’s funeral. (Stockton) In “Hamlet” the tragedy hamlet the prince holds a great internal conflict throughout the play. (Studymode) On a dark winter night a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore castle in Denmark. (Sparknotes)The first edition of hamlet was published in 1603 from a previous sketch composed several years earlier the second one following 1604. (Bates) Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy Bernado’s question betrays the mood of uncertainty that prevails throughout the play. (George) So speaks Shakespeare’s prince hamlet of the transient nature of all mankind throughout the play humanity and frailty is a common theme. (Mortensen) In Hamlet the tragedy, hamlet, the prince of Demark with holds a great internal conflict throughout the play. (Directessays) Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play and the play responsible for the immortal lines “to be or not to be that is the question” (Taylor) The story...
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