... Langston Hughes and The Weary Blues Langston Hughes was recognized as a significant literary figure during the 1920s, a period known as the "Harlem Renaissance" because of the number of emerging black writers. After graduating from high school, Hughes went to Mexico to visit his father, in hopes to convince his father that he should pay for his college education at Columbia University in New York City. On his way to Mexico on the train, while thinking about his past and his future, Hughes wrote the famous poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." After arriving in Mexico, the tension between Hughes and his father was strong. Hughes wanted to be a writer; his father wanted him to be an engineer. After Hughes sent some of his poetry to what was known as the “Brownies” Book and “Crisis” magazines, it was accepted. his father was impressed enough to agree to pay for a year at Columbia University. It was there at Columbia University were he begin releasing more poems that he had written. Hughes embraced crafting blues music into his poetry because it expressed the worries of the common man in a simple and direct manner. Blues songs feature heavy repetition, and singers often seem to be laughing and crying at the same time. One of his best works was the poem “The Weary Blues” which came in first place in a section of a literary contest in an Opportunity magazine published in 1925. The title itself gives an example on how Hughes wanted to give the reader...
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...Table Of Content -The theorist, the theory and the contexts -Practical explorations and developments of the solo theatre piece -Evaluation of the solo theatre piece and my personal reflections -Works Cited/ Bibliography The theorist, The theory, and The Contexts For the Solo Theater project I have chosen Harold Prince or rather his theory on Concept Musicals. After research on the life of Prince from his book “Contradictions” and biographies, I have learned about his major influence within the world of theater. His work producing and directing created an entire new genre of musicals. To understand this theory I had to understand the man behind it. Milton A. Prince adopted Harold Prince. Rightful upbringing led him to finish school and serve in the military After WWII in Germany. The...
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...Jason Poplin CINE 102.01 Fish Tank Fish Tank is an edgy, vulgar story about how a young girl named Mia struggles between choosing the path of following her passions or what’s best for her sister, Tyler, and her mother, Joanne. The various narrative elements, such as the conflict between Mia and Joanne, included in this film help illustrate this combating relationship, and directs the watcher to imagine how it would be to view the situation from both Mia’s perspective and Joanne’s. Another narrative element that set the mood of this film was the setting and how it was mostly dim and blue, giving a feeling of depression. This reflects the feeling of the town she’s living in and how the people around her might be feeling too, and how everyone is in the same boat but has different motives in life. The cinematic techniques, such as the free-handed film style, used in the film also help get the viewer in the mood that Mia’s life is always frantic. Another element that stood out was the sound which was only the sound of the background music and conversation. This sets a quiet tone and allows the viewer to feel more connected to the characters. Mia’s passion for dancing hinders her relationship with her Joanne and Tyler, but only because her mother believes that she has so much more potential than to be just a dancer. If her mother realized that to be happy doesn’t mean to be successful, then Mia would’ve been able to live out her passion while still having a healthy...
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...The film begins with Chinese immigrant Mei Li and her father arriving by cargo ship to San Francisco to meet her fiancé, wealthy nightclub owner Sammy Fong, in an arranged marriage. At one point in the film, Mei Li explains how she had to immigrate to the United States quickly in order to find a husband and get married before becoming too old. This submissive, anxious, and somewhat helpless mentality of being dependent on a male is a common theme illustrated in various Asian films, as noted above with regard to both Tampopo and Dark Water. In Flower Drum Song, Mei Li dedicates her entire self worth and validation to the man her father chooses as her husband, which is one explanation for her comment regarding her desire to get married quickly. Although the final scenes of the musical end with a double marriage between the men and women not assigned for them through arranged marriage but rather the ones chosen in a more modern sense, Mei Li’s journey of attempting to turn away from cultural anxieties and finding a sense of guidance from a male counterpart was at the heart of this film. As cultural anxiety and fear is a common element of mise-en-scene and plot development within Japanese and Asian films, this mentality transfers over to Asian American musicals, particularly illustrated through the...
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...F. Scott Fitzgerald is in many ways one of the most notable writers of the twentieth century. His prodigious literary voice and style provides remarkable insight into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, as well as himself. Exploring themes such as disillusionment, coming of age, and the corruption of the American Dream, Fitzgerald based most of his subject matter on his own despicable, tragic life experiences. Although he was thought to be the trumpeter of the Jazz Age, he never directly identified himself with it and was adverse to many of its manifestations. The life of F. Scott Fitzgerald was deeply divided, in that his early successes in the 1910’s and 1920’s contrast noticeably with the years full of personal happenings and self doubt. It was divided, among all, between the pursuit of the artistic ideal and the continual lure of easy success. He became a victim of the myth of success and money instead of the perpetrator. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald’s incredible prose style and beautiful talent shined through his tragic, disillusioned life and he was able to successful create a beautiful world for his readers to escape to. In the early 1920’s, Fitzgerald was accepted as a symbol of youthful sophistication. He became intensely aware of the strangeness and mystery behind the rich at a young age, and tried so hard to echo their actions through sheen curiosity and characterization. It was then that he established a rich and enduring symbolic value throughout his...
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...they feel like it is too restrictive in nature. That is merely just a common misconception though, there are several different styles of essays and the two that are going to be discussed are descriptive and narrative essays. The narrative essay's main purpose is to tell a story using characters and a plot, where perhaps a problem is given, and the events that unfold eventually explain a solution to the problem or issue presented. In contrast the descriptive essay can be very powerful in the fact it is written using the five senses (visual, audible, taste, tactile sensations and smells) this allows the author to bring a scene or object to life in the mind of the reader. While narrative essays are almost like a movie that is played out in the judgment of the reader, the descriptive essay paints a vivid photograph or place the reader can experience and this is why descriptive essays are the superior of the two styles. One of the best qualities that narrative essays are able to offer over descriptive essays is they are structured to appeal to the simplest of mankind's urge to share a good story. There are various forms in which we can find a narrative writing example such as a poem, play, novel and the obvious essay. There are times when the purpose behind a narrative essay is to simply hold the reader, providing an escape from the everyday stresses of work, and then there are times when it is the author's intention to share a valuable lesson learned that might help others...
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...AS Media Studies Assignment AS Media Studies Assignment Week 2, Task, page 15 (Genre) Description of Law and order In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses such as rape, torture, pedophilia and child-abuse are dealt with in New York City, by a special unit of detectives of the police department known as the Special Victims Unit. These crimes are then passed on to the courtroom for prosecution. Description of Law and order In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses such as rape, torture, pedophilia and child-abuse are dealt with in New York City, by a special unit of detectives of the police department known as the Special Victims Unit. These crimes are then passed on to the courtroom for prosecution. Law and order is a crime-based drama, with a mixture of ‘court-room’ and ‘detective’, TV series, mainly shown on channel five. By reading the description of the show, I immediately realised that this is a show that is based around the world of crime and how the crime is dealt with within the city of New York. It starts from finding who the criminal is and then we follow the story up to the prosecution in the court room. Words such as ‘courtroom, ‘rape’, ‘victim’, ‘detective’ immediately grabs the reader’s attention, giving us the impression of the type of genre this TV series is. The picture that accompanies the description also shows that the genre of this series is crime as the main detective is pulling out her police badge and is what the...
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...I know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographical account of Maya Angelou that demonstrates how love for literature and having a strong character can play a significant role in overcoming racism and distress. In the course of the story, it is evident that Maya changes from being a casualty of racism to become a young woman with self-dignity and identity that helps her to overcome prejudice. The context of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings focuses on the problems associated with racism that was prevalent in the southern states. Racist oppression is a common theme in the book that is portrayed by all the major characters; in fact, all the other themes in the book are closely related to racism, identity and segregation. In addition, the style and genre, and the structure of this literary work make significant contributions towards its thematic development, which focus on resistance to racism, the significance of the family, self-identity and definition and independence. Walker (95) argues that I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings is characterized by thematic unity, which is achieved using the structure adopted in the text that takes more of a thematic form rather than a chronological form. In addition, Angelou managed to emphasize on the universal ideas in her literary work irrespective of its periodic quality. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou used the major characters of the book to facilitate its thematic development identity, racism and literacy throughout the text...
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...actions. Herrick conveys this through the perspectives of Billy, Old Bill and Caitlin. In Steven Herrick’s novel ‘A Simple Gift’, he uses various techniques to portray belonging or the lack of belonging. We accompany Billy as he meets great role models which serve to inspire him thoughout the novel. Ernie's train whistle symbolises the beginning of Billy's new life contrasted favourably by Ernie’s accepting and helpful attitude. Ernie give Billy his first taste of hope in mankind, whilst allowing Billy to feel acceptance. His next positive role model is Irene, Bendarat’s Librarian, who welcomes him and encourages him to borrow books and broaden his mind, Irene accepts Billy immediately a helps him at stages of the story. A great technique used in the novel is Multiple Narrators, as the characters of Billy, Old Bill and Caitlin who because of their sense of alienation, are pushed towards one another by fate, to fulfil their need to belong. The mutual yearning they share is revealed by the use of a split narrative writing, in which each character’s thoughts and feelings are uncovered. Furthermore allowing us to see several situations through more than one point of view also showing...
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...The clocks seem to speak for time, but in fact they represent the human marking of time. Time exists as a continuum, but clocks take the concept of time and force a structure on it. In this way, the clocks speak for time far less than they speak for society’s rules and conventions.The formatting of the poem reinforces this notion. The rhyme scheme is an abcb defe pattern that demonstrates the dichotomy between the constant flow of time and the structure forced upon it by society. The unrhymed lines are constantly changing, flowing throughout the piece. The rhymed lines represent the forced structure – the conventions embodied in the clocks. This image of the clocks within the layout of the poem is further enhanced in that the stanzas are consistent throughout the piece, giving it a segmented feel, like minutes counting down. Similarly, the lyrical rhythm of the lines swings back and forth like a pendulum. The structure is flowing and consistent but is unobtrusive, almost to the point of being ignorable. We can read the poem without noticing the formatting, much like we go about our lives ignoring time because society has made it controllable through structure. The poem also makes use of unconventional capitalization. In the speech of the clocks, “Time” and “Justice” are treated as names, personifying the concepts as in the line “And Time will have his fancy” (31). This personification reinforces the idea of the keeping of time as a human convention, placing the two concepts...
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...Poetry, prose, sonnets, drama, plays, short stories and novels are concepts that first came to my mind when I think in the question “What is literature?” The definition of literature has change over time. The only thing that is certain about the meaning of literature is that the definition will change. The concepts about what is literature about also change over time. In order to get a clear understanding of exactly what literature is, first we need to know its definition. According to the Merriam-Webster, literature is defined by “the body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age; the body of writings on a particular subject: printed matter.” Literature has to do with letters, but some people often think that literature is only one thing, not knowing that it is composed by several elements that we use every day. These important elements include poems, prose, sonnets, drama, plays, short stories and novels. Poetry is created from the soul. It comes from your emotions and it needs every piece of creativity inside you. It has been called the art of “saying the unsayable” because trough this you can express your feelings with no limit, and nobody can tell you that is wrong. If you make a poem and you think it is not good enough, well it is no good. You as the author or the reader, can only judge if it is good or but for you but maybe for some one else it is the opposite as it is for you. A good place to start when looking back at how poetry...
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...The plays Ruby Moon (RM) by Matt Cameron and Stolen by Jane Harrison are extrapolations of the Australian identity and the issues and concerns contained within the places, people and the wider Australian community. The societal issues of missing children and national and personal identity are artistically weaved into the stories of the plays. Audiences are not only entertained by these strong pieces of Australian Contemporary Theatre (ACT), they are encouraged to connect with and appreciate the message within. Cameron’s portrayal of an idyllic Australian neighbourhood provides the ideal setting for the message he conveys throughout RM. The sinister characteristics of suburbia are buried deep under the perfect veneer of Flaming Tree Grove, behind the closed curtains of each house. In contemporary Australia the picturesque understanding of a friendly neighbourhood is no longer relevant as nightmares of children going missing and being unable to trust your neighbour occur constantly and nobody can be trusted, this clearly elucidates Cameron’s vision in which he comments on “proximity does not equal intimacy”. The corruption of innocence does not only affect the immediate family of missing children but also extends to the community as each person is trapped within the internal world of Flaming Tree Grove. The fractured fairy-tale motif runs concurrent throughout the entire play. Fairy-tales, which teach morals and warn of wrong doings, are overturned as Ruby is taken upon a visit...
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...the tradition of J. R. R. Tolkien. George R. R. Martin not only shares the initials with the author of The Lord of the Rings, but with A Song of Ice and Fire, has created a series of books that received enthusiastic reviews from critics and readers all over the world, nominating him the unofficial title of ―American Tolkien‖ [9]. In 2007 Martin agreed to collaborate with cable network HBO‘s writer-producers David Banioff and Daniel B. Weiss on the adaptation of his epic novel series to TV under the name Game of Thrones (GoT) [14]. Its narrative features the medieval fantasy world of Westeros, in which five noble families struggle to seize the all governing Iron Throne, and, with a complete broadcast of three seasons, the result has led TV critics to hail the show as one of the pinnacles of quality television narrative [21]. The show has also obtained an exceptionally broad and international fandom. The series has won numerous awards and nominations. It is the most recent big-budget media franchise to have contributed to the popularity of epic fantasy genre in mainstream TV. This essay will analyze the transmedia storytelling strategies applied to promote the TV series Game of Thrones. Transmedia storytelling is understood as a story told throughout numerous media platforms, with special content pointing back to the main narrative, working as a potential new audience entry-point. ―In which way transmedia storytelling is involved in Game of Thrones commercial success...
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...invention Commercial Break!!: Creative Play With Media Influence Purpose: Works well to introduce a personal visual media paper, or other media analysis paper, because it encourages students to think critically about their childhood experiences with TV, etc in a personal, creative way. The exercise may become an early paper draft, or simply stimulate their thinking about the programs and commercials they have watched, and how these media affected them. Description: Students will write creative narratives about a childhood TV experience, then trade papers with another classmate, who will assess the program, the narrator, and then complete the narrative with a commercial break description suited to the program and audience. You may want to have your own example written up to read to them before each step, just to get them thinking about what’s possible. Suggested Time: 20 minutes to a full class period Procedure: Ask the class what their favorite shows were as kids: cartoons, sitcoms, even documentaries. You may want to bring in a few stills or uTube clips to project (in a tech class), as a memory jogger (ex. The Cosby Show, Ren & Stimpy, etc). Once you’ve discussed a nice variety of TV programs, ask the class to freewrite for 5-10 minutes (however long you wish to tell them) in first-person P.O.V. about their experience watching a show like these as a kid. They should be specific and detailed, writing whatever comes to memory about what’s going on in the program and their thoughts/reactions/and...
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...Name: William Durham Student Number: 10045343 Professor: Chris Bongie Course Code: ENG 293-001 Producing the Authentic: Oppositional Semiotics and Macklemore Introduction Macklemore and his producer Ryan Lewis have enjoyed widespread success. Their success has been both critical – 2012 album The Heist has received “generally favorable reviews” from both fans and critics (Metacritic, 2014) – and commercial – their hit single with singer Wanz, “Thrift Shop”, has been proclaimed the most popular rap song since the inception of the Hot 100 Rap Songs chart (Billboard Staff & Ramirez, 2014, March 6). Additionally, in January 2014 the duo won in the categories Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, and Best New Artist at the 56th Grammy...
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