Formal Analysis Essay Example for Free

Formal Analysis Essay â€Å"My spirit takes journey, my spirit takes flight, could not have risen otherwise I am not running I am choosing. † Alike is an intelligent and poetically talented 17 year old girl. On the surface, Dee Rees’s Pariah (2011), is the coming of age story of African-American lesbian, Alike. Growing up in a traditional household that is sexually repressed and a society that is hateful towards her for being homosexual she finds solace in poetry and academics. Through her plight, the film intelligently layers the dark themes associated with the struggles of a gay teenager growing up in the inner city- gender, sexuality, family relations, hate, religion, ignorance, etc. But the film is very hopeful in that it contrasts the dark themes with pleasant moments of optimism. I am analyzing one of the final scenes in the Dee Rees’s Pariah (2011). The scene [@ 01:15:11] where Alike is reconciling with Arthur, her father, on the rooftop of Laura’s building. The rooftop scene encompasses the beauty of the morals of the narrative really well and at the same time contrasts the dark themes of the film in a manner that compliments the overall aesthetic of the production. The scene’s Mise en Scene sets the tone for the conclusion of the narrative. The scene takes place on the rooftop of Lauras apartment building overlooking the sun setting over Brooklyn. Throughout the film we see Alike deep in thought several times; on the bus, in school, at the club- in all these circumstances the film utilizes dark, incandescent lighting and shadows to extenuate the tone of the emotions and events Alike is reflecting on. In this scene however the lighting comes from the bright, vibrant yellow-orange sunset. The film uses this in order to help visualize an appreciation of Alike’s silver lining; almost as if to say that Alike see’s the art and the beauty that came of her pain and suffering- this is expressed in the poem she reads against the montage of her leaving for California. Alike’s outfit shows a more developed sense of style. This expresses to the audience that she has grown and maturated from the sequence of events that have taken place in the narrative. The social blocking of the conversation between Alike and Arthur brings Arthur down to a more human level. Although Arthur is angled slightly above Alike to maintain his domineering male complex, this is the first time in the film we see him venerable. Alike and Arthur face the opposite direction on an equal plane, this is supposed to demonstrate naturalistic interaction between the two as well as give a sense of the subjective perspective of the film. The cinematography in this scene is utilized to expresses the subjective point of view of Alike. The scene starts with a close up shot of Alike followed by a hand held long shot overlooking the sky Arthur and Laura entering. Shift in focus in depth of field demonstrates the importances of Alike’s line â€Å"I’m not running, I’m choosing,† and Arthur’s reaction to it. We see that Arthur is man enough to accept his daughter for who she is and that he is not going to try to get her to run away from who she is, unlike his wife. The color balances of the yellow/orange spectrum is displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner to help provide a strong sense of optimism, which is also complimented by the background noise of the wind and birds. The scenes in which Nina and Alike are bonding is a very optimistic time for Alike as well. And in those scenes the yellow/orange color spectrum is used to illustrate this but in a much darker tone. The reason for the darker tone being is that Alike’s optimism was eventually destroyed after Nina tells her she’s â€Å"not really gay. † Therefore, in using brighter tones in the rooftop scene, we get more of a sense of closure as an audience. The rooftop scene encompasses the beauty layered in within the dark ominous narrative of Pariah. The film is very aesthetically pleasing and has many layers to it. It does not follow a formulaic structure like most â€Å"coming of age† films do but instead uses poetry and pays attention to metaphoric details in order to tell Alike’s story. Alike’s growth from the confusion of her sexuality and identity is illustrated eloquently though the use of light, blocking, depth of field, and audio.

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The United States of America has been ranked 12 according to the United Nation’s 2008 human development index report in committing towards education by public spending. According the U.S. Department of Education, the federal, state and local governments had spent a total of 786.8 billion dollars in 2006 on education and it is estimated that in the year 2008, about 837.7 billion dollars has been spent. In the school year of 2004-2005, the average expenditure per student was $8700. In an average class of 23, the annual cost to run a class room comes out to be $200,100. It is clear from the statistics that education is expensive in the U.S. Beside all these government spending, it is still the fact that the public education in the U.S. is worse than some of the developing countries. As Anya Kamenetz says in â€Å"DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education† that we produce intellectuals that don’t know the difference between a country and a continent or they don’t know the names of the heads of the key countries. However, the school board, teachers, and pa... Essay -- The United States of America has been ranked 12 according to the United Nation’s 2008 human development index report in committing towards education by public spending. According the U.S. Department of Education, the federal, state and local governments had spent a total of 786.8 billion dollars in 2006 on education and it is estimated that in the year 2008, about 837.7 billion dollars has been spent. In the school year of 2004-2005, the average expenditure per student was $8700. In an average class of 23, the annual cost to run a class room comes out to be $200,100. It is clear from the statistics that education is expensive in the U.S. Beside all these government spending, it is still the fact that the public education in the U.S. is worse than some of the developing countries. As Anya Kamenetz says in â€Å"DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education† that we produce intellectuals that don’t know the difference between a country and a continent or they don’t know the names of the heads of the key countries. However, the school board, teachers, and pa...

How does Mark Haddon use the first person narration in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time? Essay

In the words of Christopher Boone ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night – time’ is a ‘’murder mystery novel’’. This book takes you on a surprisingly effective journey through the world of 15 year old Christopher suffering from Asperger’s syndrome; a boy who turns to mathematics for comfort, who cannot eat foods if they are touching on his plate, and who judges the potential success of his day by the number of similarly coloured cars that pass him on the way to school. The story of the murder of Mrs Shears’s dog is told from Christopher’s perspective. Author, Mark Haddon’s use of the first person narrative is effective in the way in which it enables us to enter Christopher’s mind, it equally creates problems for the reader†¦ Throughout the novel, it becomes clear for us that Christopher finds it difficult to portray emotion or vice versa to read other people’s emotions. The fact that Christopher has Asperger’s syndrome adds to his inability to relate to how other people feel. As a result of this Christopher sees life in a very logical way and tends to describe things in lots of detail. This lack of understanding is highlighted during the novel. Initially the way Christopher fails to understand Mrs Shears’s anger and horror at the discovery of her dog, and later his lack of understanding for his father’s unhappiness and regret. ‘’There was a policeman and a policewoman. The policewoman had a little hole in her tights on her left ankle and a red scratch in the middle of the hole.’’ This quote shows Christopher’s logic and understanding and how he failed to realise that the policewoman had been hurt. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel. Christopher tells us how he does not ‘’like proper novels.’’ The first person narration is good for the reader because it’s as if you are travelling with Christopher on a journey and you are there with him all the time in the book. As a reader you feel this way because in the book the ‘major’ events unfold to you and Christopher at the same time so as a character Christopher is facing new experiences, whilst you the reader are getting a shock. The reader and Christopher are both kept in the dark for the same amount of time until the truth gets revealed. ‘’Then I stopped reading the letter because I felt sick. Mother had not had a heart attack. Mother had not died. Mother had been alive all the time.’’ This quote shows the time when Christopher finds out that his mother had not been dead, and in fact alive. His reaction to this is not e xactly ‘vivid’ however as a reader you could imagine in your head that moment and picture his facial expressions. Mark Haddon’s use of the first person narrator makes the story seem more realistic as it lets the reader get an insight into not just Christopher’s but most of the character’s emotions. Even though Christopher himself doesn’t tend to show much emotion you can still paint an image in your head of what he is feeling, this is because of the way he narrates. The small yet detail he gives you along the story is beneficial as it enables you to become close to Christopher and understand him as a character. The details he notices of other people tend to be their body language; this information helps the reader to understand how other characters feel. Christopher finds it hard to read emotions and gets confused when he can’t think properly, as a reader you can relate to his frustration because of the way he responds to people and their actions. ‘’What else did I say Christopher? I thought that this might be a rhetorical question, but I wasn†™t sure. I found it hard to work out what to say because I was starting to get scared and confused.’’ The downside to Mark Haddon’s use of first person narration is that the reader cannot fully experience what other people are feeling. The reader is restricted to mainly Christopher’s feelings and emotions as the book is written from his perspective. The fact that it is written from Christopher’s point of view means that everything we find out has already been processed through Christopher as he is the narrator. The disadvantage of this is that because Christopher has Asperger’s syndrome, it is harder for him to understand things like jokes and metaphors. ‘’ This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them.’’ This could be bad for the reader because Christopher is a very literal person so it is hard for him to add humour into the book and for that reason readers may not enjoy the fact it is written in first person. Christopher tends to focus on other small details which seem relevant to him but as readers you feel as if sometimes it is just completely off topic. Another reason why Mark Haddon’s use of first person narration is not suitable is that, when Christopher narrates he tends to digress alot. When he talks he sticks to the topic however moments later he is narrating about another topic. ‘’Marilyn vos Savant said that you should always change and pick the final door because the chances are 2 in 3 that there will be a car behind the door.’’ This quote was taken from a chapter which started off by Christopher talking about why he liked maths and how his teacher said that Christopher liked maths ‘’because it was safe.’’ The chapter ended with a tree diagram showing outcomes of a game show, where the topic started, and where it ended were in two quite different places! In conclusion, I think that Mark Haddon has successfully written this book in first person although if the book was written in third person we would gather more information from all characters and their feelings, alternatively, as it is written in first person, Mark Haddon tells Christopher’s story with warmth and humour which makes us see Christopher’s problems at the same time that we experience everyone else’s frustrations in dealing with him. By having Christopher as a narrator it allows you to enjoy those situations that may happen in real life. The suspense that builds up throughout the story is great as it keeps you on the edge of your seat as you don’t know what is going to happen next! I personally enjoyed reading this book from Christopher’s point of view as it lets you imagine how people deal with Asperger’s syndrome as well as how they act with the syndrome. The first person narration is effective because I think it made the book seem more realistic because in reality that is probably what would happen, if you were to go onto a train for the first time alone then you would most likely be scared.†Then the train wobbled a lot and I had to hang onto a rail and we went into a tunnel and it was noisy and I closed my eyes and I could feel the blood pumping in the sides of my neck.’’ I think the way in which the author has captured Christopher’s emotion and feelings is unique because as a reader I first thought It was boring to be reading a book from his point of view, however as the story went on I realised that it is quite fascinating to be reading from someone who has Asperger’s syndrome. Overall I thought this book was quite extraordinary and the first person narration was used quite effectively.

Forgiveness Found in Poetry, Drama, and Fiction - 856 Words

Posed to reflect upon the three units of study this semester, consisting of Poetry, Drama, and Fiction to ascertain which genre is the most significant in influencing me, I am perplexed to choose only one. Remarkably, I found in each of the genres explored insightful and supportive content from each unit that has enabled me to hone in and accept my humanity as a parent. Connecting with characters from each genre brought about a significant awareness and sensitivity. Regardless of geographical location, date in time, structure of society, gender, race, or age, it is refreshingly evident in the midst of all the contrasts there is a commonality; we are all imperfect humans. Each genre enhanced my credence of making mistakes as we go through this journey of life, it is clear we struggle not only as humans but more significantly, for this reader, as parents. Parents attempt do what is felt to be right for their children with well-meant intentions. Unfortunately, this sometimes bec omes more of a learning process for the parents involving mistakes for which we need forgiveness. At times greater mercy is required when our flawed human nature is revealed by our mistaken repetition of the mistake, which can create a greater burden adding regret. I find myself sympathetically identifying with these characters, as they too walk the bumpy road of when your best isn’t good enough. Frequently while reading I found myself thinking or muttering â€Å"I am not alone!† or â€Å"It isn’t justShow MoreRelated Fathers Attitude of Love Towards Sinners. Essay1368 Words   |  6 PagesTowards Sinners The Parable of the Prodigal Son reveals both Gods love for those who are ready to accept it, which in this case is the prodigal son who returns to his father, and his rejection of the self-centered righteousness. Repentance and forgiveness are essential to everyday life. In the book of Luke, the parable of the prodigal son is told. 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