Category: Writing

2005, America is still reeling at the magnitude of the 9/11 attacks and racial debates were at an all time high. Middle eastern people were particularly suffering from the continuing discrimination on account of the terrorists  actions. In crash, the brutal racism can be seen towards Farhad, a Persian shopkeeper is the poster child for misplaced anger within the movie and helped to portray the aspect of anger and racial unsettlement at the time. 

Los Angeles is known for its ethnic diversity and being America’s 2nd largest populous city, millions of people all living in the sprawling metropolis of LA. Los Angeles, originally settled in and founded by Spanish, and won over in the Mexican war of Independence, evauntually being purchased by the US. 

First Thoughts.

• Parallels and contrasts.
• Talking about the racist whites of hollywood about the coffee and then the woman getting scared and then the proceed to steal the car.
• Anthony always talking about stereotypes of blacks and then follows in his fellow footsteps.
• Car headlights at the start. Car headlights in the middle indicating movement and fast pace.
• Snow at the end, symbolism of peace and calm yet everyone’s lives turns upside.

Chris Haggis Interview.

• The effect you can have on someone else life. Butterfly Effect. Directors Intention.
• “We like to judge people” Paul Haggis
• His aim was to polarize people, because when you polarize people you get them talking, and when they get talking it sparks a change.

Analyse how the use of language features shaped your response to one or more ideas in the visual or oral text. 

Idea of the butterfly effect showing the extensive effects of our actions through the use of Symbolism, Lighting, and Sound.

TKAM

“Hey, Mr. Cunningham. don’t you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I’m Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one early morning, remember? We had a talk. I went and got my daddy to come out and thank you. I go to school with your boy. I go to school with Walter. He’s a nice boy. Tell him ‘hey’ for me, won’t you?” Scout, Outside the Jail. 

“Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.” Sykes, Courtroom.

“Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” Scout, Radley Porch.

“Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets.” Miss Maudie, Maudie’s porch.

“Negroes worshipped in it on Sundays, and white men gambled in it on weekdays.” Author.

“Naw, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” Scout, Jem’s Bedroom. 

“Don’t be silly, Jean Louise. The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem. Besides, there’s a drinking streak in that family a mile wide. Finch women aren’t interested in that sort of people.” Aunt Alexander, Finch’s home. 

“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it…  There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.” Scout.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Atticus.

Atticus, he was real nice. . . .” His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me. “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them. Scout – Atticus.

“Cry about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too.” Dolphus Raymond. 

“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for, and they have the right to subject their children to it.” Judge Taylor.

Crash.

“Look at me. You embarrass me. You embarrass yourself.” Cameron Thayer.

“You weren’t afraid that all your good friends at the studio were gonna read about you in the morning and realise he’s actually black?” Christine Thayer.

“I am angry all the time… and I don’t know why.” Jean Cabot.

“Wait ’till you’ve been on the job a few more years. Look at me […] Look at me. Wait ’till you’ve been doing it a little longer.” Officer Ryan.

“Yo, Osama, plan a jihad on your own time. What do you want?” Gun store owner.

“I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks” This innocent view held by Scout Finch illustrates her pure, unchanged view on the people of her town which plays as as a complete contrast to that of the people’s views on each other. In the small town of Maycomb in 1930’s, the prejudice which runs through its veins controls the inhabitants and the direction of the novel. 

The Great Depression of the 1930’s is alluded to many times as it the backdrop of the novel. As a nation the U.S was dramatically effected by the depression, and the southern states were also living at the extreme loss of the time. Although Maycomb is a fictional town, the effects of the time period contributed to the setting and the prejudice within Lee’s creation. Scout narrates when discussing Atticus’s career that during the first five years of his practice in Maycomb, he “practiced economy more than anything”. Although the depression effected the wealth of the town as a whole, the social status’s remained intact and Jem describes to us the different families within Maycomb. “There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbours, theres the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells at the dump, and the Negroes.” The dislike between “one kind of people… and another kind of people” is only intensified by the desperate times of the depression. It is interesting to note that although the Ewells and regarded as “trash”, the blacks are discriminated against due to the colour of their skin. In a time of strict Jim Crow laws, blacks were only just recovering from a life of slavery and the prejudice embedded in the town is justified by these racist laws. The southern states are particularly known for their racial involvement and violence towards black’s and Lee uses Maycomb’s physical setting as a device to intensify the racism. This is seen in the mob arriving at Tom’s cell with only dark intentions and the bias trial. 

The immediate prejudice is not only seen the historical pretence of the setting, but thought the interactions of the characters towards Boo Radley. Despite having very little factual evidence against Boo, the town is quick to assume his guilt which shows the reader the nature of the people and the embedded prejudice which controls them. Boo is described as a monster by Jem, “six and a half feet tall, he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch… a long jagged scar ran across his face and his teeth were yellow and rotten”. Although Jem describes Boo as the childhood monster of our nightmares, the older, more intelligent adults of the town also considered him “strange”. Very little is actually known about Boo’s nature until he is slowly revealed to us as the kind caring saviour of the children through his small acts of kindness, the gifts in the tree and sewing Jem’s pants, and set in concrete by his courage to defend the children from Ewell. The town is quick to judge Boo on the rumours which they have heard and Lee is establishing the nature of the society in the 30’s and the nature which still exists today. The setting of Maycomb is only a catalyst to the prejudice which surrounds Boo as the social hierarchy and racist Jim Crow laws implement a culture of prejudice.  

The setting of 1930’s Maycomb provides the ideal environment for prejudice to occur and thrive. The culture that has arisen from years of racism, slavery, social standings, and sexism creates a town in the Southern states of America where a man is wrongly convicted according to his race. Lee in writing the novel was telling the reader the problems the world faced and through symbols such as Boo Radley, connected her story to the world at time in need of desperate change. 

Analyse how the experiences of one or more characters were used for a particular purpose. 

Examples

Paragraph 1: Racism, Tom’s court case.

Paragraph 2: Sexism, Aunt Alexander treatment of Scout, her brother, “Aunt Alexander was fanatical on the subject of my attire”

Paragraph 3: Class prejudice, Walter.

Analyse the connection between the setting and one or more themes. 

Setting

Maycomb, Southern states of American in the 1930’s. Jim Crow laws, segregation.

Theme – Prejudice

Paragraph 1: Racism 

Paragraph 2: Class separation

Paragraph 3: Sexism 

Examples

Theme – Prejudice

Paragraph 1: Historical Maycomb itself

Paragraph 2: Social Sexist Racist

Paragraph 3: Physical, Town layout, segregation. 

Analyse how supposedly insignificant events or details revealed one or more significant themes. 

Boo Radley, shows how readers jump on the bandwagon to easily judge people. Lee used Boo as a underlying device to make a symbol of prejudice itself.

Boo

Events associated to him presented theme of prejudice.

Paragraph 1: Pants.

Paragraph 2: Fire and Blanket.

Paragraph 3: The gifts in the hole of the tree. 

Prejudice

Paragraph 1: Walter in class.

Paragraph 2: Dolphus Raymond.

Paragraph 3: Aunt Alexander’s tea party.

Analyse how one or more ideas in the text served as a warning to readers.

Setting: Maycomb 1930’s. Divison, Segregation, Multiple levels of prejudice. 

Warning: Highlight Lee’s intention of not judging to be free of prejudice.

Examples:

BP1 – Town itself and social context of the 30’s.

BP2 – Court house.

BP3 – School.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many ideas which give the reader insight into the lifestyle of the 1930s and of the ideas of racism and prejudice formed by the human nature of “being normal”. There is also the idea of change and social reform expressed through Atticus, who goes against the nature of the town and challenges the social boundaries. In this essay I intend to explain the links between these ideas to human nature and explore why Harper Lee chose to include these ideas in her novel.

Atticus is at the pinnacle of social reform and with his closing speech at the courtroom he presents the reader further insight into the depths of his determination for change. “This case is as simple as black and white” summises Atticus in his speech to the jury challenging them to consider their racial and moral values.  He asks them to choose black over white as the case “ requires no minute sifting of complicated facts” and the facts are undoubtedly pointing to the innocence of Tom Robinson. This blatant defiance of the unspoken racism in the community sets Atticus apart from his peers. For many, this paints a target on his back, an invitation for criticism or revenge in the case of Bob Ewell.  Despite this, many also respect his actions as “some men in this world… were born to do our unpleasant jobs”. Atticus’ actions create a spark of realisation that change is required as “he was the man who will do what’s right when the world is saying he is wrong” ( David Von Drehle).

Racism. Prejudice. Segregation. These three vices bind the black and coloured communities to a life of hardship and inequality and Lee choses to explore this idea in relation to the citizens of Maycomb. This idea has strong links to the human nature of following the crowd and the inability to go against the beliefs of our upbringing and surroundings. The basis of the novel is to show the people of the 30s the injustice that underpins and controls their society. It was an effort to plant the seed in their minds that one person who can navigate through the mist of discrimination can make a break in the outdated rituals and beliefs. Atticus Finch, represents the one needed to bring change into motion through his acts of selflessness and level-minded view of his broken community. This is seen when Scout approaches him asking if he really is a “nigger-lover”, “I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody” Atticus was quick to reply showing his liberal view on an equal society. As the book progresses we follow Jem as he transitions into manhood and as his body and mind changes, there is also notable change in his perception of racism. “Scout… you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day!” Jem comments with noticeable immaturity, yet chapters down the track he makes the insightful observation that “around here once you have a drop of Negro blood, that makes you all black.” Jem is able to take himself out of his skin and reflect on the small-minded attitudes of the citizens of Maycomb. Lee describes the book as a recreation of her childhood town and created a story which she hopes to motivate the readers to question their own ways and set off a chain reaction which would eventually result in the formation of more equal society.

Mockingbird, a symbol of innocence and purity which is subtly inwoven throughout the text with links to characters, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley as they share common ground in multiple ways. They both have been shadowed by a story which has ruined their lives despite their obvious qualities of goodwill. The symbolism of the mockingbird ties into the title “To Kill a MockingBird” which has a deeply literal connection to the main event of the novel, Tom Robinson’s trial and death. The representation of innocence through the Mockingbird characters shows these men of the jury are willing to kill innocence itself in the name of pride and status. In the novel, Atticus tells Jem and Scout that “it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird” as “they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us”  and to kill a mockingbird is in essence to kill innocence and purity at its origin. The aspect of human nature which is linked to the symbol of the Mockingbird is basic innocence and purity. All humans begin as innocent and pure as each other and their upbringing and surroundings determine the person they become. These characters have tough and unforgiving upbringings and hard lives yet they still display the qualities of a Mockingbird, it is clear their human nature strongly determines their personality.

These main ideas help the reader and the book’s extended audience to develop an in-depth view of a small community in the 1930s and how it’s ideas of prejudice play such an influential role in the citizens’ lives, especially that of the black and coloured people. Lee uses her ideas of change and reform of her known society woven in with multiple aspects of human nature to create this powerful novel. To Kill a Mockingbird very effectively communicates Lee’s forward thinking beliefs which arguably instigates a new era of people which give deeper thought into their societies and ultimately has a role in the equal rights of the 21st century.

In the novel, Lord of the flies, by William Golding, the incident of Simons death and his conversation with the Pigs Head On The Stick, sparked the rapid spiral into savagery and altered the course of events for the rest of the novel. It also helped us to understand the idea of the role that structure and civilization plays in the world today. Golding links the incident to the idea which he is conveying to communicate to us that without the restrictions and structure in place in our world today, the human race would quickly descend into our original nature of savagery.

The important incident which changed the course of events was Simons conversation with the Lord of the Flies and his death following that. The incident is a corner in the book as it is the first time which Golding spells out the irony of the beast and we are left with dramatic irony throughout the rest of the novel. Simon, one of the older boys on the island, and the notably smarter of the group, ventures in the jungle covering the island alone. He stumbles across a clearing and watches as Jack and his hunters chase and kill an injured pig within an unsatisfiable blood lust lingering in their eyes. Their “urge to twist and kill was over-mastering” and Simon watched as they smeared the blood of their kill on their faces, indulging in their victim. This is a small sign by Golding of blood and violence which follows the boy’s death. Simon falls into a delusional trance and begins to have an imaginary conversation with the Pig Head that the hunters left as a gift for “the beast”. It refers to itself as “the Lord of the Flies”. This is a deliberate insight from Golding as the Lord of the Flies also known as Beelzebub, means the devil. The devil which is only a fragment of the boy’s imagination yet their whole way of life and actions are determined by the fear and domination the devil in their minds has upon them. Simon realizes this as he says “Maybe there’s a beast… Maybe it’s only us”. Yet despite Simons new-found knowledge, when he rushes out of the jungle to share this with the rest of the boys, he interrupts them as they feast on rich meat and dance around the fire. They mistake him as the beast running at them in a brutal attack and proceed to kill him mercilessly. In this deadly incident of cruelty, the irony that Simon figured out the problem of the beast and yet he literally became the beast. “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill” was the words of the Lord of the Flies only moments before Simons death where he became the beast in the boy’s eyes and yet he was killed with no mercy. The boys never heard what he was going to tell them, so as a reader, we are left knowing what is causing the havoc on the island but are left to watch in suspense and the boys live in the dark from their own situation. This technique used by Golding is mimicking his own situation as many others of the time, in the dark, not knowing if he would live to be old or die in a nuclear attack of the Cold War. This incident not only causes a dramatic change in events which alters the course of events throughout the rest of the book, it gives us further insight into Golding’s state of mind at the time of the writing.

The incident of Simons conversation with the Lord of the Flies and his death following that helped us further understand Golding’s overall idea of humans original nature of savagery and without the boundaries of modern society, the human race would quickly descend into a race of violence and anarchy. Golding is using the boys as an Allegory of the larger outside world and he uses the small sconces and the characters to portray larger effects of the small actions the boys perform on Golding’s small stage of the world. The death of Simon, the intelligent and insightful character, developed by Golding, shows the “end of innocence” and the beginning of the “darkness of man’s heart” awakening in the boys. The boys on the island “did everything the adults would do” yet it still “went wrong”. They tried to establish a small-scale civilization but they quickly overruled the little rules which they had to roam as units of savages, killing and shedding all prior civilized properties they once had. Golding is intervening the Allegory of the boys on the island as a small-scale world to mimic the effects that the lack of rules would play havoc in our larger scale world. The death of Simon marks the beginning of the spiral into savagery for the boys and without any consequences of their actions, the boys fall deeper still into a world where murder and violence are accepted and almost becomes a day-to-day occurrence. Golding is also using Simons character to represent everything that is logical and sensible on the island and in the world. When he is killed, all that he means and does in the small society of the boys dies with him. When they first arrive on the island, Ralph becomes the chief and uses the conch to get attention but before long, the boys begin to challenge to authority and with ramifications of their actions, power slips out from under Ralph and the conch. This is seen in many situations in the real world, where power-hungry dominants have caused an uprising against them by their people.

I believe that Golding’s purpose with his novel, Lord of the Flies, was to create a story which a reader would follow along and place themselves in the desperate situation faced by the boys to try to warn the human race that they could easily be facing a race of ravished savages once known as humankind if we proceeded to disregard our rules and structure.

In conclusion, the important incident of Simons discovery and death unleash a deadly chain of events which help gives us as a reader further insight into Golding’s intentions with the novel and help us grasp the overall Allegory that without the structured civilization of today, human race would follow in the footsteps of the boys into a life of violence and savagery. The novel was written at a highly tense and nervous time in the worlds history, the two new formed superpowers of the world, and holders of mass destruction nuclear weapons, USA and the USSR were at each others throats. Golding, in concern of another war with the capacity to ruin the world, expressed his deep feelings of anticipation and anger for the world but placing the boys on the island as an Allegory of the outside world. As the boys fell into anarchy, he feared the world would follow not far behind. I believe that Golding was trying to warn the human race of the shortcomings and destruction another war would have on us, he uses characters to represent the personality types which lead to the disagreements in the world, and the course of events to portray how much influence a small incident can have on the rest of society.

NOTES.

TOPIC SENTENCE AT START.

DONT USE LOTF.

USE IMPORTANT PARAGRAPH. EXPLAIN THE BEAST IS LITERALLY SIMON.

EXPLAIN WHAT SIMON REPRESENTS IN THE NOVEL.

TIME OF POSSIABLE NECULUAR WAR

CONCLUSION RELATING TO WORLD.

 

LOTF EXERCISE.

Repetition and adjectives.

In the paragraph, golding is expressing the idea that human’s original nature of urge for power and control is still very much present in people today. Henry is fascinated by the small creatures in front of him and becomes absorbed in the dominance he has over them. The repetition of them in the sentence,” destination talked to them, urging them, ordering them” shows the distinction of being different to the creatures. Referring to “them” as a higher being in control of the group in front.

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.”

“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”

“The thing is – fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream.”

“We did everything adults would do. What went wrong?”

“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!”

“The rules!” shouted Ralph, “you’re breaking the rules!”
“Who cares?”

“The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.”

 

“On His Blindness” by John Milton (1608-1674)

When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg’d with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”

The poem by John Milton addresses the shortcomings and limitations one experiences in life. Everybody experiences them and the author has the perfect example, he is blind. Before he was blind, Milton rose to the top position as an English writer then became blind and descended all the way into a state where he was unable to read and write.

The poem is made by the way that Milton transcribes the misery he feels onto the page with imagery. First of all, he frames himself not as a miserable individual but a failed servant to God. Milton expresses his views of God entwined with his feelings of misery. As people, we all suffer from losses and setbacks but it is how we react that shows the person we really are. Setbacks can influence very important things, for example, an injury which causes you to miss out of your sports season or a bad result in an exam meaning you miss out on a class. Although it has the immediate cause of a missed opportunity, you can just as easily turn it around and use it to your advantage. Learning from mistakes and bad situations can help prepare you for future situations and give you valuable initiative. The lesson readers should take away from this is that everybody has setbacks but it can be turned around and used to my our advantage. This is seen in the novel “All the light we cannot see” where Marie Laure suffers the same problem of being blind but she uses this to her own advantage.

Although it is all well and good to get over your struggles and rise up from the occasion, in the poem, Milton does not speak as if he has risen up from his experience on the contrary, he has been left in a pit of misery, beaten by his situation which suggests he lacks the mental stamina to beat his own mind.