Edited shawshank redemption comic strip

  

Essay The Shawshank Redemption exam summary

WHAT

Negative- I wrote the wrong director. I did not have enough evidence and needed to use more techniques and explain in more detail. I needed one more technique in each paragraph. I also needed to explain my examples in depth.

Positive- gave some satisfactory information and used correct grammar. My paragraphs were good but just needed a bit more structure.

SO WHAT

What I would do to improve my essay would be to add one more technique in each of my paragraphs as well as my quote such as camera angles or music. I would also read the question and understand it more. Also I would need to fix the movie title from Shawshank Redemption to The Shawshank Redemption. To improve my essay would be to remember who directed the film which was Frank Darabont. 

WHAT NOW

What I will do to achieve this is to revise at home until I know my essay inside out. Also to get a friend to test me on different things about the film or techniques so I remember them easier.

REWRITTEN ESSAY 

In the film The Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont, character change is shown in the beginning and ending of The Shawshank Redemption in Andy Dufresne. Andy Dufresene starts off nervous and intimidated in the beginning and in the end has gained the inmates respect and is a free man.

Andy Dufresne has been sentenced to time in Shawshank prison for committing a crime that he had not committed. Andy is new to Shawshank and in the beginning of the film is seen at the gates of Shawshank surrounded by intimidating inmates clinging onto the fences and shouting at Andy. In the beginning of the film Andy is a shy, nervous man who is not used to prison life which is shown in the dialogue from Red, “looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over,” this was Red’s first impressions of Andy. Another technique that shows that Andy was new to the prison is a wide camera angle that shows Andy standing away by himself from all of the other old inmates who are in groups and all know each other. This shot shows how lonely and shy Andy is being the new inmate in Shawshank prison. Red and all of the other inmates saw Andy as fresh meat, a nervous, weak wreck that they could all pick on and so they did. This shows Andy’s character which changed as the film went on.

Towards the end of the film, Andy gets to know the inmates and talks to them often, especially Red who asks why he is in Shawshank prison. Andy is innocent along with all of the other inmates which is shown in the dialogue, “only innocent man in Shawshank,” which shows that Andy is not the only innocent one in prison. Andy’s character changes from nervous and shy to more open and willing to speak and make new friends as he gets used to the prison and the inmates in it. Andy builds a library in the prison for all of the inmates which gains him respect and shows how he has settled in which is character change. Another technique that shows that Andy settled in and made friends from character change which is a camera angle of another wide shot showing Andy in his library with other inmates getting along with him and using his rescource that he made positively. This shows character change.

By the end of the film Andy has all of the inmates on his side and has gained respect from most of the people in Shawshank prison thanks to his quick thinking and silver tongue. Character change from Andy is seen more intensely here as he slowly has gotten used to the prison, found the tricks around getting through prison and finally after years uses a rock hammer to break through his cell wall out into the other side of the fence after climbing through a waste tunnel and coming out on the other side to freedom, this is shown in the dialogue from Red’s voiceover, “Andy, the only man to climb through five football fields of sh*t and come out clean,” this shows how everyone and Red knew Andy was innocent. Character change is shown intensely when Andy went from nervous and new to prison to confident, innocent and free and beginning a new life in Mexico when he later meets Red again who first saw him as weak but now looks up to him as a close friend. This is seen in a wide angle shot that shows the scale of Mexico beach where Andy and Red are in the shot walking towards each other which shows reuniting and freedom as well as character change.

Character change is shown in Andy in the beginning and ending of The Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont. Andy changed from shy to confident in his journey from being in prison to gaining respect from everyone to completely free and a new man.

Text connections

Theme study.

I have chosen the genre of crime to study and make connections with. The texts that helped to make these connections were Witness directed by Peter Weir, Boy directed by Taika Waititi, Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont and Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese. The significant two connections that I made using these texts were the theme of violence in Shutter Island and Shawshank Redemption and the theme of parent child relationship in Witness and Boy. Crime as the main theme of all of these texts is shown in different ways such as murder in Witness, drug abuse and violence in Boy, murder and violence in Shawshank Redemption, and violence in Shutter Island.

A significant connection that I have made between two of my chosen texts is that the characters, Teddy Daniels who is the main character in Shutter Island and Andy Dufresne also the main character in Shawshank Redemption both have similar characteristics of violence. Teddy Daniels portrays the theme of violence as he is on his way to the lighthouse and rips a gun out of the guards hand and then knocks the guard out before finally entering the doors of the lighthouse after a long journey and investigation to find that he is in an experiment. Violence is shown in the character of Andy Dufresne when he is getting used to the prison and starts fighting and standing up for himself, it is shown in the form of fighting with the other prisoners which I can connect with Teddy Daniels attacking/fighting the lighthouse guard. Violence is shown from Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption which is shown in the dialogue, “I’m a convicted murderer who provides sound financial planning,” this is spoken by Andy who did not murder his wife but was convicted of it. This is common in the texts because these two characters show us things about this particular genre. Violence is shown from Teddy Daniels in Shutter Island, which is shown in the dialogue, “You’re as violent as they come. I know this, because I’m as violent as they come,” this is spoken by the Warden. This proves to the reader that having these characteristics can be a good thing because it helped Andy Dufresne to get out of prison alive and it helped him to gain the other inmates respect. It is also a good thing for Teddy Daniels because violence is what got him to the lighthouse which is the end of the experiment that is supposed to get him to realize that he is making up different personalities to escape his real past.

We see similar characteristics in Shogun from Boy. Shogun is boy’s father and he is a character who tries his hardest to keep his children happy but is mixed with the wrong crowd, he also has anger issues mostly because he is a single father as his children’s mother passed away. We can see this mainly when he has a go at his children if he is having a bad day and also in a scene in the film when he is at a pub and gets into a physical fight with some men. Therefore showing that he is a violent person overall. The theme of parent child relationship is shown in Boy and also in Witness in a way that Samuel gets introduced to John Book and John has to look after him and protect him as a father figure, Samuel also looks at him as a father figure. I think that the author’s purpose here in Witness using the character of John Book was to make the audience really think about the Amish religion and emphasise the idea of how different the Amish and English way of life is but also shows that they can be introduced to each other as John Book builds a relationship with Samuel even though they have different beliefs. The Amish community is introduced to violence ever since John Book comes along which is a huge thing because Amish people are very against violence and it is not aloud in their community. These two texts are both trying to show their themes of violence and also parent child relationships which is both portrayed in Boy and Witness. I think the main message that the authors are attempting to get across here is that parent child relationship and the message that even though there may be two completely different religions, sides or beliefs they can still clash and meet each other like the Amish and English and the young and old.

Another connection I have been able to make between my texts was the idea that the director used music to emphasize the build up of what is about to happen in each of their scenes. I saw this predominantly in Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese and Witness by Peter Weir. Martin Scorsese uses the idea of music or technique of sound that starts off soft and has moments where the music jolts to built up tension when Teddy Daniels and Chuck are exploring the lighthouse. I also saw Peter Weir use sound to emphasize the build up of when Samuel finds out who the murderer is. Peter uses the film technique of panning and a close up shot as well as music that slowly builds up to create tension and to really show what Samuel is feeling and how big the revelation is. This shows the reader how big the moment is in the scene and creates a feeling of uncovering something big.

In conclusion, I made two significant connections between four texts that all have the same theme of crime. I think in all of these texts the authors and director were trying to show the theme of crime and in Boy and Witness the theme of parent child relationships and in Shawshank Redemption and Shutter island the theme of violence.

Fresh Fruit Salad (Catering)

On the 7th of May we did a Fresh Fruit Salad as part of Unit Standard 13280.

Fruit skewers

Vanessa Hendriks.

19/5/15

The thing I would do to improve it next time would be to peel and cut the banana last so it does not turn brown.

Close Viewing: Witness

Social studies

I have almost finished my research for my three questions. Then I need to write up all of my sub questions.

Social studies

I have finished all of my questions and my topic for my inquiry focus. I have also gotten down in my book all of the information regarding the arab spring including all information of Ben Ali and Mohammed and everything that happened I between, before and after.

English essay

In the stories of Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Job by Dan Preston, About a boy by Chris and Paul Weitz and House at the end of the street by Mark Tonderai, a common theme that is present is survival.

In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel and Job by Dan Preston one theme is survival as both of the main characters, Pi and Job are placed in a situation where survival is their only option. A situation where Pi has to survive is when there is a storm that forces Pi off the ship onto a life raft that he then realizes is full with highly dangerous animals. His next mission is to survive his time on the boat until he gets help. One situation from that occurrence that puts him in danger after a large Bengal tiger kills off all other animals on the raft is Pi having to survive on the same raft as the tiger that is named Richard Parker. One quote from Pi that shows the need of survival is, “I decided to try my hand in fishing,” this shows how his loss of food causes him to have to fend for himself by fishing for food. A situation where Job is out in a survival position is when Job goes to Australia to escape from his horrible life at home. He is in Australia by himself with only a certain amount of money to survive. Job and Pi are in the same situation where they are both by themselves and have only a certain amount of something to survive off and use. A quote from Job that shows this is, “it seems unlikely that Job could have obtained a passport and travelled as an Unaccompanied Minor to another country, let alone survived once he got there,” which shows how in other people’s point of view it is unlikely that Job can survive on his own in this situation. One theme is survival as both main characters Pi and Job have both been placed in a survival situation which puts both of their lives in danger.

In the films About a boy by Chris and Paul Weitz and House at the end of the street by Mark Tonderai one theme that is present is survival. Both of the main characters from these films have survival as their only option, Marcus from About a boy and Elissa from House at the end of the street have different needs of survival but both link together. Marcus has to survive his years of school having to drown out the bullies everyday, a quote from Marcus that shows how he needs to survive not only the school bullies at school and after school but also he almost needs to help his mother to survive depression, to keep her going and looking after her son. “If you’re only two people, and someone drops off the edge, then you’re on your own. Two isn’t a large enough number, you need three at least,” this shows how it is an everyday struggle of worry for Marcus about his mum not trying to commit suicide again. He has to care for his mother and make sure not only he survives but she survives also. Elissa from my chosen film, House at the end of the street has to survive the house of a young boy she has met not long ago named Ryan, his younger sister died of a head trauma at a young age and he misses her so he wants her back, in order for that he kidnaps Elissa and tries to turn Elissa into his younger sister by calling her Carrie-Ann and dressing her like his younger sister including blue colored eye contact lenses and other extraordinary measures. Elissa has to fight her way out of Ryan’s house finding his younger sisters body in the process and other bodies. A quote that shows Elissa’s desperate situation in need of survival from Ryan, “I want you Elissa… but I need Carrie Anne.” This shows his desperate Ryan is for his little sister and how Elissa is in a situation where she has to use what she has in his basement to survive. Both main characters have to use what they have and their mind to survive their situations.

All characters including Pi, Job, Marcus and Elissa are put in similar situations where they all need to use what they have in order to survive the dangerous situation that they are in. Pi and Elissa are in more similar situations as in desperate survival whereas Job and Marcus’ needs are less desperate and more to do with other people and everyday things. A quote from Life of Pi that covers all characters situations said from Pi is, “life will defend itself no matter how small,” this shows in Life of Pi, Pi has to survive against the Tiger, in Job, Job has to survive against his family and friends, in About a boy, Marcus has to survive against the bullies and his mothers mental disorder, and in House at the end of the street, Elissa has to survive against Ryan.

In conclusion, a common theme that is presented in both films and novels is survival. No matter each characters situation they all have to survive what situation they are in with what they have and with some characters what they have to survive off is not much like Marcus in About a boy, and Job in Job.

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