In today’s society many different forms of art constantly surround us. The music blaring through your headphones, the advertisements we come across, and even the buildings peering high above the New York skyline can all be considered art. One of the most popular mediums of art in the present time is filmmaking. Film uses moving photographs to narrate a story, express emotions and convey ideas. The unique aspect of the art of film is that it allows the viewer to become its subject or characters and experience their situations as they are occurring. Gus Van Sant uses this characteristic to his advantage in the 2003 film “Elephant”. Elephant tries to capture the actual and unseen events of the tragic Columbine Massacre in attempts to make sense of a senseless act, while at the same time being true to its senselessness.
On April 20th, 1999, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, launched a deadly assault on Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado. Armed with a rifle, shotguns, and numerous explosives they wreaked havoc on their school. In the end twenty-four people were injured and fifteen, including the shooters, were dead. It was a tragedy that echoed around the country and will be remembered as the worst school shooting in American history. Gus Van Sant took this incident and decided to interpret it in his own artistic vision. “Elephant” is not a drama; it is not a documentary. It is just a free-floating meditation on the tragedy. The film puts you right in the moment, in real time, with the victims and the killers while doubling back on itself, making chronological jumps and repeating its narrative from different perspectives. It is purposely made to be vague so as to leave the viewer perplexed but, at the same time, st...
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...gh school student who is friend to all, even the shooters. The next character we come across is a photographer, Elias, who spends much of his time taking photos of his student subjects and scrutinizing his pictures in a darkroom; Elias can be depicted as the “artsy” kid. Then it's on to the attractive couple, Nathan and Carrie and then to a trio of materialistic cute girls, Brittany, Jordan, and Nicole, who gossip, complain about their parents, and make their ritual pleasure trip to the girls' room to vomit up their lunch. Michelle, a plain, slightly overweight girl, who won't wear shorts in gym class and is sadly alienated from her peers, is later introduced. Last, but certainly not least, Alex and Eric come on screen. They are the outcasts who are bullied and later show up at the school with giant duffel bags full of automatic weapons, ammunition, and explosives.
reacts to the crosser. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker’s first impression of the swamp
Drifters by Bruce Dawe This poem is about a family that’s always on the move, with no place to settle down for long, hence the poem was titled ‘Drifters’ to describe this family. ‘Drifters’ looks at the members of this family response to frequently change and how it has affected them. This poem is told in third person narration in a conversational tone. This gives the feeling as if someone who knows this family is telling the responder the situation of this family.
Each author has their own writing style they have developed over the years, which includes the uses of different tools to enhance one’s thoughts. The modes of rhetoric include a total of nine unique writing tools, which essayist tend to lean on throughout their work. The point of writing for many people is not about crafting a unique writing style, but to point an audience towards a meaningful theme of some sort. Even if two pieces of writing do not share the same concept or subject, they have the ability to share modes of rhetoric. In the essays “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White and “Shooting An Elephant” by George Orwell, each author focuses extensively on description, comparison and contrast, and exemplification. By using these few
The first thing people cling to in the wake of such terrible tragedies is a simple question: why? Why did the murderer do what he did? When did they develop the mindset that made them commit such a heinous crime? How could any healthy, functioning, moral human being perpetrate perhaps the greatest ordeal of death our society has ever known? They look for action, for reason, for some concrete absolute that can somehow lift the shroud of sorrow that has overtaken their lives in such an awfully tremendous — and yet, however simple this question may be, the answer is never clear, and it is never enough. In the absence of a grounded conclusion as to why school shootings occur — or homicide of any kind for that matter — many people seek answers in what is known — in the few things we can take away from all the innocent deaths, and the person who caused them.
The fundamental characteristic of magical realism is its duality, which enables the reader to experience both the character’s past and the present. In the novel, Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson uses this literary device to address the the trauma and mistreatment of the Haisla community in Canada by unveiling the intimate memories of the protagonist, Lisamarie, and the resulting consequences of this oppression. Monkey Beach illustrates how abuse in the past leads to another form of self-medication in the future - a neverending, vicious cycle for the members of the Haisla community. Many characters in Monkey Beach are scarred from childhood sexual abuse and family neglect, and resort to drug and alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. These appalling memories are an account of the impact of colonization on the Haisla territory which continues to haunt the Aboriginal community throughout generations.
On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School Senior Dylan Klebold and his friend Eric Harris killed twelve students and one teacher before taking their own lives shortly after. They were armed, cruel, and just full of hatred that day. They decided to channel that hatred towards their classmates and teachers in the form of havoc, devastation, and death. Crimes such as this are sensitive subjects, especially when the youth are involved. The subject is even touchier when both the murderers and those murdered are children themselves.
The book Lives on the Boundary, written by Mike Rose, provides great insight to what the new teaching professional may anticipate in the classroom. This book may be used to inform a teacher’s philosophy and may render the teacher more effective. Lives on the Boundary is a first person account composed of eight chapters each of which treat a different obstacle faced by Mike Rose in his years as a student and as an educator. More specifically in chapters one through five Mike Rose focuses on his own personal struggles and achievements as a student. Ultimately the aim is to highlight the underpreparedness of some of today’s learners.
Eric Harris, a seventeen year-old who committed the Columbine High School massacre next to his companion Dylan Klebold, wrote “I have a goal to destroy as much as possible… I want to burn the world. Kill mankind, no one should survive” (Cullen). Klebold was said to be suicidal and depressive and would always blame himself for the problems he encountered. On the other hand adults described Harris as a nice sweet-faced young boy, but they didn’t see the cold and calculating person he truly was. Both teenagers have been bullied all through out high school and had an intention to make everyone suffer as much as they did. For Harris the victims meant nothing to him, same feeling as someone who cuts the turkey for Thanksgiving. They both wanted a revenge and control so powerful that it would be assumed to be the greatest massacre in the history of the US, which made that their horrifying motiv...
In American society, violence runs rampage throughout the country that cause its citizens to be afraid and discouraged about their homeland. One of the major parts of American violence is from guns. In the documentary, "Bowling for Columbine", a famous filmmaker, Michael Moore addresses the ubiquitous situation in America. He argues that the use of gun in America co-insides or correlates to the recent massacres and that America, as a whole, should have stricter gun control laws. Throughout the film, Moore uses specific references to it and employs rhetorical and persuasive devices to construct his argument in favor of changing gun laws.
After a basketball game, four kids, Andrew Jackson, Tyrone Mills, Robert Washington and B.J. Carson, celebrate a win by going out drinking and driving. Andrew lost control of his car and crashed into a retaining wall on I-75. Andy, Tyrone, and B.J. escaped from the four-door Chevy right after the accident. Teen basketball star and Hazelwood high team captain was sitting in the passenger's side with his feet on the dashboard. When the crash happened, his feet went through the windshield and he was unable to escape. The gas tank then exploded and burned Robbie to death while the three unharmed kids tried to save him.
In his unique and thought provoking book Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, David Abram discusses our relationship with the world, trying to influence us to return to the use of our animal senses as we build our perceptions and interactions with the world around us. Abram (2010) states “This book is about becoming a two-legged animal” (p. 3). It is clear that we already are animals, we have always been, but I think what Abram is trying to do is influence us to return to our animal senses and instincts to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves as humans. Abram (2010) indicates however that “To identify with the sheer physicality of one’s own flesh may seem lunatic” (p. 6), which is perhaps one of the reasons we have separated ourselves from the non-human world. So how does Abram suggest we become more animal? Why does he believe this is so important to our earthly existence? How does he suggest we live in a more right relationship with the world?
The novel Upside Down, by Eduardo Galeano depicts the injustices and unfairness of several branches of the global society. The differences between the colonized and the colonizer as Galeano writes is always growing and so is the gap between rich and poor. The author challenges western and eurocentric minds as to why on average, countries in the northern hemisphere have a higher standard of living than countries in the southern hemisphere. At first as a reader I thought the writer was whining about the unfairness of the world, but it is the social opiates such as the false idea of capitalism and choice that keeps us in check in this so called democracy. The author forces the reader to open their hearts to a concept that today's capitalist, power hungry society has almost forgotten
In her article “Are We Desensitized?” Nastacia Goodwin expresses her frustration with the media and her peers by contrasting her own reaction to the Virginia Tech Massacre against the reactions of people she knew in school. Goodwin’s reflection on her experience brings her to the conclusion that the peoples’ mass exposure to violence has converted them into apathetic monsters. She starts by laying out expectations of her school’s reaction to the Virginia Tech Massacre, believing that the school will be troubled and paranoid, only for her to find that life is continuing as usual in high school. Goodwin goes through the rest of her day in a state of silent disgust while observing people’s lukewarm reactions to the massacre. Goodwin makes an appeal to pathos by refuting her friends’ statements with her emotions, rebuking them for their lack of genuine sympathy.
“People are so unaware...well, Ignorance is bliss I guess… that would explain my depression.” (Klebold, Dylan). With that sentence, I divulged myself into the most horrendous, sad journal I have ever read, hoping to gain some insight into a disturbed young man’s mind. On April 20th, 1999, Dylan Klebold accompanied his friend, Eric Harris, in one of the most publicized and shocking school shootings of the modern day--The Columbine Massacre. With their sawed-off shotguns and godlike dispositions, the boys exacted their revenge not only on their peers, but on themselves. As the nightmare collapsed, and thirteen people lay dead, the questions began. How could two boys so young commit this crime? What forced them to be this way? For the Klebold family, one question remained: How had Dylan become involved in one of the crimes of the century?
Animals can be a man's best friend; however, they can also be ones worst enemy after passing certain boundaries. Peter Singer who wrote Animal Liberation gave valid points in my opinion because animals do have a right to live and we should give them their space. Humans take everything for granted and never seem to learn until it too late. Today slaughterhouses are abusing animals in disturbing ways which has to change. I will agree with Singers concepts on animals because they have a right to live a peaceful life like humans; they have a life ahead of them once they are born. Singer argues that animals should have their interests considered throughout their lives. Singer wants to eliminate speciesism from our thoughts which is, a human discriminatory belief that all other animals are not as good as them therefore they do not have rights and we could do what we want to them. We should not be the only types of "animals" in this earth who has a set of rights we should abide.