The movie “Breaking Away” presents the story of a young man from working class origins who seeks to better himself by creating a persona through which he almost, but not quite, wins the girl. The rivalry between the townies and the college students sets the scene for the story of four friends who learn to accept themselves as they "break away" from childhood and from their underdog self-images. Dave Stoller, the main character, is a young man completely obsessed with cycling and Italy. His fantasies are so well fabricated that he drives his family crazy by behaving and speaking as if he were an Italian cyclist. Dave aspires to be one of the best cyclists yet the best racers are Italian. He feels that in order to be the best, he must be Italian. Dave carries his fantasy one step too far when he pretends to be an Italian exchange student in order to impress an attractive female college student. When he discovers that he actually likes her and confesses his charade, she ends the romance. This single act reveals to the audience that Dave is ashamed and embarrassed to tell Kat that the truth about his background; he obviously did not like who he was – a cutter. Dave felt that in order to win Kat he needed to pretend to be someone who he was not. However, his plan did not go over well causing him to lose Kat. Dave's father is a used-car salesman who disapproves of his son's Italian fantasies. Dave's father thinks his son is crazy, lazy, and that acting as if he were an ...
Split is an award-winning, realistic fiction book written by Swati Avasthi. The book has a total number of 280 pages, and it could be found in our school library. The story focuses mainly on two brothers, Jace and Christian Witherspoon. After years of suffering from abuse from his father, Jace eventually runs away from home like his older brother did before. Finding himself, bruised and tattered, at Christian’s doorsteps, Christian decides to take him in because he is family. Along with new identities and new friends, the story centers on the two brothers settling in to a better life while trying to figure a way to rescue someone that has been unable to escape from the wrath of their enemy for years: their mother. However, they are left with a devastating answer. This report will focus on one of the primary protagonists, Jace Witherspoon, a significant event, and the overall theme that the author is trying to convey.
The main protagonist of the film, Scotty Smalls, is introduced as a straight-A, friendless young boy who has just moved into a new neighborhood in new state. While
When Denny’s late wife Eve dies, his whole world is changed. Trish and Maxwell - the evil Twins - plot against Denny by pulling him into a major court battle. As a result, Denny is forced to sacrifice major opportunities in order to win custody of his daughter, Zoë. “ “I appreciate your generous offer,” he [Denny] said. “But I’m afraid certain things prevent me from leaving this country – or even this state – at the moment. So I have to decline.” (Stein 276) Luca Pantoni – a man that worked at Ferrari – asked Denny if he wanted to move out to Italy with his family where he could test cars for a living. With the major court battle going on Denny had to politely refuse the offer. Knowing Denny’s personality it would have been difficult for him to decline such a great offer, but at that moment he had to think about his family first. Next to Eve, Zoë is the most important person in Denny’s life. The death of Eve was unexpected for both Denny and Zoë, but Denny could not let his sadness and frustration show...
For this assignment we were asked to review a movie. I choose to analyze the movie Fried Green Tomatoes from 1991. This movie has many lessons hidden inside, but also has a story of a story. It starts off with a woman named Evelyn Couch going to visit her husband’s bitter aunt, and turns into the daily visits to another member of that house. This woman’s name is Ninny Threadgood, and she always has wonderful stories to tell Evelyn. At first, she seems unsure of this elderly woman’s presence, but opens up quickly. These two ladies have a connection, and Evelynn’s prospective of life soon changes. Ninny tells her stories all along, but in the end it reveals that Ninny was really talking about her life in the past. Evelyn was going through a rough patch in her life, and visiting this woman was all she needed to make some changes. She changed her diet, knocked out a wall in the house, stood up for herself, and changed her
Film Thrasher compares and contrasts the difficulty of two men, and one young boy. Boyhood
Gambling addict Connor O’Neil ends up deep in debt after he borrows money from almost every loan shop in town to fuel his addiction. In order to pay the mounds of money that he owes, he is requested to coach a little-league baseball team, the Kekambas. At first, Connor doesn’t start off right with the kids and doesn’t see the point of him being there. Even though Connor paid the kids no attention, they were somehow inspired by his presence. Later, He realizes that he must come to grips at what he wants in his life, and ultimately forms a special bond with the kids on the team.
Transformation is a common these in all of these stories. In fact these stories act as reminders that human beings can change. In “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” or “The Tiger’s Bride” the heroine struggles to experience herself as an individual instead of an ob...
Unsurprisingly, the novel is a classic coming of age story which centers on a young man who is confused about himself and his sexual identity in his early twenties. This confusion about himself and his sexual identity is the driving force of his interactions with his friends and lovers. Moreover, this confusion about himself and his sexual identity also facilitates the conflict and unforeseen consequences which occur during the novel.
Chris a sixteen year old African male enter into therapy seeking professional help. Chris grew up in an urban neighborhood in New York, together with his mother and father. Chris develop problems due to longing attention. He begins to act out, hang around with the incorrect crowd, and get into fights.
Society often pressures individuals within it to conform to different ideals and norms. This stems from the fact that individuals in a society are expected to act in a certain way. If a person or group of people do not satisfy society’s expectations, they are looked down upon by others. This can lead to individuals isolating themselves from others, or being isolated from others, because they are considered as outcasts. The emotional turmoil that can result from this, as well as the internal conflict of whether or not to conform, can transform an individual into a completely different person. This transformation can either be beneficial or harmful to the individual as well as those around them. The individual can become an improved version of himself or herself but conversely, they can become violent, rebellious and destructive. The novels Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess both explore the negative effects experienced by individuals living within the confines of society’s narrow-mindedness. In A Clockwork Orange, protagonist Alex was the leader of a small group of teenage criminals. He did not have a healthy relationship with either one of his parents or with others around him. Instead he spent most of his time alone during the day and at night roamed the streets in search of victims he could mug or rape. In Fight Club the unnamed protagonist was an outcast in his community. He chose to distance and isolate himself from others and as a result had no friends, with the exception of Tyler Durden and Marla Singer. Due to his isolation, he often participated in nightly fights that took place in Fight Club so that he could relieve his anxiety and stress. In this way, Alex and the unnamed protagoni...
Loneliness is usually a common and unharmful feeling, however, when a child is isolated his whole life, loneliness can have a much more morbid effect. This theme, prevalent throughout Ron Rash’s short story, The Ascent, is demonstrated through Jared, a young boy who is neglected by his parents. In the story, Jared escapes his miserable home life to a plane wreck he discovers while roaming the wilderness. Through the use of detached imagery and the emotional characterization of Jared as self-isolating, Rash argues that escaping too far from reality can be very harmful to the stability of one’s emotional being.
The first and most evident example of alienation and isolation in the novel is Len...
The film exhibits and analyzes the story of NFL player Michael Oher’s life through high school as he endures various adversities and difficulties in his life. It tells Oher’s story of being the son of a cocaine addictive mother and absentee father, who is homeless due the circumstances of his family. Despite not having either of his parents in his life he did have Big Tony, who was his friend’s dad. Big Tony would allow Michael to sleep on his sofa some days when he did not have anywhere else to live and he also was the main cause to Michael being admitted to the Wingate Academy Christian School. At this school Michael meets S.J., who is the son on the Tuohy’s. S.J. begins a friendship with Michael at a time when no one else would and on a rainy day after S.J.’s thanksgiving play, the Tuohys see Michael walking. They ask him ...
Kaz saves Noni from the hypersexualized music industry forced upon her by her controlling mother who fails to acknowledge Noni’s true self. Similarly, Noni offers Kaz an alternative life by allowing Kaz to become more aware of his fear, feelings, and self. In this nontraditional Cinderella story, Noni and Kaz save each other from the unyielding expectations of their parents, the inability to overcome fears, and the finding of their true
Jesse Viscardi was Italian. He also was very smart and handsome, very tall with long black hair which covered his eyes most of the time. He was every Italian woman's dream. Except, he was very poor. He loves in Florence, Italy and made a living by making instruments. In his hometown, he was displeased because his business of guitar making couldn't take off fast enough. He would come home every day to his family and tell about how he has not sold a single guitar. After three years of doing just this, Jessie had turned twenty three. He said that is was time to give up his dream and start a career in which he could make a proper living. His family had sat him down and said they that they would like to see him happy an smiling instead of depressed every day. The next morning, Jessie went out to look for new employment. With no luck, he returned home. With Jessie growing more depressed, his family jumped to cheer him up. Jesse just did not seem to fit in with the world. He could not understand how one person who has worked so hard to get what he needed could be so poor. The next day, there was a knock at the door of the Viscardi house hold. It was the local baker. Jessie's fathe...