A River Runs Through It, A Perfect Storm, Urban Legend and Party of Five
Authors and writers of novels and screenplays are often faced with a very difficult task. They must produce a work which will capture a person’s attention and hold it throughout the work. Norman Maclean and Paul Junger do this in their novels A River Runs Through It and A Perfect Storm, respectively. As do the writers and producers of Urban Legend and Party of Five. There are countless ways to keep a person’s interest. But there are two that are prevalent in these four works. These writers use dramatic irony, constant action, and a hint of mystery to captivate a reader or viewers attention.
The thriller Urban Legend is the story of a murderer on a college campus who kills people using various methods in accordance with urban myths. For example, one "urban legend" is a gang initiation ritual. It is said that a gang member will drive without their lights on until somebody flashes them. The person who flashes their lights must now be killed in order to gain acceptance into the gang. While this is not necessarily true, it is a story that many have heard, and the movie is based upon these tales similar to these. Urban Legend is action packed and filled with mystery (never letting on as to who the killer is until the final seconds). By keeping this high level drama throughout the movie, the producers have in effect, kept a viewers attention and let them focus more deeply on the story.
Junger’s A Perfect Storm is also filled with drama and action. This is used as a technique to gain the readers interest. The "perfect storm" that is referred to is a collaboration of a hurricane, cold front, and warm from that all collided together in the Atlantic causing massive destruction. The suspense is kept throughout the book with phrases like "Whatever it is, one thing is for sure. Around midnight on Oct. 28th-when the storm is at its height off Sable Island--something catastrophic happens aboard the Andrea Gail" (Junger 171). A Perfect Storm keeps the reader flipping pages as they wait to see who will survive the awful conditions these men and women were placed under.
Both these works have a hint of mystery to them. Whether it be who the killer is or who will live through the storm, the audience is kept intrigued.
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
"Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
In three dynamic pieces of literature, the desperate yet hopeful characters gallantly endure the struggles of achieving their dreams as they experience the pain of desolation and the life-fulfilling happiness of a friendly companion. Through hostile resentment, the intense repulsion created by generations of territorial disputes tears apart two vengeful foes, Ulrich and Georg, in Saki’s captivating tale. Whereas in Remarque’s gory war novel, the pure terror of battle brutally slaughters the once innocent minds of soldiers as they undergo changes in their heart and soul within themselves. Although impervious to the influence of the reclusive residents tied to the ranch, as they quest for their shared aspirations, George and Lennie forge an invincible friendship in Steinbeck’s calamitous novelette.
This report looks at college from the prospective of adults who have not attended college but are considering obtaining a degree. The research results give several statistics related to adults wishing to continue their education and the main concerns that they face in doing so. They mentioned many of the factors that influence adults’ decisions to pursue a post-secondary education and how they will pursue that education. Facts presented in this report show that many people wish that they could further their education. This report will allow me to broaden my viewpoint by not only viewing college’s worth to students recently graduated from high school but also to older adults seeking to return to college.
These authors create exits for characters, which flow seamlessly with the preceding storylines. The concluding scenes of these novels, while similar in the suicide theme are worlds apart when viewed through direct evidence of the characters actual feelings and past. It is interesting to note that both are basically suicides, but one becomes a clear suicide while the other becomes a liberating jump into family heritage. By using evidence written in specifically for the readers, both of these authors make it very clear how their endings should be understood, so that finally all ends well, understood.
Several literary devices are implemented in the novel to convey the author’s experiences and feelings, thus contributing to the overall appeal of the writing. In his younger years
Before taking this course, I always looked at films and read books just as the average person does; interesting plot and how long will it hold my interest, but this course gave me an entire different perspective when watching films and reading books. Now that I have taken this course and have watched the required films, the most important thing when watching other movies and reading books, is the meaning behind each scene and how they relate and affect our world. For this paper, I will discuss a book that I read a long time ago, which is She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb and how this book relates to this course.
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
Controversy over a market orientation for adult education programs is not a new issue. Edelson (1991) reviews the history of the Ford Foundation/Fund for Adult Education's Test Cities Project (1951-61), which sought to demonstrate that noncredit liberal adult education could and should pay for itself. Over time, this obsession with economic viability led to the sacrifice of small-group discussion forums to the need for economies of scale and formats that produced higher revenues (such as large lectures). The controversy crosses many fields. In social work, Laufer and Shannon (1993) describe how program quality, which requires long-term investment in lieu of short-term profit, can suffer when programs must pay as they go. They argue that quality should be "the bottom line below the bottom line" (p.
The strongest winds on this planet occur inside the tornadoes. Not all whirlpools in the atmosphere are tornadoes. A funnel cloud that drops for a period of time out of the clouds overhead, or a “dust devil” pirouetting across desert sands under clear skies, are not tornadoes. The definition of a tornado involves a vortex extending from a thunderstorm and touching the ground.
Pauly, E., and Martinson, K. "Adult Education-A New Stimulus from Welfare Reform." Adult Learning 5, no. 2 (November-December 1993): 15-16.
.... (1987). ‘Malcolm Knowles’ in P. Jarvis (Ed.) Twentieth Century Thinkers in Adult Education. London: Croom Helm. Kearsley, G. (2011). The theory into practice database. Retrieved from http://tip.psychology.org Knowles, M. S., et al. (1984). Andragogy in action: Applying modern principles of adult education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Knowles, M. S. (1989). The making of an adult educator: An autobiographical journey. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Merriam, S. B. (2001). Andragogy and self-directed learning: Pillars of adult learning theory. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 89, 3-13. National Louis University. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.nl.edu/academics/cas/ace/resources/malcolmknowles.cfm Smith, M. K. (2002). Malcolm Knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy. Retrieved from www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm
In order to build any solid structure, a good foundation is required. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a foundation is “an underlying base or support, especially the whole substructure of a building, a body or ground upon which something is built” (www.m-w.com). Foundations must be durable to support the structure that is built above. For this reason, the Foundations of Adult Education course delves into various philosophical approaches to adult education and learning. Investigation of behavior theories helps the adult education instructor or trainer develop his or her approach to methods of instruction. In this foundational course on adult education, it is important to discuss the definition of what exactly is meant by ‘adult education’ as well as its purpose and how that has changed throughout its history.
Edward Lindeman is thought by many to be the founder of contemporary adult education. His work in the area of adult education included the writing of articles, books, public presentations, assistance in the collegiate system as a lecturer of social work and as an associate pastor in the church (Brookfield 1986). Lindeman and Martha Anderson traveled to observe and analyze the German Folk High School system and the worker’s movement. Consequently, Lindeman and Anderson’s comparative research lead to the breakthrough of the German perception of andragogy. Their studies define andragogy as the “true method of adult learning” (1986). In 1968 at Boston University, the initial use of the term “andragogy” to attain prevalent notice of adult instructors occurred when Malcolm Knowles who at the time was an instructor of adult education, presented the term via journal article. In his 1970 book publication, he defined “andragogy” as the art and science of helping adults learn. The concept of self-directed learning, or SDL, maintained below reveals Knowles’ definition of SDL:
The facilitation of this model allows adult learners to be active and self-directed in their learning.