("Eveline", Joyce)
Plot:
The Story "Eveline" holds potential to become a deep and sentimental film. As a story of unsatisfied love and tragedy, this tale would serve well to capture the pity and emotion of the viewers. Within this production, I would not alter the plot very much. Eveline would still start at her house and then rush to the boat and then refuse to get on. However I would enhance emotion by including many vivid flashbacks of Eveline's life; she wouldn't simply think about her father's actions, the viewer would witness a cheerful and loving family transform into family abuse towards young children including alcohol and language. Additionally I would enhance memories of Eveline's mother, including intense, last wishes of protection for her children. These flashbacks would only improve the piece's theme of effects of a rough home life and indecision. The tearful ending would display Eveline rushing after the boat until she suddenly stops, with a lost look, and returns to her dark and unstable house.
Point of View:
The point of view would remain the same for this piece: first person as told by Eveline. This would allow for the production to include the constant mental conflict within Eveline to occur. Additionally, this would keep the thoughts and notions of other characters secret, which would gain interest from the viewers. They would remain questioning the love and emotion of Frank and witness the horror of an abusive father from a child's eyes. This point of view would support the use of flashbacks and the overall additional mental conflict. This film would change point of view simply by increasing the amount of Eveline's conflicting thoughts in order to increase the reaction to Eveline's final choice. This would put a stronger emphasis on Eveline, and would only strengthen the theme of a broken home and indecision.
Characterization:
The film would impact this element the most. Eveline would become a worn, young woman with a constant lost look as she remains trapped by her mental battle. Her father will model the most horrible and distant father possible, making Eveline's life a living hell. Eveline's siblings will be young and cling to Eveline, as she single-handily raises them. However, she finds peace and joy when she is with Frank. Frank will be transformed into the only love and light with Eveline's life; they will love each other with passion and commitment. This will not negatively impact the theme, for the effects of a broken household not only upheld but peaked at an emotional climax. These characters will make this story traumatic and memorable.
Setting:
The setting of the short story it's quite stated except that it is a dark little town on the coast with a harbor. Personally, I pictured the story a dark little town filled with selfish and rude people, wearing dark dirty colors. Eveline would also be dressed this way, and the town would be set in a cold harbor town perhaps in Ireland or England. This setting captures the current status of Eveline: trapped in an atmosphere of darkness and selfishness, with the shore as the only refuge and peace. The setting plays an important aspect of the visual cues and imagery of the piece; the setting will portray and exhibit the distant and horrible lifestyle of Eveline. This setting is only an extension of the original setting and will only try to increase the impact of the original message of a broken home and duty.
Theme:
The original theme of indecision and effects of a broken home will be clearly portrayed in this film. The important effects such as Eveline's lost decision at the end and fighting conscience to get there will be included. This is done in order to maintain the original theme. The only aspect that is altered is the lack of positive reason for Eveline to stay in her current life and increase of care and love for Frank. These alterations simply enhance the effects of her broken home and increase the effect of her final choice to remain home. The themes of indecision are captured in her unsatisfactory ending, lacking escape and freedom and happiness.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Different Models of the Same Blueprint
("The Bicentennial Man", Isaac Asimov )
Plot
The structure and actions of the story and movie of Bicentennial Man take different directions. The short story choose to focus on Andrew's impact on robot history and his works while the film took a more personal spin with a focus on Andrew's different relationships. The film did this by adding new characters of the story, such as a human marriage partner for Andrew to fight for. He doesn't spend his time reading and writing in the film as he did in the play. His personal goal to be claimed as human is used in both works, but the film gave it a drastically more emotional kick. The film also increased the level of pity and emotion by changing the attitude of the robot companies. In contrast to the story where the company was a single and more just company, the company of the film openly rejected Andrew and claimed he was an object. Additionally, the treatments that make Andrew more human are preformed differently in the story and film; the film used an outside company instead of the original company in order to give a more evil impression to company. However, while these works were quite different, both structures worked to give similar themes and ideals about fear and rights.
Point of View
The story uses a third person point of view with a focus on Andrew. This was done to display the lack of emotion and feelings that a robot would have in comparison to a human. Using third person simply offers distance and contributes to a inhumane theme. The film also used this point of view in the beginning; however, as the story progressed, the point of view also progressed. This is displayed with the shift of Andrew calling himself "I" instead of "one". Throughout the film, the viewer is exposed to more of Andrew's thoughts and eventually his emotions (such as when he cries in court). At the end, the point of view was still third person, but there was an obvious shift to capture Andrew's emotions that isn't found in the story. These different focus show the differing focus of the works. The story wants to center on the effects of human fears and history while the film desires to focus on the Andrew's emotions and impact of his "humanity".
Characterization
The characterization between the film and the story doesn't change much in concern to Andrew; He is quite smart and unique in both works. The film did a better job at documenting the transformation of Andrew simply because it was visually shown. However, the minor characters play drastically different roles in these works. There aren't too many minor characters in the story, displaying the isolation and differences of Andrew to humans. In the film, the differences of humans and robots are bridged with the development of new characters that interact with Andrew. There is the woman that falls in love with Andrew, and a personal scientist that modifies Andrew and both characters give Andrew a more human aura. Additionally the film developed more characters to create a more humorous piece, such as an annoying preteen family members and goofy robots. The different uses of characters reflect the different impacts of the story: the story trying to show isolation while the film tries to make Andrew more human.
Setting
This is the most similar aspect of both the film and story. Both seem to occur in a futuristic society. The film gives a year range of 2005 to 22o5 while the book simply describes a developing society. Both works cling to traditional activities regardless of time, such as reading books, walking, and human interaction. This lack of change reflects the difficulties of both of these societies to grasp the changing images of robots. Still, both works changed as the years passed. Fashion and technologies and robot mechanics were documented in the story. The film also had these changing elements; however, many more elements such as architecture and health care were captured in the film. Because the film is a visual piece, it is easier to feel and see the change of time. The change of time holds a bigger impact as the viewer witnesses the setting change and people and generations grow old.
Theme
The differences of the film and story reflect the vast differences of the themes and ideals. While both worked to question what is human, both took drastically methods and hold different ideals. The story focused more on human fear, fear of mistakes the future and the unknown. This is described in the countless different legal obstacles Andrew faces the societal focus on keeping robots as machines and structured. The film, in contrast, holds a places more stress on the qualifications of humans. The last scenes of the film require emotion as Andrew tries to overcome the judgemental requirements of being human. The additional aspects of his marriage and visible human-like aging body create a theme more centered on questioning what is human. Other elements of characterization and point of view and plot also reflect the differences of themes between the film and story.
All and all, the film and story of Bicentennial Man are too different to be compared. Both were well-done works that shouldn't be condemned based upon their differences. Rather, they should be viewed as completely separate works with different, important ideals. Both were entertaining and called for questioning of human morals.
Plot
The structure and actions of the story and movie of Bicentennial Man take different directions. The short story choose to focus on Andrew's impact on robot history and his works while the film took a more personal spin with a focus on Andrew's different relationships. The film did this by adding new characters of the story, such as a human marriage partner for Andrew to fight for. He doesn't spend his time reading and writing in the film as he did in the play. His personal goal to be claimed as human is used in both works, but the film gave it a drastically more emotional kick. The film also increased the level of pity and emotion by changing the attitude of the robot companies. In contrast to the story where the company was a single and more just company, the company of the film openly rejected Andrew and claimed he was an object. Additionally, the treatments that make Andrew more human are preformed differently in the story and film; the film used an outside company instead of the original company in order to give a more evil impression to company. However, while these works were quite different, both structures worked to give similar themes and ideals about fear and rights.
Point of View
The story uses a third person point of view with a focus on Andrew. This was done to display the lack of emotion and feelings that a robot would have in comparison to a human. Using third person simply offers distance and contributes to a inhumane theme. The film also used this point of view in the beginning; however, as the story progressed, the point of view also progressed. This is displayed with the shift of Andrew calling himself "I" instead of "one". Throughout the film, the viewer is exposed to more of Andrew's thoughts and eventually his emotions (such as when he cries in court). At the end, the point of view was still third person, but there was an obvious shift to capture Andrew's emotions that isn't found in the story. These different focus show the differing focus of the works. The story wants to center on the effects of human fears and history while the film desires to focus on the Andrew's emotions and impact of his "humanity".
Characterization
The characterization between the film and the story doesn't change much in concern to Andrew; He is quite smart and unique in both works. The film did a better job at documenting the transformation of Andrew simply because it was visually shown. However, the minor characters play drastically different roles in these works. There aren't too many minor characters in the story, displaying the isolation and differences of Andrew to humans. In the film, the differences of humans and robots are bridged with the development of new characters that interact with Andrew. There is the woman that falls in love with Andrew, and a personal scientist that modifies Andrew and both characters give Andrew a more human aura. Additionally the film developed more characters to create a more humorous piece, such as an annoying preteen family members and goofy robots. The different uses of characters reflect the different impacts of the story: the story trying to show isolation while the film tries to make Andrew more human.
Setting
This is the most similar aspect of both the film and story. Both seem to occur in a futuristic society. The film gives a year range of 2005 to 22o5 while the book simply describes a developing society. Both works cling to traditional activities regardless of time, such as reading books, walking, and human interaction. This lack of change reflects the difficulties of both of these societies to grasp the changing images of robots. Still, both works changed as the years passed. Fashion and technologies and robot mechanics were documented in the story. The film also had these changing elements; however, many more elements such as architecture and health care were captured in the film. Because the film is a visual piece, it is easier to feel and see the change of time. The change of time holds a bigger impact as the viewer witnesses the setting change and people and generations grow old.
Theme
The differences of the film and story reflect the vast differences of the themes and ideals. While both worked to question what is human, both took drastically methods and hold different ideals. The story focused more on human fear, fear of mistakes the future and the unknown. This is described in the countless different legal obstacles Andrew faces the societal focus on keeping robots as machines and structured. The film, in contrast, holds a places more stress on the qualifications of humans. The last scenes of the film require emotion as Andrew tries to overcome the judgemental requirements of being human. The additional aspects of his marriage and visible human-like aging body create a theme more centered on questioning what is human. Other elements of characterization and point of view and plot also reflect the differences of themes between the film and story.
All and all, the film and story of Bicentennial Man are too different to be compared. Both were well-done works that shouldn't be condemned based upon their differences. Rather, they should be viewed as completely separate works with different, important ideals. Both were entertaining and called for questioning of human morals.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Nanny Service?
("Popular Mechanics", Raymond Carver)
Then she noticed the baby's picture on the bed and picked it up
During this entire work, the man and woman use the baby as an object. Neither seem to even remember the baby until the woman sees the picture. Now, although the couple doesn't need to always focus on the child, the poor child shouldn't get be forgotten. It's disheartening when children are caught in the cross-fire of troubled parents. This poor baby can be found in many works such the song D-I-V-O-R-C-E or the more humorous interpretation in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire. Perhaps if the husband dressed as a woman he would have a better chance of winning over the child. These kids are simply objects to express anger and emotion and hurt. It's such a shame that such disagreement causes a loss of respect for both the couple and their children.
Then she noticed the baby's picture on the bed and picked it up
During this entire work, the man and woman use the baby as an object. Neither seem to even remember the baby until the woman sees the picture. Now, although the couple doesn't need to always focus on the child, the poor child shouldn't get be forgotten. It's disheartening when children are caught in the cross-fire of troubled parents. This poor baby can be found in many works such the song D-I-V-O-R-C-E or the more humorous interpretation in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire. Perhaps if the husband dressed as a woman he would have a better chance of winning over the child. These kids are simply objects to express anger and emotion and hurt. It's such a shame that such disagreement causes a loss of respect for both the couple and their children.
Consider the Source...
("The Lottery", Shirley Jackson)
The mindless acceptance of tradition is the major theme of this story. However, basically every tradition, from an outsider's perspective, seems to have mindless acceptance. This town's tradition isn't bizarre and cruel to them, and while readers can judge these people, they fall victim to the same wrong. Our society has many traditions, known and unknown, that would seem absorb to an outsider. The motivation for Black Friday or hatred of Mondays really doesn't have a source, rather it's just an aspect of society. We love football and value free will; we respond to fire drills and take senior pictures. While these actions may have a source, the fact that our society still follows them displays the same mindless obedience. Traditions are important and impact society; however, as this story and life has shown, it is important to reevaluate the purpose of the tradition.
The mindless acceptance of tradition is the major theme of this story. However, basically every tradition, from an outsider's perspective, seems to have mindless acceptance. This town's tradition isn't bizarre and cruel to them, and while readers can judge these people, they fall victim to the same wrong. Our society has many traditions, known and unknown, that would seem absorb to an outsider. The motivation for Black Friday or hatred of Mondays really doesn't have a source, rather it's just an aspect of society. We love football and value free will; we respond to fire drills and take senior pictures. While these actions may have a source, the fact that our society still follows them displays the same mindless obedience. Traditions are important and impact society; however, as this story and life has shown, it is important to reevaluate the purpose of the tradition.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Many Storys From the Same Painting
("The Drunkard", Frank O'Connor)
Many different viewpoints and opinions occur when the small boy is drunk:
The women that sees Larry take the drink: This women is quick to reveal to Larry's father what Larry has been and judges Larry and Larry's father with dirty looks.
The Publican: This man confronts Larry's father Mick and declares that he shouldn't have bought his son at all. And reminds Mick that the police would act upon such poor parenting.
The gang of old women: This group receives the harshest remarks from Larry, yet they find humor in the situation. They will bring gossip and attention to the situation.
Larry's Mother: This poor woman is victim of a alcoholic husband, and when Larry returns drunk she seems to be angry, yet later reveals her joy in the situation.
Mick: As an alcoholic, he finally pays his dues for the pain and embarrassment he has caused on his family. As he suffers the embarrassment of having caused a drunk son, he faces the realisation of the wrong in his habits. He seems to now be able to work towards a better future, thanks to all previous viewpoints of the situation.
The main viewpoint and theme of this story is to display the effects of an alcoholic even to the extreme of a drunk little boy.
Many different viewpoints and opinions occur when the small boy is drunk:
The women that sees Larry take the drink: This women is quick to reveal to Larry's father what Larry has been and judges Larry and Larry's father with dirty looks.
The Publican: This man confronts Larry's father Mick and declares that he shouldn't have bought his son at all. And reminds Mick that the police would act upon such poor parenting.
The gang of old women: This group receives the harshest remarks from Larry, yet they find humor in the situation. They will bring gossip and attention to the situation.
Larry's Mother: This poor woman is victim of a alcoholic husband, and when Larry returns drunk she seems to be angry, yet later reveals her joy in the situation.
Mick: As an alcoholic, he finally pays his dues for the pain and embarrassment he has caused on his family. As he suffers the embarrassment of having caused a drunk son, he faces the realisation of the wrong in his habits. He seems to now be able to work towards a better future, thanks to all previous viewpoints of the situation.
The main viewpoint and theme of this story is to display the effects of an alcoholic even to the extreme of a drunk little boy.
Actions Speak Louder than Words
("You're Ugly, Too" , Lorrie Moore)
"Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it" ~ Jules Renard
The title of this work captures the very essence of major character Zoe. Her life is a an entertaining joke; however, her personality and lifestyle isn't that deep. Her encounters with the naked-women-man are silly and her interpretation of the Midwest, while offensive, are hilarious. And a teacher can't go wrong with reviving class with song and dance (Mr. Keller's singing brightens every test...), but Zoe's personality basically stops there. She doesn't seem content or happy at all, yet she chooses to complain through humor and sarcasm rather than change her life. Instead of admitting fear for planes or insecurities for men, she resorts to complaining. Zoe makes herself miserable, with no hope of change. This intelligent and witty women simply needs to DO something with her life; she needs to go where she will be happy, teach where singers and thinkers are welcomed, and feel pride in herself and her chin hairs. But perhaps she will want a second opinion....
"Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it" ~ Jules Renard
The title of this work captures the very essence of major character Zoe. Her life is a an entertaining joke; however, her personality and lifestyle isn't that deep. Her encounters with the naked-women-man are silly and her interpretation of the Midwest, while offensive, are hilarious. And a teacher can't go wrong with reviving class with song and dance (Mr. Keller's singing brightens every test...), but Zoe's personality basically stops there. She doesn't seem content or happy at all, yet she chooses to complain through humor and sarcasm rather than change her life. Instead of admitting fear for planes or insecurities for men, she resorts to complaining. Zoe makes herself miserable, with no hope of change. This intelligent and witty women simply needs to DO something with her life; she needs to go where she will be happy, teach where singers and thinkers are welcomed, and feel pride in herself and her chin hairs. But perhaps she will want a second opinion....
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