Blackfish is a documentary directed by filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite in 2013. The documentary shares a story of an orca named Tilikum, who has killed three individuals while kept in captivity. This documentary uses footage to portray Tilikum as a killer whale that has not lived a pleasant life at SeaWorld, leaving the viewers feeling very emotional. What most people fail to understand is that Blackfish is mostly told by former SeaWorld trainers and does not provide balanced and accurate information. This documentary is propaganda, rather than an actual documentary; it manipulates the audience to believe that killer whales should not be kept in captivity, when they actually should.
Chains, a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson follows a young enslaved girl named Isabel at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. Isabel is sold to Elihu and Ann Lockton, along with her five year old sister Ruth, after her original owner dies. The girls are shipped to the house and Ann Lockton, who demands to be called Madam Lockton, is terrible to them. She beats the girls and constantly yells at them. After this, Madam Lockton sells Ruth, making Isabel mad.
In both “The Boat” and Brooklyn, the families are torn between several incidents or situations that occur during them. Conflict an occur frequently between families or friends when difficult situations rise to the surface. The stress that occurs during these stories shows the tension between staying home or leaving in the book Brooklyn, as well as in “The Boat.” In this essay I will discuss some parts of the stories that showed tension that has occured in the short story and the book as well. Especially, I will discuss the difficulty the boy had to endure, and how his choices impacted his future relationship with his parents.
Economics and Psychology in Appalachia, An Analysis of the Novel: Above the Waterfall In the novel Above the Waterfall, Ron Rash decides to focus on the main theme of Loss. The culture within the beautiful ecosystem of Appalachia is encased with family ties that are hard to deny. Rash writes, “In a county this rural, everyone’s connected, if not by blood, then in some other way” from the relationship between Darby and Gerald to the friendship between Les and Becky, their relationships show a true loyalty to the ones they have grown up with and show that Appalachia is a tight knit community (Rash 90). The characters within the novel: Above the Waterfall demonstrate signs of loss of self, domestic violence, as well as poverty.
"Running for His Life" In the story "Running for His Life", Michael Hall explains the genocide Gilbert Tuhabonye experienced when he was in high school in East Africa and how he managed to escape and relive his life in Austin, Texas. Tuhabonye's teachers and the Tutsi teenagers were burned alive and beaten to death by friends of theirs. A couple of students tried eluding, but we're caught and killed by the killers. The building was on fire, burning corpses, and burning to death any students who remained alive.
Oftentimes when reading texts about liberation, whether the liberation is physical, metaphorical, or otherwise, there is a tendency to expect an overcoming narrative of sorts. Namely, when presented with a figure that is suffering, an audience expects a clean ending. However, concerning memoirs, this isn’t always the case. If anything, overcoming narratives within autobiographical texts can flatten out the nuances and struggles that are presented within, making the arc of the text seem flat and unconvincing. This is far from the case with Jimmy Santiago Baca’s autobiography, A Place to Stand.
In the realistic short story “ Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto, the main character named Victor, is desperate. Because he tries very hard to get a girlfriend, he finds many ways to be with his crush Teresa, and because he does embarrassing things to try and impress girls. The first reason Victor is desperate is because he tries hard to get a girlfriend. For instance, he promised himself “Teresa is going to be my girl this year”. In addition, Victor took Michael’s advice and used his (ridiculous) “strategy” on how to “get girls” by scowling at them.
In Shark Wars by EJ Altbacker Gray, a shark learns that the big blue is not as safe as he thought. In the beginning gray went past his reef to get something to eat even though his mother told him to never go past the reef. After Gray and Barkley were done eating they realize that they were lost. They chose a direction to swim and started swimming. They see two sharks in the distance and they swim to Gray and Barkley.
In the novel “The Wave,” by Todd Strasser, a teacher is able to turn unsuspecting students into fascist supporters. Mr. Ben Ross, the history teacher, had decided to conduct his fascist experiment after his unsuccessful concentration camp lesson. Students in his history class either doubted an appeal to fascists or disregarded the fascist and the concentration as unrepeatable history. Proving disbelieving students wrong, Mr. Ross created a fascist society, called “The Wave.” Although Mr. Ross’s success in creating the wave was a combination of several factors, three factors were especially essential.
Addiction to substances such as alcohol often leads to depressive mental states and the destruction of any sound relationships. ‘The water was dark and went forever down’ is a 1987 short story written by time Winton which explores the journey of a young Australian girl with a mentally ill mother. A 14-year-old Australian girl who is referred to as ‘the girl’ has traveled to a beachside cottage on holiday with her mentally ill mother. The girl is forced to be independent as her mother’s addiction to alcohol has disabled her from properly caring for her daughter. The girl seeks refuge in swimming which lets her avoid the mental battles posed by her home life.
Pressure is experienced by many kids, and their parents are a primary source of it. The narrator in The Boat by Alistair MacLeod faces a tremendous amount of pressure from his parents. My parents also put a lot of pressure on me because they want me to be successful in their own way, and I do not find it helpful. To start, this pressure could lead to stress, which could then lead to long term problems such as anxiety and depression. Ever since I was young, my parents have wanted me to pursue a career in medicine.
"Chasing Coral," directed by Jeff Orlowski and produced by Exposure Labs, hit the streaming platform Netflix in the summer of 2017. This Netflix documentary combines logos, pathos, and kairos to highlight the critical issue of coral bleaching on tropical reefs, urging immediate action. It enriches viewers' understanding through educational insights, compelling data, and impactful imagery, while its moving background music and presentation of the dire consequences stir emotional engagement. This strategic blend informs and motivates viewers to respond to the urgent environmental challenge. In collaboration with Exposure Labs, Jeff Orlowski delivers a powerful message in the Emmy Award-winning documentary "Chasing Coral," targeting a diverse
As human beings, we crave certainty and stability in our lives. When that certainty is called into question, it can be deeply unsettling and challenge our very sense of reality. This is the central conflict at the heart of Rog Phillips' short story "The Yellow Pill," in which two men, Gerald Bocek and Dr. Cedric Elton, engage in a battle of perspectives over the true nature of their environment. While Bocek firmly believes they are on a spaceship, Elton is equally convinced they are in his psychiatric office on Earth. Ultimately, the evidence suggests that the story takes place on Earth, as Elton's repeated insistence on the tangible realities around him eventually breaks through Bocek's delusional worldview.
A generation thrown into war will never come out victorious. In the novel “Soldier’s Heart” the author Gary Paulsen expresses that there is no winning in war. The main character, Charley, is only 15 when he enlists in the army, wanting to be validated as a man. Instead, he faces unrecoverable wounds, both physical and mental. Both in people, places, and in culture, innocence is lost.
The Heat contains a prevalence of humor, happy ending, magnified disorder, and an uplifting existential worldview that fits the nature and composition of comedy as a genre. This film presents us with a multitude of kinds and intensities of humor which grab the audiences’ attention. There are moments within the film that cover all ends of the spectrum from droll to dry or even uproarious humor. An example of droll can be the tracheotomy scene, whereas Mullins continuously mocking the albino illustrates a more uproarious scene. Throughout the film there are a variety of conflicts and challenges that get resolved ultimately leading to the happy ending.
