Imagine waking up on a hospital bed, surrounded by wires attached to your body. You get up, you wander around, and you notice that the world around you is empty. That is exactly what happens to Jim in the powerful and realistic film 28 Days Later, starring Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris. The film features the effects of a deadly infection outbreak called rage, but also explores how the infection represents “today’s increasing incidences of road rage, air rage, etc.” and how we are no different than the zombies portrayed in the movie (Allen). Incorporating the film 28 Days Later into the English 10 curriculum would benefit students in understanding the similarities between the time period in the movie and in reality, as well as the correlation between themes in 28 Days Later and other works of literature in the curriculum, and how the film relates to many students.
To begin, the film 28 Days Later portrays a time period very similar to that of when it was actually released. When the protagonist, Jim, wakes up from his hospital bed and realizes how empty the world has become after 28 days, he realizes that nothing, other than the absence of people, has changed. The rings of car alarms, the dispensing of soda machines, and the presence of medical equipment in the hospital all suggest that the technologies of the time period have remained the same (Hall). At the same time, the technology in the film is evidently similar to the technology we have in reality. This proves that capitalism is not caused by the advancement of science and technology. Furthermore, Derek Hall, author of “Varieties of Zombieism: Approaching Comparative Political Economy through 28 Days Later and Wild Zero,” explains that 28 Days Later displays remarkable sim...
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...n they cannot hold it in any longer.
All things considered, the horror flick 28 Days Later makes a great fit in the English 10 curriculum. This is largely due to its similarities in the time period between the film and reality, its correlation to various pieces of literature already embedded in the curriculum, and the relationship between the film and the lives of many teenagers. It is evident that the technology in the film is very much similar to the technology in the time period the film was released. The ideas of rage and survival are connected to different texts, such as “Beowulf” and Frankenstein. The film also features the flaws in humans, including pent up rage, which responds to how teenagers feel. 28 Days Later is “well made, clever, and gripping” (Ellis). Due to how realistic the film feels and looks, it makes viewers wonder if this would actually happen.
November 1998, written for FILM 220: Aspects of Criticism. This is a 24-week course for second-year students, examining methods of critical analysis, interpretation and evaluation. The final assignment was simply to write a 1000-word critical essay on a film seen in class during the final six-weeks of the course. Students were expected to draw on concepts they had studied over the length of the course.
[2] Missing is a rather confusing film to follow at first. Admittedly, I had to view it a few times to understand what was happening. Perhaps the initial feeling after seeing this film is confusion. However, after having watched it a second, fourth, eighth time, what I really felt was anger. Each time I watched the film, the anger and disgust would grow, so much so that it pained me to watch it again. However, in identifying the cause of my anger, I began to realize many things.
After hearing a brief description of the story you might think that there aren’t many good things about they story. However, this is false, there are many good things in this book that makes it a good read. First being that it is a very intriguing book. This is good for teenage readers because often times they don’t willingly want to read, and this story will force the teenage or any reader to continue the book and continue reading the series. Secondly, this is a “good” book because it has a good balance of violence. This is a good thing because it provides readers with an exciting read. We hear and even see violence in our everyday life and I believe that it is something teenagers should be exposed to. This book gives children an insig...
This episode of "30 Days" Morgan Spurlock travels to a Navajo Indian reservation in an attempt to experience modern Native American life. While on the reservation he wants to know it if it’s a link to the past; a cultural escape, or is it simple a place time, and the rest of the world forgot.
For this paper I chose to explore Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho because it has remained the only horror movie I’ve seen to date. I went into a couple others but immediately left; let’s just say horror is not my favorite genre of film. People may or may not always call Psycho a horror film, it may be more of a thriller to people nowadays, but I still believe the correct genre analysis is horror because it should always refer to the genre at the time the film was created and released. I chose Psycho because I spent multiple weeks in high school studying Hitchcock, and Psycho specifically, so I feel comfortable writing on it. I also thoroughly enjoy the film, its backstory, and the character development. Plus, it’s been roughly adapted into one of my favorite shows: Bates Motel, which I will also briefly explore.
Zombies represent man when he has no ambition. Although we all have been there at some point it is important to know you have the ability to get out. Additionally the system where we live has freedom, and although we all don't have equal economic stance we have equal opportunity to succeed in America. Capitalism is not bad, it is actually the opposite it weeds out the inefficient business, which is good for society as a whole. Just like greed is not bad, greed is just the world we assign to economic motivation in order to create a more efficient business. We just must realize that we are always in control and there is always something that we can do, always a motivating factor.
To begin, capitalism is the economic ideology that everything is primarily focused towards making profit through the production and distribution of a product. In the article “Capitalism: Where Do We Come From?” By Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow, they provide insight on how capitalism has changed over the years and the impact it now has in today’s society. “There were no factors of production before capitalism. Of course, human labour, nature’s gift of land and natural resources, and the artifacts of society have always existed. But labour, land, and capital were not commodities for
To begin, capitalism is the economic ideology that everything is primarily focused towards making profit through the production and distribution of a product. In the article “Capitalism: Where Do We Come From?” By Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow, they provide insight on how capitalism has changed over the years and the impact it now has in today’s society. “There were no factors of production before capitalism. Of course, human labour, nature’s gift of land and natural resources, and the artifacts of society have always existed. But labour, land, and capital were not commodities for sale” (Para,17). Capitalism has an impact in my life because in the 21st century children are taught in school skills that will benefit businesses, so that they can continue to make a profit through the production and distribution
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.
In “A Long Way Gone”, we follow a twelve-year-old African boy, Ishmael Beah, who was in the midst, let alone survived a civil war in Sierra Leone, that turned his world upside down. Ishmael was a kind and innocent boy, who lived in a village where everybody knew each other and happiness was clearly vibrant amongst all the villagers. Throughout the novel, he describes the horrific scenes he encounters that would seem unreal and traumatizing to any reader. The main key to his survival is family, who swap out from being related to becoming non-blood related people who he journeys with and meets along his journey by chance.
...ence” is an example of one that is much more than that. Without relating this movie to current political events, the movie might not have resonated with the viewers as deeply as it did. Americans continue to see these types of violent movies for enjoyment; this enjoyment extends beyond the movie theater when the audience can leave with new perspectives. Movies live on through daily conversations, books, and the internet; however, this could only occur if we are able to relate the movie’s message back to something in our lives. People receive messages best when they willingly accept it and Cronenberg claims that Americans willingly accept movie violence because we all have a personal history of violence; that “it's wired into our DNA” (Interview). Without sermonizing, he shows us why we desire what is publicly reprehensible and how we are able to make peace with it.
The appeal of horror film is effective due to the traits of the human mind. Filmgoers of horror leave theaters with a positive train of thought, yet the negative nature of the content presented points to psychological factors which cause their enjoyment. Answers are found by looking at the psychological factors, how an individual processes emotional arousal, identifies with issues that they consider relevant, and perceives reality, help to explain why films presenting such horrific imagery excites many people. Many horror franchises create a level of violence and gore that is offensive to most, yet viewers continue to swarm theaters, making the horror film industry extremely profitable. Graphic horror cinema relies on shocking imagery as much as storytelling to create an effective type of entertainment. The subject matter, alone, does not provide enough attraction to bring back viewers. When looking at the psychological drivers behind the films, it can be seen that the composition addresses a level much deeper than the entertainment that makes horror
The story is different in many ways between the two productions, but none-the-less the same themes remain. This provides another outlet in which to engage students. I understand that this would be for an English Literature class not an English cinema class, but much like we encourage our students to go out and see the dramatic arts we must also encourage them to look at the cinematic arts as well. The graphic novel has often been looked down upon compared to other forms of literature and the same goes for movies as compared to the theater. Though often the theater is more focused on cultural engagement and literary tradition, we must not forget the effect that movies and pop culture have on our everyday lives. These are the things that children, adolescents, and young adults often look to for models and we must critically evaluate them if we want to see how these perceptions and ideas shape our reality. I know that I personally loved the movie long before I knew that it was based on a graphic novel. Its exciting action and storyline draws in audiences and opens up another opportunity for us to work on interdisciplinary work between literature and cinema. The most intriguing part of using this movie as a supplement for the graphic novel in a classroom is that it resets the story in a more modern context. It shows us a world not of the Cold War, but of post Iraq
Qs 3: A number of writers suggest that the capitalism of the middle to late twentieth century is markedly different from previous phases. How do they describe this particular iteration of the mode of production? What role, if any, do images, spectacle, ideology, machines, or computers play?
In the story After 20 Years, the author conveys a credible message on friendship. The two friends, Bob and Jimmy, were childhood companions. Eventually, they realized that they would part ways, and, most likely, not see each other anymore. They made a deal that in twenty years exactly, they would meet at the 'Big Joe' Brady's restaurant at ten-o-clock. That was the exact date and time that they had departed. As Bob is telling the police man this story, he doesn't know that he is actually under arrest. Then, who Bob thinks is Jimmy, finally shows up and they start to talk about their lives and what has been going on. However, the man Bob is talking to is not Jimmy, but he is actually a police man. After Bob realizes this, he also realizes that