Mass Effect is a series of three games with a sprawling universe to explore in every game and a massively immersive storyline. The games are set in the around year 2183, and everyone now has the ability to travel through space at ease, communicate with other alien races, and settle on other planets. Only the first two games of the trilogy have come out so far. The focus of this paper will be on the second of the two. One of the unique things about the Mass Effect series is that you are able to customize your character when you start the game and depending on the choices you make in the games the story will change dramatically. For the sake of this paper I will be assuming that the protagonist is a male, and the player has played through making good moral choices. John Shepard is the hero of these games. He also has a crew that help him along comprised of Jacob, Miranda, and Mordin to name a few. The villains of these games are the Reapers, an extremely advanced race of synthetic/organic warships, whose main goal is to harvest every living organic being in the galaxy. In the second Mass Effect game there is a second villain that comes into play, the Collectors. The Collectors are being directly controlled by the Reapers to harvest humans. The mystic guide for the first Mass Effect was Captain Anderson, and in the second game it is a man known only as "The Illusive Man."
Since this paper is going to focus on the events and story of Mass Effect 2 more than the original Mass Effect, I will give a short recap on the events that transpired in the original. John Shepard is stationed on the ship SSV Normandy as executive officer, with Captain Anderson as commander. They are sent to the planet Eden Prime to recover an unearthed Prothean...
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...up an explosive chain reaction that will completely eliminate the base. Whichever one is picked it up to the player like many other choices in game. After this choice is made, Shepard and his crew quickly evacuate, get back aboard the Normandy, and fly off into the distance and the Collectors are completely destroyed.
As we can see this story has all the guidelines for basic myth. As I have mentioned before you have your hero, Commander Shepard, your villains, the Reapers and the Collectors, and your mystic guides, Captain Anderson and The Illusive Man. It also includes a journey, as Shepard is constructing his team to travel to the Collector's base. The Mission was to destroy the Collector threat. The final battle was the fight against the human Reaper. And, at the end they did have victory, as they destroyed the human Reaper and eliminated the Collector threat!
Catch 22 is a story about the different personalities that can be involved in a war. Out of all the different archetypes, the three I’ve chosen are John Yossarian, Albert Tappman, and Milo Minderbinder, although, not in that order. The first character being analyzed is Yossarian, the unwilling hero of this book. Although the book labels Yossarian as the main character, he constantly tries to coward out of going to battle. The second character that will be described is Milo Minderbinder, the archetypical business person of Catch 22.He runs the camp mess hall and controls what everyone in the camp is buying, selling, and eating. Milo is constantly trying to control or manipulate the economies around him, and after he gets a large commission from Germany to bomb his own camp. This gets him in trouble with every economy he’s dealt with, and in order to “help the syndicate”, he has to give up all of his profit. The last character that will be discussed is Albert Tappman, the Chaplain, who is best known as the corrupted innocence. Although he is one of the main characters, Al is the most neglected and, the least noticed. He receives the most trouble from the other characters in the book such as the daily verbal abuse from Corporal Whitcomb, and the confusing conversations with Colonel Cathcart. By the end of the book, he also begins to question his own faith and starts bringing lies and violence into his life after the death of Nately. Every character has their own story, and by describing three of the most differential archetypes in the story, the main story is explained better.
Fromm explains that humans obey orders because of “fear, hate, and greed”, which, in the end, harms humanity (Fromm 125). Agreeing with this idea, Zimbardo states that “self-aggrandizement” is accomplished by “self-deprecation” of others (Zimbardo 109). Christopher Shea’s experiment also backs up the claim that people act for themselves. Shea would concur with Fromm that humans behave greedily (Shea). In contrast, Shea would not believe that people behave to put others down, which is Zimbardo’s beliefs (Shea). Jessup wished to express his authority by giving orders and allowing himself to advance even higher. Jessup harmed Santiago to advance personally; in addition, Dawson and Downey obeyed orders to gain approval from Jessup. Fromm may argue that Dawson and Downey followed commands due to fear. Zimbardo would believe that they thought completing the order was the correct action to be taken. The article “Human Obedience: The Myth of Blind Conformity” also connects with Zimbardo’s viewpoint. The article explains why people become passive and eventually deem their actions as correct (Human Obedience: The Myth of Blind Conformity). Zimbardo would not consider humans to be passive just blind to the truth. “Human Obedience: The Myth of Blind Conformity” would reply that individuals need to rely on their mind and not listen to commands. Both authors believe the marines’ actions
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 2nd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1995
The Novum presented in Starship Troopers is the rule of the Veterans and the resulting primacy of the military. This Novum sets the novel up as a utopic pandering to a readership demographic that the author himself is a member of. This is a normative sci-fi construction. Starship Troopers deviates in that the true target readership is the young man who has not yet been given a chance to join up. He is meant to gain a favorable understanding of the military man by sharing in his dream. The dream then - the world created – is the persuasive device.
In Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein’s novel presents the future of mankind; a future riddled with racism, fascism, and militarism. This future also contains bravery, loyalty, and patriotism among its people, and it can be seen as a utopian society by some. This new version of humanity is presented through the rose tinted glasses of Juan Rico as he remembers his time in the mobile infantry, an elite branch of the army that makes up the horns of this new-age military.
Everyone is faced with difficult obstacles at some point in his or her life, whether or not they are able to overcome them can define them as a person. Every story has a plot, but a plot is determined by the characters and their actions to events that take place in the story. According to the article “Science Fiction Images of Computers and Robots” written by Patricia S. Warrick, many of the plots in Asimov’s novels depend on “computers and robots [along with] space exploration and development” (54). Characters in the novels written by Isaac Asimov have to figure out the capabilities of new technology, understand other characters, and find solutions to problems with no end in sight. Characters’ actions and responses to problems play large roles in the plot of a story. The characters in Asimov’s novels have to solve problems that could affect the future of humankind. With such great advancements in technology, the humans begin to worry that technology such as robots will take over and become the primary race. In Isaac Asimov’s novel, Foundation and Empire, one of the themes is deception and some characters use deception to get what they want, and in a world of power, they became the most powerful of all. When the structure of organizations and countries begin to fall apart in the world, there are some people who will do almost anything to gain power. In Asimov’s eyes, the future world is going to be enormous expanding across galaxies, having unlimited technology, and billions of people. Asimov is one of few writers who has had success writing novels containing science fiction and mystery. Isaac Asimov depicts similar themes of power and deception by using the plot, characters, and setting, while the use of all these makes him an i...
It has not only been a trend, but almost a necessity, for novelists who depict wars to depict humanity. Wars are largely, if not totally, alienating; it alienates humans from who they are—or at least whom they think they are—to fighting machines programmed exclusively for mass destruction and ruthless killing. Romantic love and strong sentiment seem to be incompatible with the nature of wars and are rarely found in wars as well. However, in Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier shows us the reshaping of humanity and personality of the male protagonist Inman during the war; he conveys an idea of rebirth in the war—a process of gradually discovering and finally adopting a new, more introspective self-identity; and this journey to rebirth is led by love, courage, and the desire for freedom.
The overarching plot of Mass Effect is that in deep space dwells an ancient race of intelligent synthetic-organic starships that regularly cull all organic life in the galaxy. Sheppard, the main character, must unite the forces of the galaxy to fight against the menace, a task complicated
heros who team together for the good of the universe and the money. The story
Captain “Lucky Jack” Aubrey, the protagonist in Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, is an excellent example of a leader to both his crew and the audience of the film. Lucky Jack received the nickname because of his tendency to be in the right place at the right time, to win battles and, if necessary, narrowly escape disaster. The movie takes places during The Napoleonic Wars when Great Britain was at with France. Captain Aubrey is the captain of a British battleship, the HMS Surprise, when a much larger French warship, the Acheron, intercepts each other and pursue each other off of the coast of South America. Lucky Jack, as his crew refers him to, is well regarded by his men, who trust him implicitly, even after the first devastating battle and an apparent personal vendetta against the French captain.
All stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams, and movies. They are known collectively as The Hero’s Journey. Understanding these elements and their use in modern writing is the object of our quest. Used wisely, these ancient tools of the storytellers craft still have tremendous power to heal our people and make the world a better place (xxvii).
Science fiction is a genre, which depicts what life would be like in a world with major scientific and technological developments. When it comes to science fiction, the exploration of future technology is a major element. Many stories and films focus on space, robots, aliens, a mad scientist, and/or artificial intelligence. “The universal themes found in science fiction—themes of freedom and responsibility, power, love, individuality and community, good versus evil, technology run amok, and more—present ample opportunity to explore complex issues and compelling controversies at length and in depth in ways that not only engage the intellect, but involve the emotions and expand the imagination.” The story “Flowers for Algernon,” by Daniel Keyes, is an example of science fiction that examines the impact of artificial intelligence. “The End of the Whole Mess,” by Steven King, is an example of science fiction that focuses on the fall of a mad scientist. The film “Gravity” is an example of a science fiction movie that explores the use of major technological advancement within space. In this paper I will assess the major themes portrayed in “Flowers for Algernon,“ “The End of the Whole Mess,” and the film, “Gravity.” Additionally, I will examine how these models of science fiction teach a major lesson about the imperfections of future scientific and technological advancements on society.
The myths is about Amma and how he created an ark to Earth. First Amma sent Ogo down to Earth. Ogo got to Earth by a ark that went the way of the Milky Way that connects to Heaven and Earth. Amma then created eight people to be his assistants. These eight people to the Dogon people are the ancestors of the human beings and the descendents of Amma. The Dogon people also believe that Amma created the stars. They believe he created the starts by throwing pellets of the Earth into the
POW! The sounds of gunshots send the members of Abnegation dissipating in affright as asinine Dauntless march into the Abnegation headquarters armed and at the command of the Erudite and more specific, Jeanine Matthews. These fatuous, mind-controlled robots were oblivious of their actions, because this one woman became covetous for power.
Joseph Campbell was a well known mythology teacher who spent his whole life trying to understand the different types of stories that are told. To Campbell “all humans are involved in a struggle to accomplish the adventure of the hero in their own lives.” He made a list of stages that every hero goes through, and sums it up to three sections: separation (the departure), the initiation, and the return.