Reflection

The past two essays that I have wrote is neither outstandingly well written nor was it poorly written. I believe that I have strong key points that need to be covered, but it is not well developed enough to the point where the essay has no unanswered questions left. Apparently, I show a good understanding in what I am writing in both of the essays, but I need to develop my thoughts more clearly and make the connection more obvious. To make my essay an eye-catching piece, I think it is better for me to start at an earlier time rather than starting few days before it is due. That would leave me a huge amount of time to go over my work several times and proofread as much as I can. As I proofread and revise more than I did for these past two essays, that would allow me to make the connections of my key points sufficient.

A Girl's Gotta Do What A Girl's Gotta Do

Why this scene?

We chose the scene where Antigone and Ismene are talking about whether they should bury their brother, Polyneices. Antigone wants to bury Polyneices because he deserves to be buried like his brother Eteocles. But the only problem with burying Polyneices was that Creon made a new law against burying him. And whoever shall attempt of burying him would be stoned to death in the public square. We chose this scene because by the conversation they had, it is easy to understand what kind of personality they are. Even in this short scene, it is clear that Antigone is more of a risk taker and Ismene is more of a person who thinks through the decisions she makes.

What were you trying to communicate in your cinematic decisions? Give some examples of your cinematic decisions.

Cinematic decisions are important in making a movie because they bring the good out of the movie. By the angles, and the close ups, it brings a whole new aspect of the movie. By changing the angle to zoom up on a particular face, it emphasizes more on the reaction made by the face. So it is easier for the audience to understand what the character is feeling. Cinematic decisions such as pauses and expressions are important. Pauses are used to emphasize a point the character was making, and by the pause, it would make the audience easier to understand what the character was trying to communicate. And to show expressions made by the character’s faces, we used long shots. A long shot enables the audience to get the idea of the whole scene, as well as catching the expressions on ones face and the action a character does.

Some of the cinematic decisions we came across as a group is one at 0:22-0:24. We used a close up on Ismene’s face to show her expression. While she says that she is sad, she frowns, so for the audience to get a better look at her expression, we chose to close up on her face. Another cinematic decision we made was at 0:35-0:40. We made Antigone look at the camera because it emphasizes on the point where she says, “there is something we must do.” It brings in the audience to the scene, which make it more lively and active. 1:12-1:17 is a long shot, which shows what actions the characters are doing. In this case, the long shot captures Ismene doing some actions on her reaction to what Antigone just told her. Even with these small cinematic decisions, which only take a couple of seconds in the whole movie, it is a very important part of the movie. These cinematic decisions emphasizes on the important aspects during this short scene.

Significance of Tradition in Individuals

What we believe in our life makes up the majority of the parts in you. We may believe in a common religion worldwide, or we may believe in objects, which are for personal benefits. But tradition, is a belief passed down, generation by generation, in your family or by the society. The Boat, Shaving, and The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World communicates the importance of tradition in a family and a society.

Alistair MacLeod, author of The Boat, displays the importance of tradition through the relationship between the man and his family. The protagonist in the story looks back at his childhood, remembering the choices he could have made. The man’s mother, afraid of their traditions fading away, wants him to become a fisherman like his father. While his mother is being conservative, his father wants him to study and does not want him “to go the path, dangerous and harsh, fishing the sea.” When the Mother finds out about her daughters getting married to a non-fisherman, “she did not care, for they were not of her people and they were not of her sea.” Because the man knows how conservative his mother is, he is afraid his mother would neglect him as she did towards his sisters. He is conscious that he is the only son and the only one who can support the fishing business, but also realizes his strong passion for studying. As he takes the road of studying and becomes a professor at Midwestern university, he is fond about his parents and “there came into my heart a very great love for my father and I thought it was very much braver to spend a life doing what you really do not want rather than selfishly following forever your own dreams and inclinations.”

Barry, the protagonist in Shaving written by Leslie Norris, also presents ideas of why tradition may be important in one’s life. It is not easy to face your father lying down ”fine-skinned and pallid” at the age of sixteen. His father, a victim of cancer, this story elaborates on Barry and the father’s feelings of passing down the authority through the family. The father “had to let go all his authority, handed it over” to Barry. Growing up and maturing is significant in life but at such a young age with a father so fragile, it is hard for Barry. The father knows his son can handle the responsibility “knowing his weakness and his mortality,” with a “curious humble pride.”

Lastly, a very strong example of how traditions affect one another is a piece written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, with the use of magical realism, illustrates how one person influences a society and stays as a tradition. A young man brought to shore of a small village nearby the sea, is named Esteban just by his looks. The women in the village fantasize Esteban describing how big he is by exaggerating a great deal. That is the use of magical realism, which Marquez uses in this story to show his size. “Not only was he the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen, but even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination.” The women in the village compares Esteban to their husbands and fantasize and dream how better their husbands could be. After Esteban is released to the sea “without an anchor so that he could come back if he wished and whenever he wished,” his existence still stayed in the village and becomes part of the village’s tradition of making “wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors.” “Esteban’s memory could go everywhere,” if they kept him in the tradition.

Tradition is an important aspect of life and it is possible for tradition have an affect on one’s life. Nowadays, some traditions, which have been passed down for years is fading away because of the improvements in our lives. Also, the younger generation seems as though they do not have any passions as the older people do, examples seen in The Boat. As the tradition is fading away in our society, a part of ourselves will be erased too.