Why Fiction Stories Are Important to Society Essay Example for Free

Why Fiction Stories Are Important to Society Essay When we are young we read a lot of children’s stories, or have them read to us by our parents or at school. A lot of these stories are entertaining but they can also be used as a catalyst to teach young children about morals and values. For instance, a favourite of mine is Horton Hears a Who, by Doctor Seuss. This particular story is about equality and tolerance of difference, Horton says, â€Å"a persons a person no matter how small. We could have instead sat a young child down and told them all about the Holocaust, slavery and the many other unjust acts of discrimination around the world and why it is wrong – but a child wouldn’t understand and even they did, it would be cruel to expose a child to this kind of information. This is one reason why fiction is so important; it allows information and ideas to be accessible to a larger audience. The two films we have been studying this year, Born on the Forth of July and Gallipoli are both based on actual events. Why then weren’t these stories presented as a documentary? So many other films do the same thing. Why? When we take real events and work them into a fiction or semi fiction story there are certain aspects of the events that can then be manipulated or emphasised to have a greater effect on the audience, but also to direct the audience towards an intended or dominant reading of the text. In the movie Born on the fourth of July, we follow the story of Ron Kovic from his innocent youth, to an extremely patriotic teenager, his time in Vietnam and then see his transformation into a protester of war. The movie stays very close to actual events except for two distinct adaptations. While in Vietnam Kovic shoots down a fellow marine, Wilson. In the film he later confesses to the Wilson family of this. However this is scene has been invented. In this scene we see Kovic’s face through a close up camera shot, his anguish, pain and guilt of his mistake are evident. We are then transported into his memory of the event; the slow motion and daunting music create a funeral atmosphere. By being subjected to Kovic’s emotion so bluntly through the close up camera shot and then to see how he remembers the tragedy with such regret, a sense of Kovic’s conflict with himself is created and we cant help but to sympathise with him. Further more, we then see the members of Wilson’s family, his mother and father and widowed wife and son. We see them separately, also through close up camera shots to emphasise their emotions, the horror of realisation at what Kovic is saying and then extreme pain of loosing their loved one. The extreme pain of loss is confirmed when Wilson’s wife says to Kovic, â€Å"I can never forgive you, maybe the lord can. † The Wilson family cannot forgive Kovic however we admire his honesty. By creating this scene we are exposed to some of the after effects of war, grief stricken families, this builds on the anti war theme. More so this scene also shows us that veterans of war are just as much victims as those that died because we have scene the conflict Kovic has with himself and our sympathy towards Kovic is strengthened. The other adaptation of the story is Kovic’s high school sweetheart, Donna. We meet Donna in Kovic’s childhood; their affection for each other is carried throughout their teenage years. The high school prom is created to present to the audience the idea of ‘young love’ between Donna and Kovic, particularly Kovic’s feelings for her. It is evident when we see Kovic’s outburst of anger when he finds out Donna is going with someone else, due to a misunderstanding, and then confirmed as he runs through the rain on the night of the prom, purely so he can dance with Donna before he is dispatched. The music, especially the song ‘Moon River,’ heightens the dreamy, starry eyed, mood. We meet Donna again when Kovic returns from Vietnam. Here she is epresentative of the uprising antiwar movement in America. In one scene Kovic tells Donna, â€Å"I made a promise to myself that I would come back and love you forever. â€Å" However, it becomes clear that there will be no future for Donna and Kovic, perhaps because of the time in which Kovic was at war or because of the paralysis he returned with. Either way it is heartbreaking to see; the chronological structuring of the film and early development of Kovic’s feelings for Donna aids the strong emotional effect that this loss of love and loss of the future Kovic hoped for has on us. Here we can see that by adding fictional sections to actual events the impact on the audience can be heightened because we are subjected to scenes, characters and conflict, which have been carefully crafted to have a direct impact on our emotions. The film Gallipoli shows much of the conditions and events that soldiers endured during world war one, but more so is a display of the nature of events which lead to warfare and hence the death of many young Australian men. Aspects such as propaganda, social pressure, mate ship and patriotism are criticized for wrongly influencing these men to join the war effort. We are also presented with ideas about the lack of food, arms and poor medical treatment. At the end of the film we see the inevitable tragedy at Gallipoli, which we are most confronted with by the death of Archie Hamilton, the protagonist. His character was inspired by C. E. W. Beans Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 describing Private Wilfred Harper during the attack at the Nek, Wilfred was last seen running forward like a schoolboy in a foot-race, with all the speed he could compass. However the effect of Archie’s death would not have been as powerful and therefore would not have worked as effectively to confirm the ideas about world war one if it were not for the development of Archie, despite being inspired from history is a fictional character, throughout the film. In the exposition we are introduced to Archie and his identity begins to take shape. We know Archie is a young Australian boy, this is established not only by the written code, ‘Western Australia 1915,’ by also by the wide-angle long shots of the country. Immediately the dominant audience, Australians, begin to relate to Archie. This is reinforced by the display of other Australian values such as competitiveness when Archie, running on foot races back to the home gate against a man on horse back. Throughout this scene we hear the music Oxygene by Jean Michel Jarre, which appears in numerous other running scenes throughout the movie. Sections of this running scene are shown through long shot with the use of panning, this emphasis the incredible distance of Archie’s run and we admire his strength, determination and his physical pursuit. Archie’s character continues to develop through the story in such a way that we continue to admire and care for him. The use of fictional genre means that Archie’s character can be constructed in such a way to achieve a maximum emotion attachment towards him. In this way his death at Gallipoli impacts our emotions and this pushes us to reflect on and alter our attitudes towards war, the aim of the film. Lastly, I am going to refer to Ray Bradbury’s short story The Pedestrian that is set in the future. Leonard Mead, the main character walks the streets at night in 2052, he’s done so for many years but the streets are always empty. Everyone else is inside fixated on their T. Vs, or as Mr Mead puts it, â€Å"the tombs, ill lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead, the grey or multi-coloured lights touching their faces, but never really touching them. † On this particular night, Mr Mead is stopped by a robotic police car and taken away to the psychiatric centre for research on regressive tendencies. This piece of writing, fiction as it is, is making a statement about technology and its effects on the individual and human society as a whole. This text and many others much like it are extremely thought provoking. In this way we can see that fiction is an important part of our lives. Reading stories like this may prompt people to change their attitudes or even behaviours to help preserve our future. And then there’s the magic of fiction. Take the above story for example; we are transported into the future and bombarded with the strange situation Mr Mead finds himself in. Because of the third person limited point of view, we know what Mr Mead is thinking and feeling – we feel like we are him or at least that we are there with him. His moonlit walk on a cold frosty night; the atmosphere, which he is experiencing, we experience through the tone of the text to be melancholy. Created by the long syntax and relentless metaphors and similes. This imagery can also work to draw us into this imaginary world so that we can see and feel as Mr Mead does, ‘crystal frost in the air; it cut the nose and made the lungs blaze like a Christmas tree inside. † Fiction stories fire our imaginations whether we the writers or the readers. Fiction is enjoyable to read, that in itself is reason enough to say that it is not bunk.

Personal Narrative - Driving Test :: Personal Narrative Essays

Personal Narrative- Driving Test As I walked out of the courthouse and down the ramp, I looked at my mom in disappointment and embarrassment. Never wanting to return to that dreadful place, I slowly drug my feet back to the car. I wanted to curl up in a little ball and I didn't want anyone else to know what I had done. Gaining my composure, I finally got into the car. I didn't even want to hear what my mom had to say. My face was beat red and I was trying to hide my face in the palms of my hands because I knew what was about to come; she was going to start asking me questions, all of the questions I had been asking myself. Sure enough, after a short period of being in the car, the questions began. "Honey, how could we have miscalculated six months? My frustrated reply to every question was, "I don't know!" Maybe this was a sign I was going to fail. I could only imagine how my brother and sister were going to make me feel. They had teased me about studying so hard for the permit test. Now here I was, not actual failing the drivers test, but failing to go on the correct day. Exactly one month later, all of the fears that happened in the past were returning. Was I going to fail? Was I going to get the same, strict instructor? As I slide out of the car and slowly shut the door, I could only hope that the same person wouldn't be there when I attempted to take my driving test last time. With that thought running through my head, my brain was in overdrive. All the wheels were turning as fast as they possibly could. I tried to zone out the negative stories I heard by telling myself, "I can do this. I just drove through town on a practice run and I did perfectly fine." Of course, the fear of failure kept popping in my head and I couldn't get rid of it.Sluggishly, I made my way to the entrance of the courthouse. As I reached for the door, I let out a sigh of worry. I moseyed down the stairs trying to stall as long as possible. All that I could picture was the instructor with dark, slanted eyebrows that made a wrinkle between his two critical eyes.

Keeping The Environment Clean Essay

There are trees,herbal plants flower,waterfalls,forests,mountains,water,airetc.Every people can’t live without this environment.All of us want this environemnt to spend our life.So we get many things from environment.Example water,trees,airetc.If you clean this surroundings all of us can healthy and strong life.So we must clean our environment.But today’s population are increasing.These population live with environment.So day by day,the people destroy this environemnt.Specially,I want to tell about the air pollution.In our country,have many industries.So this industries throw chemicals and vassels.In this case,collect lot of carbendioxide air then pollute environment.So many people put garbages to the water.Some times this activity do industries.They put their garbage,chemicals to this water.We can get many information regarding this from T.V and newspapers.So what happend this case pollute the water.Many time the fishes are killed.It will be poisonous.And also many peo ple set fire to chena cultivating.It pollutes the enviroment .We can see so many garbages on road sides.Villager collect the garbages and they use these garbages as their plants.So if you pollute this enironment we will notbe able to grow foods.So we will decide not to pollute the environment.I grew up in a environment where pollution, disease, and other problems are a big issue. Cars and factories release greenhouse gasses into the air, and forests are being cut down. In other countries, many people are behind on cures for diseases. Many people talk about how the polar ice caps are melting and the ozone layer depleting. An Inconvenient Truth opened my eyes to see how today’s technology and garbage affect these environmental disasters, and I want to do something about it. I do some things to make myself more environmentally friendly. I walk to school instead of driving because I live about two blocks away. I also take the bus when I go downtown or my friend’s house. When I need to get somewhere and many people are going, I carpool with some friends. I recycle any cardboard boxes and milk cartons, and I reuse water bottles and fill them with filtered tap water instead of buying more water. I take short showers and I don’t leave the facet on when I am brushing my teeth. At school, I am constantly learning about the environment and how we ar e affecting it. I noticed recycle and compost bins in the cafeteria and an old Asian woman picking up cans and bottles in the gym. In the A.P. Environmental Science  class, I see how other third world countries are less fortunate than us and how we just dump our trash in their countries. We need to find a way to use less resources and produce less trash so other countries can improve their standard of living. During the summer of 2008, I was a intern at North East Medical Services (NEMS), which is a clinic near Chinatown. I worked as a lab technical assistant and they had strict safety regulations. I always had to wash my hands and wear latex gloves because I was transporting blood samples. My mentor told me that a clean work place reduces the chance of people spreading any diseases. He also told me that many people are ill because their houses or work places are unsanitary. A clean environment is good for everyone, but we are far from one. If we continue what we are doing, most of our natural resources would be gone and our future generations would have nothing to survive on. We should focus more on renewable energy sources like the wind, sun, and maybe even rain instead of wasting all of our fossil fuels. We also need to do more with our trash instead of burning or burying it. I hope that if apply my studies to environmental problems and coming up with a solution to them, I can help make a better future for everyone.

Frozen, the Film - 756 Words

The film, Frozen, produced by Peter Del Vecho and released in 2013, is an animated musical fantasy-comedy film. Loosely based upon Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, the film portrays the story of a princess (Anna) who journeys to find her sister (Elsa), whose powers have caused an eternal winter. The appeal of this film is due to it exceeding my initial low expectations, the positive and affirming representation of sisterhood, the relatable characters (specifically Anna and Elsa) and the social interactions that supported my opinion of the film. Originally, I was a reluctant viewer as I only watched Frozen because my sister wanted to and no one in my family would go with her. I had limited prior knowledge of the film, and with only a brief idea of the film’s premise, I did not have high expectations. Previous to my viewing of Frozen, the only films I had watched that were directed towards a similar young audience were thematically simple animated movies with minimal depth. These films, with unoriginal story lines and undeveloped characters had lowered my expectations for other animated films directed towards a similar audience. This limited expectation may have been one of the contributing factors of my enjoyment of the film as it surprised me with an unexpected depth of characterisation and ultimately exceeded my expectations. Another reason for the film’s appeal was its representation of sisterhood. Due to my sister’s and my shared viewing of the film, IShow MoreRelatedFilm Review : Disney s Frozen855 Words   |  4 PagesReleased in 2013, Disney’s Frozen depicts the individual journeys of two sisters, Elsa and Anna, as they prove to audiences that sisterhood and the love of family can defy all entities. Destined for the throne, Princess Elsa of Arendelle, holds a very exceptional and ultimately dangerous power. Elsa has the unique ability to create and control the winter season, using her extremities to produce snow and ice. 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