10.17.11

ELA 11 2

Curse of the Mono-myth

         Everyone likes movies, especially an early premiere near your area.  But what would happen if you could predict how a movie was going to start and finish? One man, Joseph Campbell, not only did this but also pointed out that all stories are alike. Therefore, he created a system with common traits that all books and movies have called the mono-myth: meaning “one story”. It’s devised of many basic parts: the old world, the call to adventure, refusal of the call, supernatural aid, the crossing, the big bad, road of trials, apotheosis, test and trials, master of two worlds and freedom to live.

        An example would be  Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios 2002 film Spider-Man. ‘’ When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.”  The old world is introduced in the beginning when we’re introduced to Peter Parker, an orphan who was adopted by his aunt May and Uncle Ben, is constantly bullied and ridiculed by upper classmen since freshman year, calling him ‘’freak’’ or ‘’nerd’’.  He and the rest of the class, including his best friend Harry Osborn and his love interest Mj Watson, take a field trip to a genetics lab on spider research and attributes.  Harry eggs him on to talks to Mj, but talks to her himself, softening her up for Peter. He eventually succeeds in talking to her, unknowingly that one of the fifteen super spiders created flows down from the ceiling and bites him on the hand which would be the call to adventure for him.

      He passes out in his bedroom, only to wake to some startling results to his body like his vision has become perfect, his scrawny body has become muscular, his arms can project web strings from his wrists and his reflexes has been super-enhanced, thanks to the bite. He also developed some supernatural aids along the way like the ability to scale walls and jump 60 feet high.  He eventually goes through some tests and trials like getting a wrestling tournament to earn $3,000 to buy a sports car to woo Mj. He wins, but is stiffed by the manager for winning the match early. Another test would be when the same manager gets robbed,  but Peter allows him to escape in an act of revenge. This would come to haunt him when his beloved uncle is killed by the thief that robbed the manager. Felling responsible for his death, he dedicated his life to aiding the citizens under the alias of Spider Man, and thus the transition to the new world begins………….

        The big bad and father figure identified in the movie is the Green Goblin, also known as Harry’s father, Norman Osborn, after his decisions made his own board of directors fire him and forced to test the enhancer on himself, creating a maniacal alter ego. He and Spider-man have many confrontations, but the one that’s special was staged at the Queensboro Bridge where another trial took place: either the hostage Mj dies (Spider-man’s own happiness) or let the children die (his vow to save the people). He successfully saves both, winning some respect of the people and his good name. In a desperate call for more time, Norman shows his sane side and begs for mercy, only to call his glider to kill the web-slinger. He fails at the risk of his own life when the glider pierced through his abdomen killing his instantly.  In the end, although he gives up his one true love, he still follows the words his uncle said: "With great power comes great responsibility," and accepts his role of Spider-man, which proclaims he the master of the two worlds.

Every hero faces the same challenges as everyone else does no matter the good or bad decisions, they all suffer from it. I think it’s important that we take the time to identify the main points in movies and books because it gives us a broad description on how literature is different, but they share some common ground.

Works Cited
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145487/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man_%28film%29

10.9.11

Classical Music Reflection

As you already know, I’m a music lover. I’ve listened to music all my life, but there are few that strike my mind or are familiar. Beethoven is one of those musicians. Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was well known between the Classical and Romantic periods, and he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time. In his later years, his deafness continued and finally in became permanent in 1815. He made many works, but one of his most listened and popular symphonies were the number five.

It starts out with violins and cellos playing very low, making it sound very angry at first. Then they gradually begin to go softer and start to grow. At times the music will sometimes pause and start over playing some horns in the process. In my imagination, I see him literally playing this in a big music hall with thousands of listeners cheering or holding on to the suspense. In some parts, I can tell he’s angry just by listening to the horns and cellos blasting though the speakers. In the end, the song starts to go quieter and quieter until there’s nothing left or passing to the next song.

I like all types of music (except country), but this one strikes a familiar tone in my mind. This song was included in almost every film or any media reference to the minds content.  People say that classical music in lame and a thing of the past, but little do you know it’s still alive and its putting its foot down on music culture everywhere.

Cite Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven

http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/onestopbeethoven/a/beethovensympho.htm

http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyLudwig.html