Monday, December 5, 2016

StoryTelling

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Movie Tralier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJKHQLM8AbM
First Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFssGAgZo6U


I chose the movie Jumanji. It debuted in December of 1995. Jumanji is a 1995 American family fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston. It is an adaptation of the 1981 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. The story centers on young Alan Parrish, who becomes trapped in a board game while playing with his best friend Sarah Whittle in 1969. Twenty-six years later in 1995, siblings Judy and Peter Shepherd find the game, begin playing and then unwittingly release the now-adult Alan. After tracking down Sarah, the quartet resolve to finish the game in order to reverse all of the destruction it has caused. The movie begins in 1981 with two brothers named Caleb and Benjamin. They are seen burying a chest, hoping that no one will ever find it. One hundred years later in 1969, Alan Parrish visits a shoe factory owned by his father, Samuel. He visits his friend Carl Bentley, an employee, who reveals a new shoe prototype he made by himself. Alan misplaces the shoe and damages an important machine, but Carl takes responsibility and loses his job. After being attacked by a group of delinquents, who also steal his bicycle, Alan follows the sound of tribal drumbeats to a construction site. He finds the chest containing a board game called Jumanji, and brings it home. At home, after an argument with Samuel about attending a boarding school, Alan plans to run away. Sarah Whittle, his friend, arrives to return his bicycle, and they begin playing Jumanji. With each roll of the dice, the player piece moves by itself and a cryptic message describing the roll's outcome appears in the crystal ball at the center of the board. Sarah rolls the dice but nothing happens. Alan rolls the dice; a message tells him to wait in a jungle until someone rolls 5 or 8, and he is sucked into the game. Afterwards, a swarm of bats appears and chases Sarah out of the mansion. Twenty-six years later, Judy and Peter Shepherd move into the vacant Parrish house with their aunt Nora, their parents having died in an accident on a ski trip in Canada. The next day Judy and Peter find Jumanji in the attic and begin playing it. Their rolls summon giant mosquitoes and a group of monkeys. The game rules state that everything will be restored when the game ends, so they continue playing. Many other exciting events take place in the rest of the movie, until finally Alan makes the winning roll, causing everything that happened as a result of the game to be reversed. The movie has a good hook because it opens with conflict. Weiland says in his article The Hook, “That most good beginnings start with conflict.” He says that it “demands the characters to be at odds with someone or something right from the get go.” The beginning of Jumanji does just that. It leaves the characters at odds with the box. The two brothers bury the box in 1981, hoping that no one finds it, for they know what happens when you open the box and start playing the game. This leaves the audience wondering what happens when you open the box that is buried at the beginning of the movie. In 1969, twenty years later, Alan finds the buried box. Alan brings the board game home and they all start to play. All events after they start playing are conflict. After each one the audience is left to wonder what happens next. Conflict keeps the pages turning and I believe that Jumanji does just that.

Weiland also says in The Hook, “the opening sets a tone for the audience.” The movie of course opens with two brothers burying a chest. When the chest and the board game is found by Alan, things start happening. From stampedes, to lions in the house, and monkeys crawling everywhere. The boys burying the chest opens the scene for the entire audience. They are burying the chest in hopes that no one finds the board game. The audience doesn’t know this, so they want to know what happens when the chest is opened, so it make them keep watching the movie. 

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Leadership or Followship..

Americans are strong advocates for individuality and equality. This is why I think we have so many societal problems in the world today. In David Brooks’ article “The Follower Problem,” he argues that America has a followership problem. Brooks says that our self interest in authority results in our refusal to deem anyone worthy of leading the country, because we think that we are just as smart as they are. I agree with Brooks’. I believe that Americans have an issue with authority and judges anyone in a leadership position, because naturally we think we know it all. Americans always judge people of authority, thinking that people in charge would almost always abuse their authority. But, some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living. If we were to routinely be a community of civil disobedience, what we call civilization would cease to function, leaving us to fend for ourselves in a world where only the strong would survive. A good example of this would be a protest that happened in charlotte a few weeks ago. Protesters marched in charlotte for an African American who was shot and killed by law enforcement. The protest lasted for a few days and left many parts of the town destroyed.  After the third day of protesting, law enforcement and National Guard were on duty to deal with the rowdy crowd. This is an example of having an authority figure to follow. Without having “rules” to follow, and people to enforce those rules, our society would cease to function and everyone would be forced to fend for themselves. Brooks says in his article that our devotion to equality, that all people are equal and deserve equal recognition and respect. This is where I believe that theory dies. As Americans, it is hard to define and celebrate greatness, and to hold up others who are superior to ourselves when we naturally think we know it all. A great example of this would be the presidential elections. Americans have their favorite candidate running to become the leader of the country. How we pick this leader is based on morals, values, and knowledge. We “follow” the candidate that has the same views as ourselves. We pick the best, and the rest are all awful people. We judge the other candidates on the things that we don’t like about them. The main problem America has is our inability to think properly how power should be used to bind and build. Brooks says our country doesn't have a leadership problem, we have a follower’s problem, and before we can have these great leaders again, we have to re-learn how to "elevate those who are extraordinary," and "trust their discretion (businessinsider.com).” To have a good leader you have to have good followers. They have to be able to recognize authority and be grateful for it. 


Works Cited


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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Introduction

HELLO ALL!!

MY NAME IS ASHLEY. I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN ROCK HILL. I AM 24 YEARS OLD. MY MAJOR IS RADIOLOGY TECH. MY CAREER GOALS ARE TO BECOME A RAD TECH AT A RADIOLOGY OFFICE. I AM CURRENTLY FINISHING ALL MY GEN ED'S, TO GET PUT ON THE LOOONGG WAIT LIST FOR THE PROGRAM. I WORK FULL TIME AS A PRESCHOOL TEACHER. I AM ENGAGED TO MY HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART, AND WE ARE GETTING MARRIED NEXT YEAR!! :):) I ENJOY SPENDING TIME WITH MY FAMILY AND MY TWO SPOILED NEPHEWS. I ALSO ENJOY COZENING UP WITH MY PUPPY WITH A COFFEE AND A BOOK. 

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