In what way does the opening of the film Memento align the audience with and enable us to understand the main character Leonard Shelby

In what way does the opening of the film Memento align the audience with and enable us to understand the main character Leonard Shelby From the start of the film 'Memento' the audience is instantly hooked, and compelled to carry on watching the film, to find out whether Leonard Shelby will accomplish his mission to avenge his wife, by finding and killing the man who raped and murdered her. Since the rape and murder of his wife, Leonard has had no short-term memory, and this is his final memory. Leonard continues to survive by using post-it notes, and Polaroid pictures, as well as the help of Teddy, an undercover police officer, using clever and strategic survival techniques and a bar-maid, Natalie, both of whom possibly have their own different reasons for helping Leonard. The film's use of techniques such as switching between black and white scenes, and running in a non-chronological order confuses the audience as well as giving them a reason to carry on watching the movie. The story is like no other, and the audience is just as determined as Leonard Shelby, to find out who it was that raped and murdered his wife, and to see if she is avenged. The film starts with plain opening credits and no concrete clues are given to the story of the film. Non-diegetic, eerie music is played during the credits, giving the impression that the film is certainly not a happy film, and the

  • Word count: 1566
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"The Catcher in the Rye"

"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger, the main character, Holden, is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is naively fixated on childhood. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles through teenage life because he cannot accept the given responsibilities that come with growing up. Holden is obsessed with childhood because he chooses to be wedged between a world of the innocence of children and the complex world of adulthood. Holden deities his two younger siblings as if they're candidates for sainthood because of his fixation. Holden is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is afraid of gaining the responsibilities that come with it. So, Holden struggles hard to stay childish. For example, throughout the book, he does not want to take responsibility to communicate with others that may want to help him. He refuses to go home and confront his parents and face the consequences. Along with this, he also pulls the childish silent treatment toward his parents; because that's the only knife he has to hurt them: ."..she wouldn't've been the ones that answered the phone. My parents would be the ones. So that was out." (pg. 59) He is afraid to talk to people close to him because they'll be critical to him. This would also explain his lack of interaction with Jane Gallagher: ."..I kept standing there, of giving old Jane a buzz- I mean calling her long distance at B.M...

  • Word count: 1200
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In P’tang,Yang, Kippebang Jack Rosenthal about the often painful experience of growing up - What main themes and ideas does Rosenthal address?

In P'tang, Yang, Kippebang Jack Rosenthal about the often painful experience of growing up. What main themes and ideas does Rosenthal address? P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang is set in 1948, straight World War two. Jack Rosenthal deals with a boy who comes to a painful realisation of the world he is growing up in. Alan gradually loses his naivety and he becomes aware of the true nature of the characters who surround him. Many adults in the play are hypocritical. A straight forward example of hypocrisy is Miss Land and the relationship between her and the children who experience the rites of passage. Jack Rosenthal draws attention to Miss Land's hypocrisy by describing in her very first stage direction that she is "Purportedly reading". From the moment Miss Land is introduced she gives the appearance of being something she is not. She is an English teacher in her early thirties and she is a spinster but she is less prudish than she seems, i.e. her relationship with Tommy. Rosenthal draws attention from his first presentation of Miss Land to the hypocritical aspect of her character: Miss Land accuses Alan and the children of being "beasts of the field" when she catches them "pressing against" Eunice after class. But Miss Land is not as innocent as she seems to be. She spends a lot of time with Tommy in the pavilion having sex. Miss Land is a very weak character. She is led into

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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analyse the opening battle scene of saving privat ryan

Show how methods used to make the opening battle sequence of 'Saving Private Ryan' both shocking and realistic. Steven Spielberg's master piece Saving Private Ryan earned itself 5 academy awards, including the best director award in 1998. The all star cast starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon brings to life the horror of war. Seen through the eyes of a squad of American soldiers, the story begins with World War 2's historic D-Day invasion, and then moves beyond the beach as the men embark on a dangerous special mission. Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) must take his men behind enemy lines to find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have been killed in combat. Faced with impossible odds, the men question their orders. Why are eight men risking their lives to save just one? Surrounded by the brutal realities of war, each man searches for his own answer-and the strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honor, decency and courage. Saving Private Ryan earned its awards for bringing back the realism of World War 2 and for describing what the shocking chances of survival were at the historic battle of Omaha beach on D-Day in June 1944. Omaha beach was only one of the invasion sites of the American, British and Canadian coalition forces. The special reason why Steven Spielberg chose to direct his movie with Omaha beach as its backdrop was due to the fact that out of all the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens was a very famous writer. He was a very successful and respected author of many well known books, including Oliver Twist. His stories were published in magazines and newspapers and focused mainly on the social issues of the poor. At the start of the extract Oliver watches Fagin. After the coffee was done, Fagin withdraws a small box, containing a magnificent gold watch. Fagin is described by Oliver as a "miser", Fagin is also the leader of a group of children. Fagin is trying to be very elusive. He does not want anyone to know what he is doing. Fagin notices eventually, that Oliver had been observing him, Fagin's reaction is almost automatic, he closes the lid of his box with a loud crosh. We see that Fogin becomes very scared. As he Quickly grabs a bread knife and threatens Oliver, beacuse as we all know criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot. Oliver, must feel ver scared as he speeks "meekly" to Fagin's threats. Oliver believes that Fagin is a miser. we can see this as Fagin is very careful with his money and rarely spends any of it. When Oliver meets the other boys Fagin shows him what they had stolen. However, Oliver is unaware the property is stolen. He believes, the items are hand made. Fagin tells Oliver that the items are nicely made. But really the boys got the handkerchiefs by stealing them. Fagin is teasing Oliver. A quote that shows

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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symbolism in the kite runner

Symbolism in "The Kite Runner" "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini is a story about a young boy, Amir who commits many sins in his childhood but he later goes back to redeem them. This book mostly focuses on betrayal because Amir betrays his best friend, Hassan. The author uses many symbols throughout the book for an example he uses a pomegranate tree to symbolize friendship, and he uses kites to symbolize loyalty, and freedom. A pomegranate tree symbolizes the friendship between Amir and Hassan. Amir recalls that "One summer day I used one of Ali's kitchen knives to carve our names on the pomegranate tree: 'Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul.'" (31) Amir always reads many stories to Hassan while they eat sweet pomegranates after school. They always climb up the tree and read books. Those words made it formal that the tree was a token of their friendship. When Amir went back to Kabul he noticed "The carving had dulled, almost faded altogether, but it was still there: 'Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul.'"(277) This reveals that no matter what happened to the both of them the writing on the tree was permanent. But the tree changed in the book just like their friendship did. The tree became very lifeless and it had stopped bearing fruit. This relates to Amir's and Hassan's friendship because it became lifeless and the tree's lack of fruit symbolizes the lost friendship

  • Word count: 1035
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Media Essay

An analysis of the opening of the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers Immediately at the opening of Phillip Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) we can tell this film is science fiction film, because of the tense atmosphere that is created by the credits. This is created by the effects of non-diegetic eerie music that is slowly suggesting a build-up. While the music is still causing tension in the background, the camera zooms out to reveal a barren planetscape harshly lit by a large, reddish sun. While the credits start to show up on the screen, clear, jelly like creatures begin floating away from the surface. The credits though are shown boldly in white, but appear to have tiny cracks in them, which create a sense of decaying. The tense music and unusual surroundings makes the audience feel a sense of unease, as the creatures begin to rise through space, the music changes from the shrill sound at the start to more of a flourish. The change in music suggests uplift and movement. This is when the camera reveals a shot of the Earth, from a high angle making the planet look weak and vulnerable. Then as the creatures start to move closer to the planet the shrill sound repeats again. Then the web-like organisms begin to descend to earth, as though they are invading the planet, the editing is very quick here, as the shots rapidly change and the camera zooms closer in

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Examine The Changing Attitudes shown to the Japanese Prisoner in The Long The Short And The Tall by close reference to two or three sections of the play at least one from act one and one from Act 2.

Examine The Changing Attitudes shown to the Japanese Prisoner in The Long The Short And The Tall by close reference to two or three sections of the play at least one from act one and one from Act 2. I starting to examine the attitudes in act one a short while after the Japanese prisoner has been captured. When the prisoner is first captured all of the men show some sort of hostility towards him. Most noticeably Bamforth speaks very harshly: "Stand still you nig!" this shows immediate hatred towards the prisoner and the word "nig" shows his blatant racism towards the prisoner. However, at this stage it sounds like Bamforth is not really thinking about what he is saying as he used the word "nig" towards the Japanese prisoner when this is not the word is not usually associated with Japanese people. However one person in the play does not show a lot of hatred is Macleish. When Johnstone asked him why he wouldn't give him a hand killing the prisoner he replies, "he was a prisoner of war" Already this shows that Macleish is againsed killing the prisoner. However, this is probably because his brother is stationed near the front line. When Bamforth is told to take care of the prisoner and make sure that he does not escape he starts to mellow. "Hey, Tojo! Flingers off blonce. Flingers off blonce." This is now showing that although the remarks that Bamforth has made are slightly

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Much Ado

Literature Coursework: Set Text WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: Much Ado About Nothing Re-read in Act 5 Scene 1, from 'Don Pedro: Good den, good den' to 'Antonio: And shall, or some of us will smart for it.' What does Shakespeare make you feel about Leonato at this point in the play? From Act 5 Scene I, Shakespeare uses various methods to help us form an image of Leonato up to this point. Throughout the text of the play, up until now, it was clear that Leonato was one who cared about what others thought of him. This was clearly shown as he dismissed Hero - he was ashamed of having a disgraceful daughter. But, as we enter Act5 Scene I, Leonato is now trying to prove his daughter's innocence. When Leonato first starts off, he uses the pronoun "you" of which signals distance but still implies that they are of the same rank. As the text progresses, he starts to say "marry thou, thou dissembler, thou... fear thee not" which signals a tone change. In Shakespearean (and older) times, this could have either meant friendliness or superiority but as Leonato is outraged, superiority is implied. This gives the reader the feeling that Leonato "dominates" over Claudio. Lines 58 through 71 show us how Leonato is able to put on an act and what he is willing to give for his daughter. However, his actions give the audience a mixed impression of Leonato. For at first, Leonato himself despised Hero

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Silas marner Character Analysis Essay

Paul Walmsley, 10B 29th January 2008 Analysis of Silas Marner's character Silas Marner's character develops throughout the novel, and passes through several different stages. The first sign we see of Silas' character is that he has a delicate personality, and this characteristic is demonstrated after he has been accused of the theft of a bag of money, in chapter one. He is tried, and found guilty by the unfair jury that is drawing lots. He is disregarded by his church, and will only be accepted back into the community upon his confession and repentance of this sin: "The lots declared that Silas Marner was guilty... There is no God that governs the earth righteously, But a God of lies, who bears witness against the innocent." This quotation, taken from page 61 shows that Silas' faith and trust in God has been severely tested, to the brink of destruction. Understandably, Silas is distraught at the discovery that he has been exiled from his church, because the drawing of the lots declared him to be guilty. This is not a fair way to decide a person's fate, and as such Silas leaves the community, seeking a life with fairer policies regarding divine interference, and the justice system. Silas is a relatively simple person in some aspects of his life, and religion is one of such areas. He is happy to lead a life with simple beliefs, but when this religious

  • Word count: 747
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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