People's first impressions of the ogre Shrek.

People's first impressions of the ogre Shrek, is that he is not in anyway traditional. He is seen as a cross between the traditional Disney style of films and the not so traditional style of entertainment such as The Simpsons. The comedy and jokes can be understood by all generations, young and old. Simple put, 'Shrek' is a fairy tale for everyone, with a hero much the same. The film begins with the opening of a typical fairy tale book being read by the narrator. The traditional theme is read, about a damsel in distress, and a so called Prince Charming going to rescue her. However in Shrek the narrator, when he gets to the last page rips it out, and proclaims, "what a load of rubbish." The door of a toilet is then flung open, and Shrek steps out. There is also a comparison of the toilet being flushed, right after Shrek tears out the last page of the book. This shows what Shrek thinks of the happy ending of the book. Early on in the play the producers of Shrek use modern rap music in the background, which gives an indication that this is no ordinary fairy tale. Shrek seems like a traditional ogre because after the introduction to Shrek is done it shows a different side to his personality. He intimidates the villagers who were plotting to kill him by doing both the normal and expected way and the unexpected way. The normal way, that you expect Shrek, an ogre to do, is roar at

  • Word count: 1105
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How do the makers of Shrek use presentational devices to reverse the tradition of fairytales to reveal the ogre as good and the prince as evil?

How do the makers of "Shrek" use presentational devices to reverse the tradition of fairytales to reveal the ogre as good and the prince as evil? In this essay I am going to analyse the characters of Shrek and Lord Farquaad and write about how the film makers use different devices to make Shrek as good and the Prince as evil therefore creating an unusual fairytale. In traditional fairytales they start with an elaborate book which opens up to tell the story, gradually each page of the book turns to reveal the next page. The book starts by telling the reader the background about the fairytale "Once upon a time there lived a lovely princess" with beautifully painted illustrations. Language is an important device, and I am going to write about how the language can create the impression of good and evil in both characters, and in films. At the beginning of 'Shrek' the film opens with a leather binded book that opens and starts telling the story gentle music is played but stops and a giant illuminated hand appears. The hand rips the page out of the book, you hear a flush of the toilet at the start and modern rap music is played that is when you realize that the film won't be a traditional fairytale. When the storybook characters arrive Shrek threatens them saying "I will grind your bones for my bread and shave your liver and make jelly from your eyes" Shrek tries to frighten

  • Word count: 2557
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How effectively do the opening scenes of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' and 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' create an atmosphere of fantasy and intrigue?

How EFFECTIVELY do the opening scenes of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' and 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' create an atmosphere of fantasy and intrigue? In recent years the fantasy genre has undergone a huge revival. Whereas it was once reserved for children's books of fairy tales, fantasy in both literature and film alike is increasingly becoming a more mainstream genre, enjoyed by people of all kinds. Fantasy films are probably the most frequently stereotyped genre of all. They tend to involve things such as Dark Lords, magicians, quests and otherworldly creatures. But only when all these are believably portrayed are they interesting films. Fantasy films that have failed badly because of this (in my opinion) include 'Labyrinth' and 'Willow'. High profile fantasy films released in recent years include the 'Harry Potter' series and 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Both were based on sets of books, which were first released as films at around the same time- December 2001. People are forever comparing the stories, and the two groups of fans can be impressively passionate as they argue their cases. But which film is truly superior? The 'Harry Potter' books are credited with saving the genre and introducing it to a wider audience, with their accessible storylines and language. However, The 'The Lord of the Rings' is widely believed to be the

  • Word count: 1770
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Burden of the Ring In "The Choices of Master Samwise" in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers, the parallels between the Ring carried by Frodo and the Cross taken on by Jesus of Nazareth are abundant.

The Burden of the Ring In "The Choices of Master Samwise" in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers, the parallels between the Ring carried by Frodo and the Cross taken on by Jesus of Nazareth are abundant. Throughout Tolkien's timeless trilogy The Lord of the Rings, symbolisms and parallels to Christianity are rampant, and in this specific chapter of the second book of the trilogy it becomes clear that the similarities are often times quite intentional. The connections made by Tolkien stem from the vital staple of Christian belief throughout the world, and Tolkien's masterful integration of this miraculous story into his own masterpiece only adds to the whole importance of this wonderful piece of modern fiction. However, in order to properly understand these connections between the Ring and the Cross, we must investigate the biblical principles of The Way of the Cross. The first allusion to biblical passage is found in Sam's thoughts contained in "The Choices of Master Samwise," when he thinks, "And that's the end of all of us, of Lorien, and Rivendell, and the Shire and all" (Tolkien 715). This simple realization by Sam conveys the dire importance of the mission to destroy the Ring, and his innermost fears if that mission were to fail. In a biblical parallel, it can be said that this could be related to the fate of the world if there were no hope, no divine savior, no Cross.

  • Word count: 1589
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How do the makers of Shrek use presentational devices to reverse the tradition, to reveal the ogre as good and the prince as evil?

Shrek Title: In traditional fairytales Ogres are man eating beasts, the prince usually rescues the princess, they marry and live happily ever after. How do the makers of Shrek use presentational devices to reverse this tradition, to reveal the ogre as good and the prince as evil? Shrek is obviously not a stereotypical fairytale because of its language and the features of the characters. The characters aren't what they seem to be. Shrek is an ogre who is supposed to be bad and cruel, they are uncivilised just like the ogre in Jack and the beanstalk; he chases Jack saying 'fee fie foe fum; I smell the blood of an Englishman'. The princess is supposed to be in distress and desperate to be saved. They have a beautiful voice which is supposed to attract the prince and they are normally scared and not demanding at a stage of crisis. The prince which in this case is Lord Farquaad is supposed to be kind, charming and his main job is to rescue and marry the princess. In Shrek the whole idea of a fairytale has been turned around by making the ogre Shrek the good guy the Lord Farquaad the bad guy and Princess Fiona not a damsel in distress. The filmmakers use a different technique to make the ogre seem good and the lord seems bad. To make this successful they used language, camera shots at different angles and special effects such as sounds and light effects. The film starts of with

  • Word count: 3303
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Cousin Kate by Christina Rosetti compared with The Choosing by Liz Lochhead

Cousin Kate by Christina Rosetti/The Choosing by Liz Lochhead Cousin Kate Cousin Kate is a poem, written in the Victorian times by a woman called Christina Rosetti. Christina was a very religious woman, she wanted eventually to be a nun, and she did voluntary work at a London reform home for young prostitutes. The poem is about a young cottage maiden who falls in love with a lord. The lord "changed her like a glove", this suggests that the lord could get anyone he wanted. The story is about a cottage maiden who falls in love with a lord, he praises her and treats her like a queen. The lord then falls in love with the cottage maiden's cousin (cousin Kate). They get married, the only problem is Kate can't have children and the lord will need a son to take over his role of lord. "Yet I've a gift you have not got" when the cottage maiden says this she means her child, she has a son to the lord. She was not married to the lord when they were having a sexual relationship so she is seen to be unclean. "The neighbours call you good and pure, call me an outcast thing" this quotation shows us that Kate was a virgin when she married the lord so she is good and pure. This poem is simply stating one of the sexist problems in the Victorian times. Men would not treat women with respect, they would have sex with them and then be done with them. The choosing This poem is by Liz

  • Word count: 608
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Hobbit - John Ronald Reuel (J.R.R) Tolkien

The Hobbit The Author John Ronald Reuel (J.R.R) Tolkien as was born on January 3rd 1892. Apart from his long and distinguished academic career, he is best known for his extraordinary works of fiction "The hobbit", "The lord of the rings" and "The Silmarilion". His works are translated into over 24 languages and sold many millions of copies worldwide. He was awarded the CBE (?), and an honorary Doctorate of letters from Oxford University in 1972. He died in 1973 at the age of 81. "The hobbit", along with "The lord of the rings", and "The Silmarilion", was an atempt to create a mythology - like bookseries. The style and mood of the books are very much influenced by other mythologies and legends from around the world. The Story It all begins in a little hole in the ground. Bilbo had just eaten his first breakfast and is about to start on his second. Suddenly the great wizard named Gandalf enters the front door. He says Bilbo is about to go on a great journey with lots of adventures. Bilbo doesn't want to go on any journey. Gandalf leaves and says he will come back. The next day somebody knocks on Bilbo's door, he opens and there stands a dwarf. He introduces himself as Dwalin and entres Bilbo's home as he was expected. After a while it knocks again and there is another dwarf. He introduces himself just like the first dwarf, Balin was his name. That afternoon a total number

  • Word count: 840
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Knights in the Middle Ages.

Knights in the Middle Ages To become a knight took several years of training. A boy at the tender age of six or seven is ripped from his mother's care and sent to a nearby castle to begin his training to become a knight. It is here that he is trained by the lord of the castle. From the time the boys are taken from their mothers to the age of fourteen they are referred to as a "page" or "varlet" which means "little vassal". He begins as a servant for the lord and lady of the castle. The ladies of the manor teach him table manners. The page waited on his lord and lady. It was his duty and privilege to accompany his lord and lady at all times. He learned how to hunt and hawk. When his lord's armor was rusty, the page rolled the armor in a barrel of sand so that the rust was gone. He was taught to be quick, graceful, and flexible. He received religious training from the chaplain. He sometimes received training-in-arms from the squires. He also helps the lord dress and put on armor. He plays many training games including wrestling piggy-back wresting and sword practice. A knight in training or a "page" never learns to read or write because it is not seen to be "knightly" but he does learn the concepts of honor, bravery and chivalry. (Harding 164-170.) If the page showed promise, the next step in training is at the age of fourteen when he is considered full grown, he is

  • Word count: 1975
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman - review

Hatice Giritli Group 9 Friday 5th November 2004 My Book Review of the Week: The Amber Spyglass This week I chose to read the novel "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman. He was born in Norwich on 19th October 1946. The early part of his life was spent travelling all over the world, because his father and then his step father were both in the Royal Air Force. He spent part of his childhood in Australia, where he first met the wonders of comics, and grew to love Superman and Batman in particular. After he left school he went to Exeter College, oxford, to read English. He did a number of odd jobs for a while, and then moved back to Oxford to become a teacher. He taught at various middle schools for 12 years, and then moved to Westminster College, Oxford, to be a part-time lecturer. He taught courses on the Victorian novel and on the folk tale, and also a course examining how words and pictures fit together. He eventually left teaching in order to write full-time. "The Amber Spyglass" brings the conspiracy of "The Golden Compass" and "The Subtle Knife" to a heart stopping close, marking the third and final volume as the most powerful of the trilogy. Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear. In "The Amber Spyglass" we are introduced to a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious

  • Word count: 1045
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Two Towers Critical review

Waleed Mahmood 10 Matthews The Two Towers Critical review The Two Towers starts with the fellowship broken up into small groups, with the hobbit Frodo Baggins still on his quest to destroy the powerful ring. His mind is slowly getting poisoned by the ring. His friend Samwise Gamgee meet a strange creature called Gollum who promises to take them through their quest. Meanwhile, a group led by Aragorn and his friends Legolas and Gimli fight to save human families from the evil creatures called Orcs. The two other hobbits Merry and Pippin escape from the orcs and go into the forest where they find refuge with the ent, Treebeard. Gandalf also makes a surprise return as he was shown falling in Moria. Like the first film, this is a powerful Hi-tech achievement. There has been tons of money spent on the digital effect and the overall visual effects of the film. Gollum is shown extremely well. The character is computer animated which matches perfectly with the voice of Andy Serkis. He is really important because he is evil and his mind is poisoned by the ring. The other digital character is the Ent, Treebeard. The acting of treebeard and his entish language has been done very cleverly by Peter Jackson. His voice, movement, responses and the CGI technical makes the film like no other. The scenes of the battle at Helm's Deep are pivotal in the story and the special effects

  • Word count: 963
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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