The Shawshank Redemption

Plot
The plot of the story and the plot of the movie are near identical. There are only a few differences and the rest is about the same. The movie is still narrated by Red but there is not too much dialog from a narrators standpoint. In the story Red was writing down what he recalled about the past about Andy and the situation in Shawshank, but in the movie Red's thoughts are actually happening rather than talked about. One slight difference between the story and the film is Norton is the warden throughout the film where in the story there are multiple wardens through the telling of the story. Another difference is in the movie Andy tells Red he made a fake person where he filters the money and when he escapes takes over that alias. In the story Andy's friend made that alias for him not himself. All and all the plot is almost identical minus Red getting side tracked and talking about other things when he is reminded of them.
Point of View
Since it is a movie, the story is acted out rather than told by Red. The point of view is more of a person looking into the life of a prisoner instead of Red describing it. It allowed the viewer to see the story unfold instead of being told about it. Even though Red is still the main character he does not exactly tell the story, it is actually happening throughout the film. We still see what is happening through the point of view of Red mostly.  In the movie Red narrates his thoughts somewhat like he does in the story, but mainly the story is told through the actions of all the characters.
Characterization
The characters in the movie aren't described by Red as deeply as he describes them in the story, mainly because you can actually see the characters and he doesn't have to describe them. The movie also let the viewer get a visual representation of everything instead of just being told about it through the words of Red in the story. The only time Red characterizes anything is when he narrates about his feelings. The only thing he characterizes is how he feels about Andy and all his other pals in the joint. Most of the characterization is done through acting as opposed to told since it is a movie.
Setting
The setting is exactly the same, a prison named Shawshank. It gave a very good visual representation of a prison in the early 1900s would look like. It was nice to see the actual prison and get a better feel of it as opposed to it merely being described to the audience as it was in the story. The movie let the audience see the hardships of the prison and what the living conditions really were like. It let them see how crappy it was to be a prisoner in that time and how one would really want to get out. It helped the main theme of the story, hope.
Theme
The theme of hope is prevalent in the movie as much as it is in the story. Hope is shown in the acts of Andy Defresne as well as in Red. Andy is shown trying to make a difference in the lives of the prisoners and also in hoping to once be free of the life of a prisoner. Red is portrayed the same way. They are both always trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel. They are both always searching for that hope, and at the end of the movie they both find that hope. As they did in the story, both Andy and Red make it to Mexico. This was their hope, it was the place that kept them going trough their imprisonment, and in end they reached their hope.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

Plot

The story takes place inside the penitentiary named Shawshank. The plot itself is quite jumpy, meaning the narrator (Red) does not tell the story straight to the reader. The narrator seems to be telling the story through his train of thought, rather then thinking about what he says he just says it. For example Red says "I remember the first time Andy Dufresne got in touch with me for something; I remember like it was yesterday. That wasn't the time he wanted Rita Hayworth, though. That came later. In the summer of 1948 he came around for something elese" (26). He then starts a new paragraph saying, "Most of my deals are done right there in the exercise yard, and that's where this one went down. Our yard is big, much bigger than most" (27). He speaks to the reader as if he is thinking and when he thinks of one thing, it reminds him of another and so he feels the need to elaborate on that thought before coming back to his original. Confusing I know but that is how it is supposed to be told, as if through a prisoner's mind.

Point of View

The story is told through the thoughts and words of Red. He is the narrator who is writing a book about his time at Shawshank. Like I mentioned above the story is quite jumpy and it is because Red is just a prisoner trying to get his thoughts down on paper in hopes that someone may read them someday. He wants to tell the reader about his troubles at Shawshank but mainly the actions of Andy Defresne, his good friend who eventually escapes from Shawshank. Red describes himself as, "...the guy who can get it for you" (15). He continually talks about how he can get anything anyone would need at Shawshank, except for weapons of course.

Characterization

Red describes the people he talks about in great detail. He mainly describes their actions and how they present themselves but sometimes he also describes the past and current problems in their lives. He describes Andy Defresne as "... a short, neat little man with sandy hair and small, clever hands. He wore gold-rimmed spectacles. His fingernails were always clipped, and they were always clean" (17). He also describes Andy's back story in further detail. Andy was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was blamed for killing his wife and her secret lover. Red describes others in about the same way he described Andy, including himself.

Setting

The story is set at Shawshank penitentiary, mainly in the main yard but Red also describes the cells and solitary confinement. Most of the story talks about certain things that are happening at Shawshank. It is not a very action filled story, it deals more about past events that he has heard from people rather than his own personal experiences. The story is mainly about things that happened rather than the places that it happened. The story takes place in Shawshank physically, but Red talks more about the actions of Andy Defresne than anything. Red describes Shawshank as "a happy little family" on more than one occasion but other than that he does not describe it that much. He hints that it is just like any other prison, stone and concrete walls with iron bars for cell doors and a dismal dirt-filled lot for the yard.

Theme

One big theme of this story is hope. Later in the story Red finds out that Andy has a lot of money stashed outside of the walls of Shawshank and that he hopes to get out someday and go to Mexico. Andy says, "And at the north end of this particular hayfield there's a rock wall, right out of a Robert Frost poem. And somewhere along the base of that wall is a rock that has no business in a Maine hayfield. It's a piece of volcanic glass, and until 1947 it was a paperweight on my office desk. My friend Jim put it in that wall. There's a key underneath it. The key opens a safe deposit box in the Portland branch of the Casco Bank" (78). This is Andy's hope. Inside the safety deposit box is a whole new identity with a lot of money to his name. Andy wants to get out of Shawshank and get that key to get to his box and his new life. It is the only thing he has to help keep his head up, without it Andy would not have been the same person. He needed that hope to keep from going insane.

Sonnet 130 - William Shakespeare 

In Sonnet 130 Shakespeare describes the features of his not-so-beautiful mistress. The first line of the sonnet, "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;" suggests from the beginning that this will not be a very heartfelt piece. This theme keeps recurring throughout the sonnet as he describes the horrid things about her such as her breath, "Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks." After further analyzing the poem one may learn that it is entirely satirical. Throughout the whole poem he criticizes his mistress' features and at the end he writes "I grant I never saw a goddess go;My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare." In these last four lines he explains why he wrote sonnet. He says that his mistress is not a goddess so he will not make her seem like one. 


I don't agree with Shakespeare's message in Sonnet 130. He makes his mistress out to be ugly, and granted she may be, but no man should say their lover is ugly. They should always make her out to be the most beautiful woman they know. Throughout the sonnet he continually harps on her poor qualities and not once says she is beautiful in any way. Most writers make their lovers out to be the best thing in the world, nothing else is even comparable to them. For example, Leia Organa from the original Star Wars. She was not the prettiest woman in all the galaxy but Han Solo thought she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen and me made that very clear. No one should think that their lover is as ugly as Shakespeare made his out to be. They should see that they are beautiful no matter what. Sure, Shakespeare wanted to poke fun at other writers for comparing their lovers to goddesses, but I don't believe in the message he is trying to convey.

Ballad-Careless Whsiper

The song Careless Whisper by George Michael constitutes as a ballad because it is about jealous sweethearts and unrequited love. It talks about how he never wants to dance again with any other women. He only wants that one person and no one else. He talks about how she broke his heart and how he feels about the whole situation throughout the song. The characteristics of a ballad in this song are dramatization of a single incident, a strong simple beat and an uncomplicated pattern, refrain and regular repetition of the chorus, suggests rather than directly states, and it is based on actual events. Michael focuses on one single incident, his heart being broken. The song itself is catchy and the beat is simple and flows well. He doesn't exactly say "this girl broke my heart" but rather he implies it by saying he is never going to dance again because he doesn't want it to remind him of the times with the woman who hurt him. The song is also based on actual events. I assume this because one cannot write such a heartfelt song without actually being heartbroken like this before.

Careless Whisper

 I Feel So Unsure
As i take your hand
And lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies
Something in your eyes
Calls to mind a silver screen
And all its sad goodbyes

[Chorus]

I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should have known better than to cheat a friend
And waste a chance that i've been given
So i'm never gonna dance again
The way i danced with you

Time can never mend
The careless whisper of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find

[Chorus]

Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it's better this way
We'd hurt each other with the things we want to say
We could have been so good together
We could have lived this dance forever
But now who's gonna dance with me
Please stay

[Chorus]

Now that you've gone
Now that you've gone
Now that you've gone
Was what i did so wrong
So wrong that you had to leave me alone

Careless Whisper - George Michael

Heroes

Dave Grohl: Best Musician Alive

In my opinion, Dave Grohl is one of the most influential musicians of our music era. Dave was a part of the band Nirvana along with Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. Nirvana started the Grunge era which paved the way for many of the rock bands of the past 15 years. The band was soon struck by tragedy after the suicide of lead singer Kurt Cobain. The band abruptly fell apart after the incident and both Dave and Krist went on a hiatus for a brief time. Dave quickly reemerged and recorded a 15 track demo in which he played all the instruments. He then went on to play for various bands but finally founded the Foo Fighters along with Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel,Taylor Hawkins, and Pat Smear. Dave Grohl is a hero to many but he is my hero because he followed his dreams and overcame the obstacles in his path. Even though his best friend and band mate committed suicide he didn't give up, he rebuilt what Nirvana had left behind and carried on his career as a musician.  

My Father, a Personal Hero of Mine.

A personal hero of mine is my father. He has been there for me through thick and thin. I admire his moral values and how he strives to raise my brothers and I the right way. He has been through much in his life and he dedicates his time to teaching us how to not follow the same paths he has. He has a very strong work ethic and always finishes what he starts. His strong will and his willingness to complete any task at hand is very commendable. I have learned an immense amount of things from my dad and I am proud to call him my father.

                                                                                                        Mario: Plumber. Legend. Hero.

Once a lowly plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario quickly rose to hero status. The day finally came when Mario found his true calling. The infamous Bowser had kidnapped the beautiful Princess Peach from her castle in the Mushroom Kingdom, and Mario was chosen to rescue her. He has fought a long and hard journey consisting of harsh deserts, treacherous castles, and fiery lava pits. He slayed countless evil gumbas, koopas, and bomb-ombs. Mario has dedicated his whole life to being a hero and saving his beloved princess from the mischievous Bowser. I'm sure Bowser will keep up with his silly antics of trying to keep Peach locked away so he can rule the Kingdom, but Mario will always persevere!