Life is Beautiful essay

Question:


How do the characters in 'Life is Beautiful' represent an engaging and unique presentation of the Holocaust experience?

• Comedy in the movie, stops it from being too horrific
• Romance, Guido and Dora falling in love
• Joshua's innocence
• The fact that Guido is (or pretends to be) in high spirits even in the darkest of time, such as the camp
• The mildness of the tragic ending
• Stupidity of some characters
• In a concentration camp, turned into a game for Joshua
• Doesn't start in the concentration camp, but instead it starts with a love story
• Jews perspective
• Joshua himself adds complexity and drama
• Dramatic irony, we know more than the characters, like when Joshua doesn't take the shower which saves his life
• Dora, always wears red, passionate, puts her life at risk to be with her family
• Guido is ignorant of the holocaust, doesn't take things seriously, thinks the best of people

The characters in 'Life is Beautiful' represent and engaging and unique presentation of the holocaust experience. Guido, Dora and Joshua in particular with their unique personalities.

Guido is the funny one. Throughout the entire move he is making jokes and not taking anything seriously. His clumsiness makes the movie come to life as you are able to laugh at normally horrific things. He does so much for his wife and son, even to the point of death he will do anything to keep them happy in hard times. It is simply awe inspiring.


Dora herself is a major participant in making this story brilliant. She is passionate, kind and rebellious. She will do anything she can to be with those she love (Guido and Joshua). She even goes to the concentration camp, such is the love that she shares with her family. She helps add a romantic touch to the story.


Joshua represents the innocence of some of the people in the war as the war wasn't just black and white, there where many other shades of grey. He is also the complication as Guido needs to keep him alive and happy which makes his life at the camp exceedingly more difficult, in the end there is a game made to please him. To Guido it is all worth it to see the little rascal smile!


The guards are definitely the villains of the story. Without them it would be exceedingly dull. They put an essence of fear into the story as none of the other characters could. With their constant shouting you know that if you screw up you're dead and they're not even going to care.


The movie is from the Jews perspective. If it was from the Germans perspective than we would view the story differently and almost want the Germans to win.


All these things make this movie engaging and unique.

Heroes and Villains in Life is Beautiful

This is an important scene in the film when Guido and Giosue are introduced to the concentration camp.




     1.  Describe what is happening in this scene.

Guido, in an attempt to make his sun not be scared of what is happening "translates" the camp rules, with a few alterations.

      2.  Who are the heroes, victims and villains in this scene? Why are they heroes, victims and villains?

The hero is Guido, as he is trying to protect his sons innocence, the victims are the fellow camp members as through Guido they are unable to no the camp rules and the villains are the Germans as they brutally tell them the rules as to not die.

     3.  For the hero/es and villain/s, describe techniques used in this shot which highlight their opposing role and how they connect with the audience.
Dividing line, weaker on Guido's side, stronger on Germans side
One is low and loud and the other's is higher and softer

Tough uniforms and organisation, to weaker uniforms and no organisation
German at the front of the room instead of in the middle
Joshua is the most important to Guido, and is elevated in the shot
Close ups, speaking directly to his son, making him believe
Guido has compassion, soldier is more stiff
The soldier is fat as he is able to eat more
Joshua's innocence becomes more obvious and makes you connect more to him, adds humour

Holocaust Unit: Key Question and 'Life is Beautiful'

How are victims, villains and heroes of tragedy and trauma valued and given a voice?


We need to apply this key question to Life is Beautiful:



     1.  What is a tragedy?

A movie, book or play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending.
     2.  How is Life is Beautiful a tragedy? 

It is about the Holocaust which is really thousands of tragic events and some of them occur in the movie such as the concentration camp, them killing the elderly and children and the labour the Jews are forced into. It is also sad as Guido dies in the end.
     3.  Could it also be a comedy?

Yes it could also be a comedy. Guido is a funny character, he is always screwing up and also does funny things to impress his wife and son and also to help keep his child from fearing and losing his youthful innocence.    
     4.  What is a villain? What is a hero? What is a victim? Give examples of each both from real life and from fiction.

A villain is a person guilty or capable of crime or wickedness. A hero is the main character in a book, play or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities. A victim is a person harmed, injured or killed as a result of a crime, accident or other event or action    
     5.  Who are the villains, victims and heroes?
The Villains are the Germans, the victims are the Jewish people in general who are put in concentration camps and the hero is Guido.
     6.  What value do each of these characters play in the movie? What role do they play in the plot? What role do they play in connecting the movie to history? What role do they play in evoking a reaction from the audience? (List the important characters in the movie and label them as either villains or heroes. Then, in dot points, list the important role they play in regards to plot, history, and to the audience.)
The character Guido helps make this story great. He is funny, kind and loves his family. He is the hero but as a Jew is also the victim. He helps to move the story along.
The Germans help add tension to the story. They provoke fear in all the other characters and without them the story would be a lot more dull.
The Jews as the victims are obviously a major part of the story. They are the victims who are sent into the concentration camps, they are the ones killed by the Germans and they are the ones taken away from their families.

Notes for English assessment task

In the science fiction world of Ender’s game progress is propelled by fear.

In the science fiction world of Ender’s game fear propels progress.

1.       Science Fiction

v  Genre

      Techniques/conventions (themes)

v  Future

v  Space travel

v  Aliens

v  Apocalypse

v  Technology

2.       Fear

v  Death

v  Loss of someone

v  Xenophobia

v  Fear of war

v  Fear of becoming Peter (mean, killer, cruel)

v  Conflict

v  Fear of disappointment (failure)

v  Buggers

3.       Propelled

v  Monitors, battle school

v  Ansible

v  Hundred years war

v  ‘The nets’

4.       Progress

v  Ender being challenged

v  Character develops – stronger

v  Military develop

v  Alliances made

v  Improved technology

v  Improved knowledge

v  Must have a convincing victory

Alliances, technology and knowledge are all propelled by the fear of the buggers. They form alliances to protect the Earth; they improve their technology (mainly military) to match the buggers as well as their knowledge. They feel as though they must have a convincing victory to truly win the war.

Stream of consciousness

In the science fiction world of Ender’s game the buggers are one of the main sources of fear. The fear of the buggers relates to the fear of the unknown, the fear of death and the fear of the apocalypse.

Because of this fear they make better weapons, they try to make smarter decisions. They also use this fear to gain power. Through this fear they are able to make people do what they want because they say ‘if you don’t do this then people you love will die’.

They usually don’t use the fear for our own lives, but the fear for those that we love. The reason for this is that some people don’t care for their own lives, but would do anything to protect those they care for. These people, if they are strong are those who the government target.

Some of this occurs in real life such as terrorism, torture and even government. For people who have military power, they will use it to make people give them what they want, which is usually even more power.

Because the buggers are different we naturally fear them. It’s programed into our DNA to fear what is different. Also, because of the massive wars that where created by the buggers people fear for their lives.

If so much destruction and death was caused by the buggers the first time it will be the end of the world the third. This is also the fear of the apocalypse. Through all this, the government is able to stay in power.

How to write an essay

1.       Read                                                      è React

2.       Hypothesis                                         è Unpack the question/prompt and react

3.       Research                                            

4.       Stream of consciousness              è Re-read writing (all fails go back to #2)

5.       Drafting                                                è Organise thoughts/ideas (structure)

6.       Editing/revision                                               

Intro:

·         Grab attention: So What?

o   What’s In it For Me? (WIFM)

o   Relevant

o   1-2 sentences

·         General discussion of topic

o   1-3 sentences

o   Highlight of important aspects of book focused on

o   Sci-fi                                      è book (characters, technology)

·         Thesis

o   1 sentence

Body:

·         Info

·         Paragraphs

o   Topic sentence                 è mini thesis

o   Examples from the text (3-6 sentences)

§  Intro Quote        è give relevance to topic sentence

§  Quote/ Quotes

§  Explain quote    è why is this quote important to topic sentence/thesis

o   Transition                            è connects one paragraph to another

Conclusion:

·         Sum it up

·         Relate back to thesis

·         Restate points

·         WIFM: So What?                              è relevance

Ender's Game Quiz Chapters 1-7

1.                   What person is the narrative told in?

Ender’s game is told in 3^rd person

2.                   What is a 'Third'?

A ‘third’ is the third born child in a family, which is uncommon and seen as bad

3.                   What game does Peter want to play with Ender?

Peter wants to play ‘Buggers and Astronauts’ with Ender

4.                   What are two reasons why Ender doesn't want to go to battle school?

He will miss Valentine and he doesn’t like what he hears about it he doesn’t want to end up like Peter

5.                   What type of irony is used when the audience knows more than the characters?

The irony is that we know what is going to happen, even though we still try to find out. Dramatic Irony

6.                   How does Graff treat Ender when he first gets to battle school?

Graff treats Ender badly when he first arrives at the battle school

7.                   Who is Ender's room leader at battle school?

Ender is the room leader in the battle school

8.                   What happens when Ender goes to the games room for the first time?

When Ender first goes into the games he is the first to find out how to use the gravity and he, Alai, Bernard and Enders friend quickly freeze all the other launchies

9.                   Who is Bernard and what is Ender's relationship to him?

Bernard is one of the bullies (antagonists) in this story and he and Ender hate each other in the launch group

10.               What role is Alai voted in to? What role does he now play for the group?

Alai gets voted to be the leader of the group and he now organises what they do in the battle room

11.               What mistake does Ender make immediately upon joining Salamander Army?

What happens to Ender in the battle against Condor that gets him recognition?

Ender’s mistake when he first joined Salamander army was becoming friends with the girl. Group outcast (Petra). Ender, even though he is told not to, joins the battle and allows their team to win, giving him recognition.

Characterisation

Graff

·         He believes Ender is determined

·         He believes this thing called the “giant’s drink” is bad and happens to all the students in the battle school

·         Someone killed themselves because of the giants drink

·         He believes Ender isn’t the reason bad things were happening to the launch group

·         Graff was the reason the launch group is screwing up

·         He acts like a soldier

·         He’s obedient

Story

·         If Graff started telling the truth Ender wouldn’t be at battle school.

·         If Graff was more like Anderson then and didn’t care for Ender then Ender’s life in battle school would have been even harder than it was before. Even though he doesn’t show it, Graff still cares for Ender.

·         If Graff wasn’t even in the story then Ender would have been beaten up constantly, possibly not go to battle school and maybe even die. Even if Ender won we wouldn’t care as much because there would be less compassion in the story

·         If Graff was a higher rank than Anderson then Ender’s life would have been much better. Ender would have been friends with the launchies from the beginning, he wouldn’t have been bullied and he mightn’t have even had to go to battle school

"Is it cruel to keep animals in cages?" speech

"Is it cruel to keep animals in cages?" speech.

             Imagine that you had just been kidnapped. Now, the kidnappers throw you into a cage, fit for a bird. You wouldn't like this would you? Being thrown around, being treated as if you had no purpose. You now know how many animals feel.

             Ladies and gentleman I am hear to to show you that it is, in fact, cruel to lock animals in cages. Birds, which would normally fly free in the sky are locked behind bars. If they are in a zoo they may have a few square metres compared to the endless horizon. And that is if they're in a zoo, as household pets they have about as much space as a shoebox.

             It's not specifically cages made of metal, there are also some made of things like concrete or glass. These are the cages you are most likely to find in zoos and aquariums. These are made quite large, even for the small animals or if there is only one in the enclosure. Although this is all true but even the space for these is nothing compared to what they would have if they where in the wild.

             Many zoos claim that they are helping to keep the species from going extinct. This may be true but there are other ways. An example of this is wildlife reserves if the reason for the loss of life. If it is disease or other animals that have been introduced or even a sudden growth in the predators of the species you could move the endangered animal or the animal that is endangering the other. Even if they're running out of food you could find them an alternative food source or grow, or even breed more of it.

             Therefore, I don't think we should stop zoos or aquariums overnight, I just believe that we should increase the area of the habitats, let more of the animals go back to the wild and gradually close these places one by one. This will make it less sudden to the public, being unable to see their favourite animals, and also it will allow the zoos to prepare their staff and even the animals for when the zoo closes down.