Shawshank Redemption Essay Example for Free

Shawshank Redemption Essay Analysis of The Shawshank Redemption While there often appears to be just a story line in a movie, many different techniques are used to give a deeper meaning to the scenario. This is evident in the movie, The Shawshank Redemption. The story begins when Andy Dufresne, a young vice president of a prestigious Portland, Maine bank, is wrongfully convicted of killing his wife and her lover. He is then sent to jail where he learns lessons about life through his friends and becomes part of a corrupt scheme to launder money. After nineteen years Andy tunnels out of the prison into freedom. While it appears simple on the surface, through the use of many techniques such as title, colors, symmetry, names, numbers, symbols, irony, bible references, and others, The Shawshank Redemption gains a deeper meaning. The title, The Shawshank Redemption, initially has a saving appeal to it. Websters Dictionary defines redeem as †¦to free from what distresses or harm (Webster 968). There is the initial sense of salvation for whatever Shawshank might be. However, this sense changes when it is discovered that Shawshank is a state prison in Maine. With this knowledge the title is an oxymoron. How is it that a prison can provide redemption? The title gains its full meaning at the end of the movie. Andy Dufresne is redeemed through his experience at the prison. He learns about life there, while teaching others. He is redeemed through his second chance at life after his escape from the prison. In this sense he takes the Websters meaning of redeem, to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental (Webster 968). A movie is controlled by ideas and techniques that are engulfed in almost every aspect of the film. In The Shawshank Redemption, there are three main ideas and techniques that carry the film, being walls, lighting, and water. Both literal and figurative walls trap Andy. In the beginning, he is trapped by the figurative wall of losing his cheating wife. When he goes to prison, the prison walls trap him. Within Andys cell, the names of the previous inmates are carved into the walls. This acts as a reminder to Andy of his incarceration. It also gives him the idea of tunneling out, when he tries to carve his own name into the wall. The walls of the old library are cracked and worn. This is similar to the mental state of many of the prisoners, especially Brooks. Originally the prisoners hate the walls. Then they get used to them. Eventually they come to depend on the walls. Their lives in the prison become cracked and worn. At times these walls do provide strength. For example, Andy leans against the wall as he is talking about his dreams for Mexico. These walls give him the strength to go through with his plan to escape. Lighting plays an integral part to the deeper meaning of the movie by setting the atmosphere. There is extensive use of shadows, fadeouts, and partial sunlight to represent the cloudy mental and moral state of many of the characters. Shadows cover the majority of characters throughout the film. This is created by the fact that when the sun shines, it does so only on one side of a character, usually their back. This alludes to the thought that these people have the truth about them, yet are unable to truly see it. A good portion of the movie occurs in the dark. Lights out at the prison is an extremely dark time when the characters are left with only their own thoughts. The nighttime death of Tommy Williams alludes to the desire to stay away from the truth. Hadley walks into the light after he commits the murder to show that he partially realizes the wrongdoing he has just committed. However, at the end of the movie there are no shadows. As Red walks along the beach to Andy everything is seen as it really is. This is so figuratively and literally. Water provides the sense of purification. Andy escapes from Shawshank by crawling through a 500-yard sewage pipe. At the end of the pipe he falls into a river that is overflowing with the rain. The river and rain act as purification not only physically, but mentally and spiritually. Andy is now truly free. Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of **** and came out clean on the other side (Glotzer). This act of water has redeemed him. The ocean at the end of the movie also acts as a purification symbol. Andys life by the ocean redeems him for the wrongdoings that he is forced to endure. When all three of these ideas are put together, they create a connected current throughout the movie that shows the deeper meaning in its full light. Although things may seem to happen at random, such as the choice of a name or the o ccurrence of a similar situation, these things have deeper meaning behind them. Names of characters and places can reveal things about them that nothing else can. For example the name Tommy Williams appears to be just a common, wholesome name. Yet, when you look at the individual meaning of each name it comes to mean a protector that is trying to struggle between good and evil. This meaning is an accurate description of Tommys character. Symmetry plays an important role in the deeper meaning of a story. Similar things happen throughout the story that when seen upon completion shows a contrast. An example of this from the movie is freedom. In the beginning and in the end Andy is free. However, his states of freedom are very different. In the beginning Andy is involved in an unfaithful marriage. This imprisons him. Yet, at the end, Andy is completely free and capable of fulfilling his dreams. All of these seemingly minor things, when put together, aide the creation of the deeper meaning of the movie. The use of particular colours within a scene, give that scene a deeper meaning. This technique is used throughout The Shawshank Redemption. The colour red plays an integral part to the movie. In the beginning scene, as the story of Andys trial is being told, Andys wife is seen in a red dress while embraced by her lover. The red dress symbolizes the vitality of her life and the passion of her sins. The first real sense of bright color within the prison occurs when the prisoners do labour outside of the prison. They wear pants that are blue with a red stripe running down the leg. This shows the conflict between gluttonous desire for freedom and the reality that their lives are confined to behind the prison walls. The cigarette package that the Warden has before Tommys death is red and white. The red and the white together represent Tommys desire to tell the truth and the anger of Norton for trying to hide it. Warden Norton is wearing a red tie when he kills himself. This time the colour red signifies Nortons pride. He refuses to allow anyone else to control his fate. The stamp that approves Reds parole is used with red ink. The red reinforces the idea of Reds new lease on life. Red hitches a ride to Buxton in an old red pickup truck. The truck brings him one step closer to fulfilling Andys dream of a new life for him and Red. The Trailways bus that Red takes to Texas has red detail on the side. This reinforces the trucks meaning. Andys boat is red and blue. This symbolizes the pride that Andy has for taking fate into his own hands and being redeemed for his false punishment. The rest of the movie consists of darker, blander colors. While in the prison mostly everything is gray or a dark shade of blue, from the uniforms to the building itself. This creates a dark atmosphere and a sense of hopelessness. It also attempts to take away from the individuality of the characters by molding them into a uniform group. However, when blue appears in the ocean at the end of the movie, it is bright and vibrant. For this circumstance, blue means a fresh start at life. During all three of Reds parole hearings, the five members are white. On one hand, this shows the injustice that Red is put through. On the other hand, the white can symbolize goodness, and the moral correctness that the parole board is supposed to represent and judge. White also appears in the end of the movie as Red walks across the white sand. In this situation it means justice, as in the justice that is served to Andy. There is green moss on the prison walls. This symbolizes Andys envy towards those who are free. After Red is released from prison, he works at the Foodway, where he wears a green smock. He is envious of the fact that although he is no longer in prison, he is still not completely free. Red also buys a compass with green directional letters to help him find the correct field. This shows that although he is going in the right direction to freedom, he is not quite there. Andy hides the tin box under a black volcanic rock. The black rock, like Andy to the other prisoners, is out of place in its bland surroundings. While black typically represents evil, this black represents the goodness of Andy. In the first scenes of Andy at Shawshank prison, Warden Norton informs the new prisoners of his rules. The first rule that he states is, no blasphemy (Glotzer). This proves to be ironic as Norton himself blasphemies everything he comes into contact with. He uses his position of power to corrupt the prison system in order to benefit himself. Norton uses Andy to launder money that has been earned though shady deals. Norton is responsible for the deaths or the cover-ups of several of his inmates, such as Tommy Williams and Bogs Diamond. In the first meeting between the warden and the new prisoners, Norton also adds his dedication to discipline and the bible. He believes in ruling with a hard hand. The guards are allowed to beat the prisoners if they feel that it is necessary. Norton is also for the use of solitary confinement to punish his prisoners. He places Andy in the hole for two months after Andy calls him obtuse (Glotzer) for not helping Andy fight for a retrial, and then mentioning the laundering business. Norton proclaims that he believes in the bible yet he does not live by its ways. He gives each inmate their own bible in hopes that they too will be able to allow God to lead their way. There are several bible references made throughout the movie. The Warden quotes Mark 13:35, Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming (Glotzer), to Andy during the cell toss-up. Using this quote allows Norton to appear powerful in his position as warden, yet also let Andy know that the purpose is to size Andy up. Andy retaliates back with John 8:12, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Glotzer). Andy realizes that Norton is corrupt. He is challenging the warden by saying that the step to a moral life would be not following Norton. Norton ends this meeting by saying Salvation lies within (Glotzer). This is true for Andy. It is his inner strength and desire, to right the injustice that has occurred to him, that allows him to escape from Shawshank and get his life back. There is a cross-stitch, made by his wife, of the phrase, His judgment cometh and that Right Soon†¦(Glotzer) covering the safe on the wall of Warden Nortons office. This is ironic due to the fact that the wrongdoings that are hid in that safe come out to punish Norton when Andy escapes. Norton is the one who receives punishment for the crimes he commits. This fact is only reinforced when Norton discovers Andys bible in the safe. On the inside of the cover Andy writes, Dear Warden, you were right. Salvation lay within. Andy Dufresne (Glotzer). As Norton opens the bible to the book of Exodus it is revealed that the bible had held Andys rock hammer. The book of Exodus lends itself to Andys own freeing of himself and the truth as Moses freed himself and the slaves. Minor items within a movie can have extra symbolic meanings. For example chess and rocks serve as a symbol of Andys meticulous and refined nature. This meaning is evident in the quote from Red, Old Andy loved geology. I imagine it appealed to his meticulous nature (Glotzer). Chess and his rock collecting gave Andy a sense of how his life used to be. This also happened through music. This chance at freedom is the reason Andy decided to play Mozarts Duettino: SullAria over the loudspeakers. It was as if a beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest moments everyman at Shawshank felt free (Glotzer). Music symbolizes freedom and hope for Andy. He gives a harmonica to Red as a parole rejection present to show that Red needs to keep the hope alive, and music can do that. Andys posters symbolize the hiding of the truth. On the surface the posters appear to be just pretty girls that no one would question. However, they cover a tunnel that Andy digs that allows him to escape. Another symbol that could go by easily unnoticed is the picture of the R. M. S. Queen Mary on the lid of the tin box. The RMS Queen Mary was launched on September 26, 1934 to symbolize the end of the worldwide depression. The ship has lasted through a world war and set the standard for liners. This ship in many ways is like Andy. His escape from Shawshank symbolizes the end to the long and unjust battle that he was forced to fight. He is also the beacon that Red looks to for an example of how to truly live. Another important symbol to the movie is the Mexican town of Zihautenejo. Zihautenejo is an old fisherman town on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is known for its beautiful beaches and peace (Zihautenejo 1). The town symbolizes the life that Andy not only dreams of having but deserves. There he will be able to live a quiet life full of simple pleasures that were kept from him. There he can be completely free. The movie The Shawshank Redemption uses many different techniques to convey a deeper meaning than the surface story. Upon closer analysis the viewer can see that tiny items such as colors, names, symbols, references, and others, can greatly contribute to full effect of the story. Through these techniques, the viewer is able to see the true character of Andy Dufresne and the entire situation that he goes through. Form this the viewer receives a greater appreciation for the hardship that occurs throughout the movie. A deeper meaning is understood and therefore more can be taken from it.

Hepatitis C Essay -- essays research papers fc

My uncle was not the only person to become infected with the hepatitis C virus, but in fact many people are presently struggling to keep it under control. Today four million Americans are infected with the hepatitis C virus and there are thirty thousand new cases of this virus found each year (Turkington 9). Hepatitis C takes ten thousand lives each year just in the United States, and without effective treatment the death rate is expected to triple in the next fifteen years (Turkington 9). Seventy-five percent of those infected with the virus will develop chronic hepatitis and half of those people will develop cirrhosis of the liver (Turkington 9). The hepatitis C virus is sometimes referred to as the â€Å"Hidden Epidemic† because an estimated four million people are infected with it and symptoms may not show until twenty years later (Grady). It is also the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States (Bushie). This virus affects so many people and we should a ll learn and study more about it to hasten its spread. Hepatitis is a rather new virus to the science world, but it has been around for a very long time. Before scientists knew about hepatitis C, they had discovered A and B types, so when they found C they called it non-A non-B (Turkington 5). The virus was discovered in 1987, but not until after 1990 was blood tested for hepatitis, causing many people to receive and contract the virus (Turkington 5). Hepatitis is thought to have originated in the Far East because of the diversity and number of people infected in that location (Turkington 6). Strains of hepatitis are found in Thailand, which has led researchers to believe it mutated in Asia to form all its genotypes (Turkington 6). There are five types of the hepatitis virus and they are A, B, C, D, and E (Hoofnagle). Hepatitis C is caused by a single-stranded virus with a core of ribonucleic acid (Turkington 10). Hepatitis C has so many genotypes that the virus cannot be detected by the immune system (Turkington 11). It has six separate genotypes and each genotype has three to four subtypes (Turkington 11). Every genotype of the virus is restricted to different regions of the world (Turkington 11). The most common genotypes of hepatitis C in North America are the 1a and 1b genotypes (Turkington 11). The genotype 1b is the most severe form of the hepatitis C virus because it is the most ag... ...rld Book Online. 1999. 10 April 2001 <<a href="http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/253280">http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/253280>. Grady, Denise. â€Å"Hepatitis C: How Widespread a Threat?† New York Times 15 December 1998: F1. New York Times Ondisk. CD-ROM. UMI-ProQuest. 1998-2001. Hoofnagle, Jay. â€Å"Hepatitis.† World Book Online. 1999. 10 April 2001 <<a href="http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/253280">http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/253280>. Lieber, Charles. â€Å"Diseases of the Liver.† World Book Online. 1998. 10 April 2001 <<a href="http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/327240">http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/327240>. McCarthy, Rose. Personal Interview. 16 April 2001. McCarthy Susan. Personal Interview. 16 April 2001. Pelis, Neal. â€Å"Interferon.† World Book Online. 2000. 10 April 2001 <<a href="http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/278440">http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/278440>. Turkington, Carol. Hepatitis C: The Silent Killer. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1998.

How Organized Sports Affect Academics

Most countries in the world have facilitated sports for extra-curricular activities in schools. Sports provide an opportunity for which students can develop their physical fitness, mental stability, leadership qualities and teamwork skills. Sports play an integral part in the development of children. It teaches them how to compete fairly and how to handle pressure. Balancing sports and academics properly also teaches children proper time-management skills and balance of their activities. Organized sports can, however, also have negative effects relating to students’ academic load. Purpose of the research The assignment is a mandatory component of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Caribbean Studies course, in which a research project that addresses social issues must be carried out. This research is intended to explore the effects that organized sports have on students’ academic performance. The results from this research can prove useful in informing students that participating in organized sports can aid in their academic performance. Significance of the research Previous studies have shown that organized sports do indeed affect academic performance in schools. This study differs from others as it intends to outline the positive effects of participation in sports, and to show how they significantly outweigh the drawbacks of such activities. Research questions This research intends to find out: * What percentage of students do involve in sports as an extra-curricular activity? * What sports do students generally participate in? Definition of Technical Terms Cognitive Skills and Attitudes – Attention, concentration, memory, verbal ability. Academic Behaviors – Conduct, attendance, time on task, homework completion. Academic Achievement – Standardized test scores, grades. Literature Review This review will bring further clarity on what is being researched, and show the effectiveness of the sources in providing timely, relevant and reliable information. Some say the impact of the involvement of students in extra-curricular activities of a sporting nature on their academic performance is quite positive, others disagree. This issue has been debated by researchers, students and parents for many years. Extracurricular Activities and Academic Performance Numerous studies have been conducted concerning the relationship between extracurricular activities and academic performance. Total extracurricular activity participation (TEAP), or participation in extracurricular activities in general, is associated with an improved grade point average, higher educational aspirations, increased college attendance, and reduced absenteeism† (Broh, 2002). Many extracurricular activities have proven to be beneficial in building and strengthening academic achievement, even if the activities are not obviously related to academic subjects. Guest and Schneider (2003), in looking at the previous research on this subject said, â€Å"Researchers have found positive associations between extracurricular participation and academic achievement†. Although researchers agree that extracurricular activities do, in fact, influence academic performance, the specific effect that various activities produce is debated. One study, conducted by the National Educational Longitudinal Study, found that â€Å"participation in some activities improves achievement, while participation in others diminishes achievement† (Broh, 2002). Formal versus Informal Extracurricular Activities Some researchers have divided extracurricular activities into informal and formal activities. The formal activities include activities which are relatively structured, such as participating in athletics or learning to play a musical instrument. Informal activities, on the other hand, also known as leisure activities, include less structured activities, such as watching television. The Relationship between Athletics and Academic Performance Some research indicates that physical activity not only improves academic performance, but has an actual physical benefit for the mind. Shepard, a world renowned neurologist said, â€Å"Regular physical activity might influence cognitive development by increasing cerebral blood flow, altering arousal and associate neruohormonal balance, changing nutritional status, or promoting the growth of interneuronal connections†. * U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of Adolescent and School Health www. cdc. gov/HealthyYouth Revised Version — July 2010 (Replaces April 2010 Early Release) Results: Nineteen studies (reported in 14 articles) focused specifically on the relationship between academic performance and activities organized through school that occur outside of the regular school day. These activities included participation in school sports (interscholastic sports and other team or individual sports) as well as other after-school physical activity programs. All 19 studies examining the relationships between participation in extracurricular physical activities and academic performance found one or more positive associations. The evidence suggests that superintendents, principals, and athletic directors can develop or continue school-based sports programs without concern that these activities have a detrimental impact on students’ academic performance. School administrators and teachers also can encourage after-school organizations, clubs, student groups, and parent groups to incorporate physical activities into their programs and events. Children and adolescents engage in different types of physical activity, depending on age and access to programs and equipment in their schools and communities. Elementary school-aged children typically engage in free play, running and chasing games, jumping rope, and age-appropriate activities that are aligned with the development of fundamental motor skills. The development of complex motor skills enables adolescents to engage in active recreation (e. g. , canoeing, skiing, rollerblading), resistance exercises with weights or weight machines, individual sports (e. g. , running, cycling), and team sports (e. g. , basketball, baseball). Most youth, however, do not engage in the recommended level of physical activity. For example, only 17. 1% of U. S. igh school students meet current recommendations for physical activity (CDC, unpublished data, 2009). In addition to school-day opportunities, youth also have opportunities to participate in physical activity through extracurricular physical activities (e. g. , school sports, organized sports, recreation, other teams), which may be available through schools, communities, and/or after-school programs. Seventy-six percent of 6- to 12-year-olds reported participating in some sports in 1997, and in 2007, 56% of high school students reported playing on one or more sports teams organized by their school or community in the previous 12 months.

Broken English Definition and Examples

Broken English is a  pejorative term for the limited register of English used by a non-native speaker. Broken English may be fragmented, incomplete, and/or marked by faulty syntax and inappropriate diction  because the speakers knowledge of the vocabulary isnt as robust as a native speaker, and the grammar has to be calculated in the persons head rather than coming out naturally, almost without thought, like a native speakers words would. â€Å"Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English, says American author H. Jackson Brown Jr. It means they know another language.† Prejudice Language How linguistic prejudice manifests itself: A study published in the International Journal of Applied Linguistics in 2005 showed how prejudice against people of non-Western European countries played a role in whether a person classified a nonnative speakers English as broken. Neither does it take a scholar to look at the portrayal of Native Americans (as well as other nonwhite peoples) in movies and their stereotypical broken English to see the prejudice inherent there. By extension, opponents of establishing a national language for the United States see introducing that type of legislation as promoting a form of institutional racism or nationalism against immigrants.   In American English: Dialects and Variation, W. Wolfram noted,  [A] resolution adopted unanimously by the Linguistic Society of America at its annual meeting in 1997 asserted that all human language systems—spoken, signed, and written—are fundamentally regular and that characterizations of socially disfavored varieties as slang, mutant, defective, ungrammatical, or broken English are incorrect and demeaning. For example, it is used as a comic device to poke fun or ridicule, such as this bit from TVs Faulty Towers:   Manuel:  It  is  surprise  party.Basil: Yes?Manuel:  She no here.Basil: Yes?Manuel:  That is  surprise!(The Anniversary,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Fawlty Towers, 1979) Neutral Usage H. Kasimirs take on it in Haphazard Reality contends that broken English is a universal  language: There exists today a universal language that is spoken and understood almost everywhere: it is  Broken English. I am not referring to Pidgin-English—a highly formalized and restricted branch of B.E.—but to the much more general language that is used by the waiters in Hawaii, prostitutes in Paris and ambassadors in Washington, by businessmen from Buenos Aires, by scientists at international meetings and by dirty-postcard pictures peddlers in Greece. (Harper, 1984) And  Thomas Heywood terms that English itself is broken because its got so many pieces and parts from other languages:  Our English tongue, which hath  ben  the most harsh, uneven, and  broken  language of the world, part Dutch, part Irish, Saxon, Scotch, Welsh, and indeed a  gallimaffry  of many, but perfect in none, is now by this secondary means of playing, continually refined, every writer striving in  himselfe  to  adde  a new flourish unto it. (Apology for Actors, 1607) Positive Usage Pejorative though it may be, the term actually sounds nice when William Shakespeare uses it: Come, your answer in broken music; for thy voice is music, and thy English   broken; therefore, queen of all, Katharine, break thy mind to me in  broken English:  wilt  thou  have  me? (The King addressing Katharine in William Shakespeares  King Henry V)