Blog 12

For my presentation, I will be using a book from Terry Pratchett. I am not so sure on which book to be exact but I do have "The Wee Free Men" in mind. I chose Terry Pratchett after listening to Mr. Smith explain in more detail about his history. I am a little into a little humor, and Pratchett deals with comedy. I can tell the Hero's Quest comes in because in The Wee Free Men a character loses her brother and goes on a "quest" to get him back. I will have to read the literary theory a little more to understand and choose an efficient way of explaining the story. And last but not least, choose a good book.

Blog 10: Reflection

After learning about the monomyth and watching Spirited Away, I've learned that in movies the journeys that characters go on can determine the whole movie. Sometimes they might be the hero or can turn out to be the villain. What I really found interesting is the obstacles they face and how they overcome them. This English class has really helped me to analyze and understand the adventure movies in a easy way. Although Spirited Away was an animated movie, the quest that the little girl went on became very interesting. I have also noticed in adventure movies with kids, they're sometimes on a quest to save someone really important to them like their parents or a close friend. These series of activities has showed me how to understand a persons quest more vividly and what to expect on a journey.

Blog 9: Hero's Quest

The Forsaken is a horror film that was released April 27, 2001. It was directed and written by J.S Cardone. The reason why i chose this film is because of the supernatural theme, and this movie deals with vampires. It is about a guy who travels cross country to his sister's wedding and runs into a gang of vampires lead by one of the forsaken. The forsaken are a group of French warriors who made a deal with a demon to live forever. There were nine warriors, eight transformed into vampires and the last one used as a sacrifice to seal the agreement. Out of the eight vampires, four are dead and the other four are on different parts of the earth. One of the four happens to be the one Sean runs in to. This part of the movie makes it much more interesting because it shows that the film has some type of history to it.

Along the way he runs into a man who turns out to be a hunter and asks to accompany him on his trip(the departure section of the hero's journey). Sean agrees and they both continue their journey. On their way, they run into a girl who has been bitten by one of the vampires. They include her into one of their bloodbaths in which Kit(the forsaken) bites her and then leaves her and tells one of his minions to dispose of her. But luckily, the vampire lets her live. The bite turns into an infection and causes her to have flashbacks of what they did to her. The hunter keeps her alive by injecting her with a drug that keeps her unconscious.

One important symbol of this movie would have to be the sun. As we all know vampires cannot withstand the light of the sun. In The Forsaken, the vampires find a guy with a few loose screws in his head to help them travel during the day. They stay in the trunk to avoid contact with the sun and direct the driver to their destination. Another important symbol in this movie would be a bite from the vampires. We know that in most movies once you are bitten by a vampire, you're either dead or will later become one of them. In the forsaken, Sean gets bitten by one of the vampires and fears he is going to die. But his hunter friend gives him some medication that slows down the growth of the infection. Another symbol would have to be the way they have to kill the Kit. The hunter tells Sean that the only way to get rid of him is for him to be slain on hallowed ground. Meaning a church, or somewhere that is holy or sacred.

The Hero's Quest takes place when Sean decides he wants to help the hunter kill the Kit and his friends. He could have simply dropped off the hunter and continue his trip but once he starts developing feelings for the infected female, he has a sudden change of heart. This part would also be the initiation section of the film, Sean realizing that he is putting his life on the line to help save the lives of more people. After that, Sean decides they are done running and wants to fight back. When they stop at a motel over night, they see Kit pull up and kill the landlord. That was a sign for Sean or the hunter to go over and either kill their day driver or one of the vampires. He does so the next morning, opening the trunk and killing one of the forsaken minions by exposing her to the sun.

Sean becomes a monomyth because towards the end of the movie he is bitten. And that causes him to see flashbacks also. What the infection also does is weaken him, indicating that he could be transforming soon. The medication the hunter gives him starts to wear off but Sean fights it. He is a mythical hero because the infection makes him partially a vampire and partially human. And he is a hero for completely forgetting about his sister and joins forces with the hunter to fight the vampires.

On their last encounter, the forsaken and his last minion find them in an house owned by an old lady. Right next to a gas station, the house they trap them at happens to be built on top of an old Spanish graveyard. Thus, the house is on hallow ground and a green light for slaying Kit. Sean takes out his minion, by shooting her with the old lady's shotgun leaving Kit all alone. Sean pins him down with his car, then shoots him, revealing a beam of sunlight, then shooting him again when he tries to escape the sun. As he starts to combust, Sean and the gang run out of the house leaving the forsaken to ignite the gas and blow up the house with him in it.

The last section of the monomyth, which was the return was really different in this movie. After they defeat the vampire, Sean, the hunter and the girl receive medical attention. They all are cured except the hunter. Sean goes back on the road, but not where he was originally going, but to find the hunter. They both discover that he has not been able to receive any medical attention because the forsaken vampire that bit him is somewhere in the United States. Sean sees the hunter hitchhiking like when they first met and picks him up. They both head out to Denver seeking the forsaken vampire that bit him.

Works Cited

1)http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&q=define%3Amonomyth&btnG=Search

2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forsaken_%28film%29

3)http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&q=define%3Ahallowed&btnG=Search

Blog 8

The symbols in the song "War" by Bob Marley are; war(1), race(3), nation(2), color(2), human rights(3), peace(4), morality(4), fight(7), victory(7), and good over evil(8). The meaning of war in this song is the war that African Americans face everyday of their lives. Bob Marley used race in this song to state that every one should see each race as one instead of individuals. I totally agree with him because once we see that we are all one the fight or "war" can finally be over. Nation is used to describe ones wealth. He uses it in his song to state that we should not be categorized by the amount of money we make. Color, one of my favorite symbols, is included in his song to describe the difference that people find and use against each other. Some people don't like to talk to or associate with certain people because of their skin color. And some people often look down on others due to their skin difference. Human rights and race are kind of related to one another in this song. The rights we all have as humans are often taken away or challenged by corrupted people. For example, a law was passed in Arizona that requires state and local police to find out if Hispanics are in the country illegally. And also, people will get fined for hiring undocumented day laborers. So that leaves a lot of people without jobs to support their family. And it also forces Hispanics to relocate from Arizona and try their luck somewhere else. Peace is another word for equality. With peace and equality we can all live in a world where nobody feels better then some one else. Morality also falls in the same category of good over evil. With the right morality, we can base our ideas on the good and better things in life rather then the negative, unequal and unfair rules and regulations. And last but not least fight and victory is like a cause and effect but is very important. In the song war, Bob Marley states that we will continue to fight meaning that we will fight the war for peace, equality, and human rights. And he, as well as myself, believe that we are close to victory. The victory he wants is not money, or power, but respect and acknowledgment. For white people to see us as white(the same), for Europeans or Russians or Dominicans to see us as the same. We are only different in minor aspects like skin color, eye color, hair color, and culture.