English
Personal response 2: Chasing Mavericks
If you’re looking for huge inspiration, then Chasing Mavericks is for you. The 2012 American biographical drama film based on the true story of 16 year old Jay Moriarity keeps you captivated for the whole 116 minutes. Centred around big wave surfing, Chasing Mavericks reflects the young life of Jay (Jonny Weston) and his love for surfing mavericks (a Californian big wave surfing location).
Jay is mentored by Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) and taught the ‘Tao of surfing’ so he can be prepared to surf the Mavericks. Throughout the film there are many plot twists that create a sense of negativity for the life of Jay and Frosty, this can be seen in scenes like Jays mother being beaten by her abusive boyfriend and Jay protects her. This shows the type of life Jay lives with his mother, living in a lower class house and his mum having to rely on her abusive boyfriend just so she can feed herself and her family. This made me feel sympathy towards Jay and his mother as the lifestyle he was living for so long was not healthy and seeing Jay sort the problem out himself made me respect him even more just knowing that he stood up for himself and his mum. Another plot twist that greatly effects Jay is when Frosty’s wife suddenly passes away from an unexpected stroke leaving him depressed, Frosty’s depression escalates to the point where he tries to commit suicide by paddling miles out into open ocean where Jay finds him and saves him therefore tightening their friendship. Personally these qualities of Jay give me hope in this generation of teenagers, modern society tends to revolve around technology and new devices but when it comes to new skills and physical appearance, these days there’s not much of it. Seeing people push past the barriers of amazing sports like surfing and skating that require huge amount of skill and perseverance is completely underrated. The parts of the film that reveal Jays beautiful qualities showed me just how caring Jay is and that he’ll do anything to help his friend. Frosty finds happiness in fathering Jay and continues to take care of him and his own children while doing what he loves, surfing. Jay grows to become an amazing surfer but tragically dies at the young age of 22 by pushing his limits too far and drowning while free diving. His story and life is incredible and completely intriguing even if you aren’t into surfing.
Chasing Mavericks is a film I’d highly recommend to other hear 12 students as Jay is 16 years old and shows the potential that other teenagers could be, putting what they love before anything. His morals and beliefs reflect his actions towards others and how he treats them and he treats everyone equally and doesn’t judge unless it is necessary. The film relates to today’s society because big wave surfing has become a major sport now but still only a handful of surfers have the courage to surf places like Mavericks, still showing the significance of Jays breakthrough in his surfing career. Surfers now have the advantage of equipment that still is able to push the limits of surfing and become more and more difficult to gain media attention seeing that the bar is set so high now. Although other year 12s like me may not have the skill and ability to be as good as professional surfers like Jay Moriarty, their stories can still support massive inspiration and help people find their talents in sports like surfing to become professionals one day.
Chasing Mavericks caught my attention as a film that I would recommend to other year 12 students because it can closely relate to a lot of teenagers that are looking for inspiration in what they love. Whether it’s singing in front of a crowd, playing any sport including surfing or any other skill, Jay Moriarty’s story will be able to show them the perseverance and passion needed to achieve their goals as well as mine.
Poem 4
Poem: 5 ways to kill a man
Author: Edwin Brock
Five Ways to Kill a Man
There are many cumbersome ways to kill a man.
You can make him carry a plank of wood
to the top of a hill and nail him to it.
To do this properly you require a crowd of people
wearing sandals, a cock that crows, a cloak
to dissect, a sponge, some vinegar and one
man to hammer the nails home.
Or you can take a length of steel,
shaped and chased in a traditional way,
and attempt to pierce the metal cage he wears.
But for this you need white horses,
English trees, men with bows and arrows,
at least two flags, a prince, and a
castle to hold your banquet in.
Dispensing with nobility, you may, if the wind
allows, blow gas at him. But then you need
a mile of mud sliced through with ditches,
not to mention black boots, bomb craters,
more mud, a plague of rats, a dozen songs
and some round hats made of steel.
In an age of aeroplanes, you may fly
miles above your victim and dispose of him by
pressing one small switch. All you then
require is an ocean to separate you, two
systems of government, a nation’s scientists,
several factories, a psychopath and
land that no-one needs for several years.
These are, as I began, cumbersome ways to kill a man.
Simpler, direct, and much more neat is to see
that he is living somewhere in the middle
of the twentieth century, and leave him there.
Analyse the poem
The structure is unusual in this poem, it is free verse and has no rhyming in its sentences. This shows a cold and blunt picture of when the poet describes each way of killing a man. Allusion is used throughout the poem, in each stanza a significant death is described e.g. The crucifixion of Christ is alluded in stanza 1. Alliteration is another language feature used in the poem, examples of this is ‘Cock the crows’, ‘mile of mud’, ‘hammer the nails home’, these are used to explain the horrors of war in the poem using a poetic tone.
Personification is found in the poem, ‘if the wind allows, blow gas at him’ is a fine example of giving the wind a human characteristic of allowing gas to kill people.
2. Short biography
Brock was born in Dulwich, London, in 1927. He grew up in a working-class family with no literary aspirations. He won a scholarship to a local grammar school but his formal education ended after he gained his School Certificate. Served in the metropolitan police force. Brock died 7 September 1997.
3. Brock wanted to express his ideas on post war in a way that showed how terrible and inhumane it was. In the poem he goes through all the significant deaths throughout history and how killing people advances with technology to become more effective. In the end the poem shows that man hasn’t changed and still kill for the sake of killing.
Poem 3
Poem title: The General
Author: Siegfried Sassoon
‘GOOD-MORNING; good-morning!’ the General said
When we met him last week on our way to the line.
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of ’em dead,
And we’re cursing his staff for incompetent swine.
‘He’s a cheery old card,’ grunted Harry to Jack 5
As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.
. . . .
But he did for them both by his plan of attack.
Analyse the poem
The vocabulary used in this poem is used for the main purpose of telling the story not to create intense of dramatic imagery. This being why dialogue is used, to bring a new aspect to the narrative aspect of the poem. Jargon is used to show us the writer’s experience in War and rather than write extended metaphors etc, he uses simple words that provide negative connotations to show his feelings towards the situation. He is fed up because the general is all cherry and positive when he really has no clue what its like to actually fight on the front lines.
Some symbolic moments in the poem are as follows
“most of ‘em dead”- the use of a inverted comma suggests their lower class accent.
“Slogged up to aras” – The Battle of Aras, April-May 1917
The breeziness of the line “Good morning Good morning” shows his lack of experience in the hardship. The very last line serves as the dramatic end point, the lesson of the whole poem – the general and his staff are responsible for the mass death.
2. Short biography
Siegfried Sassoon joined the army because he felt patriotic towards his country. During his time with the army he broke his arm, his younger brother died and he got a military cross for bringing back an injured solider while under fire. He also got wounded in action.
3. Siegfried used these language features to express his anger towards the generals of his pavilion, he obviously thought they were useless and didn’t do anything helpful towards the lives of their men.
Poem 2
Poem: Does it matter?
Author: Segfried Sassoon
DOES it matter?—losing your legs?…
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs. 5
Does it matter?—losing your sight?…
There’s such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light. 10
Do they matter?—those dreams from the pit?…
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you’re mad;
For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.
Analyse the poem.
Repetition is used throughout the poem to express irony in what people will think just because you fought for your country, ‘And people will always be kind,’ this is used to show that no matter what people will give you sympathy and pity for fighting in a war. Another language feature is the tone of the poem, it is obviously an angry tone but sarcastically sends the message in a passive aggressive manner. Rhetorical questions are found throughout the poem e.g. ‘Does it matter.? – Losing your sight?’ This again shows a passive aggressive tone showing the reality of war and what consequences there can be.
Write a short biography
Siegfried Sassoon joined the army because he felt patriotic towards his country. During his time with the army he broke his arm, his younger brother died and he got a military cross for bringing back an injured solider while under fire. He also got wounded in action.
2. The author is expressing his anger towards the idea of war and the people that are allowing them to go. This is seen when he says “When the others come in after hunting To gobble their muffins and eggs” this shows how the author thinks that the officers don’t care about all the sacrifices that they are making just to advance a little bit. Also by referring to the enemies as animals makes what they are doing seem less cruel and more like a game. It also shows everyone back home is so oblivious to the horrors of war. He is ironically understating the dangers of war how other back home think it is.
3. The author would like to express the ideas to show how stupid people are for thinking that war is an easy clean sport that is worth going over for to come back home with glory. He wants to show how this is all kind of a joke
4. The author has expressed these ideas by using repetitive rhetorical questions to make the reader re think the logic in war. These rhetorical questions are then followed up by another much harsher rhetorical question to make the reader understand the harsh realities of war. The author then juxtapositions the severity of war with the complete ignorance of the people back home.
5. These ideas are quite valid as the poem is a realism poem which means it signifies the reality of war and its horrors.
6. This idea is relevant today as we learn about how important it is that both soliders and people back home know the true horror of war so that both can fully understand the consequence of going to war. This is especially important today considering we are about to send people over to the Middle East
Poem evaluation 1- ‘The Soldier’
1. Analyse the poem ‘The soldier’
Personification, Alliteration,personal pronouns, metaphor, simile
At the beginning of the poem, personal pronouns are used to show the reader that the author is speaking about himself and how the consequences of dying gloriously in battle would effect himself. An example of personal pronouns in the poem is ‘IF I die, think only this of me.’ This shows the reader immediately that the whole poem is about him and his perspective on the idea of dying in battle.
Alliteration is another language feature used in the poem and expresses the beauty of England in a descriptive twist in words, ‘Her sights and sounds,’ is an example of alliteration and shows the reader the highly patriotic appreciation towards his home country England.
Personification is used throughout ‘The soldier’ to make England seem like an actual being calling it, ‘her’ as if a loving mother is watching over him as he fights for her freedom in war.
The language feature Allusion is used in the poem when it states ‘In that rich earth, a richer dust concealed.’ Referring to the traditional funeral saying Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Usually this would mean they would be returning to dust from which they born from in terms of God but in this case it means their richer dust they become comes from England and that the richness in their dust even richer than the earth they died in will grow good things. This shows a perfect example of idealism as the poem convinces men that in their death good things will come for their country.
2. Research the Author.
Rupert Brooke (8.3.1887 – 4.23.1915) Born in England, died at sea.
Known for his idealistic poems
The second of three sons from William and Ruth Brooke
Suffered a severe emotional crisis in 1912 caused by sexual confusion and paranoia
Education: Rugby school, Kings college, university of Cambridge.
Died of sepsis (infected mosquito bite).
3. Write a short biography on the author.
Rupert Chawner Brooke, born 8th April 1887 in England was one of the most popular wartime poets during the era of world war 1. He was the second of three sons, Father- William Brooke, Mother- Ruth Brooke. Rupert came from a wealthy family therefore attended privileged private schools, Rugby school and Kings college. Rupert was offered a scholarship at the University of Cambridge of which accepted that led him to writing some of the most popular poems in history. Rupert’s poetry gained many enthusiasts and caught the attention or Winston Churchill and was recruited as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer reserve. Whilst sailing with the British Mediterranean expeditionary force he was diagnosed with Sepsis from an infected mosquito bite and died on the 23rd of April 1915 in a French hospital ship off the coast of Skyros in the Aegean on his way to the landing of Gallipoli.
4. Identify the ideas that the author is expressing.
Rupert Brooke expressed idealism through ‘The Soldier’ and a lot of other poems that he wrote, along with idealism he wrote about heroism and loyalty through patriotism towards his country.
5. Explain why the author would express these ideas.
He expressed the ideas or idealism and heroism through ‘The soldier’ to show that dying in battle for their country was a good thing and that sacrifice had to be made in order to help England. He also showed that in their death, England would be advantaged no matter what and that their deaths were not in vain.
6. Explain how the author has expressed these ideas.
Rupert Brooke expressed these ideas through language techniques in ‘The soldier’ e.g. Allusion was used to refer to the traditional funeral saying ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’ by saying in the poem, ‘In that rich earth, a richer dust concealed.’ This expressed idealism by saying that where they die I’ll return to their homeland England in glory.
7. Justify the validity of these ideas.
Although his poem was very convincing back in the day before the war, it did not actually show realistic death in battle but instead showed an idealistic and glorious death. His opinion on dying in war was only based on idealism and didn’t show the realism of how tragic and horrible it would be to die in the midst of a war.
8. Evaluate the significance and relevance of these ideas to us today.
Rupert Brooke’s view on war and his idealistic opinion on death during battle is relevant to today as people are still being convinced war is a good thing and will advantage their country or beliefs. An example of this ignorance to the horrors and realism of war is I.S.I.S and their sacrifices towards their own belief and provoking war. Every day people are dying in battle fighting for what they believe in but can’t see that dying in battle isn’t doing anything.
Harry Cooper, Blog 