LIterary devises in today's media

In non-western writing, many techniques and devises are used to tell a story. These seem to escape the western writing of America and those of most European writing. We find them used more inside other works 0f literature from other parts of the world. They seem to be creeping into the media today like television shows and movies. Below are three literary devises and examples of movies in which they are used.

*Frame Tale (a story inside a story): The movie that pops into my mind here is The Princess Bride Staring Cary Elwes and Robin Wright Penn. This story is actually portrayed as a grandfather reading (and painting a vivid picture of) this fairy tale to his sick grandson. The story switches back and forth from the grandfather sitting at the grandson's bedside reading the book aloud to the fairy tale being acted out.

*Blending Story and History: Be Kind Rewind Staring Jack Black and Mos Def. This story, though a comedy and "spoof-ish" one at that, it does mix a story and history together. A small VCR movie rental place decides to make their own movie so that they can raise enough money to save the store from being demolished. They take actual historical events and mess them up a bit to create a documentary on this one Jazz Singer.

*Multiple Prospectives: What Women Want staring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. In this movie, one man is given the ability to hear and understand what women are thinking. This lets not only him, but the audience in on what is being thought by multiple characters, not just the main character.

*Then there are some that contain several different devises. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button staring Brad Pit, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond is one example. In the story it follows the life of one man as he was born into old age and slowly grows younger. In the story, it explores dates in history as they co respond with the main character's action. It is a frame tail because, like in The Princess Bride, his story is being told as a girl reads his diary out loud to her dieing mother and it switches back and forth from his life story to the hospital. It is also has Multiple prospectives because after they finish reading his diary from his point of view, the mother tells the last part of the story to her daughter, telling her daughter what happened to herself and the man after the last entries in the diary, taking up her own prospective instead of his.

Why is Doris Pilkington so matter affact about how she portrays the story in Rabbit Proof Fence?

I feel that Doris Pilkington, author of Rabbit Proof Fence, tells her story so "matter affect" without taking sides on the matter because she accepts the difference in people. At the time of the story, peoples' attitudes were completely different in the scenes of what is right and what is wrong. The white men in the story who shot and persecuted the Native Aborigines did not think of what they were doing as wrong, but just as a way to teach these other people what they have to do. Many of the Anglo-Australians thought of the Aborigines, not as humans, but as animals and would treat them such. "Shoot one to teach the others a lesson." was a common sentiment about the way to "train" the Aborigines. Now, in this day in age, people would be disgusted at the thought of such a brutality to a people who did not understand this new way of life. As a whole people in our time period take great lengths to understand and communicate with others who do not understand what we are "all about."

Doris also embraces the fact that Aborigines are not perfect in the way that they dealt with the immigration of Anglo-Australians. Bitterness overtook them for the way that the white man trampled over their own way of life and the disrespect shown for their traditions. They may not have understood all that the white people were doing, but they were not above trying to get compensation for the wrongs done their people. In the story, young hunters in particular, held the idea that, "They have plenty and will not miss the one we will take."

I think that Doris presents both sides of the story in an un-bias way that lets you see the true, underling feelings. When one side is held up as being the "right" side and has been wronged by the corresponding side it is hard to understand what is really happening. Doris is focusing on what is really going on, the facts and actions, not the interpretation of those actions.

The Slide Show

In my slide show, I have collected a lot of photos of the Darling River which the three men in our last story, "The Town that Wasn't There", traveled down. Also, to go along with this story, the one building is in the town that they left from at the start of their journey. All the stories seem to hold three things as highly important, water, the land, and cattle. Some of the pictures are of plain creeks, representing the importance of water, not only to the white settlers, but to the Aboriginals. There is a few pictures of cattle stations and the working dogs, healers, doing their job. The dirt road snaking up the side of the hill represents the truly free, untouched feeling of Australia as it is passed on through our stories.

Different point of View.

If he had any choice on the matter, this was the last thing he wanted to do, but this was his job. He had been trained to do thin and that was that. Trotting in the dust made his throat dry and scratchy, he couldn't get a drink until the rounding had been done. Ears perked he ran from side to side along the back of the herd around the hardfooted-longlegged-horses that the commanding-twoleg-humans road, waiting for a command . Suddenly a whistle broke the monotonous bawling of the toughskinned-hardkicking-cattle and he was off, directed by the pitch and rhythm if that whistle. It didn't take long for his heightened senses to pick out the loner, the rogue. She was headed the wrong direction, not even following the path of the other toughskinned-hardkicking-cattle. Without a sound besides the patter of feet, he reached her and grabbed the heel, making sure not to injure her. There she went, back into the heard and he came back to the comanding-twoleg-human on the hardfooted-longlegged-horse and started again at weaving.

Soon the whistle was back and he saw her, again wandering away. He was on the job and raced back towards her, his paws sending up small clouds of dust as they hit the hard dry ground. She heard him and turned but he was quicker and got around. As soon as his teeth left her heel he dropped flat on his belly, letting her hoof fly over his head. Again, as she set her foot down he bit at the heal and dropped again, knowing that his life might end with that foot if he wasn't careful. She ran and he ran after, keeping her moving one heel at a time. She nearly fell and another whistle, different from the first told him to let her go, she was where she belonged.

As the sun climbed in the sky, he lay under the rails and platforms in the shade, barking once and a while. He felt sorry for the bloodyheeled- toughskinned-hardkicking-cow. She was trapped in there awaiting for the inevitable. He could slip around and dive in and out as much as he liked, but she was trapped. As the commanding-twoleg-humans came and rounded her out with the other, smaller ones. Slowly he snuck out from under his rail, humans just did understand how the animals worked, they weren't fast enough to get her heels. He was, and he did. She leaped forward then and he went and laid in a different patch of shade to watch.

Finally after much struggle they had her down and pressed the rod against her flesh. Once she was let up, he stood and watched as she walked to the fence and scaled it as easily as one of the springlegged-tallbodied-kangaroo would jump. He looked over his shoulder, waiting for a command. No whistle came and he looked back out to where she sauntered away and he was glad she was free again.

Australian Actors

Eric Bana- actor

Jacinda Barrett - actor
Cate Blanchett - actress (won Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Elizabeth and (won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator
Louisa Brammall - actress (won Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Elizabeth and (won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator
Jackie Chan - actor (Australian citizen)
Russell Crowe - (born in New Zealand) actor
Judy Davis - actress
Errol Flynn - (1909-1959) actor
Mel Gibson - (born 1956) - actor American born, Australian raised
Germaine Greer - (born 1939) writer, feminist and TV personality
Paul Hogan - (born 1939) actor/comedian
P. J. Hogan - film director (Muriel's Wedding, My Best Friend's Wedding, Peter Pan)
John Howard - actor
Steve Irwin - (1962-2006) The Crocodile Hunter
Hugh Jackman - actor
Nicole Kidman - (born 1967) actress American born, Australian raised
George Lazenby - actor who played James Bond
Heath Ledger - (born 1979) actor
Olivia Newton-John - (born in England) singer/actress
Guy Pearce - (born 1967), actor
Geoffrey Rush - actor, (won 2005 Emmy Award for Best Actor for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers)
Naomi Watts - (born in England) actress
Peter Weir - (born 1944) filmmaker

The Minds of Women

In the story, Bushranger, we see outlaws becoming the utmost gentlemen in regard to the ladies that they come into contact with. This is a response to the longstanding code of Chivalry that the Medieval knight practiced. First the gang of bushrangers robs a coach where the captain encounters two ladies inside the coach. After examining the contents of the young girl's purse, our captain, Starlight, returns her purse to her after putting something else inside. Later in the story, three of the bushrangers, including Starlight, go to help a house of four women, Miss Falkland, being terrorised by three drunken bushrangers. They show great respect for these women and save their dignity from the drunken louts.

We understand the concept that these men hold women in high regard and often consider them as helpless. This stems from a man's concept that they need to be protected, which is not totally untrue do to the fact that women are generally smaller in stature and strength than men are. It has been speculated that these women are fully aware of the way men feel towards them as women and that they use those feeling to get what they feel is needed. Personally, I feel that the women in this particular story are in earnest in their feelings and the way that react. I am not going to go as far as saying that other women in this particular time did not use the fact they are women against the men around them.

The women in this story, tend to strike me as truly showing the emotions that are apparent in their baring and such. The woman in the coach was young and worried. Often in situations where something so unexpected happens, girls will worry about things in the future, such as how you will go on with the situation. I believe that this stems from a hope that they will make it that far. Miss Falkland, I take it, is quite a little bit older than the other two girls in the house and had to remain strong so as not to scare the other two girls. She had to be strong also because when dealing with intoxicated men, especially ones who have exhibited a temper, they have a tendency to become violent. Letting a little bit of emotion show, could have become deadly.

With the evidence stated above, I feel comfortable concluding that these two women's emotions are genuine.

Is Bloodshed inevitable

Is bloodshed inevitable in a conflict? By human nature, I do believe that bloodshed becomes inevitable. If you look at the past, it has ended many conflicts. I do not feel however, that it must be inevitable. People find themselves in a situation where they feel that the only way out is bloodshed, but if they use their heads, there is no need for bloodshed. If we look at our story about Gurra, we see extremes in both races. There are the white men who feel that shooting some of the aborigines will make a difference and teach them a lesson. There is also the leaders of the aboriginal war counsel that feel that the only way to maintain their way of life is to fight for what they once had. But on both sides there are the people that can see beyond the material and see a way to settle it with out fighting, Gurra and the young cattle man. The sad thing is that the ones in charge are the ones that crave the fighting and see it as the only solution. That is when bloodshed becomes inevitable. When the level headed people sit down and talk about what is going on, there is no fighting. When those in charge think about all that they often imagine are done to them, they see red and the only way they can see to end it is through bloodshed. In my view then, bloodshed is inevitable because we, as humans, make it so. If everyone thought like Gurra, the world would be a kinder place.