I have spent 5 years in CEGEP, 1 year was in Business Administration and the next 4 have been in Environmental Sciences. I have learned many things throughout this time; I’ve learned how to make friends, how to get rid of “friends”, how to study efficiently, how not to study efficiently, and most importantly how to feel like no one cares about you and that you have no impact on the people around you. There are a lot of things that play into learning, experience, observation, success, failure. I’ve experienced a good amount of things, succeeded here and there, even failed from time to time, and that’s all been added to the observations I’ve made not only about school but about people in general. It’s interesting to see the huge differences there are between people in academia; such as students, teachers, administration. Students are all different, some are outspoken, some are quiet, others are somewhere in between. Teachers; some are passionate, some are mediocre, some are somewhere in between. Administration: some will be there for students and work to better the schooling experience, some don’t.

I’ve had teachers that have changed my life and given me life skills or shown me complete different ways of looking at the world and understanding who I am and how I think. Other teachers just give me homework. I’ve had administrators help me get my schooling in order and give me a good direction that works fine. Other administrators just hand out forms and like decorating the office when Christmas comes around. As it easy at it is to see how school can be positive place of learning and optimism, it can be ten times easier to learn in a negative way and to become a lot more pessimistic than when you came to school. I learned pretty quickly to give up on principles because there are very little people who live up to them. The biggest effect coming from teachers. Don’t get me wrong,  I have a very high respect for teachers I think they can be some of, if not the most, influential people in anyone’s life. A teacher that brings new things to the table or changes up how learning and evaluating is done can have such a positive effect on a students learning that it sticks with them for life. There are teachers that might not be the greatest at the job but still show that they try and that the job matters to them because it’s not just a job. Teachers make mistakes sometimes, every one’s human. But there are teachers that don’t try, that don’t listen to students or that will just do what is required and not budge on anything more. To them it’s just a job. In administration, these are the people that can really help a student figure what the next step is or correct something that they find is wrong and ease the stress of managing papers and forms and professionalism and studies on top of it. Others just hand out forms and show disinterest when they are presented with problem they can easily fix but just don’t want to.

I’ve spent 5 years in CEGEP, graduating next which will make 6. I’ve learned a lot about my studies, how to be a better friend, how to be more social, take more risks, take more responsibilities etc… I’ve also learned how little passion people have for jobs that affect almost everyone they interact with. I’ve learned how no matter how many times you try to stand up for the principle of something and try to maintain virtue, if people don’t want to change then they won’t. School has effectively and efficiently taught me that living without principles is really easy and that passion and motivation is void.

Critical Response to Beasts of the Southern Wild – Evaluation

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild tells the tale of a child and her father surviving in their little world. They live completely cut off from the developed world; using medicine from herbs, fashioning boats from the back-ends of pick-up trucks and living in raised trailers as houses. The film has many themes present, them being one with nature and living from its resources as much as possible. It also has the theme of respecting nature and that humans can try as much as they want but they will never be able to thwart the raw power that is Mother Nature. From a literary sense the movie shows themes and events well, but cinematically it can be seen to be as much of a mess as Hushpuppy lives in.

The opening of the film starts strong showing the audience who the characters are, what the world this story is taking place in, and the relationship between the two main characters, Hushpuppy and her father. As good as the movie starts, it quickly loses its strengths in the meat of the film. The characters go from one location to the next and from one scene to another never really explaining what is happening. Hushpuppy lives with her father, but it wasn’t clear that she had her own house until later. We here the story of the primitive animal that ravaged cavemen and then we see what one would assume is one of these animals frozen in icecaps that are melting. The animals’ relevance to the story is never mentioned again until the main characters encounter them in the last 10 minutes of the film. Having the animals there for symbolism is fine but they play no integral part to the plot at all. They can easily be removed from the film and nothing would really change. There are a lot of things that happen that have no importance: Hushpuppy burning down her house, the Hushpuppy saving the medicine that the teacher gave her, all the other secondary characters themselves. The only characters that have any importance in the story are Hushpuppy and her father, any other character can be swapped for anything else.

Secondary roles are there to either help the main character develop or add to the story and themes within the film. There is no other secondary plot other than the primitive animals making their way from Antarctica to the bayou in 3 or 4 days, which itself is impossible and has no explanation. When characters are not memorable and end up being a waste of screen time, this creates friction within the story-telling. “Why are these characters here? What are they doing? Where did this person come from?” All questions that can describe what watching this film is like. After Hushpuppy burns down her house and gets into a fight with her father, she hits him in the chest, and he collapses which shows us he has a weak heart and he is sick. In this instance, it totally seemed like the father died; leaving Hushpuppy alone right after she said she wished he were dead. This would have been a much more turn of events but when Hushpuppy returns with medicine to fix her mistake, her father is magically gone. After some time, he’s back, in hospital scrubs. How did he get back? How did he leave? Was he able to somehow get up and walk to the hospital after having a heart attack by having a little girl punch his chest? We’ll never know. It’s one thing to leave something to the audience’s imagination, but this made no narrative sense.

The cinematography is also incredibly poor. Characters will be standing totally still as the camera has a light seizure. Constantly shaking and bouncing around while the audience tries to focus on what is happening with the calm conversation. Cinematography plays a huge role in film, often making the difference between masterpieces, and whatever this movie is. It removes the audience from the immersion and thus the story. The movie has good themes and a classic story of Mentor teaching the Student for when the Student is alone but this is a very weak depiction of it. This kind of plot is much better executed in the film The Road   and the TV show The Walking Dead. Beasts of the Southern Wild leaves the audience with more questions than answers, wanting more but in the wrong way and simply fumbling for whatever story they can find.

Philosophical analysis of Frankenstein

What does is mean to be alive? Is it to be sentient and to simply be aware of one’s own presence on the Earth? Or is to be alive to serve a community and to pass on one’s genetic history? Lives have value: they are judged on what they accomplish and what individuals do with the life they are given. Some pursue occupations to further the progress of the community and some choose to focus on passing on their genes. Whichever is chose life always has a goal and a reason to be given, a history and goal to work towards. All humans are created with the choice to further the human race and understand that all humans work towards goals. The creature created by Victor Frankenstein is separate from this idea. The creature was an experiment conducted by a man attempting to play god, and in a way succeeded. The creature, an amalgamation of corpses brought to life by electricity, was created with no other purpose than to simply be created. We see the creature develop through the course of the book and try to understand the reason it exists, the reason it was given life.

This monster in unaware of why it walks the earth taller than any other human or why it awoke to the immense power and strength it possesses. The monster has no true purpose to its life other than to exist and prove to scientists that life can be created outside the limits of human anatomy. This fills the monster with turmoil and sets it on a quest to search how it can find another purpose. In observing the De Lacey family, the monster learns the concept of community and the drive one has to protect and serve that community. The monster tried to join this community to be happy and find a purpose in a group effort of living and being whole with those closest to you. Due to the monster’s hideous visage it is unable to join any community, it will never learn the sense of duty that comes with serving a greater good. It can never find life’s pleasure in having friends or family; the monster is alone on the Earth and can never find such purpose. No matter how much the monster impacted the lives of the De Lacey family it never gained their love for it is gross and not a part of their community. The monster learned of comradery and morality; why humans stay together and how they function together to work towards life goals. This monster attempted to do kind deeds and build worth in the form of good work and serving the family from the shadows. This still was neglected for the monster has no home nor reason to be apart of humans.

In realizing this the monster turns to virtue. It vows to destroy any human that would reject it and pledges to remove the lives of those undeserving. Humans are given life to flourish and find happiness in hundreds of different ways, but monster has not a single reason in its existence to have life. This in itself fills the monster with purpose, with life. It has a goal, and while to humans this would be immoral, the monster is filled with virtue. It wants to curse the man that created it and forced it into this terrible existence of empty wandering and rejection. The monster has found virtue in delivering punishment on a man who tried to create something he barely understands. The monster goes to lengths to track down his creator and to threaten him that he could kill him whenever he chooses unless he listen s and understand the pain he has been forced into. The monster searches for purpose and a true life of its own that will satisfy its existence.

Does this validate the monster’s life? Does pursuing a cause, however malicious and bloody still count as virtue. Does virtue justify one’s actions; to pursue principles and ensure others follow them too? Virtue can be seen as the greatest purpose in life to an individual. It fills life with structure and a cause to follow. There are cultures and countries that band together to preserve virtues. People all have different virtues they hold dear; these differ in many ways and even cause fights that lead to conflicts that lead to wars. Ideas are what are seen today as a person’s true strength and defining part of life. To think and ponder one’s own reason to be a certain way and to diversify from others. This results in consequences that could be seen as morally wrong to some yet absolutely right to others. Does the monster’s drive to punish its creator make it right because it wants to show Frankenstein the errors he has caused? Or is the creature evil and in pursuit of a bloodthirsty goal that only leaves others dead for a stupid cause. To the monster this is its greatest purpose. Every person has their own purpose and goal. They all have their own wishes and drives that sometimes serve the community and other times only that person. No matter what the result the person always seeks to flourish in the life they have and to work towards their own goal in life to be filled with purpose and meaning. Does this make humans monsters? What does it mean to be a monster?

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton