Hello everyone, I'd like anyone to judge my essay for English, any criticism is appreciated.
Essay Question :
"Critically analyse how presenting ideas from the perspective of teenagers influences the audience’s understanding of texts. In your response, make a detailed reference to Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey and Dead Poets Society by Peter Weir.”
The Essay :
The perspective of teenagers in texts influence the audience’s understanding, this is because they are observing it from an additional viewpoint. It’s a common notion that teenagers act and behave differently from every other age group in society, viewing texts in a teenager’s perspective provide us with further analysis. In Craig Silvey’s novel Jasper Jones, Jasper accuses Mad Jack Lionel as the one responsible for Laura’s death; through a story of fear and confusion it is found that Mad Jack Lionel is Jasper’s grandfather, and Jasper’s perspective to the situation changes. In Peter Weir’s film Dead Poets Society the perspective of Neil Perry’s dad is for him to be enrolled in military academy and be send to Harvard to study medicine, Neil’s perspective however is under the influence of his teacher Mr Keating whom influenced Neil for his ambition to become an actor. With the different mindset and actions that teenagers perform, the audience is further informed by their perspectives.
In Peter Weir’s film Dead Poets Society Neil’s ambition is to become an actor due to the influence from his English teacher, Mr Keating. Neil’s father disagrees with the idea that his career is to be actor based, he would like him to go to Harvard and study Medicine, this forces Neil to be obedient as he is scared to rebel against his father. In the series of quick transitional cuts where Neil and his father are arguing about his future, the series of cuts gives an effect to how Neil was quickly silenced. Unable to rebel against his father, and unable to seek his own identity, Neil feels that he is trapped and cannot determine his own future, his isolation causes him to take his own life. Shortly after Neil’s death, the boys are told to sign a piece of paper attesting to the truth of Cameron's allegations, a close up shot of Todd is shown, which shows him feeling pressured to sign the paper. The effects of the close up shows that he is sweating, feels uneasy and uncomfortable, his perspective is that if he signs the paper then there will be consequences regarding Mr Keating. The audience is further informed about the perspective of the teenagers regarding Mr Keating, it is quite evident that Todd fears that he will get Mr Keating into trouble by signing the paper and how Mr Keating has caused Neil to seek his own identity.
The idea of scapegoating is also used in Peter Weir’s film Dead Poets Society, Mr Keating a central figure in the movie has been accused of Neil Perry’s death. Mr Keating’s use of unorthodox methods of teaching causes Neil to further seek his ambition into acting, which in the end causes many students to use him as a scapegoat to get out of trouble. In a point of view shot where Mr Keating stands on a table and commands everyone to think freely while observing the classroom, Neil feels inspired about creating his identity and pursuing his dreams. The effect of seeing the classroom from a high platform makes you want to think more freely which Neil did to pursue his dream of acting. Cameron from a close-up shot after being punched, warns the students that the only way to protect yourself from the situation of Neil’s death is to use Mr Keating as a scapegoat. The close up shot informs the audience about the seriousness in the face of Cameron and his perspective on how to deal with Neil’s death, it is clear that his face is quite worried and that the only way he can overcome his fear is to use Mr Keating as a scapegoat. Neil’s death can be traced back to Mr Keating however it was not directly him, this causes Cameron to use him as a perfect scapegoat so he can find his way out of trouble.
In the book Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey, Jasper believes that he is treated unfairly, as he is quite often used as a scapegoat and only praised for his athletic talents. The impact that this has on Jasper causes him to be in confusion, fear and have a different approach to certain things. Through the dialogue of “You want me to go to prison for nothing just so the Wisharts can say goodbye properly?” Jasper explains to Charlie that people will blame him for the crime, when he knew nothing about what happened. By observing what Jasper saw, his instinct was to get rid of the body, however through the instance of dialogue, the audience is further informed that he gets rid of it in fear that he will act as a scapegoat. In Charlie’s narration “I feel stupid and petty for ever having complained about anything…while Jasper Jones shoulders his burden alone”, Charlie feels sympathetic towards the burden of Jasper. Charlie has deep remorse for his friend Jasper, he feels that he has nothing to complain about because of the situation Jasper is in, the narration helps to build a stronger belief in the audience that Jasper is truly in a tough situation in life. By dialogues and narrations about the events in Jasper’s life, such as the use of scapegoating and Charlie’s thoughts about Jasper’s life, the audience is further informed about Jasper’s perspective.
Viewing ideas from the audience’s understanding of texts is further improved by the additional perspectives of the teenagers. As teenagers act differently to the society around them it is useful to see an additional viewpoint from such people. In Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey it is shown that Jasper is used as a scapegoat by his people in Corrigan. Similarly in Dead Poets Society a film by Peter Weir, it is shown that Neil attempts to rebel against his father because he would like to pursue his dreams of becoming an actor and how failing to do so, he takes his own life, with that scenario, the teenagers must use Mr Keating as a scapegoat. The various ideas presented in the texts and the additional viewpoint from the teenagers, the audience’s understanding of texts is further improved.
Essay Question :
"Critically analyse how presenting ideas from the perspective of teenagers influences the audience’s understanding of texts. In your response, make a detailed reference to Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey and Dead Poets Society by Peter Weir.”
The Essay :
The perspective of teenagers in texts influence the audience’s understanding, this is because they are observing it from an additional viewpoint. It’s a common notion that teenagers act and behave differently from every other age group in society, viewing texts in a teenager’s perspective provide us with further analysis. In Craig Silvey’s novel Jasper Jones, Jasper accuses Mad Jack Lionel as the one responsible for Laura’s death; through a story of fear and confusion it is found that Mad Jack Lionel is Jasper’s grandfather, and Jasper’s perspective to the situation changes. In Peter Weir’s film Dead Poets Society the perspective of Neil Perry’s dad is for him to be enrolled in military academy and be send to Harvard to study medicine, Neil’s perspective however is under the influence of his teacher Mr Keating whom influenced Neil for his ambition to become an actor. With the different mindset and actions that teenagers perform, the audience is further informed by their perspectives.
In Peter Weir’s film Dead Poets Society Neil’s ambition is to become an actor due to the influence from his English teacher, Mr Keating. Neil’s father disagrees with the idea that his career is to be actor based, he would like him to go to Harvard and study Medicine, this forces Neil to be obedient as he is scared to rebel against his father. In the series of quick transitional cuts where Neil and his father are arguing about his future, the series of cuts gives an effect to how Neil was quickly silenced. Unable to rebel against his father, and unable to seek his own identity, Neil feels that he is trapped and cannot determine his own future, his isolation causes him to take his own life. Shortly after Neil’s death, the boys are told to sign a piece of paper attesting to the truth of Cameron's allegations, a close up shot of Todd is shown, which shows him feeling pressured to sign the paper. The effects of the close up shows that he is sweating, feels uneasy and uncomfortable, his perspective is that if he signs the paper then there will be consequences regarding Mr Keating. The audience is further informed about the perspective of the teenagers regarding Mr Keating, it is quite evident that Todd fears that he will get Mr Keating into trouble by signing the paper and how Mr Keating has caused Neil to seek his own identity.
The idea of scapegoating is also used in Peter Weir’s film Dead Poets Society, Mr Keating a central figure in the movie has been accused of Neil Perry’s death. Mr Keating’s use of unorthodox methods of teaching causes Neil to further seek his ambition into acting, which in the end causes many students to use him as a scapegoat to get out of trouble. In a point of view shot where Mr Keating stands on a table and commands everyone to think freely while observing the classroom, Neil feels inspired about creating his identity and pursuing his dreams. The effect of seeing the classroom from a high platform makes you want to think more freely which Neil did to pursue his dream of acting. Cameron from a close-up shot after being punched, warns the students that the only way to protect yourself from the situation of Neil’s death is to use Mr Keating as a scapegoat. The close up shot informs the audience about the seriousness in the face of Cameron and his perspective on how to deal with Neil’s death, it is clear that his face is quite worried and that the only way he can overcome his fear is to use Mr Keating as a scapegoat. Neil’s death can be traced back to Mr Keating however it was not directly him, this causes Cameron to use him as a perfect scapegoat so he can find his way out of trouble.
In the book Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey, Jasper believes that he is treated unfairly, as he is quite often used as a scapegoat and only praised for his athletic talents. The impact that this has on Jasper causes him to be in confusion, fear and have a different approach to certain things. Through the dialogue of “You want me to go to prison for nothing just so the Wisharts can say goodbye properly?” Jasper explains to Charlie that people will blame him for the crime, when he knew nothing about what happened. By observing what Jasper saw, his instinct was to get rid of the body, however through the instance of dialogue, the audience is further informed that he gets rid of it in fear that he will act as a scapegoat. In Charlie’s narration “I feel stupid and petty for ever having complained about anything…while Jasper Jones shoulders his burden alone”, Charlie feels sympathetic towards the burden of Jasper. Charlie has deep remorse for his friend Jasper, he feels that he has nothing to complain about because of the situation Jasper is in, the narration helps to build a stronger belief in the audience that Jasper is truly in a tough situation in life. By dialogues and narrations about the events in Jasper’s life, such as the use of scapegoating and Charlie’s thoughts about Jasper’s life, the audience is further informed about Jasper’s perspective.
Viewing ideas from the audience’s understanding of texts is further improved by the additional perspectives of the teenagers. As teenagers act differently to the society around them it is useful to see an additional viewpoint from such people. In Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey it is shown that Jasper is used as a scapegoat by his people in Corrigan. Similarly in Dead Poets Society a film by Peter Weir, it is shown that Neil attempts to rebel against his father because he would like to pursue his dreams of becoming an actor and how failing to do so, he takes his own life, with that scenario, the teenagers must use Mr Keating as a scapegoat. The various ideas presented in the texts and the additional viewpoint from the teenagers, the audience’s understanding of texts is further improved.
