Period Prison Story example essay topic

LONG, LONG AFTER SCHOOL 1. PRE-READING a) For discussion: What do you most remember about your favourite teacher? What would you change about today!'s school system if you could? b) For journal writing: In eight to 10 lines, describe a time when you misjudged someone OR were judged unfairly yourself. In your description, explain what caused this situation and what happened to make the situation better. c) Define: alumni -incongruous -ee other story examples (such as Gore) for how to do a character chart if unsure. 1. For Ches and Miss Calista, make a character chart where you list 3 words to describe the personality of each with evidence.

2. For each Ches and Miss Calista, label each as a) flat or round b) static or evolving c) protagonist or antagonist or minor Back up each label with evidence from the story which ties back to the definition. For Example: Wes is a round character in "Long, Long After School" because we know a lot about him like his thoughts, feelings and experiences. winsomer -dogged - 2. UNDERSTANDING THE STORY: a) WHO is Miss Trethway? ... is Wes? b) WHAT cruel tricks did the kids at school play on Wes? c) HOW did Wes get the scar on his arm? d) WHY did Wes think that Miss Trethway was beautiful? e) WHY does the storyteller feel!

^0 less beautiful! +/- at the end of the story? f) WHEN does the story occur?" If you " re going to succeed, you " ve got to be like one of those punch-drunk fighters in the old Warner Bros. boxing pictures: too stupid to fall down, you just keep slugging and stay on your feet". -- Premiere, October 1994 On Tarantino: "I find Quentin's work very interesting, because he does dabble so well in the nihilistic world, but yet, there's a real streak of humanity in his work. It's not about the nihilism, it's about people in a sense operating as honorably as they can in a nihilistic world". -- Frank Darabont, Creative Screenwriting On Stephen King (jokingly) "We have a joke now - because the first two films I directed were period prison movies - that my directing career will stall unless he writes another period prison story" Frank Darabont, Creative Screenwriting Amazon. com Essentials: When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, some critics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story.

Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who's sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we realize there's reason to believe the banker's crime was justifiable. We also realize that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker -- a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites.

-- Jeff Shannon.