Close reading

The films Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile are both directed by Frank Darabont and both films are made on the basis of Stephen King novels. Both ARE set in prisons, the former in 1935 and the latter in 1947. Darabont is known for directing thriller/horror films, but his best films were the more drama filled films that had more emotional depth to them. His love for making thriller/horror films could likely be from his childhood, when he watched “The George Lucas film THX 1138 in his youth” which inspired him to pursue his directing career. Shawshank Redemption was based in the general block of a prison. A man is incarcerated because the judge said he was guilty of killing his wife and lover in an act of passion, with the narration being done by a fellow prisoner. The Green Mile however was based in the 1930’s and is about a man being put on death row for the murder of two little girls, but as the film develops, audiences are left in tears as they watch the whole story unfold. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, due to the emotional resonance it left behind.

The elements I am looking at are costume and setting, Darabont could use similar costumes due to the fact that his wife Karyn Wagner is a costume designer who also designed the costumes for his film The Green Mile. He was possibly very interested in prisons as a setting because he grew up in a refugee camp, this is likely to be the reason why these two films were his best ones. This then enabled him to put his personal views and experiences into a film, creating that emotional aspect the audience needs to really engage with the film and truly feel compassion.

The use of costume is important in both The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption , especially in the “Like pieces of glass in my head” and “Rehabilitated?” scenes as it gives critical information to the viewers, if looked at in more depth. The difference in costumes allows the audience to understand the two character types between Red and John. The style also shows the difference in story lines of the two films. The “Like pieces of glass in my head” scene in The Green Mile contains emotional instrumental music in the background and the symbolic costume of a “dead man”. The innocent convict John Coffey is on death row so he doesn’t have the same costume compared to all the other inmates, where they wear a black and white striped outfits. But In this scene John is wearing a white shirt and blue overalls showing he is different. The guard is asking him if he should let him go or not as he and the audience know John is innocent. So John’s costume helps portray this innocence because it reminds the audience of an outfit a child has, just like a young child this man is also very innocent. So by comparing this you learn that his character is childlike with an innocent mind. The director Frank Darabont also strengthens the concept he wants the audience to envision by having John Coffey wear a strategically cut off shirt that enhances his muscular upper body. This allows the audience to get the perception that he is a big gentle giant. The director cleverly uses colour to subliminally get the audience to think a certain way. That is, John wears a white shirt which contrasts against his dark skin emphasising the purity of the colour white. The audience is able to see the depth of his innocence due to the colour that the director chose. The significance of white is important to establish that John is possibly a messenger from God, angelic and again we can see why the guard is questioning whether to let him free or not. The overall purpose of the costume Darabont uses in The Green Mile was to emphasise his innocence and make the audience realise that you shouldn’t judge people on face value, just like John Coffey who was wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t commit just because he was black. This is a lesson that the audience can see, and should be emphasised in the media, given all the racially motivated crime we see, particularly in America.

In Shawshank Redemption in the “Rehabilitated?” scene Red is being looked at by the parole board to see if he is eligible to leave prison. The board members are wearing suits meaning they are higher up and more powerful over Red’s verdict. All the men that make up the parole board are wearing the same colour suits and ties. The director is wanting the audience to make the assumption that Red is insignificant and the parole board hold all the power. Darabont has purposely dressed the male members of the board all the same to maximise the sense of isolation, that is the board members against the one man. The audience can see how a costume can make a person’s confidence change because Red’s costume is jeans with a grey shirt and a number printed on it. This strips their identity from prisoners as they are now known as a number and not a human, he is the weakest in the room. The prisoners in this film also have to wear identical clothing showing they have no freedom or individuality. When compared like this you can see the difference in both films as John is given a chance to leave prison whereas Red has to get permission as it is up to the council whether he is discharged or not. Red’s prison uniform includes braces which immediately transport the audience back to another era. Darabont uses the braces to symbolise the character’s age. As an older man the wearing of braces was considered appropriate for his age group. The audience can see the difference between prisons over 60 years ago in what inmates wear, compared to present time where a set of braces would be considered as a potential weapon. The overall purpose of the costume Darabont uses in Shawshank Redemption is used to symbolise how costume can deceive an audience by encouraging them to have incorrect perceptions on a character just by the smart use of formal outfits in direct contrast to Red’s faded blue numbered shirt and prison trousers. So the costume is used to show difference in power between the parole board and Red due to the negative connotation of the use of Red’s denim jacket which is seen as cheap compared to the strong and expensive outfit that the parole board is wearing.

The setting is important in both The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption, although both are set in prison both have very different prison environments. This can be seen in the “Like pieces of glass in my head” and “Rehabilitated?” scenes as it gives critical information to the viewers, if looked at in more depth. The difference in settings allows the audience to understand the two character types between Red and John. In The Green Mile John is on death row, living in a one man cell while he awaits his punishment. In the “Like pieces of glass in my head” scene John Coffey is sitting in his cell having a conversation with the guard about whether he should let him go free or not, because everyone including the audience are aware of his innocence. Darabont use strategic lighting to enlist an emotive response from the audience. To do this he uses suspended lighting creating a subdued filtered effect from above that encourages the audience to come to the conclusion that John Coffey is surely innocent: “when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles” indicating that John is one of God’s miracles. He also uses lighting directly positioned on John Coffey’s torso, this creates the illusion that he is larger than life, again bringing in that godly sense. It also highlights his skin colour against the pure white of his shirt, this then sends a subliminal message to the audience that John was judged on his skin colour and his goodness and purity was overlooked. The use of subtle lighting to show detail of the setting is kept to a minimum. The purpose of this is to show isolation of the prisoners, this is done by minimising the illumination of the brick walls that confine John. Darabont has effectively gained the audience’s sympathy by making the prison cell have a cold, dark and depressing feel about it. To maximise this response he draws the audience’s attention to John Coffey’s torso by clever lighting to exaggerate his size which in turn shrinks the size of the cell that contains him. The main purpose that Darabont is trying to get across to the audience is that all good things come to an end, as John is shown as a man bigger than life and the audience grows an attachment to him which is then ripped away as happy endings sadly don’t exist.

Shawshank Redemption in the “Rehabilitated?” scene shows that Red is still in the prison but for this particular scene the setting is a large room located higher up in the jail for his hearing with the parole board. The director only utilises natural light which is filtered through the venetian blinds which is reflected on his shirt. Darabont is using this shadow of the blinds to symbolise the bars of Red’s cell showing there is no escape. He is also using this ray of light to represent that freedom is within reachable distance if the parole board approves his release as the ‘bars’ are simply shadows. The audience can learn from this that if you want something badly enough, and even though it seems impossible, don’t give up on your goals because they may be easier to attain than you originally thought possible. Having the members of the parole board facing away from the light source creates the illusion that they are bricks behind a table. Darabont wants to remove any emotional resonance. He wants them to appear cold and emotionally distant. They don’t want to have any compassion or empathy with the inmates. It is only a duty they are performing as government representatives. To exaggerate this even more they are around a table and he is on a chair giving the perception that they are powerful and he is the weakest link. Their chairs are also of a higher quality whereas Red’s chair is of an inferior quality which symbolises he is worthless. The director has purposely placed jugs of water and individual glasses in front of the parole board members to show exclusion from basic necessities. The purpose of this scene that the director is trying to show is that if you commit a crime but try to redeem yourself by doing good works, eventually it will pay off in a positive way.

The director Frank Darabont cleverly made the two scenes “Like pieces of glass in my head” and “Rehabilitated?” Even though different from each other they still have the link of prison bars through the use of symbolism. In Shawshank Redemption strategically placed Venetian blinds create an illusion of prison bars across the shirt Red is wearing. Whereas in The Green Mile actual prison bars surround John Coffey. It is of no surprise that the director Frank Darabont could create two films utilising the setting of a prison. His depth of understanding from time spent in a refugee camp brought gritty realism which makes me and the audience appreciate him even more as a director. The realism he portrays in both movies showing a rawness of emotion due to the overwhelming sense of defeat both inmates feel. When comparing the two excerpts you can see the difference of what both characters want. For instance in Shawshank Redemption Red wants to re enter society again whereas John would rather leave this world behind. Both characters are similar in that the fates are chosen not by them but by the government officials. When linking the costumes and settings of the two films together you see how isolating prisons can be on a person and how this can bring out the true nature of a person represented by the clothing they wear. Giving the audience a better understanding that racism has never died but has softened over the years. The overall intention of the director is so the audience can learn that just because you have made some bad decisions in life that doesn’t mean you are a bad person. So it shouldn’t define who you are.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Darabont

https://prezi.com/m/jbmus5p4pkud/close-reading-films/

film- The Green Mile

film- Shawshank Redemption

 

Text connections

An ongoing theme in all the texts is mental illness, and how the treatments have changed over time. Some mental illnesses can cause people to commit crimes as it just changes their whole well being. The film Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese contains the major theme of mental illness and how the character is treated, it shows the main character in a mental institution, trying to be healed with different treatments in order to try help him. The aspect symbolism is also used in the film to help give more meaning. The second text that contained a lot of mental illness is the film The Notebook directed by Nick Cassavetes, which contains an old lady who suffers from dementia, and shows the more peaceful treatment she endures in the film. A consequence of mental illness is it can sometimes lead to people committing crimes as they can’t see the wrong they are doing. Two texts that show this is the short story Tell Tale Heart written by Edgar Allen Poe.The theme of crime was present as the narrator killed the old man in the end of the story, because he was infuriated by the old man’s eye and wanted to get rid of it. The use of symbolism is also used throughout this text. Another text that had crime as their ongoing theme was the television series The following produced by Kevin Williamson. It’s about a serial killer who is obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe trying to make his stories into a reality which brings about his “following.” This is a cult of people who want to help the serial killer commit crimes while he is incarcerated.

Although mental illness is seen throughout all the texts, it is a major theme in the two films Shutter Island and The Notebook, both films show the difference in treatments as time periods change. Shutter Island is a thriller/drama set in 1954. Although the audience only find out at the end that the film is about a mental patient you still understand the point of the film when it is all laid out at the end. The main character Edward ‘Teddy’ Daniels believes he is at Aschecliffe to investigate a disappearance but instead he is a patient himself. His real name is Andrew Laeddis and he was incarcerated after murdering his manic depressive wife after she killed their three children. Andrew is always given drugs in an attempt to calm him, and maybe even slowly break his ideas about him being Edward. As this never works the chief psychologist decides to try a new treatment on him called intervention therapy which was designed to break Andrew’s conspiracy by allowing him to play out the role of Edward Daniels and hopefully then able to get him to come to his senses and drop this fake persona in order for him to come back to reality. They were able to get through to Andrew by showing pictures of his children and telling him about his past. He then tricks the doctors into believing their new treatment didn’t work by saying, “We gotta get off this rock Chuck. Back to the Mainland. Whatever the hell is going on here, it’s bad.” Dr Sheehan/Chuck then looks over acknowledging the head doctor that their intervention therapy hasn’t worked. The film then ends on Andrew saying, “Which would be worse – to live as a monster? Or die as a good man?” This quote does confuse most but you can depict it as Andrew talking, not Edward and that he remembers his past life and the crime he committed, so he would rather die remembering himself than living a lie. He then gets taken off, and the audience assumes that a lobotomy can be performed on him. The lobotomy was a very common treatment in the 1940’s which is the era that this film is based on. The lobotomy involves severing connections in the brain’s prefrontal lobe and was suppose to reduce symptoms of mental disorders. Shutter Island is a thriller so the director’s purpose was most likely to make the film seem as dark and mysterious as possible because if he had made the setting bright and happy that would have changed the whole mood of the film so he had to make the film seem cold and depressing so give the audience the full effect on what the hospitals back then would have felt like for the patients locked in them. The film also reflects the values of the era it is based on because of the clothing, setting, and habits that the characters had. The trend of the 1950’s was for women to wear long skirts and long dresses (ankle length), the nurses were wearing clothes that resembled this style, Teddy’s wife was also seen wearing very long dresses and her hairstyle is very similar to what you would have seen back in the 50’s. The setting of the film was in an old fashioned concrete and brick building, with old fashioned cars driving through the streets. Smoking is a big part of the film as it was a common occurrence in the 1950’s, as it was a social habit. In this film it was used for medicine to be given to the patients, as it was considered okay to hide drugs, compared to today’s day and age. It shows that experimenting with different drugs was okay because they didn’t have the research that they do today. Imagine the outcry if doctors planted drugs in cigarettes today.

The second text which contains mental illness, shows similar treatments but different environments. The Notebook is a romantic drama set in 1940’s where the characters are seen in their youth years and in the present when they are elderly. The film starts off at a Nursing home showing an old man reading a romantic story to one of the patients. Already you can see the nursing home is much nicer than the Aschecliffe hospital, with nice flowers, a pretty lake and lovely nurses taking care of the patients. As the old man starts his story the screen then switches to a young couple and their life in the 40’s, with their old styles and carnival rides and amazing old mansions. As we watch the young couple’s romance develop we then come back to the old man and lady at the nursing home, we then learn that the young couple in the story is actually the old lady and man, Allie and Noah. Allie is suffering from dementia and Noah is reading to her in the hope of regaining her memory. Since she gets dementia in her older years, she is closer to the modern day meaning her treatments are basically what we have today, rather than in Shutter Island and lobotomies were still present. But both Allie and Andrew get basically 24 hour care because in Shutter Island Andrew has Dr Sheehan by his side throughout almost the whole film and Allie has Noah looking after her. Although the nursing home in The Notebook looks a lot nicer and friendly, it is in a lovely peaceful environment and the natural treatment of her husband coming in everyday to read to her in order to regain her memory, most people nowadays will do that to a loved one to help bring their thoughts back. One scene in The Notebook the treatments are quite similar as Allie has to be sedated after getting frantic because she forgot who everyone was, this is similar to Andrew but instead they are slowly taking him off drugs to bring him back to reality causing him to collapse. There are also two very close connections between these two films, the first one is when Andrew is able to remember his past by seeing the photos of his children and being told who he is and also when Allie realises that the story Noah is reading her is actually their life “I remember now. It was us”. The other one was at the end of both films and the two characters memories come back about who they both used to be and don’t want those memories going away, Andrew not wanting to be a monster and Allie not wanting to forget her husband. Both Allie and Noah, Allie asks “you think our love, can take us away together?” And Noah responding “I think our love can do anything we want it to.” They then exchange their ‘I love yous and good nights’ and Noah saying “I’ll be seeing you again.” When the nurse finds them in the morning you find out they both die in their sleep making it a very emotional scene for the audience and you realise by Noah saying :I’ll see you again” he meant that when they head up to heaven Allie will regain her memory and they can have their everlasting love again. The theme mental illness is seen in today’s world as a more serious matter, rather than in the olden times like the 50’s as a way of locking people up to get rid of them they are better treated nowadays. They are given the proper care needed in order to help with their condition, sort of like Allie in The Notebook where she lived in a nursing home and they helped her out by making her days as easy as possible as she slowly lost her memory. This kind of treatment can be seen in today’s society as all extreme methods like lobotomies have been wiped out as they now know that treatment like that never really worked. In The Notebook it also reflected the values of the time it was based on as you could tell be the clothes, cars, houses and mannerisms that it’s wasn’t set in the 21st century. As well as the physical things the values back then were very different as Ali’s parents didn’t want her to love Noah because she was brought up in a wealthy family and Noah didn’t not. Back then the man had to ask the woman’s father if he could marry his daughter, this isn’t seen but rather said as Allie says to Noah “well, you see you have to get their permission first. And I think you may have overestimated their affection for you.” Lon doesn’t think so as he “asked them already and they said yes.” You also see throughout the film black house maids, not exactly slaves but still servants but respected better.

For the other two texts the main theme is also mental illness but rather the consequences that come from mental illness like obsessions and persuasion, some interpret their thoughts into something else which leads them to commit criminal acts. The huge connection between Tell Tale Heart and The Following is Edgar Allan Poe’s Tell Tale Heart was written by him and The Following is about a man who is ‘obsessed’ with his work. Tell tale heart is a short story written in 1843, about a man who becomes obsessed with an old man’s evil eye causing him to kill him just so he can destroy his eye. The Following is a TV series that started in 2013, it is about a man named Joe who teaches at a school about literacy and is obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe’s work. He teaches students about Poe and ends up killing a bunch of people, causing him to go to jail. But due to his charisma he brings about a cult, that follows in joe’s footsteps. The audience can work out by themselves that Joe is a psychopath. In Tell Tale Heart the main character suffers from tinnitus this is a ear condition that makes people hear a ringing or thumping noise. The condition can cause auditory hallucinations, intense sensitivity to sound and possibly amplifying hearing. We know that the narrator suffers from this as he is always going on about the ringing in his ears, he also thinks he hears the old man’s heartbeat after he killed him which made him think he was still alive causing him to come clean. A thumping can also be seen in The Following as when detective Ryan Hardy is on screen audience can hear a thumping sound sort of like a heart beating, I’m not sure if the sound is just for the audience to hear to make a comparison between the two texts or if the character Ryan can hear the noise also. Another interesting connection between the two text is that the narrator in Tell tale heart is completely obsessed with the old man’s eye which is why he ended up killing the old man and cutting him up. We the audience can then presume he removed the old man’s eye which was the source of his obsession. In The Following a female whole is covered from head to toe in Edgar Allen Poe quotes she then stabs herself in the eye destroying it and killing herself. It is said in The Following that “Eyes are the window to the soul” and that Eyes are symbolic, essence of identity this could mean that since the narrator was starting to lose himself due to the tinnitus removing the eye could mean that he wouldn’t be able to see his reflection anymore and his identity would finally go. Edgar Allan Poe wants the reader to understand how someone’s obsession can become too hard for them to handle that the only way to stop it is to remove the problem, like in the narrator’s case he literally killed the old man and most likely removed his evil eye because his obsession got the best of him causing him to commit a horrible crime eventually coming clean. Kevin Williamson wanted to show the audience that ambition and persuasion are two key aspects a person needs in order to complete what they set out to do. For instance Joe’s ambition was to finish what Poe started which was killing people, but since he got locked away he needed to persuade others to do his dirty work for him showing the audience just how easy it is to be manipulated by someone. Tell Tale Heart reflects the values of the time it was written in by referring to furniture items back then and the English language used, for instance they mention “shutters” which isn’t something you would normally hear in your home, they are now called blinds. Also In that era mental illness could not be treated and was considered as a disease, but it was clear that the man had no conscience for the crime he had just committed. The following is set in the 21st century so it wasn’t too hard to make the setting and clothing set a certain era, because of this it makes it easier for the audience to relate to the television series. Also in today’s society is someone was suffering from a ringing in the ears they can be diagnosed with the condition tinnitus and get treatment for it to help them. Because they didn’t have anything like that back then, this could have made the narrator feel as if he was going mad and caused him to become obsessed over the evil eye. The Following is a little different as in today’s society there is no excuse for killing people just because you want to finish what your idol started, you are just seen as criminally insane so this kind of links to Shutter Island as Andrew Laeddis is also criminally insane as he refuses to come to terms with the crime he committed.

Another aspect that was able to connect two of my texts together was symbolism. In the Tell Tale Heart and Shutter Island the symbol of light was present in both texts. Tell Tale Heart light is a lantern used by the narrator, it basically symbolises the lack of insight on behalf of the narrator and acts as a fuel to light up his beliefs (his being the only way to destroy the evil eye is to kill the old man). The light acts as a cruel guide allowing the narrator to see the world only from his view, which is obviously wrong as he isn’t mentally stable. Although the lantern is barely ever lit, he uses it as a safety measure by pushing it through the old man’s door first before himself. When the narrator turns on the light it enables him to see what he thought all along, he no longer sees the kind of man that he lives with anymore, instead the only thing he sees is the “evil eye”. So the lantern acts as the narrator’s eyes, allowing him to see things more clearly causing him to commit murder. The text manipulated the audience into thinking that the narrator wasn’t mad because he kept trying to reassure us that he wasn’t, when he clearly showed signs of unstableness. It helped readers to understand that you shouldn’t be too trusting. Everyone has elements of good and bad within us it just depends who’s bad will actually be triggered and finally shine through. From Tell Tale Heart we learn that human behaviour can change when one gets obsessed with something, it can basically take over their life. They can’t see anything but that one thing, in this case it’s the narrator’s obsession with the old man’s evil eye. 

In Shutter Island fire is a way of helping the audience understand when Teddy Daniels is far from his reality, this means that all his troubles started with water because his wife murdered their children in the lake, so fire is the opposite of water so that means when you see fire he is far from his reality. For example when Teddy was in the cave talking to what he believes is Rachel Solando there is a campfire in between them, which allows the audience to then know that he is hallucinating. Also another example is when Teddy blows up a car there is a small explosion of fire, he then starts hallucinating about seeing his wife and daughter there with him. The text manipulated the audience into thinking that the main character is at a hospital investigating a disappearance but as the film progresses the audience learns that they were actually deceived and he is actually a patient himself and his real name is Andrew who was put in Ashecliffe for killing his wife. The audience only learns of this knowledge at the end of the film where we are told that the names he has made up are actually anagrams for his family members. So we the viewers feel quite stupid at the end as we should have been able to pick this information up from the film because of all the clues that were given. One more symbol in Shutter Island that I found quite interesting was water, at the beginning of the film we see Teddy Daniels on a boat vomiting because he apparently gets seasick “I can’t stomach the water” this may have been because water just reminds him of the death of his children as they were drowned so the thought of them makes him sick and that he can’t ‘stomach’ the idea of them dying. His human nature was to block out his terrible memories and replace them with new ones, what we learn is that is he told himself that he told himself so much that his fictitious life was so real that he ended up believing it. When the doctors finally got through to him by showing Andrew a picture of his daughter “the girl you keep seeing in your dreams Rachel, she’s your daughter Andrew.” Right at the end of the film you see the real Andrew believes that his original self can never live again. You learn that he would rather lie to the doctors and make them think that their treatment hadn’t worked so they will perform a lobotomy on him just so he can finally be free of his guilt and memories once and for all.

Throughout the four texts I studied, the short story Tell Tale Heart, the television series The Following, and the two films Shutter Island and The Notebook. All of these contain a mental illness of some kind, whether it be about the treatments they are enduring to try help them or the consequences that came from their illness like crime. All of these texts made the audience think about their lives and how different it could be if they suffered from some kind of illness. I personally found Tell Tale Heart to be quite realistic in the sense that obsession can cause a person to do unusual things like stalk a man or even go to the extreme of killing someone as they don’t have any control over their mental illness so I think that anyone who suffered from an illness like this could quite possibly commit and act that is out of their control. The Following to me was quite hard to understand not so much the story line but understanding the mentality of the criminal in the to show as I can’t grasp the concept that someone could murder someone and feel no guilt whatsoever and then want other people to follow you and do the same so your goal is met. I found that the film Shutter Island sort of gave me a thrill as there was just so many turns and then a major plot twist at the end that you never quite knew what was happening so you could relate to Teddy the main character as he to was unable to understand what was real and what was imaginary. I left the film The Notebook till last as I thought it would be more lighthearted than my other texts. This film made me understand how sad mental illness can be not only for the person suffering from it but also for the people around them. The film also should me that if someone loves you that much than even through the toughest of times they will always stick around and be there for you which I really liked about the film. 

Bibliography 
The following – TVs series
Tell Tale Heart – short story

The notebook – film

Shutter island – film

http://katiec1b.weebly.com/symbolstechniques.html

http://www.shortstoriesanalyzed.com/2013/10/symbolism-tell-tale-heart.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_Island_(film)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notebook_(2004_film)

Does exercise affect the distance you can jump?

Purpose: This experiment would be useful to athletes competing in long jump or other jumping sports. It could also be useful to students and teachers who do PE, as it might affect their results.

Research: The research that we did helped us to discover that running before you jump will increase your stride (how far you legs will stretch), and warm up your muscles before you use them properly. Exercise also increases your heart rate, and as a result pumps more blood around your body and your muscles. Your muscles therefore become more flexible and allows you to jump further.
Hypothesis: From the research we have conducted, we can predict that if you do exercise, you will jump further as your muscles are warmer and are

Plan: our aim is to get year 7 and 8 students to down a long jump 3 times, then run round our school track and while there muscles are still warmed up they have to do the 3 long jumps again. To conduct this experiment we needed to get roughly 15 people from two classes and put that data together, altogether we got 30 results. To start off everyone must get in line and will have a number on there hand as to what order they are. They then line up in order 5 metres away from the line to jump to they can have a run up. They all then run, one at a time and when they get to the line they jump and we record their results. All students do this 3 times. They all then run round the schools 400m running track. When finished they all line up back in order, we want their heart to still be pounding hard. They then again line up 5metres back from the jump line and run and jump again 3 times. We record all there data.

It is important to note that there are a number of possible issues that may arise as to the authentication of the data collected, in terms of the introduction of any bias, or variation as a result of the collection method. For example, the participants were not screen for the following:
Not to do exercise before they come to school
Wear proper sports shoes to make it easier to run or jump
Any other variables not considered that are unknown to the researchers

After collecting the data, I reflected on the process to ascertain if there are any issues that arose during the data collection process that may have had some influence on the results.
Below is a list of issues that may have affected the data collected.
Some students were fitter than others and ran the whole way, whereas others walked some of it
Some could have been injured and not been able to participate to the fullest.
As a result the students that ran the fastest went to get a drink as they were waiting for the rest of their class.
Other miscellaneous general health issues that may have influenced the results.

In addition
It is important to note that the studies listed as a reference did not state the length of time to run the track, nor was it clear how long the participants needed to wait to perform the experiment again. The time parameters for this experiment have no scientific basis to support them, but rather were decided for expediency and to be able to collect the data within two school lessons

Misery

There is 3 parts to the book

1st part Annie

Connections across all texts

It is common for teenagers to face adversity at some point of their lives. The theme of overcoming adversity was a common theme in the four texts/films I studied. It was present in the text Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, the short text Job by Dan Preston and also in the film The Hunger Games by Gary Ross and also in the film Remember the Titans by Boaz Yakin.

Adversity is a common ordeal that characters often face, but that can often be overcome. This is shown near the beginning of the text Lord of the Flies written by William Golding. The school boys were stranded on an island and were trying to determine who their leader should be: Ralph or Jack. This situation had developed when all the boys’ plane crashed onto the deserted island. Ralph thought in order to survive on the island they needed a leader. Ralph wanted to be leader because he felt he could help them survive, but his competitor, Jack also wanted to be leader. Roger suggested that they vote. This was important because it made the boys have the freedom to decide who they wanted as leader. The quote was added as it let the reader know how the boys were able to overcome their adversity of trying to find a leader to help them survive on the island. The boys voted and chose Ralph, as he and Piggy found the conch. The author included this event to show the reader how the boys overcame their adversity and show there is always a solution to a problem. This is revealed by the vote helping them them to overcome them being stranded.

This situation in Lord of the Flies reminds me of another event which clearly shows the theme of overcoming adversity in the short text Job written by Dan Preston where young boy Job just like the boys in lord of the flies are fighting to survive. the main character Job blows up his house/mothers P lab because this had led to his neglect and abuse. This situation developed by Job not being treated right by his mother, and so he finally had enough and took away the one thing his mother cared about, because he wanted her to feel the same way he had his whole life. A quote that clearly shows him overcoming his adversity is when Job said to himself, “Job done!” This quote is important as it shows that Job persevered and didn’t give up trying to achieve a better life. The author included that event so the readers could learn that people can only deal with so much of adversity for so long before they take matters into their own hands to try and correct the adversity. This text was similar to other texts I have studied in class like the book Lord Of The Flies because they are both about overcoming adversity. Both texts show how young boys overcame their adversities. The difference is that Job had to overcome adversity involving abuse, while Ralph struggled with leadership. A similarity between characters is just like Job, Piggy is also abused by other boys.

Adversity occurs in people’s lives at anytime but can almost always be overcome as is shown clearly in the film The Hunger Games directed by Francis Lawrence. Katniss’s sister, Primrose Everdeen’s name is called out at the reaping to go into the games. Katniss knows Primrose would definitely not survive in the arena, so she volunteered herself to take Primroses place. This was an unexpected adversity that Katniss faced because she didn’t want her little sister to go into the games where she knew she could not win and survive. Katniss calls out, “I volunteer, I volunteer as tribute”. This quote is important because it shows Katniss’s love for her sister and how willing she is to protect her. The director included this event as it was a heartwarming moment because Katniss is prepared to sacrifice herself to be put into the games so she didn’t lose her sister. This film is similar to other texts I have studied because it shows that people will help you when in need, so like Katniss helping her sister get out of the games, in short story Job, Job’s friend Luke helped Job overcome his adversity by getting him a camera. Through these actions, the director shows the viewers that families will often do anything to protect each other. I feel strongly about this because blood is thicker than water and family and friends will always stick together and help each other no matter what.

The only text theme of overcoming adversity of racism is the film Remember The Titans directed Boaz Yakik. The main characters that were involved were Coach Boone, Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell who also find friendship at the end of their journey. This situation developed because T.C.Williams School board made Coach Boone the head coach of the college’s football team even though he was black and he had to get the black and white football team players to integrate together despite their differences. This film shows how important leadership is. Just like Ralph in Lord of the flies when he was leader and was trying to get all the boys to work together to make it easier to survive, Coach Boone was the leader and tried to get the boys to work together so they would become a better team and integrate to help them. A quote which clearly shows how this adversity is overcome is when Gerry Bertier says, “Can’t you see the resemblance, he’s my brother”. Talking about Julius Campbell. This quote was important because it shows how respecting each other and learning to like somebody of their colour can turn a racial corner by a white boy being best friends with a black boy. The director shows how people can come together as one, even though they started off as individuals separated by adversity. The director wants the viewer to learn that even though discrimination can separate people, with the right attitude and motivation we can overcome our differences and help each other overcome adversity. I am against discrimination of any kind as I feel it is wrong to judge or label others who are different to me I stand together with those who have adversities and help them to overcome.

It is common for people to face adversity at some point of their lives. The theme of overcoming adversity was the main idea that was common in the four texts/films The Hunger Games by Gary Ross and Remember the Titans by Boaz Yakin and also in the texts Lord Of The Flies by William Golding and Job by Dan Preston. All showed me that even though there will be times where we feel like we can’t overcome a problem, we should never give up trying as it will work out in the end as long as you work at it.

1.5 Sexuality

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Health task 1

PDF document questions

1) Select at least two options that help you to show how Boaz Yakin investigates overcoming adversity. -Coach Boone got the black and white teammates to sit next yo each other on the bus. – he made the teammates learn stuff about their roommates and tell him what they learnt

2) Using the given examples (or your own examples) find at least two techniques used in the example that helps you to understand the theme. Dialogue and acting both of these techniques helped me to understand the theme by giving off emotions and the problem.

Health entry 13, week 4 day 1

Long term Goal:My goal not eat any unhealthy foods or takeaways with lots of fats eg mcdonalds, chips and lollies instead I will eat meals with healthy ingredients like more vegetables and less dressing and instead of potato chips as a snack, I will eat a piece of fruit which will both fill my gap and add to my 5+ aday

Date: 7 July
Action taken today (relate this to the actions identified in Task 1b). Include what was done, when, where, how long etc? Also include your thoughts and feelings.

Today I had no breakfast. But for lunch I had risotto, vegetables and bacon. For morning tea I had a biscuit to give me some energy for my study. For dinner I had pasta, mince and vegetables.

Identify what helped in the success of this action? (enablers) I had lots of vegetables today with no unhealthy foods so I think I did well today.
Identify what prevented, disrupted the success of this action? (barriers)
Nothing because I was down stairs all day away from foods, but I probably should of breakfast this morning.

Identify how did you try to overcome these barriers? How could you prevent this in the future?
Mum brought down stairs some food and drink for me to eat, while studying

SUMMARY:
Do you feel your actions today helped you be a step closer to your LONG TERM GOAL – why/why not
I feel like the actions I took today helped me be a step closer to my long term goal because I didn’t eat any unhealthy foods except I alittle biscuit to give me energy to focus on my study.