Citizen Kane – Initial Thoughts

Brief plot overview
The movie follows the life of Charles Foster Kane, and the movie starts off with the death of the main character Charles, and his final dying words “Rosebud” The movie does not the normal chronological order, but instead takes place after the death of the main character, and follows a reporter investigating his life, but features flashbacks to his life as the reporter speaks to the people that were close to him. One of the defining moments of his character was when he was starting out in the newspaper industry when he put on the front cover that he would pledge to only say the truth in his newspaper. However, throughout the play he slowly spirals into corruption, losing his core values, losing his close friends and people close to him. At the end of the movie, it is discovered that the word “rosebud” was what his sled from his home was called before he was taken away to inherit all of the wealth. The meaning of “rosebud” was that he realised the only time he truly felt loved and at home was when he was still with his family.

How is Kane characterised as the tragic hero
Kane is characterised as the tragic hero of the movie by the use of the usual traits or experiences a tragic hero goes through in their journey. One of these is his hubris, his fatal flaw, his fatal flaw is his arrogance and his belief that whatever he says is true, and that he can sway and influence what people think. He is an ordinary person that is no better or worse morally than the average person. The audience begins to realise this as they see how the mistakes he makes affect the overall outcome of his life. This then leads into his peripeteia, also known as his reversal of fortune. This occurs when it is discovered that he is having an affair with a woman that would then end up becoming his second wife. When this fact is discovered he is disgraced, and forced out of the race to become the governor of the state, essentially ending his political career. Kane’s final word “rosebud” shows his anagnorisis, his realisation that he was the cause of his own suffering. And that he never knew what is like to love or to be loved, seeing as he was taken away from his family at such a young age because they thought that would provide him with a better life, instead all he was given was a richer life, although it was empty because he was missing out on the things that most take for granted, friendship and love. Although he had all the money a man could ever need as soon as he lost his companionship he effectively had nothing, and he only realises this as he takes his final breaths.

The narrative structure is manipulated so that the audience experiences a heightened cathartic experience
The movie begins with the death of the main character Kane, meaning that immediately

Act 2 – The Subplot

Edgar got tricked into leaving by his half brother, Edmond. He is now disguised as Poor Tom, who is a beggar. In order to achieve this, he did things such as making his hair knotted and unkempt, covered himself in grime and dirt, and he stripped himself of all of his clothes, apart from a loincloth. In doing this he essentially killed the idea of himself. “Oh madam my old heart is cracked, it’s cracked!” – This quote supports the notion that this is the subplot, by showing parallels to King Lear in the first scene when his favourite daughter, Cordelia, refused to prove her love for him, resulting in her getting banished from the kingdom.

The scrip induces stress in the viewer because of the events that happen in the text that the viewers are given full knowledge of the events, and the characters most often are only aware of certain characters motives, causing them to make incorrect decisions. This causes the viewer to feel stress because they can see decisions

Extract 2 – The First and Most Important Element

1. To Aristotle, which trait is the most important, plot or character?
Aristotle believes that the plot is the most important part of a tragedy, this can be found in the quote “The plot then, is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of a tragedy;”

2. Why does he argue this
“Without action, there cannot be a tragedy, but maybe without character”

3. Do I agree or disagree
I agree because when reading a text I feel like the plot

Key Terms – Tragedy

  1. Exposition / Protasis – A comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory.
  2. Inciting Incident – An episode, plot point or event that hooks the reader into the story. This particular moment is when an event thrusts the protagonist into the main action of the story.
  3. Rising Action / epistasisRising action in a plot is a series of relevant incidents that create suspense, interest, and tension in a narrative. In literary works, a rising action includes all decisions, characters’ flaws, and background circumstances that together create turns and twists leading to a climax.
  4. Climax – The most intense, exciting, or important point of something; the culmination.
  5. Reversal – A change to an opposite direction, position, or course of action.
  6. Hamartia – A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine.
  7. Hubris – Excessive pride or self-confidence.
  8. Falling Action / catastasis – The parts of a story after the climax and before the very end. An example of falling action is act four in a five-act play.
  9. Catastrophe – Something very unfortunate or unsuccessful.
  10. Denouement – The final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.
  11. Recognition / anagnorisis – The startling discovery that produces a change from ignorance to knowledge.
  12. Catharsis – The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.

Creative Writing Finished

It is winter, a cold morning on top of the mountain, the freshly fallen snow gently covers the buildings. The sunlight slowly illuminates the hills, revealing the groomers trudging along as they prepare for a long day. There is a chain of cars, steadily crawling up the winding ski road. The lights of the main building are turned on, and they flicker several times before they finally begin to provide light.

Listen, can you hear the ski lifts creak into action, the newly installed chairs begin their first journey, the first of many for the day, on the first day of many in the season. They look new now, but before long the leather seats will be worn, and the frame will slowly become disfigured. The chairlift queue swells, as people slowly filter across to it, eager to begin their day of skiing on the fresh powder. The rocks that can usually be seen to the sides of the trails are now invisible, hidden from the eye by the icy crust of snow.

If you look up the ski slopes, you can see dozens of small figures, whizzing down the hill at various speeds, recognisable only by the small splashes of colour on an otherwise plain background. There are small flicks of snow trailing behind the people, kicked up by the harsh edges of their skis

The murky grey clouds, slowly wander across the sky, covering and revealing the sun at will, changing the weather conditions dramatically whenever they shift. The sun is dim today, it lacks its usual intensity, and this is made worse by the thick fog is threatening to close in on the secluded valley, unaware of the front that is on its way, that is inevitable.

Again, Listen, the silence that was once only broken by the chairlifts mechanical movement, is now complete. The chairlift has stopped, the chairs now sit there, swinging nauseously above the white nothingness. There are shrieks and screams from the occupants of the chair, as the cold wind harshly flows past them, cutting into any exposed skin that is left out for the elements. The chairs begin to swing into motion again, but their movement seems laboured now, like something has gone very wrong, every metre seems like it takes an hour to cross, as the chairs painfully carry their occupants up to the top of the mountain, where they will then have to make their way down the mountain, in the worst conditions possible, not only is it windy but the clouds have now fully descended, enclosing the mountain in a prison of what seems like white nothingness.

The snow begins to fall, slow at first, from a distance they just look like small white spheres but upon closer inspection, you can see the intricate detailing upon each and every one. As they begin to fall faster and more frequently people on the mountain begin to take notice, pulling their balaclavas over their faces in order to escape the harsh edge of the elements, and they begin to ski that wee bit faster in order to limit their time out in the elements. the ski lifts begin to operate slower, as their insides begin to freeze over as if they had been dunked in an icy lake. The mountain is unpredictable, and choosing to ski is putting yourself at the mercy of the mountain, and today the mountain was not kind to you.

2.9 Reflections

Russian Roulette (Text)
Russian Roulette is a book that is written by Anthony Horowitz and is set as a prequel to a book series that I also enjoy Alex Rider. The original book series focuses on Alex Rider, a teenage spy, and there is a common antagonist, in the Russian assassin Yassen Gregorovitch, who is the main protagonist of Russian Roulette. I personally found this book very good, because it provides the reader with a new insight to a character, that up until now has been portrayed only as a ‘villain’. My favourite part of the text was the story and transformation that it told. Yassen starts the book as a young teenager, not overly athletic, or smart, and ends it as a ruthless assassin that has killed all over the world. The reason that this is my favourite part is that it is almost the underdog story, and this resonates with me because that is a bit what I am like. My favourite part of the text was the final chapter when a scene that I have already seen played out in a previous Alex Rider book, was shown again, but with the thoughts and actions of Yassen, who is originally shown to be against Alex in the first time I see this scene, it is shown that he is actually trying to help Alex, and going against his direct orders in order to do what he knows is right.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Text)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final instalment of the Harry Potter book series, written by J.K Rowling. Although Harry Potter is often considered to be a children’s book this final book continues and elaborates on the theme that slowly grows throughout the series which was the theme of overcoming darkness. I really enjoyed the new dynamic that was formed with the 3 main characters, with the changing from being schoolchildren to being on the run from the dark lord, who has control over the wizarding community. There is a lot of the conflict between the trio, as they grapple with their new lifestyle, and one of them gets into an argument and leaves for a few weeks. This is a very important part of the text because up until now there had been very little conflict between them, and it is a show of how much they have changed based on their experiences and how they are slowly being driven apart. I really liked the magical realism aspect of this text because although the text is set in a magical world it is made to be really believable, by how it is written and the real world themes that are used, with the author integrates into the text perfectly. One of the key themes is corruption, the wizarding government is being controlled by a leader that is a puppet to Lord Voldemort, and everyone complies with the new world that has been presented to them, which is very similar to real-life events when the leaders agendas are not for the good of whoever they are leading, but they have secured their power for a set number of years and the public has no choice in the matter. This leadership is a key part of the story because it enables the main villain Voldemort to have control over the wizarding community and its assets, without having to publicly be the leader. 

Eragon (Text)
In “Eragon” a book by Christopher Paolini, the main character  Eragon begins the story as a humble farmer and ends it as a Dragon Rider, one of the most powerful beings in Alagaësia, where the book is set. At the beginning of the text, Eragon is living with his uncle and cousin but still stands out amongst his peers. He is the only one will to brave the mountains that have claimed so many lives referred to as “The Spine” It is in The Spine where he finds the dragon egg that turned his world upside down. Before he leaves to help join the fight he is only a hunter, wasting his true potential because he knows nothing else, his only worry is trying to feed his family. He has no knowledge of magic, of dragons, or of his destiny, only caring about simple things in his life “Eragon slowly crept closer, keeping the bow ready. All his work of the past three days had led to this moment.” This teaches the reader many things about Eragon, it teaches us that he was willing to give up a lot of time to achieve his goals, even if they are very difficult. The author uses the concept of change to get his message across. I personally related to this text because the main character is a young boy that is the same age as me, and although he is also very different both in his lifestyle and physical attributes I think that his character has been very well written and as he develops as a person and can see more of myself in him. As he develops his newfound powers, he also changes who he is a person, and most of this learning is discovered by himself. This is a good representation of the real world, even though many teenagers are in school and have teachers that help them learn things that are crucial to them, many of the life lessons that they discover are found by themselves, and by making mistakes, and then learning from them.

The Black Book of Secrets (Text)
In the book, The Black Book of Secrets, by F.E Higgins, the main character escapes his parents and the horrible ‘City’, and escapes on top of a carriage to a remote village, that he soon discovers has its own inner conflict, between the residents and the wealthy man, Ratchet, who controls most of the wealth in the town. Ludlow is employed by a new pawnbroker, who buys secrets, this is how Ludlow begins to discover the town’s secrets. Magical realism was very loosely used in this text, it is set in what can only be described as sometime around the 1800s, and the magical realism that was used is the book of secrets, whenever the bookkeeper Joe arrives at a new town, and lets the townspeople get their secrets off their chests good things start to happen, in the case of this text, Jerimiah Ratchet slowly begins to crumble as the townspeople, who are now freed of guilt about things that they have done, are able to unite and stand up against him. This is a good message to a lot of readers, because a lot of people bottle up their emotions and this makes them very unstable, and they may begin to have some dark thoughts, this makes me start to think that the world having something or someone that people can share their deepest and darkest secrets with would be good, because it would allow them to rid things that are holding them back. This text is also a good representation of how unjust and unfair the world can be, Jerimiah Ratchet, who got his wealth by doing nothing, is able to control an entire town, and no one is able to step up to him because they are scared of the consequences, to simplify it Ratchet is a bully, and the easiest way to stop a bully is to stand up to them, and when the townspeople began to do this their fortunes began to change for the better.

Thor: Ragnorok (Film)
The movie Thor Ragnarok, directed by Taika Watiti, is a marvel film that focuses on Thor, the god of thunder, this film is very different to most marvel films, and it has led the film franchise turning in a new direction. Thor is one of the most popular Marvel characters because of this film and for good reason. Very early on in the fim he loses his weapon and is banished to a planet far from his home. He is forced to rethink who he really is throughout the movie before finally rediscovering himself at the end. The recurring theme in this movie was change. Up until now, Thor was a stock standard god that defended Asgard, but when he finds himself on an alien planet used for entertainment and is unable to save his home, Asgard, he learns that he can change, with the help of some unlikely allies. At the end of the movie, during a fight when he is almost died trying to save Asgard, he has a vision from his father, when he learns that his hammer, which he previously thought gave him his powers, only helped to channel them, and he also learnt that the only way to save his home was to let it be destroyed, because as long as the people are left that Asgard would still exist, wherever that may be. This scene provides an insight into the real world because a lot of people are scared of taking a jump in doing things, things such as moving town or getting a new job. When they do these things they learn that the things that heve previously made them who they are do not define them, they only halped shaped them and they can be changed, and tis change often improves them signifigantly, such as in the case of Thor. It also gives the message of communities, and bonds, although the area that asgard once stood on was destroyed, the people were what made it what it was, and they will be able to relocate, wherever that may be. This is also true for many real-life places, such as a community being relocated because of urbanisation or things like that, but when they move to the new location, with the same people it can often be a benefit because it opens up new pathways and opportunities

Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith (film)
In the film, Star Wars, Revenge of the sith, magical realism is used to show how even the most powerful people can be undermined by brainpower. This is done by the use of the main protagonist, Darth Sidious, who is posing as the chancellor of the republic, as part of a plan that has taken up about 20 years. He is trying to bring down the Jedi, the current power of the galaxy that Star Wars is set in. He uses his powers to mask himself from the Jedi, and the moves that he makes as chancellor are slowly trying to undermine them. While doing this, he is also getting into the head of the chosen one, Anakin Skywalker, and trying to convert him, when Sidious is found, he gives Anakin a choice, kill him, or join him to have the power to save his wife, Padme. Anakin chooses to join the sith lord and seals his own fate. This movie shows the viewer that even the mighty can fall, and how anybody can have their perspectives changed if the correct leverage is used. It also says how the people that are in power often get comfortable and do not stop to think that there are people that are trying to bring them down. It also paints a picture of deceit and corruption, there is no way that a sith lord could have infiltrated the Jedi and the republic without them discovering, yet Sidious put a plan into place that allowed him to do this. Although he is portrayed to be the villain, in the end he is successful, and many viewers cannot help but admire that.

Exam Practice Intro

Markus Zusak uses supposedly insignificant events in his novel “The Book Thief”, to show the significant theme of the power of words. These 3 events are the first book theft by Liesel, the painting over of Mein Kampf, and also in the personification of everyday objects, such as books and words. All of these events are seemingly insignificant but as the book progresses they are revealed to have a much greater meaning in how they portray the power of words.

NCEA 2.4 Writing Portfolio Option 2: Being There

It is winter, a cold morning on top of the mountain, the freshly fallen slow gently covering the buildings. The sunlight slowly illuminates the hills, revealing the groomers trudging along as they prepare for a long day. You can see the chain of cars, steadily crawling up the winding ski road. The lights of the main building are turned on, and they flicker several times before they finally begin to provide light.

Listen, can you hear the ski lifts creak into action, the newly installed chairs begin their first journey, the first of many for the day, on the first day of many in the season. They look new now, but before long the leather seats will be worn, and the frame will slowly become disfigured. The chairlift queue swells, as people slowly filter across to it, eager to begin their day of skiing on the fresh powder. The rocks that can usually be seen to the sides of the trails are now invisible, hidden from the eye by the icy crust of snow.

If you look up the ski slopes, you can see dozens of small figures, whizzing down the hill at various speeds, recognisable only by the small splashes of colour on an otherwise plain background. There are small flicks of snow trailing behind the people, kicked up by the harsh edges of their skis

The murky grey clouds, slowly wander across the sky, covering and revealing the sun at will, changing the weather conditions dramatically whenever they shift. The sun is dim today, it lacks its usual intensity, and this is made worse by the thick fog is threatening to close in on the secluded valley, unaware of the front that is on its way, that is inevitable. The only sound is the ski lift, but aside from that the mountain is silent.

2.4 Analysis

It is winter, early morning in the little township, chilled and blackfrosted, the plants and bushes stiffly frozen, the football field icy, the trees carrying crystals of sharp ice up to the wet sodden air-hugging mist.

Listen.  It is morning quietly roving the main road, the moist melodic streaming mist rising over the garage and the schoolhouse.  It is grass shivering on the hill.  Sunrise, dawn, the chorus of birds in the pinetrees.

It is Sunday morning. The thin clear slants of sun echo back onto the thick mist.  In the silver windowed house, the parents sleep heavy while three blanketed children toss and turn. In the workshop of the garage, Joe is up and in his practical oil-stained overalls is working on that ute that the farmer needs today.  Back in the house, the children now sit heavy-eyed around the wooden rectangular table.

And the toast burns as the jug boils.

“Hurry up kids, we’ll be late,” Mum shouts, sharp tongued.  Washed and combed and brushed, families drive the short way to the little church on the hill.  Past the swamp where the dragonflies shimmer and hover in the morning sunlight.  Where the captured tadpoles would have grown into glazed green slippery little frogs.

Look. On the hill behind the house the pinetrees lift their heavy branches of sharp dense needles into the dwindling disappearing time-now-over mist.  Down below in the township, the little general store opens its ready-for-anything doors to sell soap to biscuits, flour, tea towels, light bulbs and milk that will arrive later in the day carried for hours on the bus.

And soon you will be sitting on hard straight-backed wooden pews with no cushions.  The tiny white wooden church echoing with the sound of morning hymns, streaming out into the frosty but now sunstreaked morning.

Describe the Classroom

Stop. Listen. Can you hear the silent chatter, echoing through the room? Can you see the pained looks on the student’s faces, as they struggle to understand the topic? The teacher, sitting at the front, absent-mindedly tapping away.

Arriving at School

It is a cold winters morning at Mt Aspiring College, the grey clouds fill your gaze as they slowly crawl across the sky. The school bell screams at you, as you hurry to class