Burnt Brides Pay the Bitter Price of Dowry

Questions

1. Nirmala Chaudary was a girl who got married to a man named Hari Ram. Hari was chosen by her parents. Nirmala's family paid a generous dowry (a sum that the family of the bride pays to the groom) for their standards and the marriage was sealed. Only 4 months after, Nirmala's new husband came to her father, Subdash and asked for more money and a share in the Chaudary's flat. Understandably, Subdash refused to pay and 2 weeks later Nirmala was fatally injured in a kerosene fire in her in the house of the Ram family. Mr. Ram claimed that it had been suicide and since there were no evidence or witnesses of the crime there wasn't done anything about it.
   
2. Bride-burnings are getting more and more common because more and more people starts realizing that it is an easy way of making a lot of money from dowrys without getting punished for it. Over 1500 women have burnt to death in their homes since 1985, and that is just in New Delhi. Of course india has a huge population and compared to that the number may seem small but as a very likely way of murdering someone it is a lot.
   
3. The size of the dowry is determined mostly by the quality of the husband she will get. For example an education or good looks could raise the dowry quite a lot.
   
4. The Dowry Prohibition act does not have any effect because such a huge amount of people see it as a standard at almost every wedding. It is like forbidding danish people from giving each other gifts on Christmas Eve. Also, in the prohibition act, the word dowry is not defined. It is basically a gift and you can't forbid people of willingly giving other people positive gifts. It wouldn't make sense.
   
5. Marriage in India is not just declaring your love to one another. For the women's part it is determine who they will spend the rest of their lives with. Because once a woman gets married, she will live with her grooms family and perhaps never see her own family again. If the women isn't content with her new life there isn't much to do about it. Because divorce is very frowned upon and if done leaves a stain on the family possibly denying any sisters' chances of getting married. Therefore sometimes suicide is the only resort for an abused bride.
   
6. Both the women and the men in the advertisements wants to highlight their physical features such as height, and their educations or any other provable accomplishment.
   
7. In the western countries there are generally less traditions that are bound by religion and the focus is more on the individual freedom, which isn't a good thing all the time, because families have a tendency to become a bit distant of each other. Of course there are also extremist religious groups in western society but these exist all over the world. It has also been a general concern that women should have equal rights as men since the middle of the 20th century. In muslim countries some people think that women are being discriminated because they have to cover themselves, but if you were to ask a normal muslim female they would say that they do it completely willingly because that is what they believe in.  

Bride & Prejudice - Analysis of 2 scenes

How to read a film: Wedding scene

Mise en scéne/setting:

The entire scene is set in a very formal situation with traditional Indian clothes and environments and it is clear that the occasion is a wedding or some other formal event as the men are wearing some kind of white uniform like a suit in western culture and the women are wearing light-colored beautiful dresses almost like bridesmaids.

Framing and focus:

The main event in the scene is the dancing and therefore the people dancing are generally the people in focus. While the dancers mostly are in the foreground the spectators make for a lively background. The shot itself is at most times close up focusing on the details and expressions of the characters  or zoomed out to create an overview of all the people involved with the dance.

Camera movement:

The camera movement tends to pan in the general direction that the people dancing are moving but when it moves it does steadily. There is a lot of camera switching which creates a dynamic experience of the dancing but might seem a bit disorientating at times.

Camera angle:

Especially at first when all the women are situated on a raised level. The camera is pointing upwards at the girls or pointing downwards at the men dancing. This correlates with the way that the men are admiring the girls in the song they are singing. When the girls then move down to dance with the men, most of the camera angles are level with the people dancing.

Lighting and color:

The lighting in the scene is warm and soft creating soft shadows. The colors are all light except for some of the main characters.

Sound track:

The music in the scene is very traditional. It is happy and light and has a fast pace that synchronizes with dancing in the scene.

Editing:

The cutting in the scene works in relation to the music. Every part of the song has its own set of cuts with same rhythms. The audience also knows that the parents of the girls are trying to get them married to some of the men. While the girls know this, the men don’t.

Wider contexts:

The scene is like a scene pulled out from any other Bollywood wood movie and that is one of the scenes where the title and the movie unites, because Darcy comes to India full of prejudices and in this scenes he gets one of the first impressions of traditional Indian culture which just reaffirms his prejudices.

How to read a film: Goa beach scene

I was not sure if this was the right scene as there is no beach involved in the scene but I have analyzed the pool scene.

Mise en scéne/setting:

The location is at a luxury hotel which pulls Lalita out of her natural environment. Meanwhile Darcy and Kiran are in surroundings they are very used to be in coming from wealthy families.

Framing and focus:

The discussion between Lalita and Darcy are the thing in shot while the love between Jaya and Balraj is blooming in the pool. The background is a luxurious hotel environment which to Lalita has nothing to do with the “real” India. The camera is viewing the scene from a distance at first but quickly transitions into a close-up when the characters start to speak.

Camera movement:

The camera is mostly steady but when the characters are moving the camera is tracking them.

Camera angle:

The camera is functioning as a still observer of the situation and there are no special camera angles in the scene. The camera is serving as the eyes of the audience

Lighting and color:

This scene is filled with warm, light and exotic colors. The lighting is pretty harsh letting us know that is comes from a burning hot sun. This also makes the shadows very distinct.

Sound track:

In the start of the scene there are some very peaceful music playing to indicate the harmony in the scene but when the discussion starts the music stops leaving only the animal sounds behind. When Lalita in the end finishes her argument and leaves, dramatic music starts playing.

Editing:

There are no special cuts in this scene. The camera cuts to the one talking for the most parts.

Wider contexts:

The film is a modernized version of the novel “Pride and prejudice” from 1813 by Jane Austen. As explained before, the film is a musical with Bollywood aspects and it certainly lives up to that genre with love, drama and feelings being unleashed in dancing and singing. The film can also be compared to "Slumdog Millionaire" which also expresses the Indian culture just like Lalita is trying to show Darcy how the real India is beyond the hotels and the prejudices.

How would i react in Clyde Shelton's place - Law Abiding Citizen

It is extremely hard to put yourself in a horrible position like Clyde's but if I were to i think i would enter a state of grief. I wouldn't be able to stand the pain of losing someone i held that dearly in my heart. Of course i would be furious to find out that the real inflictor of the crime was only mildly punished for it.
I would try to contact my lawyer as much as possible for news on the case but i dont think that I would have the intelligence to work out a plan like Clyde Shelton's or the guts to become a vigilante. I would of course be extremely frustrated with the broken court system yet ultimately i think i would be too broken emotionally to be busy trying to punish the felon.
Eventually though i think i would learn how to shut out some of the pain as many other people who have lost someone they loved have learned.

Funny Games - Analysis

Paul and Peter are two young drug-addicts with sadistic and violent tendencies who rob and torture rather wealthy families in their holiday residences.

Mr. Pitt (Paul), blue-eyed and baby-faced, appears to be the calm, ironical alpha predator, while Mr. Corbet (Peter), acting skittish and high-strung, looks like the weaker, crazier one. But that might just be part of the game they and Mr. Haneke are playing, since the whole point of Peter and Paul is that they function without identifiable motive or affect.
- Movie review - 'Funny Games' - Funny Games (2007), The New York Times, Site


The two young men's approach on the main robbery in the movie, is that they pretend to live with a family nearby. Some time later Peter knocks on the door asking for some eggs. He keeps talking his way out of leaving and at some point Paul shows up. When the father of the family, George slaps Paul, Peter knocks him down with a golf club, breaking his legs. The two then capture the whole family and starts playing sadistic games with them.

The film begins with a loving family - George Farber, his wife Ann, his son Georgie and their dog, arriving at their lake house. Their next-door neighbor, Fred is seen with two young men, Peter and Paul, who seem to be their friends or relatives. The two young men come over to borrow eggs. Ann is in the kitchen cooking while George and Georgie are outside by the lake, tending to their boat. They seem friendly, and they use Georges golf club. When the men depart with the eggs they soon return with them broken. After asking for more eggs which also end up broken, Ann becomes frustrated, but when George tries to force the men to leave, Peter breaks George's leg with the golf club and they take the family hostage

- Funny Games (2007), IMDb, Site

Overall throughout the movie Paul keeps talking about the entertainment value of the movie. He breaks the so called "fourth wall" of the movie multiple times by looking at the camera and talking to the audience. This raises focus on the fact that scary movie and horror movies entertain us by showing the pain and suffering of fictional characters.

"Michael Haneke’s Funny Games is a film that is seemingly at war with itself and its genre. Though ostensibly falling into the category of ‘thriller’, Funny Games both fulfills and resists the expectations raised by such a label, shattering not only convention, but the sense of security we feel in knowing that it is all ‘just a movie’."
- Film Epidemic, Joel, Joel's blog

Ending of "Rendezvous" by Daniel Ransom

KIM
At first she feels intimidated and scared, because the strange man looks like a bit of a criminal, but as he is introducing himself and kindly asking to where she is going, she decides to trust him in bringing her home. When she gets in the car the loud drums have faded in to a soft saxophone. She likes it and she feels safe in the embracement of the gentle sound. As they ride down the road Kim decides to talk to him, just to know that he isn't some kind of psychopath.

PAYTON
As Payton drives down along the interstate with the young girl in the car, he feels quite sure about his catch. Everything is going according to the plan he has executed so many times before. She is quite a catch he thinks, but at the same time, he thinks about the priests words. Deep down he knows, that the priest is right. He is enraged by his hesitation, but can't stop thinking about change. Change for good. It only gets worse when she tries to talk to him. "Where do you come from", she says. Payton has always hated making contact to his victims, but this time is different. They talk for a while, and as Payton get to know Kim as her name is, he starts to regret picking her up and thereby seal her fate. The music have stopped, and so has Payton's will to go through with the plan. For the whole trip he can't get himself to drive off the road and do what he had decided to. When he finally arrives at the girls house, her parents come running out. They must have been worried. Payton drives away fast without saying a word, partly ashamed, partly relieved. He decides to visit the priest again.

Articles about bullying - Compare the two writers intensions

In "PM's wife crusades against bullies", Kamal Ahmed starts the article by writing about Cherie Booth receiving a letter from the mother of a bully-victim. Kamal explains the situation and Cherie's reaction from a third-person perspective. Where in the article "Together, we can beat the bullies" we are told the story from Cherie Booth's point of view. She explains her own reaction and dismay to her newfound knowledge and she furthermore explains her decision to act against bullying.

In general Kamal's way of writing about the topic is very objective and cold. Not to think that Kamal is a cold person but the way his article is written is very observing and doesn't involve any personal feelings. That is one of the largest differences between the two articles, because Cherie Booth writes with her own thoughts and emotions in her pen and she relates very subjective to the topic itself.

The content of the articles also differ very much from one another. In Kamal Ahmed's article, the main subject is Emma's situation and it's actually only the first few lines that is about Cherie Booth. Also the only way that we know that Cherie Booth is doing something to prevent bullying is from the title of the article. Lastly in Kamal's article we are met with a few well-known people that have also been bullied as a child. In Cherie Booth's article the main subject is bullying in general and how to save the tormented children.

/Oliver

Analysis of "The History Teacher", by Billy Collins

18-09-2013

Using the tools "Fiction: How to read a poem", from my english book "Contexts"

1) The speaker in the story is not described or told about in any way and it is therefore very difficult to attach a name or character to him. However we can exclude some instances. It is not the teacher himself neither one of the children in the class due to him telling about them in third person. The speaker also knows what the teacher is thinking: (wondering if they would believe that soldiers in the Boer War told long, rambling stories, designed to make the enemy nod off).

2)   We don’t hear about the speaker’s background.

3) The speaker is describing the history teacher’s method of teaching as misinformative. The speaker thinks that the children should of course be spared for horrible details but that they should learn the real stories over fake ones that make the world seem like a bed of flowers. Because that is a part of growing up. Learning that the world also has problems to deal with. While the teacher is only acting in good will, the speaker thinks that he is a little delusional.

4) The speaker is speaking in a bit of an accusing tone.

5) The poem is about a history teacher that teaches the children mild versions of horrible  historical events.

6) He doesn’t think, as I mentioned before, that the teacher’s way of introducing the children to these historical events is as precise, good or informative as they should be.

7) As of having mentioned a lot about the situation and tone previously I will talk a bit about the subject matter in my theory of the poem’s negative way of describing the history teacher. There is one bit from the poem that I think is good to have included as subject matter: (The children would leave his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart, mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses). This suggest that the children aren’t learning enough about reality, and instead of learning how to act and work together in the modern day society, they just leave his class not knowing about consequences in life and how to deal with them.

8) The language in the poem is pretty simple. It’s the kind of language you use on a daily basis. There are no complex words and it’s all in all just a laid-back writing style.

9) The stanzas in the poem are built up in a pretty simple pattern that consists of stanzas with two, four and six lines. The pattern is like this:
4-2-4-2-4-6
Other than that there is no particular shape.

10) There are six stanzas in this poem.

11) This poem doesn’t really rhyme.

12) As said before there isn’t a particular rhythm in this poem

13) The poem tells the story of a teacher who want to protect his students’ innocence from some of the horrible events in history. So he tells less intimidating versions of the stories and thereby he accidentally damages them by not teaching them about consequences and punishment for actions.

14) The theme in the poem is growing up. The teacher wants to protect the children innocence by leaving the horrible stories out of their reach, and the speaker indirectly thinks that they should learn more about the horrors in the world to help them mature.

15) The theme in the poem is developed in three steps.
1. We are presented to the way the teacher tells the stories and that he is doing it to protect the children’s innocence.

2. We find out that after the teacher's class the children go out and pick on the other kids, and there we find out that by protecting their innocence he failed to teach them that consequences follows action and that you cant just do whatever you would like to.

3. Lastly, we learn that the teacher is blind to the fact that he isn’t helping the children more than he is damaging them, when he walks casually home thinking of new things to tell them.

16) The only poem I have read that is a bit similar to “The History Teacher” is a poem called “If freckles were lovely”, by E.E. Cummings.
If freckles were lovely
The poem is about how the whole world could be better if everything was good, but then again it wouldn’t be right because we wouldn’t be we. The picture that E.E. Cummings builds up and then tears down is the same picture the history teacher builds up for the children. The speaker in the story means that if the children grow up with this imaginary picture in their head, some day it will all come raining down on them and that it wont be beneficial for them.


/Oliver