The films, “A Fistful of Dollars”, and, “Yojimbo”, both focus on an area being taken over by bandits and facing hard times due to this. A man then comes into the area as a “passerbyer” during his travels. The man notices how out of shape the area is and faces off with the bandits. He then goes to discuss what is going on with another man in the area when he was looking for food and drink. Although the films share the same basic storyline with one another, many parts of the films differ. If I, personally, were to be put with the task to combine these two films by selecting what I favored most between the two, I would use the introduction and ending in, “A Fistful of Dollars”. However, for the rest of the film, I would use the film, “Yojimbo”. I would do this due to the dramatic style the films have at these times as well as the explanations characters give through their dialogue at this point in the two films.
The introduction to, “A Fistful of Dollars”, is very peppy with authentic “wild west” music. I enjoyed this part, it got me very interested in the film, and drew me to continue watching. This part stood out to me in comparison to the introduction of, “Yojimbo”, due to the colors and music used for it. The colors were bright yellows and oranges with horses and cowboys running around shooting their guns. However, in comparison, “Yojimbo”, had an introduction with very monotoned colors such as shades of grey, black, and dark blues. The music was also very dark and low in
Stability. One of the major aspects that America’s economy lacks. It would be assumed that after sweat and tears from working a nine-hour job, six days a week, retirement would be a benefit that every senior could have. However, working your entire life on a minimum-wage job is a necessity for majority of Americans. Journalist, Barbara Ehrenreich published the book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, in 2001, where she wrote about an approximate two and a half year experiment she did regarding the struggles of those surviving off of minimum wage. As a result of her difficult journey, Ehrenreich realizes the difficulty of those working minimum wage and deduces, “So the problem goes beyond my personal failings and
The author Gary Shteyngart of “Sixty-Nine Cent” describes himself in a tug of war between the Russian culture of his parents and the American culture in which he wants to be a part of. At the age of seven, Gary Shteyngart and his family immigrated to the United States from Russia. When he was fourteen, his family and other Russian immigrant made a trip to Florida to see Disneyland. He describes “the ride over the MacArthur Causeway to Miami Beach was my real naturalization ceremony”( Shteyngart 103). At that age, he wanted to be like every American born boy, He wanted to eat at McDonald’s, walk the beaches, and speak to the girls, and to enjoy what every boy his age takes for granted. One of his desires was to eat a McDonald’s
In Barbara Ehrenreich's book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by In America" we read about a middle aged journalist undertaking a social experiment of the greatest magnitude. The journalist is Ehrenreich herself and the experiment was to find out how a woman, recently removed from welfare, due to policy reform, would make it on a six or seven dollar an hour wage. The experiment itself started out as just a question in the middle of lunch with one of Ehrenreich's editors, it soon turned into a job assignment. Before starting the experiment, Ehrenreich laid out some ground rules for her to follow during the duration of the assignment. First she could never use
Throughout our lives, we have moments that may impact us negatively and/or positively. In the short story “the money” by Junot Diaz we see his mother saving money to send to her parents in the Dominican Republic but his family is already in a struggle to survive. Then there was a turning point for the whole family, they were robbed. Diaz’s mother was enraged by the event “she cursed the neighborhood, she cursed the country, she cursed [his] father, and of course, she cursed [the] kids,” assuming that one of Diaz’s friends or his siblings’ friends had something to do with it (Diaz 3). Diaz suspected one of his friends and he was right. So, he then took it into his own hands and went to steal the money back. Once Diaz retrieved the money, he
The image is brighter and sharper in the film. The contrast of the film really affects the mood. Since the contrast is so bright the viewer is bound to stay focused and aware because everything is so catchy and noticeable. Also, the exposure changes throughout the film. At the very beginning the film starts in black and white and changed to color as the story progressed. The filmmaker uses a lot of Long Takes, each shot of Dorothy meeting someone new is pretty lengthy.
Everything looked like what you would expect of the late 1800’s. Horse drawn carriages, suspenders, paved streets, it all really added to the movie and helped the story along instead of getting in the way. Something that I think genuinely worked in their favor was the contrast between the wealthy and the poor. Take David’s family for example, a family of five living in what looks to be a studio apartment, maybe a one bedroom and contrast that with Joseph Pulitzer’s office at the top of a tall, domed building finished off with a gold coat. Also, the music used in the background was nice to help create suspense, I specifically liked how in spots during the second half you could hear pieces of “Santa Fe” float around. Along with that, this is a musical, songs are a large part of the plot and how the story is told and I believe that the songs were quite effectful. Songs where all of the boys sing together, like “The World Will Know” and “Seize the Day”, were really strong and gave you this feeling of power, determination, and readiness for what lies
To understand the poetry, it is important to know the poet. Dana Gioia is known as the face of Formalism. Formalist use the poetry elements of free verse, narratives, rhyme, and meter. In reality, Gioia fought for “poet’s freedom to use whatever style he or she felt was right for the poem” (Johnson 2011). His poetry often focuses on themes associated with life’s struggles and responsibilities of the middle-class. His second book The Gods of Winter appeared in 1991 and consists of poems created from grief after losing his young son to Sudden Infant Death (Mason 2015). Yet another short poem in the volume will make you laugh with its play on words until its meaning is understood. Dana Gioia’s poem “Money” demonstrates how the poet uses the poetic form of free verse, metaphors, a sarcastic tone and drab imagery to reveal a personal struggle between responsibilities, fitting in and his passion for poetry.
Throughout the novel Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, the author documents her journey working on minimum wage and trying to live off of the low wages. She found that living on minimum wage is a challenging task that requires sacrifice, dedication, hard work, and motivation to live. Ehrenreich found that the life of a minimum wage worker is full of injustice and helps bring to light the treatment and conditions for these people. She initially discovered that minimum wage does not support a comfortable life, including adequate housing, medical care, and food. She learned that these jobs are often physically demanding and require toughness to work them for long periods of time. Lastly, she found that the application process is intrusive and more in depth than necessary, she was subject to multiple drug tests and was treated poorly. Ehrenreich believed that these were significant problem and she likely hoped her book could shed light on the true life and
In the book Nickel and Dimed written by Barbara Ehrenreich, is about a journalist who was assigned to write an article about the minimum wage life. She believed that in order to do this task she needs to actually experience it in her own point of view. She decided to do an experiment as to live a life with a minimum wage. I believe that the message that she was sending is that it is very difficult to survive in such a minimum wage. No one should be in that state where you have to worry about eating the next day or being able to pay the upcoming bills, not having a permanent shelter. Throughout the book she noted down the peoples situation about how they have to share the place in order for them to be able to pay the rent. To always having
In the essay “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich she discusses the issues of low wages. Barbara worked a low paying wage job as a nurse in order to fully understand the hardship. While working this job she meets new people and writes about their struggles with low paying jobs. She believes it is important for everyone to know how the other half lives, and to shed light on the low wage market and many more problems that come with it. This essay will focus on the message Barbara wanted to get across, but also her flawed, hypocritical methods of acquiring this information.
In the book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, doesn’t talk much about the issue of mental health, but what she does say is “forced into a subordinate status within their social systems. They become depressed. And their behavior is anxious and withdrawn.” According to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMH), 1 in 4 American adults, have some form of mental illness. Low-income workers will most likely not get any benefits or medical insurance; since most health insurance companies will not adequately cover the cost of services required to fully overcome mental health issues. Working long hours, not only drains the worker physically but mentally as well, due to the inadequate funds to support
Barbara Ehrenreich the author of Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting by in America aims to show her perspective and own experiences by going undercover as a journalist. She portrays herself as a recently divorced woman with the skills of a homemaker. The objective of Ehrenreich’s experiment was to evaluate different jobs requiring little to no skills and to see if she could survive economically on a low wage income. This essay will demonstrate the agreements and disagreements found in Ehrenreich’s experiment. II.
Barbara Ehrenreich in her book “Nickel and Dimed” first handily accounts her experiences and trials as a well educated and prosperous woman who goes out and encapsulates the life of an American service worker, through reading, I questioned the validity of her words, experiences and wondered how much of the real trials did she actually face. It is no question that Ehrenreich worked the hours, put in the labor, and accounted her own work difficulties but prior her experience set limitations which include basic privileges such as no intentions of homelessness or going hungry but these privileges are also ones that she experiences that her co-workers most of the time, don’t. Ehrenreich even goes through and depicts the housing arrangements of her
The Coen brothers decided to color correct the entire movie by adding Sepia filter. All the settings looked like they were in a drought or had dying flora. The music in the movie was all in the styles of old folk, gospel, and blues. Near the beginning of the movie a song called “Big Rock Candy Mountain” played. This was a satirical folk song about a land where one does not have to work. This song was popular in the 1930’s because it was an escape from the pains of the real world and a reminder of the happier past. The blues was also big during this time because the public can relate to the pain and sadness of the song. Gospel music gave hope to the
The narrative form exhibited in the opening sequence seems simple at first glance, but actually conveys a multitude of