Category: Assignment Response

Give a brief outline of the plot (action) of the film.

The film starts with three men taking shelter in front of a dilapidated temple, while two men keep stating “they don’t understand something”. The thing they don’t understand is how people, the woman, woman’s husband, and bandit, can recount different versions of how/why the woman was raped, and the murder of her husband, when it’s the same event that they experience. Indeed, the story told by the woodcutter was a partial story as well.

What are the main symbols in the film, and what do they represent?

The main symbol throughout the film is the valuable dagger with pearl inlay. It appeared in everyone’s confession but was held by different hands to kill different people. While it’s valuable, it was left in the forest and forgotten by everyone except the woodcutter, who keeps a secret from stealing the stagger while distinguishing himself from all three other participants.

How is the structure of the film important to the telling of this story?

The film story is told using flashbacks but none of their “confession” align with others. The order in which characters confess is important in influencing the audience’s stand. One thing that I found interesting was how the woodcutter was the first one to confess, and he was the narrator of this film. The audience, at least me, will consider his speech to be neutral and true, but it was not. It was not until the very end that the woodcutter was revealed as a liar as well, which disrupted the audience’s faith in him and the story he told about this event.

‘The Rashomon effect’, refers to the phenomenon where different individuals provide contradictory interpretations of the same event or phenomenon. The phrase has since been widely used in various fields, including psychology, sociology, journalism, and philosophy, to describe situations where subjective perceptions and biases lead to divergent accounts of the same event. This effect highlights the complex nature of truth and the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. In what ways does social media exacerbate the Rashomon effect by allowing for the rapid spread of conflicting narratives and perspectives on current events? Give examples.

To me, the most common way “the Rashomon effect” takes place is when individuals hide adverse details that seem to harm them. To cover the missing part, individuals might start to lie, and to cover a lie you will need more lies. Placing that into social media content, the fast spread of information through the web can easily cause information to be left out intentionally or unintentionally. It does not matter if that action was done purposely or not, it might start with missing small details that are not essential but unfortunately, it’s going to be turned into the wrong

I enjoyed every moment when Ariel appeared on stage or when she was singing, it gave a light-hearted feeling to the play. Overall, it was much more enjoyable than reading the words myself because there are tones and movements added to the play which enhanced my understanding. I’m not a good reader when it comes to poems, old English, or play reading, so for it to be performed as a live read on stage helps me understand the context through their interaction with each other. I have never read this play before so there will not be any alternate feeling that I could demonstrate. However, the character, Ariel, really comes alive in my opinion and I would have that impression with me if I got a chance to read the text itself. On top of that, play can convey pathos a lot more easily and directly compared to words typed on paper, where the tones are directly performed.  

James Baldwins started his speech by talking about historical facts of injustices against black people and how the United States of America was established upon the expense of cheap labor back then and still now. All these historical contexts that he introduced were referred to at the end of his speech where stated his point of view that black people have always been at the expense of others’ success, taking his stand for the debate topic. On the other hand, going against Baldwins, Buckley mainly counterargued Baldwins’ speech stating that it was irrelevant to the debate topic. Buckley stated his stand in the beginning and expanded upon it by adding his understanding to the examples given by Baldwins. Their speech structure was quite different which might be caused by the order they presented in. 

James Baldwins 

Ethos: “We are sitting in this room, and we are all civilized; we can talk to each other, at least on certain levels, so that we can walk out of here assuming that the measure of our politeness has some effect on the world.” The way he uses the word “we” are tying every single individual in the room with him if everyone is prepared and are here to talk about real issues based upon real sources, then he is as well. Doubting his words will be doubting yourself, Baldwins put everyone on the same boat before anyone notices, if the boat sinks, everyone drowns. 

Pathos: “But what is worse is that nothing you have done, and as far as you can tell nothing you can do, will save your son or your daughter from having the same disaster and from coming to the same end.” Once again, using the word “you” is strong in relating emotions together as one individual. Those audiences might be a bit older or the others younger but most of them have or are going to have children, Baldwins is trying to create a common anxiety here where everyone could start to think about these generational issues of injustices. 

Logos: “I am speaking very seriously, and this is not an overstatement: I picked cotton, I carried it to the market, I built the railroads under someone else’s whip for nothing. For nothing…. None can challenge that statement. It is a matter of historical record.” This is a very strong fact as “it is a matter of historical record” that speaks out from someone who and his ancestors experienced. 

William Buckley:

Ethos: “I urge those of you who have an actual interest in the problem to read ‘Beyond the Melting Pot,’ by Nathan Glazer and Daniel Moynihan.” The fact that he is naming the book and authors directly gives the audience the sense that he is confident about what he is talking about, and the confidence is based upon real facts from research and books. 

Pathos: “If it finally does come to a confrontation between giving up the best features of the American way of life and fighting for them, then we will fight the issue. We will fight the issues not only in the Cambridge Union, but we will fight as you were once asked to fight…” The choice of utilizing the word “we” is very emotional in this case to wrap up his speech. It is not only gripping those who agree and support his idea but those who might still be challenged by this new concept introduced as well. 

Logos: The way William Buckley started his speech was in a logical sense to counterargue against James Baldwin. Instead of disagreeing with Mr. Baldwins directly, he agrees that mistreating and discrimination exist, but it does not align with Mr. Baldwins’ idea that it makes them the expense for the successful American dream of others. With this starting, he builds upon his idea of how America has been one of the nations/might even be the most proactive in solving discrimination issues compared to others.

Writing Hormesis and Writing Mimesis

Hormesis: After exercising and taking a shower, my thoughts would be fuller and smoother. Funnily, I give a speech about what I am going to write during the shower, it provides me a better sense of what might be missing from the story and the tone I want to set it as. Particularly, it will be more emotional with the hormesis technique because most of the ideas that happen in the shower happen to be personal and secrets even. Most of the time shower will be the last thing I do before I go to bed, so it’s a time for me to reflect on my day as well, more details are reflected on when I’m writing with this technique for sure.

Mimesis: I often use this technique unintentionally, especially if I am reading an interesting book. I would consider this and “Hypoxic Writing” the best way that suits me as I always had a hard time starting to write. I copy the format of “The Fifth Story” for this practice and every time I rewrite the beginning of my story, it becomes more and more detailed. From previous experience, it would also be helpful to “imitate” a story’s writing style that has the same tone that I wish to set my story as.