Motiveless Malevolence

 Here are the words and phrases you need to memorize to get a good score on our midterm exam:

pay homage to, bird's eye view, misanthrope, misogyny, tracking shot, foreshadow, vinegar, match shot, opening credits, angst, chopper, cilantro, chronological, myth, raspberry, pulp fiction, vanilla, represent, genre, filial piety, yam, psychiatrist, alcohol, basement, taro

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lp5v4oQZRw

Class Notes: 

Writing Rules.

Do not start a sentence with “it” or a number.

Do not end a sentence with a preposition.

Please look up “run on sentence” and practice it.  Churchill won the Nobel Prize for literature. He was a great writer. Please focus on the idea of the simple sentence. S. V. O.

We have a midterm exam next week. I will email you the vocabulary I want you to memorize tonight. You will have some comprehension questions. When you answer a question or write an essay, always explain.

1.   Why does George ignore Phil when Phil talks about Bronco Henry? A lot of people will say Phil and Bronco Henry had a gay love affair, so George does not like to talk about it. I do not think that is the reason. I believe Bronco Henry does not exist. He is imaginary. Remember Phil studied Classics (myths) at Yale University.

2.   Why does Phil bully Peter and his mother? The mother stole his brother’s affection and he is jealous. He could be a misogynist: a person who hates women. But why Peter. Shakespeare had a term: motiveless malevolence.

The idea is from Othello. Peter has a new friend. His mom asks him: “Why don’t you invite him to the ranch?”

Peter replies: “I don’t want him to meet a certain person.” Phil wants to torture Peter’s mother, and Peter understands that.

We just saw a complicated “match cut.”

 

What Kind of Man Would I Be?

 

We have the midterm exam in two weeks. I will tell you what to study next week. I haven’t prepared it yet. We also have had two homework assignments; if you have not turned them in, you should soon.

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Genres. Horror. Comedy. The third is western.

Western: Europe, America, etc.

western: cowboy movie

All three actor and the actress were nominated for

an Oscar. The director won the Oscar. This is significant because women don’t have the chance to be directors and seldom win. The musician from Radiohead composed the soundtrack. He also won the Oscar for best soundtrack.

Important concepts for The Power of the Dog:

1.  A rule that you must respect / protect your parents. Filial piety.

2.  Foreshadowing: hints of what will happen later

3.  Misanthrope: person who hates other people (because they are stupid)

4.  Misogyny: hatred of women (chauvinist); Phil seems to take joy in torturing Rose.

Homoerotic theme: subtle gay idea

Myth: before science, we used myths to explain the world (gods, magic, Thor, Zeus)

Narration or voice over: someone talking to explain the film; a voice you cannot see: “When my father passed, I wanted nothing more than my mother’s happiness. For what kind of man would I be if I didn’t help my mother?”

The movie is set in 1925 Montana.

 

What does the tracking shot with the windows, the stair railings and finally the car represent? Is it an unrolled reel of film?

The two brothers: Blond: George    Dark: Phil

George always nags Phil about bathing. Biblical: baptizing

Phil talks to George about their mentor (teacher) Bronco Henry three times in the movie. Each time, George doesn’t seem comfortable or ignores him. Why does Phil want to talk about Bronco Henry so much? Why doesn’t George want to talk about Bronco Henry at all?

The second time and George does not want to drink to Bronco Henry.

We have the idea of myth. Phil talks about Romulus and Remus. According to the myth, Mars (Roman god of War) had a baby with a mortal woman. The babies were raised by a wolf. They created Rome in 753 BC.

Phil uses myths to explain things to. Maybe Phil doesn’t live in reality. Phil graduated number one from Yale University. He studies Classics. Ancient.

That story about the horse is impossible. It is not true. It is a myth. It is not real. Is Bronco Henry real?

Zed is Dead, Baby

 

There are seven scenes in Pulp Fiction. They are not in chronological order. They are out of sequence, not one, two, three, etc.

Your job is to explain each scene with a sentence. Put the scenes back in order.

You will see later, the watch is really important to Butch, the Boxer.

1.   Reason one: the watch belonged to his ancestors. His dad, grandpa, and great-grandpa owned it, before it was handed down to him.

2.   The time order in this movie is messed up. The watch represents to Butch something to give him order in the chaos of the story / world.

666: Satan (Biblical)

7 years, and 7 scenes: (Biblical) The world was created in seven days.

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children." Ezekiel 25:17 (Biblical) 

The director said about a scene from another of his films they took the shoes off the dead soldiers to show disrespect. Both Mia and the cab driver are barefoot. 

HOMEWORK.

There are seven scenes in Pulp Fiction. They are out of chronological order. Write one or two sentences to describe each scene. Put the scenes back in order. I will do number one. You may use it or write your own number one. 

1. A war comrade of Butch's father visits young Butch and delivers his father's watch. The watch is a family heirloom.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

In the diner robbery scene, Jules calls Pumpkin "Ringo." He is ridiculing Pumpkin. Ringo (top right) was a small, silly drummer in The Beatles. There is some respect too. Ringo was a great drummer in one of the greatest rock bands of all time.