Directions:
Employing the skills you utilized and honed in the Unit 1 Essay, write a 4- to 6-page academic essay (at least 1500 words), employing MLA Style formatting and documentation throughout
The essay should have a minimum of 6 paragraphs, including an introduction, 4 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Begin with an introductory paragraph that hooks your reader’s attention, provides background information about the three works, and leads seamlessly into a clearly stated thesis. Develop body paragraphs that incorporate quoted and detailed evidence from our course materials (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Crouching Tiger, Hidden!
Dragon, and Gods of Jade and Shadow) while using proper MLA format to cite the texts.
Quoted evidence should be incorporated thoughtfully and thoroughly into the essay by establishing context, introducing the quoted/paraphrased/summarized passages, and explaining how the passages support the main ideas of the body paragraphs and the essay as a I whole.
CES = Include at least three quoted passages from three different sources in each body paragraph (1 from Gods of Jade and Shadow; 1 from Hunt for the Wilder people; 1 from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) Essays that use APA or any other format other than MLA or that include ANY outside sources will earn a maximum of 50% on the assignment. Students who do any of the preceding will not be allowed to revise the assignment for a higher score.
Conclude your essay with a well-developed reflection on the theme and its significance. Answer the proverbial “So what?” question. What can your readers, gain or learn from your analysis? What is the treasure we take away?
Unit 3 Essay
In all stories, there are heroes who go through their journey in order to become a hero and earn that title. While every story is different most heroes share the similarity of going through ups and downs that challenge them as a character and allow them to develop and grow into those heroes. Earning that heroic title requires the characters to grow into better characters and take away the lessons that the obstacles are meant to teach them. The characters in the films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee, and Hunt for the Wilder People by Taika Waititi, and in the book Gods of Jade and Shadow written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, all share the similarity of having to overcome obstacles to become this better person. In Gods of Jade and Shadow, Casiopea set out on this journey to help Hun-Kame find the missing pieces of himself which changed her entire life. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Jen Yu is faced with the challenges of cultural norms and is set off on her journey to try and escape an arranged marriage and instead live a free life. Lastly, Ricky Baker in Hunt for the Wilder People is faced with many challenges when his foster aunt passes away, he finds himself on an adventure with his uncle trying to avoid child services and laws (imsdb.com). All three of the characters experienced challenges and obstacles that allowed them to transform and become more than they thought they were capable of.
Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon is one of the most stirring movies ever presented on screen. Early in the nineteenth century, Li Mu Bai, a Chinese swordsman who sought enlightenment, made the decision to sell his famed Green Destiny sword, the 400-year-old, razor-sharp blade of heroes. During the latter several decades of the Qing dynasty, this choice was made. A cunning and speedy disguised burglar successfully steals the expensive weapon that Li gives to Yu Shu Lien, a magnificent female warrior, to gift to Governor Yu as a symbol of the conclusion of a murderous career. Shu Lien’s search for the master thief is hampered by unrequited love, intense emotions, an unquenchable thirst for independence, and nasty loose ends. Can Mu Bai overcome his violent past?
In Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, female characters are employed to illustrate the truth about man’s dominance in ancient China (Litster & Charles, 2022). Despite the fact that the idea of female characters emphasizes the need for women’s emancipation, I claim that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is not a standard feminist film and that it takes its arguments from writings by Rong Cai and L. S. Kim. The movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is not considered to be a feminist one.
Jen Yu: It must exciting to be a fighter, to be totally free.
Yu Shu Lien: Fighters have rules, too. Friendship, trust, integrity. Always keep your promise. Without rules, we wouldn’t survive long.
Political structures with an inclination toward hierarchy are patriarchal and exist in China, a country with a strong Confucian culture. Asian martial arts have a long history of sexism-confronting female fighters. Even though they can fight equally as well as men, women are not shown in this movie as heroes. Despite employing the sword as the object of desire, the director does not use women as a source of desire (imsdb.com). The sword also stands for the man’s strength. Jen really prefers human rule to freedom. Female heroines like Jen emulate the masculinity of men by yearning for the sword. Finally, the man reclaims control, and the female resumes loving. Although I acknowledge that this film heavily emphasizes female empowerment and combat, its ultimate message is one of reclaiming masculine control and reinstating love for women.
Along with these examples from adventure stories, the movie also employs other amusing tactics. Newspaper headlines announce the sensational manhunt as the police pursue the escapees, chapter numbers and titles are displayed at the bottom of the screen, and Paula shares her version of events on a talk show, reminding viewers that our heroes are surrounded by a second layer of fiction in which Hec has abducted Ricky. The camera swings back to reveal Hec and Ricky watching the uniformed searchers from a ledge above.
We are able to experience this journey via Ricky’s eyes because of the expertly made graphics, which shift from being enormous to intimate, terrifying to exciting. The movie follows Hec on this journey, and as a result, we get to see how the ordinary world transforms into something lovely and benevolently fantastic (scripts.com). His heart also grows as his viewpoint changes. Because of how the couple has isolated themselves from the culture that judges them, we all have the opportunity to see ourselves and the couple from a different perspective.
After Child Welfare agrees to take Ricky back into their custody, Ricky flees for most of the remaining scenes in the movie (which to him only means “juvie”). Hec, however, never gives up on him. He finds Ricky and is prepared to bring him out of the forest. When Hec claims that reading is silly, they debate whether or not he is correct (as Ricky strongly implies). Hec loses focus while on his feet during their intense argument and breaks his ankle. The movie’s message- that reading is the first step toward personal liberation and renewal- is emphasized by the unity of the two characters. Hec makes fun of Ricky’s frequent usage of haiku to describe his feelings. (Ricky makes reference to the action of tackling a difficult circumstance all at once.) But when Ricky addresses Hec by name in the little boy’s incomprehensible attempts at poetry, Hec is affected. In one of his wordplays, Ricky and Hec are referred to as “wilder people” because they have traveled more than 1,000 miles than migratory wildebeests (imsdb.com). The name of the film comes from this. In the end, Hec reads aloud from a worn science fiction book, giving us our first glimpse of just how much he has changed.
Casiopea embarks on a journey that will take her from the jungles of Yucatán to the brilliant lights of Mexico City- and far into the depths of the Mayan underworld—accompanied by the oddly fascinating god and armed with her wits. Power, myth, storytelling, and the other kinds of power they possess are all topics that are covered in the book Gods of Jade and Shadow (Tian 452. It examines what it means to have wishes that the universe will just grant, to pursue power at all costs, to achieve heights you never even knew you could dream of, to have it stolen from you, and to feel as though you have been chopped to pieces with a carving knife.
In The Gods of Jade and Shadow, racial and sexual inequality in Mexican culture is explored, as is the idea that women with Mayan traits are less attractive than those with European features. Hun Kamé is the first to praise Casiopea’s beauty.
“Haven’t you ever looked in the mirror?”
He asks with his normal frigid directness, clearly perplexed. At that time, Casiopea encounters sexual discrimination in Mexico, especially from her cousin Martin, who consistently opposes her and doesn’t understand why she must continue to struggle against him and refuse to recognize him as the future head of their household. This book is well written, with poetic language and moments of unadulterated feeling. Favorite authors of Fiction Unbound have given it high praise. Casiopea still needs to fully develop if this book is a bildungsroman, much as Harry did over the course of seven books. I anticipate a sequel even though Moreno-Garcia dabbles in a number of literary subgenres, including thriller, mystery, historical fiction, and paranormal romance.
Whether or not the story fits the definition of a Bildungsroman, there is no denying that it is a heroic journey. Finding out that Casiopea’s mother is still alive and functional rather than being an orphan is encouraging. Despite being aware of how dismal her current situation is, this young woman detects a need for adventure that she can’t ignore because it’s necessary for her survival. This expedition into the mysterious Underworld is made more exciting by Casiopea’s inquisitiveness and spirit of inquiry. She dares to imagine herself enjoying the joys of the outer world like a typical woman rather than subjugating them like Paul Atreides or controlling them like Ged. She imagines herself at nighttime swimming, dancing, and driving.
The story’s depiction of how the gods, who are strong in their own worlds, are constrained in the Middleworld and by fate, is another delight. Hun Kamé and Vucub Kamé are compelled to fight for control over one another and other people, using frail individuals as pawns or prize opponents in their games (scripts.com). They require willing human sacrifices in order to gain strength; they cannot simply slaughter individuals to do so. Vucub Kamé must team up with the spiteful and selfish Martin in order to use threats and promises to try to persuade Casiopea.
The cousins must prevail over the dangers of the racecourse and the horrific obstacles of the underworld before the gods will accept the result. They play the part of the death gods. The creation of Vucub Kamé’s everlasting sibling is something he is aware will happen at some point, but he cannot stop it by simply scattering his ashes. The laws of nature, fate, and history cannot all be changed, not even by gods this powerful.
Though independent with their themes and their own subjects, the two movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Hunt for the Wilder People and the book Gods of Jade and Shadow focus on one single concept of- heroism. All three of them talk about how the protagonist rises to the zenith crossing all the hurdles and finally moving out of the zone of struggles. They talk about how the issues of gender, love, hatred, emotion, and other transitory elements shape the fate and fortune of the hero and how these elements pave the way and ultimately result in the shaping of personality and the grooming of the person- both psychologically and emotionally.
Works Cited
https://imsdb.com/scripts/Crouching-Tiger,-Hidden-Dragon.html
https://www.scripts.com/script/hunt_for_the_wilderpeople_10388
Tian, Yi, et al. “Research on Development Mechanism and Strategy of Folk Art Industry in Northeast of China.” E3S Web of Conferences. Vol. 253. EDP Sciences, 2021.
