Post by Dominick on Nov 20, 2008 1:09:06 GMT -5
Hey, this is an essay I wrote a month ago... did fairly well on it. Any opinions?
Dominick Torro
Period 2
Discrepencies in Stories Essay
Factors of Change.
Pocahontas. The name alone brings up the tale. So when one takes the story and puts it under the microscope, what does one find out? One discovers that there are factors to change in a story, where the truth is distorted. Aside from the obvious middle school effect, where the story changes every time it is told there are three factors that have the same affect. The personal opinion of the author, the quality of the story told, and the time period when the piece was written are all factors to the change in a story.
To begin, personal opinion can change what a story says. For example, it is a personal opinion whether Captain John Smith was a good or ordinary person. In an excerpt from a book the following is said: “Captain John Smith- adventurer, colonizer, explorer, author, and map maker- also ranks among America’s first historians.”(book) Now this quote shows John Smith in a romanticist’s standpoint. It is questionable weather he is as perfect as the quote shows him to be. Also, in the movie The New World John Smith is characterized as a criminal, in fact the settlers almost hang him. He wasn’t a perfect person.
The next point, ties in very well with the previous one. A good story is usually one that has characters, some good and some evil, and has good prevail over evil in the end. However, this is a romantic, in the literary definition, view on life. An excerpt from an article furthers this statement: “Here is an example of historical storytelling in full flower, replete with vivid(mainly fictitious) detail and a clearly conveyed moral.” (packet). A story is better when it has a moral, good and evil characters, and when the protagonizing side of the story prevails in the end. Often stories are twisted to fit this. For example, the following quote is one author’s description of Smith: “He was a strong character and a born leader” (packet). This is a realist’s view on the subject, he isn’t perfect, just has some good qualities. The next quote clearly opposes this thought: “...Captain Smith , the bravest, the most intelligent, and most human of the first colonists…” (packet), This is a romanticist’s view on Smith. He is depicted, here, as a perfect person, the best. This cannot be true, no one is perfect. Realism usually depicts reality how it is, while romanticism depicts reality how it could be.
To wrap up, another scrap from a packet said: “A public relations firm today probably could not give Smith a more glorified spin than the passage below” (packet). Smith was glorified more in the early 1800’s, when this was written, because men were in a higher social status than women. The quote then continues to say: “Pocahontas, on the other hand, runs into a historical problem. By informing the English of her father’s plans is she, as the text claims, an ‘angel of peace’ or form the Native American viewpoint, a traitor to her people.” (packet) was also written in 1805. Pocahontas was given the shot to be evil, Smith wasn’t. Furthering on Pocahontas’s role, “Pocahontas’s role in the following stories says a great deal more about the time period in which each text was written…” (packet). This proves that a time period will determine a story. Some accounts of the story show Pocahontas, with a much larger role. This is probably due to the fact that her marriage to John Rolfe, was an excellent one, but “never operated as an example.” (packet)
All in all, the world has heard many stories; time and time again, but these stories can be distorted by one’s personal opinion, the quality of the story wanted, or even the time period it is written in.
Dominick Torro
Period 2
Discrepencies in Stories Essay
Factors of Change.
Pocahontas. The name alone brings up the tale. So when one takes the story and puts it under the microscope, what does one find out? One discovers that there are factors to change in a story, where the truth is distorted. Aside from the obvious middle school effect, where the story changes every time it is told there are three factors that have the same affect. The personal opinion of the author, the quality of the story told, and the time period when the piece was written are all factors to the change in a story.
To begin, personal opinion can change what a story says. For example, it is a personal opinion whether Captain John Smith was a good or ordinary person. In an excerpt from a book the following is said: “Captain John Smith- adventurer, colonizer, explorer, author, and map maker- also ranks among America’s first historians.”(book) Now this quote shows John Smith in a romanticist’s standpoint. It is questionable weather he is as perfect as the quote shows him to be. Also, in the movie The New World John Smith is characterized as a criminal, in fact the settlers almost hang him. He wasn’t a perfect person.
The next point, ties in very well with the previous one. A good story is usually one that has characters, some good and some evil, and has good prevail over evil in the end. However, this is a romantic, in the literary definition, view on life. An excerpt from an article furthers this statement: “Here is an example of historical storytelling in full flower, replete with vivid(mainly fictitious) detail and a clearly conveyed moral.” (packet). A story is better when it has a moral, good and evil characters, and when the protagonizing side of the story prevails in the end. Often stories are twisted to fit this. For example, the following quote is one author’s description of Smith: “He was a strong character and a born leader” (packet). This is a realist’s view on the subject, he isn’t perfect, just has some good qualities. The next quote clearly opposes this thought: “...Captain Smith , the bravest, the most intelligent, and most human of the first colonists…” (packet), This is a romanticist’s view on Smith. He is depicted, here, as a perfect person, the best. This cannot be true, no one is perfect. Realism usually depicts reality how it is, while romanticism depicts reality how it could be.
To wrap up, another scrap from a packet said: “A public relations firm today probably could not give Smith a more glorified spin than the passage below” (packet). Smith was glorified more in the early 1800’s, when this was written, because men were in a higher social status than women. The quote then continues to say: “Pocahontas, on the other hand, runs into a historical problem. By informing the English of her father’s plans is she, as the text claims, an ‘angel of peace’ or form the Native American viewpoint, a traitor to her people.” (packet) was also written in 1805. Pocahontas was given the shot to be evil, Smith wasn’t. Furthering on Pocahontas’s role, “Pocahontas’s role in the following stories says a great deal more about the time period in which each text was written…” (packet). This proves that a time period will determine a story. Some accounts of the story show Pocahontas, with a much larger role. This is probably due to the fact that her marriage to John Rolfe, was an excellent one, but “never operated as an example.” (packet)
All in all, the world has heard many stories; time and time again, but these stories can be distorted by one’s personal opinion, the quality of the story wanted, or even the time period it is written in.
Maybe. 
