-
The Lion King
This story is about the love of Sarabi for her son
Simba who are the two main characters in this story. The story is set around
the time of Scar’s reign in the Pride lands. It maintains the original score
that Simba has been casted away by Scar blaming Simba for killing Mufasa. Scar
has passed a law within the Pridelands that nor shall Simba or Mufasa’s names
ever be mentioned on the land. Sarabi is saddened by this law as she is unable
to grieve the loss of her loved ones. Therefore she visits ‘where Simba and
Mufasa talked about the Great Kings’ (peaceful part of the Savannah) to ponder
about her son and husband whom she believed have both died. At the same time,
Simba who is well and alive in the jungle with his friends also visits a
‘cliff’ (peaceful visual imagery) in order to be alone in order to think back
about his parents, especially his mother. In these isolated spaces Simba and
Sarabi sing the song which this narrative is titled: “You’ll be in my heart.
Always”.
I found this story interesting in a way because the
idea behind it is unique. We tend to focus mainly on the attractive manes and
the masculinity of the male characters, Mufasa, Simba and Scar that we forget
the existence of female characters like Sarabi. The writer is very creative to
put attention on Sarabi by providing personifications throughout her narrative.
The use of words such as “hurt”, “grieving” and "speak" allows the
reader to identify with Sarabis' character similar to losing someone very close
to the reader. The juxtaposition of Sarabi in the vast lands and the moving of
the story towards Simba could have been improved by starting off the sentence
like “Across the Savannah, things weren’t different for Simba”, to allow a
better flow of the story. Overall it was a good read but given time to proof
read and correct spelling mistakes such
as sense into since (in the first line) this could have been better.
-
The
Lion King
This title
of the story is almost self explanatory. Scar escapes Simba and is chased out
of the Pridelands by “Sarabi and the lionesses”. Scar is hurt and disappointed
that his plans of being the King of Pride Rock have now vanished. During his
fleet, he comes across Kovu, a little cub and his mother Zira who was one of
Scars’ loyal subjects. Zira convinces Scar to become the King of the
Outlanders. Scar agrees to raise Kovu with Zira by “teach (ing) him
everything.” Scar plans to take over the Outland and plan another takeover of
Pride Rock.
I enjoyed
this story very much as it was very descriptive of the characters and the environment
they were in. For example, the writer describing Zira as having “red colored eyes, beige
colored fur “
which gives Zira a majestic beautiful look
as a lion. This helped
create a flow of scenes in my mind which ultimately led to a better
understanding of the story as a whole. We are able to see a soft side to Scar
when he comes across Kovu as the writer uses describes the encounter as “a brown colored cub with
green eyes like Scar's”, comparing the innocent cub to an evil like character
Scar.
This shows a paternal side to Scar as towards the end of the story he was
willing to raise Kovu as his own. This is interesting as it enabled me to
almost empathise with Scar that like Simba he can also have a family of his
own. But then we are left with a twist at the end, that just when the reader
thinks the villain is turning good, old habits die hard with his planned
takeover of the Pridelands. Minus a few spelling errors this was a satisfying
read.
-
The Lion King
This is the
story about the birth of two of Simbas’ cubs. Animals from the Savannah gather
around to await the arrival of one future kings. The cubs are presented to the
animals of the Pride Lands who had come to witness the arrival of their kings’
next heir. They showed respect by bowing to both brothers as a new chapter in
their lives begins.
I didn’t find
this story as interesting as the above stories as it lacked structure and imagination.
Proof reading could have assisted the very first sentence with the word “every”
missing a “y”. There is no clear construction of the story and where it is
heading. Over all this story created so much confusion that although it was
only a paragraph long it had to be read several times in order to understand
it. A more diverse outlook can be taken to improve this and the writer should
be advised to carefully plan out the structure of the narrative before writing.
-
The Truman Show
As the title suggests, this is the “Continuation
of Trumans’ life after the Show.” Truman is faced with the unknown reality of
the “real world.” He fears what lies beyond the doors of the Studio which he
was confined to for his entire life. Truman steps foot into the outside world and
realises that it is not the same as his usual comfortable life inside the
studio. Truman gets a taste of reality when he goes out with Sylvia for a pizza
where he is confronted by a “crazy fan” who blames Truman leaving the show for
ruining his life. Truman feels bad for this and decides to “jump” of a bridge.
I
found this story both intriguing and disturbing at the same time. Truman is
presented as a fearful individual who is unsure of what the outside world holds
for him. The writer reassures this fear by listing “crime, poverty and
dishonesty” which is a contrast of Truman’s almost perfect reality in the
Studio. What I found disturbing about the story is that the incident with the
fan and Trumans' decision to end his life were unexpected and troubling as it
is unusual that the main character dies by choice: suicide. It is a path which
I would not choose to take a character such as Truman on as this ultimately
disputes the fact that in the eyes of many he is as innocent as a baby.
However, the decision of the writer to take Truman down this path is clever in
a way as it makes the reader think of the much wider problems around being a reality
star, the expectations and the pressures they undergo.
- The
Truman Show
The “Heroic
Effort and Great Escape” is about the heroic effort of Sylvia/Lauren to reveal
to Truman that his life was all a lie. Sylvia manages to convince Truman about
his staged life that everything was all recorded and televised across the
world. Truman is disheartened by this news and he plans to escape with Sylvia.
Upon escaping the set of the show, Truman stands up for himself when he is
encountered by “the Producer” vying with him to stay however Truman is
determined to be free and states that the “show is over”. Truman and Sylvias’ escape
is still being televised as they exit the show the final time.
I enjoyed this story as it was straight forward to
the point and it caters to its title. As a contrast to the previous review of
the Continuation of Trumans’ life after the show, this story ends on a happy
note as the main character undergoes acts of heroism to escape the lies that
surrounded him. The dialogue flows very well and it provides a clear image of
the scenery between each Truman and Sylvia. From the beginning, the story builds
up and intensifies at the very end producing a favourable outcome where both
Truman and Lauren escape and are “cheer (/ed)” on by the fans of the show. This
allows the reader to live vicariously through the actions of Truman and begs
the questions; would you have done the same? Or what is going to happen now
that Truman is gone?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your Critique about the 5 links you have chosen and how you compared them with the each other and your recommendations to encourage the author. I like also the way you use questions in your critique because it challenged my mindset to see things from a wider perspective. I look forward to reading your fanfiction draft and final because of the way you have composed your critiques, and also because of the way you have challenged your writing skills by observing the mistakes and perfections of others.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck!!
Well written with clear and appropriate language. Good how the themes are explored and involve the reader. I accidently posted my review in the comments section being a noob at blogging. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteWell Done