As a writer, I think one of my greatest strengths is the confidence I have in my own voice, especially because I pick arguments that I am interested in. I genuinely write what I feel and that I communicate my thoughts effectively with my reader. I also have a strong vocabulary and a knack for grammar so I never really have to worry about that when I write. However, one of my weaknesses continues to be structure. As our wonderful Griffin has told me many times, I know how to build an essay on the sentence level. My main issue is that I struggle to make my ideas flow smoothly from one paragraph to another. I am also terrible at writing conclusions so my essays tend to end very boringly.

My strengths have manifested themselves in all my papers because I’ve gotten to write about topics that I thoroughly enjoy, like specific Greek myths or, in this case, a movie that I love. In each essay, I got to argue theses that I believed and I supported my points well. I know grammar and spelling isn’t a main point of the grade scheme, but trust me mine was always on point. My weaknesses also shined through because, as I said before, I have gotten plenty of criticism in terms of fixing the organization of my paragraphs and my conclusions tended to be pretty much summaries of my essays.

I feel like the paper I am currently writing is helping me to address my issues with structure because I am really going to work on organizing it in a way that makes it easy for the reader to understand my argument. I also talked with Griffin about what a conclusion should add to the paper so hopefully the end of this essay won’t be as terrible. In terms of my strengths, this essay is about a movie that I really enjoy talking about so I am having a great time learning and writing about it, and I feel like that always shows in someone’s writing.

To Mr. Mundt,

Using the archetypal theme of generational turnover to market Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel is a good financial decision because any other approach would not be as appealing to all audiences, and would not encapsulate all the film has to offer. If we try to market the movie as a war film or a historical film, only those interested in the history of Eastern Europe would feel compelled to watch it. If we try to market it as a romantic movie, we might lose a large part of our audience that is not interested in love stories. If we try to market it as an action movie with thrilling chase scenes, this again may isolate certain viewers who don’t like those types of films. Additionally, each of these approaches only encompass a fraction of the story that takes place in the movie. If we were to market the film using the myth I mentioned above, we would appeal to all audiences because every body can relate to it. Just think about it: every single person on this planet wants to leave a legacy, wants their children’s children to still talk about the things they did in their lifetime. The Grand Budapest Hotel is the story of two strangers who form a bond that transcends age, ethnicity, and all the struggles the pair encounter. How can anyone resist the charm of that story? Furthermore, this theme permeates the entirety of the movie so people won’t feel that it is a dishonest way of marketing the film, and they will (hopefully) recommend it to their friends. This movie tells the story that everyone wants and needs to hear.

Let me know what you think,

Natalia

My main issue at the moment is that I am under the page limit because I am not sure what else to write about. Since my thesis is about the influence Stefan Zweig had on Wes Anderson as he created The Grand Budapest Hotel, I talked about the choices Anderson made for the movie structure and how a couple of the characters reflect Zweig in some way, and I have also added how each of these conveys the theme of generational turnover. I just don’t know what else I can talk about without repeating myself or getting off topic. I was thinking I could possibly write about why Anderson chose to set the movie in 20th century Europe, since Zweig lived there during that time period, but I’m not sure how to connect that to the archetypal myth I discuss in the paper.

Another issue I have is that I wrote a little piece about production in terms of set design and props (which is what I was originally going to write about) in the middle of one of the paragraphs. I don’t want to scratch it altogether because I do think it is an important aspect of the film’s history, but I also don’t feel like it fits very well with the thesis or with the paragraph; it’s a little out of place. If I change my thesis, I might be able to incorporate it better and that might also solve my previous problem because I could have more to write about. The issue now would be to find a new thesis that encompasses both ideas.

This is less on the topic of the paper, but I always have been terrible at writing concluding paragraphs because I never know what to write in them. I know you are not supposed to summarize your entire essay but I know you are also not supposed to introduce new ideas, so what exactly should I be writing about? At the moment my conclusion is kind of a summary of the argument, but I have already presented my argument in the previous paragraphs so it feels very repetitive.

Dear Great Aunt Helga,

I hope everything is going well for you in Orlando. In your last letter you mentioned something about a bingo-related hustle you’re running down there and I’d love to hear more about it! Anyway, I’m writing you this letter because you also asked me about this film paper I’m working on and I figured I’d try to explain it a little better. In a nut shell, my goal is to write an essay about the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel where I talk about the production history in relation to any mythological aspects of the film. Now those are a couple of big words so let me break it down for you. The production history is pretty much like the recipe of the movie: it involves looking at all the ingredients that make up the film (actors, backgrounds, costumes, the script, etc) and seeing how each one affects the final product, which in this case is the movie. In terms of the mythological aspect, I’m supposed to be looking at how universal themes or more national messages come across through the choices made by the director of the movie during the production.

As I’m writing this paper I am facing a few problems, so if you can think of any solutions I would really appreciate it! My main issue is that I have a lot of information on the production history for this particular film and I have a lot of ideas about universal themes or national themes that come up in The Grand Budapest Hotel but I’m not quite sure how to link them. For instance, I could easily talk about the universal theme of legacy since the movie surrounds the concierge of a hotel taking a new lobby boy under his wing to train him in the art of customer care. On the other hand, the movie takes place during a made up war in a made up country in Eastern Europe so I’m also sure that I could write a lot about more national themes related to World War II or the Cold War. The problem is that I’m not sure how to connect either of those two concepts to the production history of the movie which has a lot to do with building sets and props from scratch and the deliberate evasion of computer-animated effects. I might be able to resolve this problem if I can make a connection between Eastern Europe and the director’s interest in Stefan Zweig (he’s this old Austrian writer; I won’t get into it here but I’ll write more about him in my next letter if you’re interested). I’m going to keep researching and I’ll tell you more about my progress in my next letter.

If you happen to know anything that might be helpful, please write me back as soon as you can. As always, I love you a lot and I hope to visit you soon!

Your great niece,

Natalia

P.S. Writing this from the post office: I’ll send counterfeit bingo cards in the next envelope, my mom insisted on reading this letter before I sent it.

One important thing that was missing for me in The Terminator (1984) was the development of the relationship between Sarah and Kyle. Given that the entire premise of the movie hinges on them falling in love and having sex in order to bring John into existence, I feel that their relationship lacks depth. They’ve known each other for barely a day and that day has hardly given them time to talk as they’re being chased and shot at constantly. Their relationship just seems very one-sided. On that note, since Kyle claims that he has been in love with Sarah for a long time, it might have been interesting to see more of him in the future talking to John about his mother and why she was so great.

I would have also been interested in a slightly more developed antagonist. Arnold Schwarzenegger does a terrifyingly good job as a hulking, indestructible bad guy, but that’s the issue. The fact that the Terminator can survive explosions, gunshots, and literally being torn in half makes him less believable as a character. Aside from that, his motivations also lack depth because he is simply a machine following orders. It would have been cool if the addition of human flesh and blood to the structure of the Terminator influenced its ability/desire to kill humans, since it would have more in common with them than if it was made of rubber.

For the final writing assignment, I plan to write an expository paper on the production history of Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. This film tells the story of a young lobby boy, Zero, learning the rules and procedures of running the Grand Budapest Hotel from Gustave, the hotel’s concierge. When one of the hotel’s oldest customers dies mysteriously, Gustave receives a priceless painting as part of the customer’s last will and becomes the main suspect in her murder. Zero and Gustave put it upon themselves to discover the truth as they are chased through the fictional Republic of Zubrowka by those who want the painting for themselves.

I am going to be writing extensively about how Anderson’s decision to use handmade props and set pieces creates a different viewing experience from other modern movies, which tend to use CGI instead.

I am concerned that this may not be enough to fill the required amount of pages, especially since I cannot seem to find any information of scenes that were cut or rewritten in the movie. I was also wondering, if I were to choose to write about two films, which would be a good choice for a second film to write about.

The Graduate (1967) strongly represents social changes that took place during the 60s in the United States. Soon after the Cold War and World War II had ended, many Americans searched for peace and freedom, which led to civil rights movements for African Americans and the blossoming of hippie communities. Ben represents this movement because he feels so out of place among his parents and their socialite friends. The only adult Ben really bonds with in any way is Mrs. Robinson, an older woman who is also searching for a drastic change in her life. In this movie, the director uses water to indicate Ben’s desires to be free of the life his parents want for him and the pressures that come with it. For instance, during the first party scene, Ben escapes the guests’ questions to stare at the fish tank in his room. Additionally, Ben is often seen lying in the pool relaxing before his parents start to nag him about taking control of his future.

On a more universal level, The Graduate represents the archetypal combat between love and desire. One on hand, Ben sees Mrs. Robinson as an experienced woman, beautiful even in her older age. The relationship he develops with her is simply sexual; this is made clear when, late in the film, Ben asks Mrs. Robinson if they “could say a few words to each other first this time”. Furthermore, the director makes it clear that Ben is unhappy with this because all of their sexual encounters take place in relative silence and in the dark. In the scene where Ben makes the previous remark, he turns on the light to have a conversation and Mrs. Robinson repeatedly turns it off as she tries to avoid it. Contrarily, Ben’s relationship with Elaine is solely based on love. Throughout the movie, Ben claims multiple times that he loves Elaine and that he plans to marry her, despite Mrs. Robinson being completely opposed. His relationship with Elaine is highlighted by loud noises on their first date and their meetings take place in the daytime; the sole exception to this is the moment shared by the pair in Ben’s bedroom in Berkeley where he asks Elaine to marry him. The contrast here marks the intimacy of that moment, but it is different from the times Ben was with Mrs. Robinson because he and Elaine manage to have a conversation in the dark. At the end of the film, love beats lust when Ben steals Elaine away from her family and, particularly, her mother.

An altercation between loved ones if often a good source of climactic tension for movies. In Sunrise, this conflict occurs between a husband and his wife while in Red River it occurs between two men who have clearly formed a father-son relationship. The dynamics of these relationships point out an important theme in both movies: trust. In either movie, one member of the pair (the wife or Matt) stops trusting the other one (the husband or Dunson, respectively) because this second person has threatened the other person’s life. Sunrise also brings forth themes of romantic love and the contrast between the urban and the rural. Red River brings forth themes of family love, power, and ownership.

The scenes differ aesthetically in a few ways: the ‘fight’ in Sunrise occurs at night on a lake, the couple are alone, and the husband recoils of his own accord. In Red River, the fight occurs during the day in a desert, Dunson and Matt are surrounded by the other cattle drivers, and Dunson only stops his attack when Matt fires his gun at him.

The resolution of each conflict also points out a similarity and a difference between these movies. In Sunrise, once the husband stops himself from attacking his wife, he does everything in his power to regain her trust, which she ultimately gives to him. In Red River, Matt takes control of the cattle drive and abandons Dunson in the desert. Once Dunson catches up with the herd in Abilene, Matt refuses to draw on his former mentor, but is willing to put his physical strength to the test in a fist fight. However, unlike Sunrise, a third party (Tess) is forced to intervene to make them reconcile. Both movies demonstrate a critical shift in the power from the originally strong member to the weak one. After the trust has been broken, the wife and Matt hold more power, either emotional or physical, than they did before.

Having seen all the dazzling trailers, bursting with music and wild colors, Natalia was excited to watch The Greatest Showman on the big screen. She was, however, unaware of how deeply the movie would move her. Natalia had always been a great fan of theater in general, especially musical theater, which was partly what motivated her to go see the film. She had also recently finished working on her last musical show at her high school. With those memories fresh in her mind and as the harmonies played over the opening credits, her skin prickled with excitement. She couldn’t suppress the wide grin that spread across her face as Hugh Jackman sang the first line. However, as the song progressed, she couldn’t help the opposing emotions that took hold of her. Despite having already heard this song before, the size of the screen and the dark, isolating environment made the lyrics hit harder than she expected: “This is where you want to be.” Yes, she thought, that is where I want to be. I want to do musical theater all my life. But she also knew that in the coming years she probably would do theater less and less. Bittersweet tears welled in her eyes because, although she was reminiscing about the emptiness she felt knowing she would not theater for a while, she was thriving on the music and the energy of the film. Not wanting her family beside her to see, she quickly wiped away the tears as Hugh Jackman sang the final notes of the song to an empty circus tent.