The Things They Carried

Las cosas que llevaban los hombres que lucharon (1990)


The Things They Carried is Tim O’Brien’s classic collection of stories about the Vietnam War based on his own experiences as a soldier. Originally published in 1990, I would consider it a must-read book for anyone interested in learning about war and its repercussions. While the interconnected stories present a thought-provoking reflection on the war, a few other themes emerge throughout the text such as memory, imagination, and the somewhat foggy combination of these two concepts. As a whole, the book also demonstrates the power of storytelling and the impact it has not only on those who listen or read stories, but also on those who tell them. The story we’ll read is called “Stockings”.

Stockings

Henry Dobbins was a good man, and a superb soldier, but sophistication was not his strong suit. The ironies went beyond him. In many ways he was like America itself, big and strong, full of good intentions, a roll of fat jiggling at his belly, slow of foot but always plodding along, always there when you needed him, a believer in the virtues of simplicity and directness and hard labor. Like his country, too, Dobbins was drawn toward sentimentality. Even now, twenty years later, I can see him wrapping his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck before heading out on ambush. It was his one eccentricity. The pantyhose, he said, had the properties of a good-luck charm. He liked putting his nose into the nylon and breathing in the scent of his girlfriend’s body, he liked the memories this inspired, he sometimes slept with the stockings up against his face, the way an infant sleeps with a flannel blanket, secure and peaceful. More than anything, though, the stockings were a talisman for him. They kept him safe. They gave access to a spiritual world, where things were soft and intimate, a place where he might someday take his girlfriend to live. Like many of us in Vietnam, Dobbins felt the pull of superstition, and he believed firmly and absolutely in the protective power of the stockings. They were like body armor, he thought. Whenever we saddled up for a late-night ambush, putting on our helmets and flak jackets, Henry Dobbins would make a ritual out of arranging the nylons around his neck, carefully tying a knot, draping the two leg sections over his left shoulder. There were some jokes, of course, but we came to appreciate the mystery of it all. Dobbins was invulnerable. Never wounded, never a scratch. In August, he tripped a Bouncing Betty, which failed to detonate. And a week later he got caught in the open during a fierce little firefight, no cover at all, but he just slipped the pantyhose over his nose and breathed deep and let the magic do its work. It turned us into a platoon of believers. You don’t dispute facts. But then, near the end of October, his girlfriend dumped him. It was a hard blow. Dobbins went quiet for a while, staring down at her letter, then after a time he took out the stockings and tied them around his neck as a comforter. “No sweat,” he said. “The magic doesn’t go away.”

Copyright © 1990 by Tim O’Brien

The Big Sleep 🕵️‍♂️📸

Una novela policíaca escrita por Raymond Chandler

Set in Los Angeles, The Big Sleep follows private detective Philip Marlowe as he investigates a case of blackmail for a wealthy client.

Let’s read Chapter Two!

The butler stood in front of him and said: “This is Mr. Marlowe, General.”

The old man didn’t move or speak, or even nod. He just looked at me lifelessly. The butler pushed a damp wicker chair against the backs of my legs and I sat down. He took my hat with a deft scoop.

Then the old man dragged his voice up from the bottom of a well and said: “Brandy, Norris. How do you like your brandy, sir?”

“Any way at all,” I said.

The butler went away among the abominable plants. The General spoke again, slowly, using his strength as carefully as an out-of-work show-girl uses her last good pair of stockings.

“I used to like mine with champagne. The champagne as cold as Valley Forge and about a third of a glass of brandy beneath it. You may take your coat off, sir. It’s too hot in here for a man with blood in his veins.”

I stood up and peeled off my coat and got a handkerchief out and mopped my face and neck and the backs of my wrists. St. Louis in August had nothing on that place. I sat down again and I felt automatically for a cigarette and then stopped. The old man caught the gesture and smiled faintly.

“You may smoke, sir. I like the smell of tobacco.”

I lit the cigarette and blew a lungful at him and he sniffed at it like a terrier at a rathole. The faint smile pulled at the shadowed corners of his mouth.

“A nice state of affairs when a man has to indulge his vices by proxy,” he said dryly. “You are looking at a very dull survival of a rather gaudy life, a cripple paralyzed in both legs and with only half of his lower belly. There’s very little that I can eat and my sleep is so close to waking that it is hardly worth the name. I seem to exist largely on heat, like a newborn spider, and the orchids are an excuse for the heat. Do you like orchids?”

“Not particularly,” I said.

The General half-closed his eyes. “They are nasty things. Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men. And their perfume has the rotten sweetness of a prostitute.”

I stared at him with my mouth open. The soft wet heat was like a pall around us. The old man nodded, as if his neck was afraid of the weight of his head. Then the butler came pushing back through the jungle with a teawagon, mixed me a brandy and soda, swathed the copper ice bucket with a damp napkin, and went away softly among the orchids. A door opened and shut behind the jungle.

I sipped the drink. The old man licked his lips watching me, over and over again, drawing one lip slowly across the other with a funeral absorption, like an undertaker dry-washing his hands.

“Tell me about yourself, Mr. Marlowe. I suppose I have a right to ask?”

“Sure, but there’s very little to tell. I’m thirty-three years old, went to college once and can still speak English if there’s any demand for it. There isn’t much in my trade. I worked for Mr. Wilde, the District Attorney, as an investigator once. His chief investigator, a man named Bernie Ohls, called me and told me you wanted to see me. I’m unmarried because I don’t like policemen’s wives.”

“And a little bit of a cynic,” the old man smiled. “You didn’t like working for Wilde?”

“I was fired. For insubordination. I test very high on insubordination, General.”

“I always did myself, sir. I’m glad to hear it. What do you know about my family?”

“I’m told you are a widower and have two young daughters, both pretty and both wild. One of them has been married three times, the last time to an ex-bootlegger who went in the trade by the name of Rusty Regan. That’s all I heard, General.”

“Did any of it strike you as peculiar?”

“The Rusty Regan part, maybe. But I always got along with bootleggers myself.”

He smiled his faint economical smile. “It seems I do too. I’m very fond of Rusty. A big curly-headed Irishman from Clonmel, with sad eyes and a smile as wide as Wilshire Boulevard. The first time I saw him I thought he might be what you are probably thinking he was, an adventurer who happened to get himself wrapped up in some velvet.”

“You must have liked him,” I said. “You learned to talk the language.”

He put his thin bloodless hands under the edge of the rug. I put my cigarette stub out and finished my drink.

“He was the breath of life to me–while he lasted. He spent hours with me, sweating like a pig, drinking brandy by the quart and telling me stories of the Irish revolution. He had been an officer in the I.R.A. He wasn’t even legally in the United States. It was a ridiculous marriage of course, and it probably didn’t last a month, as a marriage. I’m telling you the family secrets, Mr. Marlowe.”

“They’re still secrets,” I said. “What happened to him?”

The old man looked at me woodenly. “He went away, a month ago. Abruptly, without a word to anyone. Without saying good-bye to me. That hurt a little, but he had been raised in a rough school. I’ll hear from him one of these days. Meantime I am being blackmailed again.”


Copyright © 1988 by Raymond Chandler

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Risky Behavior 📈🏂🏍🤪

Ejemplo de ensayo argumentativo en inglés sobre las conductas de riesgo y la sociedad


Here is an example of an argumentative essay in English about risky behavior and American society.

Every day people take risks. Driving a car to work in the morning is a risk the average person takes daily without thinking about the consequences. Many different forms of risk exist such as physical, financial, and social risks. The United States of America has been made possible by the risks the forefathers of the nation took. American society today may take risks that societies in the past would never have taken and vice versa. Can anybody say that Americans are getting riskier in their behavior? This is the question writer William Dowell argues in his article. In William Dowell’s article, “Life on the Edge,” he supports the argument that American society has been captivated by risk-taking by using several one sided examples; the information Dowell presents is debatable, which makes his point of view difficult to agree with.

In order to provide evidence for his belief that American society is full of risk-takers, Dowell uses comments from so-called experts like Johnathan Senk to show that extreme sports are gaining popularity in America. He tries to prove this by talking to expert risk-takers about why they take these risks and how they feel while doing them. Former Army Ranger Senk’s own words emphasize how he feels about participating in extreme sports: “Every time I’m out doing this I’m searching my soul; it’s the Lewis and Clark gene to venture out, to find what your limitations are” (Dowell 461). Senk’s comments do not provide adequate evidence because his opinion is slanted. Senk, a former soldier, does adventure racing, which requires climbing, rappelling, rafting, and surviving because he enjoys it, and it makes him feel alive; his view does not represent a majority of America. Dowell puts this in the article to sway readers to believe that many people in American society today feel the same way; however, this is not the case. Only several hundred people take part in the grueling competition that is adventure racing, so it does not affect American society as a whole.

Dowell tries to build credibility for his argument about risk and America by introducing concepts and quotes from educated people like Psychologist Frank Farley of Temple University. Dowell brings in Farley to provide some knowledge about physical and intellectual risk taking personalities. Farley discusses how each Type T personality of a risk taker is similar. Dowell quotes Farley saying, “there is a direct link between Einstein and BASE jumper Chance McGuire” (Dowell 460). This quote of Farley’s statement comparing McGuire, a BASE jumper, to Albert Einstein, an important historical figure, is slightly far-fetched. Dowell includes this quote to show that risks were taken even by history’s most highly regarded people; however, the comparison does not justify his belief about American risk. Chance McGuire is a man who enjoys jumping off of high places because it gives him his fix of adrenaline; he does not provide society with anything beneficial. Albert Einstein took risks to further the field of science; he won awards and is remembered by most people as a genius, and how Farley can even begin to compare the two is rather absurd. Dowell’s inclusion of this comparison shows that he lacks solid substantial, logical evidence, so he is forced to stretch a comment given by Farley in order to make it seem relevant. Dowell fails to build credibility for his argument by using this rather weak example.

Dowell also tries to use another example of risk, unprotected sex, as a way to ensure readers that his argument about risk is valid. Dowell attempts to use the risk involved in unprotected sex to back up his point about risk in American society; however, the way he talks about it and the examples he uses are puzzling and leave the reader to question his reasoning. He quotes Jack, an anonymous person, about gay men and the risky practice of “barebacking” to emphasize how Jack feels about taking this risk: “One thing that barebacking allows is a certain amount of control over the risk. In sex, we have the ability to face the risk and look it in the eye” (Dowell 461). Jack describes the feeling of having control over risk and the taste of freedom one gets from facing risk. Dowell chooses to include unprotected sex in the text to provide further evidence for his theory; however, he talks about the gay community exclusively and how the rise of “barebacking” causes a greater risk of contracting AIDS in gay men. He could have easily mentioned the risk of unprotected sex that exists in all communities, as well as provide a more well-balanced approach. It seems as though he chose to focus on the prevalence of unprotected sex in gay men only for the fact that it may have shock value for some readers. A reader casually going through the article might be caught off guard when he mentions unprotected gay sex, perhaps even causing the reader to take another glance at Dowell’s writing. It is as if Dowell is saying that AIDS and unprotected sex are only a problem in gay men, when in truth they are as much of a risk to everybody else as well. His intentions for including the rise of unprotected sex in his article show that he is a writer desperately seeking to grab the audience’s attention with misleading information.

Dowell also uses several statistics on injuries in extreme sports to justify his argument about risk in American society. Dowell claims that the “rising popularity of extreme sports bespeaks an eagerness of millions of Americans to participate in activities closer to the metaphorical edge… a sense of pushing out personal boundaries” (Dowell 458). By saying millions of Americans take part in extreme sports he is creating a misleading assumption about American society. He chooses statistics showing large increases in snowboarding, mountain biking, and many other adventure sports. Participation in these adventure sports has indeed grown from past years, but if only a few million participate out of a country of three hundred million, Dowell cannot justify his claim on American society as a whole when his evidence only applies to a fraction of the population. He then gives statistics relating extreme sports and hospital visits. Dowell writes, “U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that 48,000 Americans were admitted to hospital emergency rooms with skateboarding-related injuries… 33 percent more than the previous year” (Dowell 458). His statistics are from a valid source so it makes them credible, but injury numbers and hospital visits from routine activities such as driving a car are probably far greater than injury numbers related to skateboarding. It is safe to say the total number of hospital visits due to car accidents makes the total number of people that go to the hospital because of extreme sports injuries seem minuscule. To say that Americans are injuring themselves due to extreme sports at an alarming rate is not true; Dowell is simply making mountains out of molehills.

In “Life on the Edge,” William Dowell tries to support his argument that America as a society has grown obsessed with risk by providing examples, statistics, and testimony from expert risk-takers. Dowell unfortunately does not present the argument logically and lacks strong evidence. His attempts to fool readers into agreeing with him are weak and illogical. The way he presents his case through his article does not persuade readers because of the many flaws his argument contains. Dowell’s argument is an interesting one, risk and America go hand in hand, and only time will tell how much risk is too much.

WALL-E 🤖🌍🚀🛰

Ejemplo de ensayo argumentativo en inglés sobre los medios de comunicación masiva y su influencia en la sociedad


Here is an example of an argumentative essay in English about mass media and its influence on society.

In today’s society, mass media has a great amount of influence on the beliefs, values and decisions of people. No form of mass media has a greater sphere of influence than the television and movie industry; films have a strong ability to compel people to accept the ideas shown to them. This is the reason why most intelligent films have a theme or message that the film’s creators intended to impart on the audience. Many people would expect the films that have this in-depth social commentary laced throughout them to be aimed toward adults who can understand and realize the messages being conveyed to them. However, this does not always seem to be the case; sometimes movies aimed toward children and young people can address serious issues and concerns in society. Many well-known animated films marketed to kids provide thought-provoking social commentary, as is evidenced by the Pixar film WALL-E. On the surface, WALL-E is nothing more than a romantic story of a quirky junkyard robot trying to court an elegant research probe, but this movie is far more complex than it seems. The film WALL-E is more than just an animated movie aimed at kids; the film portrays present-day social concerns in an extreme way to support the main argument that people need to change the harmful practices they take part in to ensure a better future.

WALL-E addresses many environmental issues which may be detrimental to the Earth’s future. The specific environmental problems the film addresses revolve around pollution and waste management. The beginning scene of the film shows a view of Earth from outer space; the planet looks nothing like it does today. As the camera zooms in on Earth, the first thing that is noticeable is the cloud of old satellites, scrap metal and other junk that encircles the planet; this shows the far-reaching effects of the pollution that plagues the planet. The land on Earth is now littered with mounds of trash, which look like mountains from a distance, that reach heights equivalent to tall buildings. The planet is nothing more than a barren deserted wasteland with only the remains of human civilization. This scene distinctly depicts a future Earth that has become uninhabitable because of uncontrolled pollution and waste allocation. The beginning of the film also provides overhead shots of a bleak abandoned metropolitan type city that could be compared to present-day cities like Los Angeles or New York City. By portraying a future city ravaged by trash that looks similar to current cities, the scene allows the audience to relate the city to one that they possibly live in, which can cause the audience to wonder how the future city became devastated with pollution and garbage. The main point the scene attempts to convey is that a lack of environmental awareness may lead to a planet that becomes damaged beyond revival. Although an extreme exaggeration, the scene is grounded in reality. Clearly it was the filmmakers’ intent to send the message that the Earth is ours to look after and it is the peoples’ responsibility to take care of it. Although this movie is set in a distant future, the environmental issues shown are ever-present today and could become major problems in the future if measures are not taken to better care for the planet.

WALL-E brings up the issue of human overdependence on technology and how it has caused humans to become complacent and lazy. Specifically, WALL-E explores the idea that while technology can improve human life and make it easier, too much technology can cause more problems than it helps alleviate. In the film, all humans have to live on a large spaceship called the Axiom; on the ship, all humans rely on hover chairs to move around. Human life is completely controlled by the technology on board the ship; the robots take care of the humans. In one particular scene, two guys are talking to each other through their holographic screens that are built in to everyone’s hover recliner; when the camera pans out it is revealed that these guys are hovering right next to each other but are too lazy to face each other and would rather use their screens to interact. This scene highlights an important issue with the overuse of technology; people lose face to face, social interaction. In the same scene, it is evident that the hover chairs follow designated lines on the floor; this further emphasizes human overindulgence in technology because not only do the robots provide humans with transportation, but they also direct the path where the hover chair goes. Although taken to an extreme, the film shows how robots have made life so easy that humans put very little, if any, effort into anything. Modern-day society can relate to this overuse of technology because these days everyone owns some electronic device that keeps them plugged in during the day such as an iPod or cell phone. A message the audience can take away from the obvious overindulgence in automation present in the movie may be that technology can be a hindrance to society when it diminishes skills and knowledge people previously had before they began to rely on technology. The advanced technology shown in the film may seem a bit outlandish, but in reality, society is not too far from such a future.

The film uses the company Buy N Large to show the problem with big business monopolies and how this affects human life. Buy N Large represents a large corporation that has taken over the planet completely; it is shown as the only company that exists. Similar to a modern-day Amazon or Wal-Mart, Buy N Large sells everything anybody could ever want or need, and since Buy N Large controls the market system, consumers are basically slaves to the corporation. The scene showing WALL-E’s daily routine in the city demonstrates the power Buy N Large possesses; the corporate logo and brand appears plastered on all aspects of life from food, such as “cupcake in a cup,” to public transportation. The film alludes to a future that has undergone a corporate takeover of human life. Another scene that demonstrates the control the business monopoly has is when the president is addressing the humans in an archived press conference; instead of having the title of President of Earth, he has the title of “Global CEO of Buy N Large.” This subtle scene in the movie shows the blurred line between business and government. Buy N Large has so much power that they have assumed the role of government and are taking care of the people whether the people want it or not. The main problem with business monopolies is that they take away consumer independence and freedom because there is no competition for a company like Buy N Large, thereby letting the company have total control over the consumer population. The filmmakers take a present-day problem, in this case the issue of business monopolies, and take it to an extreme to cause viewers to reflect on present-day society. Big business has a powerful effect on the lives of people in today’s society, and one may wonder how close society is to a world controlled by corporations.

WALL-E brings up the unhealthy habits that people have adopted when it portrays humans as obese due to overconsumption. The film specifically shows the unhealthy habits humans have taken up now that they live in space. All humans in the film are obese to a point where it is difficult for them to walk, which is why they require hover chairs to get around. The people on board the ship do not get any exercise because they have no reason to stay in shape. Several scenes highlight the inability of the humans to walk, particularly the scene where the captain waddles like a sumo wrestler as he stands up to the autopilot. Another scene which echoes the low fitness level of the humans is when WALL-E causes a man to fall out of his chair. Instead of getting up, the man waits for the robots to come and pick him up. This scene shows how every human on board the Axiom is looked after and pampered by the robots, making human life effortless, so much so that adults have turned into immobile unhealthy babies because of it. The overconsumption portrayed in the film mirrors today’s society where people want the biggest, best and most of everything. The society in the movie has no sense of moderation anymore and has lost all self-control. WALL-E takes the present-day problem of obesity and poor lifestyle choices along with overconsumption to a future extreme that has led to Earth having depleted resources and has ruined the healthy human self-image.

Films that include lush social commentaries that examine society are the type of movies people want to watch more than once to fully comprehend the extent of the message the filmmakers were trying to convey. These films cause people to think about the world around them from a perspective that they perhaps never thought of before. WALL-E may be a family movie, but it is a perfect example of how a film can discuss social concerns in a way that can be enjoyable. WALL-E takes present-day social issues such as overdependence on technology, environmental problems, business monopolies, and unhealthy human habits to a bad extreme to portray the negative effects they can have on civilization. This makes the audience think how close today’s society is to becoming like the society shown in the film.

Works Cited

Wall-E. Dir. Andrew Stanton. Perf. Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger. Disney-Pixar, 2008. Film.

Memento 🤔💭🕵️‍♂️

Ejemplo de ensayo argumentativo en inglés sobre la violencia en las películas


Here is an example of a short argumentative essay on violence in films.

On any given Friday people all over the world flock to their local cinema to enjoy a two-hour break from the real world and indulge in a film. Movies have many different genres, but the genres that seem to garner the most attention every Friday night are the action adventure and crime thriller genres. One thing that action and crime movies have in common is the essential ingredient of violence. People are naturally thrilled by violence; it is a fact of human nature reverting mankind to its most primal instincts. Filmmakers have realized this and are regularly taking advantage of this fact by creating mindlessly violent, thrilling films. Not all violent films are cinematic garbage though; some films can employ violence while maintaining an intelligent story. What decides whether the film contains mindless violence or elegant, purposeful violence is the way in which the violence is presented and used. An example of how violence can be used in a purposeful and meaningful manner is portrayed in the movie Memento, a Christopher Nolan crime movie from 2000 that follows the story of a man with short-term memory loss who is searching for his wife’s killer. In Christopher Nolan’s psychological crime thriller Memento, the director takes the simple premise of a man out for vengeance and conveys it in a unique way by showing the events in reverse chronological order; the use of graphic violence in this film is necessary to realistically portray the theme of revenge.

Like most crime movies, Memento portrays violence in a realistic fashion. Many well-known crime movies involve believable violence that is not dramatized. The violent acts in Memento are never meant to distract the viewer’s attention. Instead, they are used as vital parts of the narrative. The opening scene of the movie shows a Polaroid photograph of a crime scene where a man’s body is lying face-down on the floor of a rundown room with blood splattered all over the walls. The scene then plays out in a rewinded order to reveal that the man who took the picture was the same man who fired the gun. This reverse gunshot murder scene depicts the result of an execution and then rewinds to show how it occurred. The man who pulled the trigger is the main character, Leonard Shelby, and the man he kills is presumably his wife’s murderer. The man’s execution is not meant to give the audience a sick thrill but is included because this death scene plays a large part in the context of the story. As with most crime films, the shooting, stabbing and fighting involved in them have a meaning and are generally important towards the film’s plot; films such as Memento never use violence just to intrigue and pull in an audience because the strong story carries the movie by itself. The realistic violence in Memento is integrated in such a way that it gives the film an artistic and elegant style. In the next scene, which acts as a precursor to the opening, Leonard is shown holding the gun at the man’s head just before shooting him. The camera cuts away just as he pulls the trigger, allowing the audience to hear the man’s scream and the sound of the gunshot while shielding them from the gory image. By limiting what the audience is shown the director gives the movie an artistic feel; the blood and gore are only shown when absolutely necessary, as evidenced by the Polaroid image which proved that Leonard actually shot and killed the man. The rest of the film is portrayed in the same light; the violent acts are never over-the-top but are shown in a blunt, no-nonsense manner.

The premise of the film revolves around the theme of revenge, which stems from Leonard’s wife being murdered and his quest for vengeance. Most revenge films promote the audience to cheer for the character out for vengeance because either the character has had a family unjustly harmed or the person has been unjustly wronged in such a way that revenge would be the only means of justice. When the vengeance can be vindicated, the violence is also deemed righteous, and this gives the audience the right to root for the protagonist. Like most other films with plots based on revenge and redemption, Memento provides justification for its violence. Through brief flash-backs it is presumably evident that Leonard’s wife was raped and killed by home intruders who seemingly randomly broke into their house. When Leonard realizes what is happening he attempts to stop the assailants. Leonard is able to shoot one of them but is knocked over the head by the other assailant and falls unconscious to the floor as a puddle of blood forms under his head; the blow to the head he receives is the cause of his short-term memory loss. His revenge is thus justifiable two-fold because not only was his wife murdered, his memory was also taken away from him. An audience can completely side with Leonard because of what happens to him, thereby making all of his violent acts advocated and applauded by the audience who wishes for his revenge to be fulfilled. The film does not include violence just because it can; violence is included in order for the story of revenge to be told genuinely.

The film’s narrative follows a reverse chronological order which is complicated by the fact that the main character suffers from short-term memory loss. The way the story is told can be summed up perfectly by the opening image of the film where a Polaroid picture is shown fading instead of developing. Although the film follows a reverse chronological order, each scene plays out with time moving forward. The narrative keep the audience in the dark, much like the main character Leonard, and forces the audience to slowly discover Leonard’s past segment by segment as the reverse chronological order takes place. Due to his disability Leonard can not form new memories; he is plagued by the image of his wife’s death; he remembers everything up until he was bludgeoned over the head the night his wife was murdered. This shows the emotional consequences of violence realistically; the aftermath and consequences to each and every action are evident. Leonard does not use violence by choice, he resorts to it because he believes it will end his suffering. His short-term memory loss hinders his attempts at playing detective; his condition forces him to take Polaroid pictures of people he meets and record their names while keeping notes about their behaviors and intentions. He must also tattoo clues about his wife’s murder on his body to remind himself of new evidence. Although Leonard’s inadequate memory causes the viewers to doubt his thought processes, they still sympathize with him because of the events he has been through. Another downfall of his memory loss is that he must rely on people whose reasons and values are rather questionable.

The main character Leonard is the only character whose motives are clear. The people he interacts with and relies on all have motives and reasons that can be deemed suspicious. No character can be categorized as good or evil for certain. Although a crime movie, the only real “bad guys” are the men who filled Leonard’s wife. However, the identities of these murderers are never revealed. The director clearly intends Leonard to be the protagonist that the audience can side with, but because he is such an unreliable guide throughout the movie, it can be difficult to believe him all the time. Leonard is not the typical flawless hero; his inadequate memory contributes to his realness. Leonard is taken advantage of several times throughout the film, most obviously by Bert the motel clerk who books Leonard for two rooms instead of one; Leonard does not remember if he had already been to the motel so each time he checks in Bert gives him a different key. Teddy, who claims to be a cop helping Leonard find his wife’s killer, also takes advantage of Leonard. Teddy is the man Leonard kills in the beginning; however, due to the reverse chronological order of the film’s narrative, he appears in the film multiple times interacting with Leonard as if he really wants to help him. Teddy deceives Leonard into believing that a drug dealer named Jimmy Grantz is the man who murdered his wife. This causes Leonard to kill Grantz. Teddy’s reason for deceiving Leonard is up to interpretation; nevertheless, when Leonard realizes his mistake, he writes down a note that Teddy is the real killer. Leonard has no real proof that Teddy killed his wife, but out of rage he creates a lie to tell himself which eventually leads to the beginning scene of the film where Leonard shoots Teddy. Leonard’s reasoning behind his action can be debated, as the film does not make it crystal clear. In a twisted way, Leonard fulfills his investigation for vengeance when he fabricates the evidence that incriminates Teddy as the killer. Because of his short-term memory condition, Leonard will believe his own lie, and, therefore, think Teddy was the murderer thus bringing justice and closure to his wife’s murder.

Memento is a powerful thriller that makes viewers think about how profoundly humans need memory and how difficult life can be without it. The graphic violence present in the film only deepens the audience’s immersion into film’s plot and characters. Memento uses violence in a realistic fashion because the theme of revenge requires it, but violence is also used realistically to resemble violence in the real world. Violence has always been a part of human society since the dawn of mankind, and it probably will continue to be a part of society as we move toward the future. Films like Memento take the correct approach in their use of violence by making it an absolutely necessary part of the narrative; hopefully future directors will use Memento as an example of how to incorporate violence into their films.


Works Cited

Memento. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano, Carrie-Anne Moss. Newmarket Capital Group and Summit Entertainment, 2000. Film

Oasis Soda 🥤

Ejemplo de ensayo argumentativo en inglés sobre la publicidad


Here is an example of a short argumentative essay on advertising.

Every year billions of dollars are spent on advertising. Companies realize that advertising is an important key to selling a product because they can inform the consumer about the company’s product and, ultimately, persuade the consumer to purchase it. A vast array of products gets advertised every day, but many commonly recognized ads involve beverages. Many multinational soda companies such as The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo advertise their products by showing them in a way that appeals to consumer wants and needs. By using television and print advertisements that appeal to the consumer’s need for attention, desire for sex, and the need for affiliation, Oasis Soda Company will be able to reach a larger customer base.

The television advertisement could feature a beach scene where attractive women are drawn to a man holding a bottle of Oasis Soda. The ad begins on a hot summer day with a man dressed in swim trunks lying out on the beach on a towel alone. The man looks like someone who does not frequently go to the beach; his body is thin with very fair skin. His gaze pans around the sandy beach, and he watches countless people relaxing on the sand, playing volleyball, and swimming in the water. The man’s attention focuses in on a group of attractive women and men lying on the sand, socializing. The women are beautiful, young, tan and are scantily clad in bright colorful bikinis. The man, still sitting on the beach alone, seems depressed. He desires the attention of the women and envies the men for attracting them. He closes his eyes, trying to forget about his own appearance, and falls asleep, aided by the lulling sound of the beating waves. This nap, however, is short-lived. An old man with a long gray beard carrying a loud beeping metal detector walks by searching for treasure. The old man throws down the metal detector claiming that it is useless and runs off. The man notices the metal detector beeping loudly on a spot in the sand next to him. He digs to the bottom of the hole where he finds a mini cooler. He brings up the ice-cold cooler and opens it up to find shiny blue cans of Oasis Soda. The man opens a can and takes a sip of the refreshing elixir. As he puts the can down, all the beautiful women stop what they are doing and flock to him. The man sits their smiling as he is pampered by the bikini-clad women, each one holding a sparkling can of Oasis Soda. He looks directly into the camera and winks as the Oasis Soda logo appears over the ocean just as the sun sets. The attractive beach setting and beautiful women in this advertisement could help Oasis Soda persuade consumers to buy their product.

By using beautiful women being attracted to a man drinking Oasis Soda, the television advertisement appeals to the viewer’s need for attention and their desire for sex. The most obvious appeal in this advertisement would be the desire for sex. The attractive women with their great bodies and small bikinis are what men will remember the most about the advertisement. Most people who see this ad will understand that buying and drinking Oasis Soda will not cause gorgeous women to have sex with them. However, the brain of a viewer, especially a male viewer, will probably register Oasis Soda with pretty girls after watching this ad. So the next time the viewer is at the grocery store purchasing soda, he or she buys Oasis Soda because they associate it with sex. The consumer may not actively think about Oasis Soda and sex together, but as long as Oasis Soda is associated with sex subconsciously, the ad will have done its’ job. The other appeal in this advertisement is the appeal for attention. In the beginning of the ad the man was all alone; no women surrounded him or talked to him. After he took a sip of Oasis Soda all the women flocked to him, focusing all their attention towards him. People like to be noticed, and Oasis Soda implies that by drinking their beverage people will attract attention.

The Oasis Soda print advertisement should use a lively backyard barbeque scene with attractive people having a good time in order to grab the reader’s attention. The print ad shows a large backyard, with green grass and a white picket fence, full of many people having fun and drinking Oasis Soda on a beautiful sunny day. There is a table in the center of the picture with many colorful dishes of food. Attractive women and men sit around the table. Each person has a can of Oasis Soda in his or her hand. In the background, two guys are seen throwing a two-liter bottle of Oasis Soda to each other as if it were a football. Several men and women are also gathered around a small red barbeque laughing and smiling. All the people in the picture are wearing stylish clothing colored orange, white, and blue, which are the Oasis Soda logo colors. On the bottom of the page in bold letters it says, “It’s the Most Refreshing Drink.” This advertisement, with its friendly backyard scene and attractive people can be a useful ad for Oasis Soda.

This Oasis Soda print advertisement appeals to the reader’s need for affiliation, need for attention, desire for sex, and need to achieve. The need for affiliation is present because of the party atmosphere the backyard has. There are many people, both men and women gathered around each other, and they seem to be enjoying themselves because of Oasis Soda. The crowd in the backyard portrays friendship. When someone thinks of Oasis Soda they will associate it with friendship and being in good company, giving the consumer a sense of affiliation. The advertisement is also implying that if one drinks Oasis Soda, he or she will fit in. The second appeal in the print ad is the need to achieve. Although it is subtle, the phrase “It’s the Most Refreshing Drink,” sends an importante message. It says Oasis Soda is the best drink if you want to be refreshed; this gives the reader the assumption that Oasis Soda is the best choice for soda. The third appeal is the desire for sex, and although not as blatant as in the television ad, it is still present. By casting attractive people as the partygoers, who are attending the backyard barbeque, the advertisement causes readers to associate Oasis Soda with good looking people.

Oasis Soda can reach a larger consumer base by implementing these television and print advertisements because they appeal to many common human needs and desires. Advertising can be the key to a product’s success. However, the advertisements must be careful in their approach. The television ad with the beautiful women clearly focused on the desire for sex to promote Oasis Soda. However, using sex is risky because in this case it was aimed at mainly the male population. The print advertisement, however, might go smoother because it is subtle and simple. For a rapidly growing company like Oasis Soda that has such a wide consumer demographic, the production of quality advertisements must be a well-thought-out process where all portions of the consumer base must be taken into consideration.

The Alchemist – (Part 3/?)

Que trata de la novela escrita por Paulo Coelho


Seguimos leyendo ‘El Alquimista‘. La gran razón de su vida: viajar.

🌴🐑🐫☀🔥🌴🐑🐫☀🔥🌴🐑🐫☀🔥

At the break of dawn the shepherd positioned the sheep according to the direction of the sun. “They never have to make a decision”, he thought. “Perhaps that’s why they’re always together with me.” The sheep only felt the need to drink and eat. As long as the boy knew the best pastures of Andalusia, they would always be his friends, even when the days were always the same, with long hours spent dragging along from sunrise to sunset, even when they had never read a single book in their short lives, and weren’t familiar with the language of the people who told of the new events and happenings in the villages. They were content with water and food, and that was enough for them. In exchange for that, they generously offered their wool, their company, and, once in a while, their meat.

“If today I turned into a monster and decided to kill them one after the other, they would only realize it after almost the whole flock had been wiped out”, the boy thought. “Because they trust me, and they’ve forgotten to trust their own instincts. Just because I lead them to nourishment and food.” The boy began to surprise himself with his own thoughts. Perhaps the church, with that one sycamore tree that grew inside of it, was bewitched. It had made him have the same dream for the second time, and it was causing him a sensation of rage against his always faithful, loyal companions. He drank a little bit of wine left over from the previous dinner, and tightened the jacket around his body. He knew that within a few hours, with the sun at its peak, the heat would be so intense that he would no longer be able to lead the sheep across the countryside. It was the hour in which all of Spain slept in summer. The heat lasted until the night, and during all this time, he had to carry his jacket. Nevertheless, when he thought about complaining about the weight, he always remembered that thanks to the jacket he hadn’t felt cold during the morning.

“We should always be prepared for weather-related surprises”, he thought, and he felt grateful for the weight of the jacket.

The jacket had a purpose, and the boy had one as well. In his two years on the plains of Andalusia, he already knew by heart all the cities of the region, and this was the great purpose of his life: travelling. He was thinking about explaining to the girl this time why a simple shepherd knows how to read: up until he was sixteen years old he had been in the seminary. His parents wanted him to be a priest, and the cause of pride for a simple peasant family, that worked to earn just enough for food and water, like his sheep. He studied Latin, Spanish, and theology. But ever since he was young, he dreamed of seeing the world, and this was much more important than learning about God or the sins of mankind. One evening, while visiting his family, he had gathered up the courage and had told his father that he didn’t want to be a priest. He wanted to travel.

The Alchemist – (Part 2/?)

Que trata de la novela escrita por Paulo Coelho


Seguiremos leyendo ‘El Alquimista‘. El pastor Santiago conoce a la moza de los cabellos negros.

“I need to sell some wool,” said the shepherd to the trader. The man’s shop was full of customers, and the shopkeeper kindly asked the shepherd to wait until sunset. The boy sat down on the ground of the shop and took out a book from his knapsack. “I didn’t know that you shepherds were able to read books,” said a feminine voice next to him. She was a typical young girl from the region of Andalusia, with her black hair, and eyes that vaguely reminded one of the old Moorish conquerors. “It’s because the sheep teach more than any book ever could,” responded the boy. They were talking for more than two hours. She told him that she was the daughter of the shopkeeper, and she talked about life in the small village, where every day was the same as the day before. The shepherd talked about the fields and pastures of Andalusia, and the most recent things he saw in the cities that he had visited. He was happy to be talking with someone other than the sheep. “How did you learn to read?” asked the girl at one point. “Like everyone else,” responded the boy. “In school.” “So, if you know how to read, why aren’t you something more than just a simple shepherd?” The boy apologized as best he could in order to avoid responding to that question. He was certain that the girl would never understand. He continued telling his travel stories, and her little Moorish eyes opened and closed with fear and surprise. As time went by, the boy began to wish that day would never end, that the girl’s father would be busy for a long time and would order him to wait three days. He realized that he was feeling something that he had never felt before: the desire to stay in the same city forever. With the girl with the black hair, his days would never be the same. However, the shopkeeper finally arrived and ordered the boy to shear four sheep. Then he paid the shepherd what he owed him and he asked him to return the next year.

Now, the same village was only four days away. He was excited and, at the same time, unsure: perhaps the girl had already forgotten him. Many shepherds passed by there to sell wool. “It doesn’t matter,” said the boy to his sheep. “I also know other girls in other cities.” But deep down in his heart, he knew that it did matter, and that shepherds, like sailors and travelers, always knew one city in which there was someone who could make them forget the joy of traveling around the world.

Part 2

The Alchemist – (Prologue + Part 1/?)

Que trata de la novela escrita por Paulo Coelho


Os traigo una fábula para seguir vuestros sueños. Empezaremos a leer ‘El Alquimista’. Además de ser un libro corto y enganchante, también es ideal para iniciarse en la lectura. Estoy seguro de que os va a atrapar. Sin más demora, ¡Pongámonos manos a la obra!

Lectura en inglés.

Prologue

The Alchemist took a book that someone from the caravan had brought. The volume didn’t have a cover, but he managed to identify its author: Oscar Wilde. While he leafed through it, he found a story about Narcissus. The Alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a handsome boy who every day would go to gaze at his own beauty in the lake. He was so fascinated with his own reflection that, one day, he fell into the lake and drowned. In the spot where he fell sprouted a flower which they called Narcissus. But this was not how Oscar Wilde brought the story to an end. He said that when Narcissus died, the Oreads, the nymphs of the forest, came and saw the lake transformed, from a freshwater lake to a pitcher of salty tears. “Why do you cry?” asked the Oreads. “I cry for Narcissus,” responded the lake. “Oh, it doesn’t surprise us that you cry for Narcissus,” they continued saying, “after all, despite the fact that we all always followed him through the forest, you were the only one that had the opportunity to see his beauty up close. “So, Narcissus was beautiful?” asked the lake. “Who besides you could know? the Oreads responded, surprised. “After all, it was over your shore where he would lean every day.” The lake remained still for a few moments. Finally it said, “I cry for Narcissus, but I had never realized that Narcissus was beautiful. I cry for Narcissus because each time that he leaned over my shore, I could see in the depths of his eyes, my own reflected beauty. “What a lovely story,” said the Alchemist.

Part 1

The boy’s name was Santiago. It began to get dark when he arrived with his flock of sheep at the entrance of an old, abandoned church. The roof had caved in a long time ago and an enormous sycamore tree had grown in the place that used to house the sacristy. He decided to spend the night there. He made all of his sheep enter through the run-down door and then he placed a few pieces of wood over the door so that they could not escape during the night. There weren’t any wolves in that region, but, one time, one of his animals ran away at night and the shepherd spent the entire day after looking for the stray sheep. He laid his jacket out on the ground and he lay down on it, using the book he had just read as a pillow. Before drifting off, he remembered that he needed thicker books. They took longer to read, and in the evening, they made more comfortable pillows. It was still dark when he woke up. He looked up and saw that the stars were shining through the half-collapsed roof. “I would like to sleep a little more,” he thought. He had had the same dream as last week, and again he woke up before reaching the end. He got up and took a sip of wine. Then he grabbed his staff and began to wake up the sheep that were still sleeping. He had noticed that when he would wake up, the majority of the animals would also begin to wake up. As if there were some mysterious energy that linked his life to the lives of his sheep that for two years had been travelling across the land with him in search of water and food. “You’ve all gotten so used to me,” he said quietly, “that you know my schedule.” He reflected on this for a moment and thought that the opposite could also be true: that he had become accustomed to the schedule of the sheep. Nevertheless, there were some sheep that were taking more time to get up. The boy gradually woke the sheep one after another with his staff, calling each by their name. He always believed that the sheep were able to understand what he said to them. That’s why he usually read passages of books that had impressed him to them or talked to them about the loneliness and happiness of a shepherd in the countryside, or told them about the most recent new things that he would see in the cities he tended to pass. However, in the last two days, there had been only one thing on his mind: a girl, the daughter of a trader who lived in the city where he was going to arrive within four days. He had only been there once, the year before. The trader was the owner of a fabric shop and he always liked to see the sheep sheared in his presence to avoid being cheated. A friend of his had pointed out the shop and the shepherd took his sheep there.