Allusions, topics, and themes oh my!

Blog post

Day 1

10/30/18

Film as literature

Today in class:

Started off with recapping with “What are Allusions?”

• An allusion is a reference to something outside
• Historical Events
• Fictional/Nonfiction texts
• A positive allusion: Homage
• Critical allusions work well for satire
• How do writers reward/define our audience?
• Ask the question, “who would get this”
• The reward is satisfaction

The other day on October 29th, the class used an film clip from Wall*E to guess what allusions were portrayed in the film.

• An example, Auto (Robot that controls ship) is a reference from the film, Space Odyssey

Reinforce theme (Negative)

Consider the allusions from Wall*E

Auto vs. HAL 9000

TOPICS?

• Technology
• Control
• Mutiny  
• Chain of command
• Robots acting humans
• Artificial intelligence
• Law of robotics
• Feelings

THEMES?

• Humanity's dependence on machines has allowed machines to control mankind
• Artificial intelligence can never be human
• An A.I left unchecked will try to take control from its human superiors
• The development of smart technology can take control over the lives of human

From the film Wall*E

“It only takes a moment” from Hello, Dolly. (1969)

And that is all that love’s about

And we’ll recall when time runs out

That it only took a moment

To beloved a whole life long"

TOPICS

• Cherishing time
• Love
• Memory
• Companionship
• Reminiscing
• Living life to the fullest  

THEMES

• Love is special and every moment should be cherished
• Nostalgia helps cope with a dreadful present
• It is important to live life to the fullest and to cherish the time you have with your loved ones
• Cherishing time with loved ones allows you to live life to the fullest

We ended class with Ready Player One: 

Find and post an allusion from RPO that…

Ready Player One’s tone about that allusion...

For tonight's homework students had to write this on a notecard:

1. Quote (underline allusion)
2. Tone about the allusion
3. A, B, or C (2 sentences)