Crossing (2008) Film Review:
Lights shine just a few yards from where you crouched clutching your bag for dear life, a blistering cold sweat trickles down your neck as you realize like an animal you 're being hunted. Murky water seeps deep into the fibers of your torn clothing while you hide among the tall marsh grass just outside your way to a better life. Cutting through the thick night air and illuminating each blade of green the lights inch closer and That 's when you feel it. A cough. The same deep coughs that your wife tried to hide that stemmed from her tuberculosis. Her need for medicine and your family 's survival is what drives you and what has caused you to come this far leaving a nation of oppression and crossing into one of opportunity. You tighten your grip on the bag 's strap then Your eyes wide in terror dart back and forth as you begin to feel your way through inky blackness. thunderous gunshots ring out in the distance a sound you know all too well. You have to make it to shore, there, is the land that holds the medicine you need. What would you be willing to do for your family?
To some Kim Tae-kyun 's Crossing (Keurosing in South Korea) could come off as simply a work that plays on the treatment of North Korea 's citizens and the country 's plight for control through creating a "unified" people at all cost. However, upon closer analysis the story delves deep into the very easily manipulated fabric of human emotion. Creating tears in its stitching with
Gary Paulsen is the author of the novel The Crossing. The main character in this story is a young boy named Manny. The only family he has is himself and he lives on the streets of Mexico. Many homeless children of Mexico, like Manny, think crossing the border to the United States of America will solve all their problems and life will be good.
As a result of the regimes isolationist policy the people of North Korea suffered greatly in both mental and physical health. The hold the state had over the beliefs of the citizens presented in “Nothing to Envy”, varied from absolute belief to uncomfortable awareness. The reader is presented often with Mrs. Song’s dedication to the regime, and Kim Il-sung himself. A mother of four she was often gone from home, working and attending ideological training sessions. “Fridays she stayed especially late for self-criticism. In these sessions members of her work unit- the department to which she was assigned- would reveal to the group anything they had done wrong—Mrs. Song would usually say, in all sincerity, that she feared she wasn’t working hard enough” (Pg. 43).When Kim Il-sung died, she
“Poor food – hard lodging – cold weather – fatigue – nasty cloaths- nasty cookery – vomit half my time – smoked out my senses – the Devil isn’t – I can’t Endure it – why are we sent here to starve and freeze” In Document C, they show the life of a Soldier. Now, do you see yet why I would leave? We travel too much and not with the right supplies besides guns, but still, I walk around half of the time with no shoes and freeze my toes off, do you know how much frostbite I got, you wouldn’t imagine. We get sick with many things like small pocks putrid fever, pneumonia, and dysentery. Although you may think that, this wasn’t that big a deal most people do and so do I. I love my family too much to go through this
“After abandoning everything in our home, everything my parents had worked for, I was met by assault rifles, searchlights and quarters too small for the amount of people it accommodated” my grandfather assured. The property, belongings, jobs and businesses were all left behind in the rash fear
In the wake of a natural disaster, people are forced to realize they may not make it out alive; this was the thought of over one hundred and eighty patients who were at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina hit. Sheri Fink’s Deadly Choices at Memorial tells the story of what doctors and nurses had to do when the hospital, which was being used as a shelter, lost all power and had to evacuate all one hundred and eighty patients in August of 2005. Usually most people have time to think about their choices so they are certain they are making the correct one, but in a time of crisis the doctors and nurses on staff at Memorial had to make harsh decisions about who of the one hundred and eighty patients they would evacuate, who would go first, who would go last and who would have to stay behind. Fink’s article makes
As the rifle and machine gun fire exchanges in the Syrian Civil War not only lives are lost but many innocent men, women and children are left in need of emergency care. Cecily Hilleary, a traveling journalist for VOA World News, mentions “the United Nations estimates the civil war raging in Syria has left more than 2.5 million people in dire need of food, water, drugs and medical supplies,” not including the already 25,000, and counting, deceased from the war (VOA par. 9). The medical aid is minimal in Syria due to the low number of volunteers and medical staff. Cecily tells the stories of crowded hospitals with over 250-350 beds being piled up upon with hurt Syrian individuals, many being innocent women and
Groggily stumbling into the kitchen, I was met with nine pairs of eyes reminding me I wasn’t in America anymore. Eleven days ago, my team and I had flown into Port-au-Prince and driven to Jacmel, directed by Angel Wings International, a local organization that worked to deliver healthcare in Haiti. I received the run-down for the day: we were heading West toward a rural clinic located in Baie d’Orange. Climbing into a musty truck bed, I noticed a crew of dentists, doctors, and pharmacists accompanying us, signifying the most important day in our three-week-long trip. The truck revved into action, racing in Jacmel’s dusty streets, past the swelling river, through winding mountain passes, stopping at a tattered USAID tent that covered a burgeoning crowd of hundreds. Scanning the crowd returned the gaze of scared men, women, and children whose lives could be drastically changed through proper checkups and treatment.
Through this book Demick establishes her deep knowledge of North Korea all the while following the lives of six defectors as they fought to survive. Demick shows us the struggle that these North Koreans face as their country is consumed by an economic crisis and a famine that killed one fifth of their population, while it also gave us a glimpse at what we never think of when we hear about this country. The collapse of North Korea’s economy caused factories to close and other jobs to be terminated. This led the citizens of North Korea to lose their only source of income and forced to find other means to support their families. It caused them to make sacrifices in order support their families and essentially learn to become selfish, to turn a blind eye to the ones around who were also suffering in order for themselves to survive.
Your home country is all that you know -- it’s where you were raised, where you’ve loved, and where you’ve lived all your years. So what happens when one day, without warning, or without cause, that sense of security is ripped from you? War, violence, persecution for who you are or what you believe; your home has become the crucible for your greatest fears, a place you no longer recognize. You’re afraid for your life, for your family -- you don’t know where to go but you know you can’t stay. You and your family are forced to flee into an unknown future and the unknown peril it may hold.
Journal Expansion Assignment #2 Imagine you are a refugee, you come from a country where you lived in fear because of war. You are trying to sleep at night, but you can’t because of the gunshots and bombs you hear in the distance. You are on the streets with many other citizens because the bombs caused your house to go in flames. It is just you and your mom and one out of six other siblings.
Approaching the American breastworks in the pitch-black night was not the most reassuring feeling in the world. True, our forces were far superior to the motley crew of American soldiers that lay before us, but confidence could only do so much for a man in my position. The thought of dying at the hands of these insane, untrained American soldiers crept into my mind and distracted me from my surroundings. Stumbling slightly in the darkness, I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized just how close we were to the breastworks. I held my breath and crouched down, as did many other men around me. All other sounds around us ceased. Slow, cautious movements and near-inaudible whispers came from behind the breastworks. I scanned my dark surroundings
When the helicopter landed, I was the first out. I was greeted by a small, scrawny man holding a clipboard, one of the paper-pushers as the Sergeant in charge of leading us called them - they didn’t fight, they only made sure supplies got where they needed to be - and that nothing was missing. The moment we got off, shots began to ring out. I had no idea what to do, I didn’t know from where the bullets were coming. The tree line to the north was empty, the citizens were running for cover - my brother was already dead - and he hadn’t even exited the helicopter. I realized who was shooting now.
I wandered across the street, the gravel crunched under my feet. I hear my dad yell my name “Amira.” I run toward my house. My dad tells me to lock the door as soon as I am in. Click, goes the lock. But, something’s not right, my dad is still outside. I look through the peephole in my door. I see 5 men in camo uniform with guns charging at my dad. They stop one meter away from him. The soliders raise thier guns. Aim. Fire. Bang, Crash. I can’t see anything except bright red blood. I scream. I hear the soldier’s feet crumble on gravel and the sound becomes more and more faint. I open my door and there in front of my eyes, my dad covered in thick blood. I roll up into a ball and start shaking. My throat starts closing up. Suddenly I hear a soft,
In this paper, I will compare my real world experiences at local Alcohol Anonymous’ (AA) meetings, which I attended while enrolled in this course with that in the movie, Thanks for Sharing. Both are based on the lives and experiences of recovering addicts of either substance abuse or sexual activity. This paper will cover the stories and lives of the characters involved. Stuart Blumberg directed the movie in 2012. All movie character references in this paper are taken directly from the actual movie.
An emotionally stirring movie taking place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s, “The Help” stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer as three women who share a common motive. This racially tense setting creates the perfect foundation for a drama film such as this. The characters’ personalities in combination with the emotion of the plot develop a socially accurate depiction of the struggles faced by the people of the time. While the racial aspect of the movie is dominant, viewers may also find compassion and friendship within the conversations and encounters of its characters.