Similarities Between Stand By Me And Away By Michael Gow

Set in the Australian summer of 1967, Michael Gow’s Away is an elaborate play which explores the ideas of self- discovery and change. Through the war affected nation, three families, each from different social classes, depart on an iconic Australian holiday to the beach. In the play, Gow utilises the characters to demonstrate that going away physically is intrinsically linked to their mental developments. With the help of references to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer night’s Dream, Away uses Gwen and Coral to show the significant psychological changes made by the characters during holidays to the coast. Tom throughout the play acts as a catalyst for the change in other characters and is associated with Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

During Mr. Rosenberg’s leave we learned different dramatic elements such as script analysis, stasis and intrusion, dramatic conflict, etc. This helps us to understand the different elements so one day when we have to apply the elements we will already be mindful of them. Additionally, we also learned about the beginning of theater dating back to ancient Greece and their different ways of displaying theater.

Michael Gow’s “Away” is an Australian play, set in the summer of 1967-68, in a time of great social and political change. “Away” tells the story of three families, each from different social classes, living in suburban Australia, as they each embark on their own holiday, attempting to escape their underlying personal issues. Immigrants Harry and Vic love their adopted country but are constantly faced with their son, Tom’s, terminal illness, while Jim and Gwen fret over their daughter Meg’s blossoming independence and her friendship with the socially unsuitable Tom, and Roy is unable to console a grief–stricken Coral over the death of their only son during the Vietnam war. Although each family is completely dissimilar, the theme of love remains

In conclusion, Michael Gow has used outsiders, family conflicts, and grief and loss to refer to the central ideas of the play, “Away”. Gow has used many literary devices such as allusion, juxtaposition, simile, flashbacks and tragedy to convey the message that he is

Rites of passage, the journeys that dot the edges of our ultimate quest through life. They are the universal changes that can be as insignificant as a first kiss but with everlasting effects on our perspective on life. Stand By Me is a movie that was first released in 1986 from the studios of Director Robert Reiner. It details the story of four pre-adolescent teens, Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern who embark upon a quest to find the dead body of Ray Brower, a kid also around their age that had been missing from the town for weeks. These friends trek many miles with less than adequate food and nothing but their friendships holding them together. It is during this quest that, after setting out to find the body, finding it and then being

“Away” is a historical play written in 1988 by Michael Gow. Away reflects to the central ideas, values and conflicts of Australia in 1967-68. The central ideas embrace outsiders, family conflicts and grief and loss which affected families in the play and in the time. Gow uses three main families to convey the message of the play. The use of language and stylistic devices influence the way Gow has been able to speak to the modern Australian audience. In the play, Gow is able to speak to the modern Australian audience with the clever, complex use of allusion. The modern audience would have to do research to understand the allusions in the play however on a superficial level the audience is still able to enjoy the central themes and ideas of the play.

Intro: The film ‘Stand by Me’, produced in 1986 by director Rob Reiner, set in the town of Castle rock in 1959 demonstrates how a group of four young boys undertake an incredible and self-discovering journey, which in turn, allows them to uncover untouched things about themselves.

The film Far and Away was directed by Ron Howard. This film was initially released in the year of 1992.It was first viewed in 1992 at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. The main characters were played by Tom Cruise as Joseph Donnelly and Nicole Kidman as Shannon Christie. Other important characters are Thomas Gibson as Stephen Chase, Robert Prosky as Daniel Christie, and Barbara Babcock as Nora Christie. The film produced around 137.8 million. This film is considered to be a romantic, adventure, drama filled movie. The movie is about two Irish immigrants (Shannon and Joseph) seeking to live the desired life in America. Joseph’s house had burnt down because of unpaid rent and that eventually led him to meet Shannon. Shannon explains her dream and Joseph ends up agreeing to pursue the dream. They go on a ship to America. When they get to America,

Documentarians often want to get as close to their subject matter as possible. Some documentarians have an insider perspective which ignites a spark to create a piece that illuminates a specific topic or area of study. There are also documentarians that have no affiliation with said subject matter, but want to explore the topic in question. Finally, there are documentarians that have a foot in both worlds. Insider/outsider is a theory in which a documentarian can be close to a subject, but also possess characteristics or traits that make them distant from the topic in question (Coles, 1998). Such is the case with the directors of both Stranger with a Camera and The House I Live In. Due to their own location, both Eugene Jarecki and Elizabeth Barret exhibit characteristics that make them fall into the insider/outsider roles as directors. Robert Coles defines location by stating, “We notice what we notice because of who we are” (Coles, 1998, p. 7). Included in this is, a person’s education, race, class, and gender. Both directors realize they are outsiders and utilize a lens into a world in which they are not otherwise a part of. Jarecki’s lens comes in the form of Nanny Jeter, his family’s nanny from when he was a child. Barret’s lens for her documentary is the community that she shared with Ison. The two directors enter into a world that they are not a part of because of their location, but forge a connection to the subject matter through means of a lens.

“To discover is to gain sight or knowledge of something.” How have ideas about discovery been shown in Away and The Book Thief

The term ‘discovery’ can be explored and interpreted in many different ways, the meaning is created by an individual’s perception, opinion and experiences of discovery. In the book Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch and the film, Titanic by James Cameron explores the concept of discovery as an idea that discoveries can be challenging as they allow for the transformation of an individual’s perspective, and they allow for an individual to discover their true identity and the identity of others around them.

Compare and contrast how the texts you have chosen enlighten the audience about the concept of discovery and how they represent these ideas.

The flames and wrath of war linger in Gene´s mind, fully aware that one day, he will take part in that bloodbath. For Montag, the flames are released voluntarily through the flamethrower he wields. Although Montag is not burning people, he is burning every book that surfaces in his city with the ultimate goal of eradicating all books. Their differences may seem substantial, but it is their similarities that strongly connect them. Gene in A Separate Peace, by John Knowles and Montag in Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury are similar due to living in their own false realities, having a dramatic emotional shift, and losing the person closest to them.

In the short stories “A&P” by John Updike and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, both authors tell of story of transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Sammy, from Updike’s story, is a nineteen year old boy whose parents got him a job as a cashier at the local A&P. Connie, from Oates’ story, is a pretty, blonde, fifteen year old girl who has an almost narcissistic attitude as she has a habit of constantly checking herself and comparing herself to others. Both of these teenagers are in the similar position of growing up, however, they are doing so in very different ways.

An important relationship between characters in the film “Stand by me” Directed by Rob Reiner is the relationship between two characters, Chris Chambers and Gordie LaChance. We gain an understanding of this relationship through the use of dialogue, different camera shots, music and the parallel between Teddy and Vern.“Stand by me” gives us the story, narrated by adult Gordie, about a particular Journey involving four childhood friends, Teddy, Vern and Chris that happened in the summer of 1959 and that his outlook on life forever.