Revising the Toy Story Method of Essay Writing

Revising the Toy Story Method of Essay Writing A few weeks ago, I wandered across a blog post titled â€Å"How Understanding ‘Toy Story’ Can Get You into College.† As a lifelong Pixar fan, I was intrigued by the title and eager to see how the author advised college-bound writers to apply a well-known plot structure to writing an admissions essay. While the author makes some fantastic points about what has worked for his students, I wanted to share my ideas for how to use the â€Å"‘Toy Story’ Method† to write an admissions essay with the College Transitions crowd.The original blog post concludes by highlighting a deceptively simple question – â€Å"So what?† The author advises his students to â€Å"write that question at the top of your essay, in the margins, and at the end,† but he doesn’t explain what you’re supposed to do if you can’t answer it! I agree that it can be a useful question – in fact, it was one of my graduate school colleagueà ¢â‚¬â„¢s favorites in seminar discussions – but if you can’t answer why it’s important or how to revise your work to say â€Å"This is what!†, you’re sort of stuck! What if the â€Å"insight† the question is supposed to lead you to eludes your tired, essay-fatigued brain?Instead of asking â€Å"So, what?† at the end of each sentence or paragraph, you might have better luck with something like, â€Å"What does this say about me?† or, alternatively, â€Å"What do I want the reader to know about me?† Of course, you could interpret either of these questions as a convoluted way of asking, â€Å"So, what?†, but I would argue that it actually does very different work.In my opinion, â€Å"So, what?† assumes that every sentence has an objective that needs to be met, as if there’s a right way to express a point or that every sentence must be linked to a specific argument. That may be true in an analytical essa y, but the same rules don’t apply to narrative writing. Even in a short essay, you should feel free to stretch your creative legs, especially when you’re asked to write about yourself. Don’t hold yourself accountable for rationalizing every sentence!In fact, by asking what each sentence says about you, you allow yourself to be multiple things at once and to tell more than one story at the same time. A particularly descriptive sentence may underscore your imaginative qualities while demonstrating your mastery of the metaphor. An alliterative phrase may illustrate your whimsical nature and flair for language. A poignant conclusion may showcase your knack for distilling complex ideas into a single sentence while highlighting your sense of humor. In other words, it matters what you say and how you say it. Answering â€Å"So, what?† may only show you half of that equation.Lastly, in my opinion, the key feature of every Pixar film is the memorable cast of chara cters. From a superhero going through a mid-life crisis, to a rat cooking fancy French cuisine, to runaway emotions lost in the labyrinth of long-term memory, the films teach us about ourselves and what it means to be human by telling a universal story. We care about the characters because we see our experiences reflected in their encounters with the rest of their world, even if we’ve never been â€Å"to infinity and beyond.† We connect to them because at some point in our lives we’ve felt like they did. We recognize ourselves in the stories they tell.With that in mind, rather than trying to write a â€Å"strong narrative† or to â€Å"make it new† like the author of the blog post suggests, just tell the admissions committee what it’s like to be you! I would argue that that is how you can apply the lessons of â€Å"Toy Story† storytelling to compose a memorable admissions essay.

From A Dolls House To Dolls Home - Free Essay Example

In the presence of social construct, there is an apparent debate of the role and value of women. A standard which often reflects a societyrs cultural standards and level of education. Within the traditional eras (est. prior to modern depiction) women were categorized as inferior to men. Unable to act independently, women were to depend on men in order to complete any task. In the midst of these ideologies Henrik Ibsen, a self-proclaimed humanist, published A Dollrs House a play that sparked controversy due to the role women portrayed. The protagonist, Nora, finds her family in the depths of a household crisis caused by debt. In the hopes of assisting her family in their financial crisis; Nora quickly mobilizes by sacrificing her dignity and adapting as a working woman. By doing so Nora rejects the traditional expectation of women as dependent and helpless. During this time a working woman was rare and seen as a humiliation to the husband, for his inability to fend for his household. Norars husband soon uncovers Norars contribution to their instability and is angered by embarrassment. In the virtue of self-worth, Nora abandons social norms-and her family. Modernists address A Dollrs House as a femi nist literature, using the playrs neutral perspective of women as independent, dignified, and a contributing member of society. Henrik Ibsen challenged the social depiction of women, controversy sparked as audiences hated and praised feminine independence through the use of female characters. Critics claimed, the play deterred women through selfish acts of the abandonment for self-growth. The consideration of A Dollrs House as a feminist play is dependent of the standards a society holds as feminist. In 1800rs a feminist ideology was perceived as the empowerment of women as nurturing and loyal to her household in comparison to the modern definition of feminism as the advocacy of womens rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. The modern ideology of feminism reflects Henrik Ibsenrs moral values of humanism an ideology that disregards genders and emphasizes the injustices embarked by all; despite oners age, race, or gender. In other words, Ibsen perceived his literary work as much more than a depiction of a woman, his workrs intention was to portray the injustice that anyone may confront. He proclaim s his work as humanist, that coincidentally is embarked by a feminist role. Disregarding Ibsens intentions, A Dollrs House embodies feminist ideologies. The exposure of the injustice done to a woman , and the response she has.As a woman , Nora, claims individuality through her establishment of independence as a contributing member of society. Norars acts of servitude to her family received a negative backlash from her husband due to pride. It is then when Nora chose to not only abandoned her family but her squeal marriage with Torvald. Nora illustrated ger relationship as being with Torvald is a little like being with papa, (2.217) reflecting her sentiments of inferiority within her marriage. The granted feminine critical-mind, unintentionally empowers a social revolution against the depiction of women as dolls. Despite the authorrs intentions, A Dolls House left the audiences -in the 1800rs- in dismay. Nora received criticism because of her inability to endure feminine responsibilities. Her characteristic rejected the ideal women, which wear on her persona in the eyes of traditional values. The audience believes Noras demand for justice disillusioned the expected role of a woman. The modern response to Ibsen humanist literature is of feminist persie. The neutrality of gender abilities diminished the social issue of inequality, Directed towards a culture of male-domination, the play endorses feminism through the neutrality of genders.