An Album in Review (Pacific Rim OST)

Today's album review will be on Ramin Djawadi's original soundtrack of the sci-fi film, Pacific Rim.

Pacific Rim itself is an incredible film, but what often makes a movie great is not just visual effects but the sound, in particular, the music. The music within a film can evoke emotions that the director wants the audience to have in a certain episode of the story. In Pacific Rim, Djawadi uses his musical talents to his fullest extent, giving the film an immersive feel that places the audience itself within the story.

As that Pacific Rim's story line revolves around the enormous man-made mechs created to stop sea monsters, the music called for epic drawn out music, and Djawadi has done so perfectly. Djawadi uses the chorus in unison in some scenes to increase suspense and thrill while the majority of the music includes repetition and drawn out notes in the orchestra, heavy drums, and electric guitar to provide a versatile melody. But not all of the music in the album concentrates on action-packed sequences. Djawadi provides a fierce contrast between tragic scenes, awing scenes, and more. This is one major reason that I extremely enjoy listening to soundtracks. Movies often call for a variety of different sub-genres among music. And Djawadi's soundtrack is so amazingly composed that in the most emotional and iconic sections of the music, one can recall the incredible scenes once seen on screen.

Using various instruments, musicians today enjoy much more variety and capabilities compared to musicians of the past. Djawadi exploits this to his fullest, using all of his talents and tools to create a modern masterpiece, complementing the actual film to make truly a magnificent feature.

One Fellow Classmate I am Thankful for

Of all my friends among Mr. McCarthy's Honors English Class of Period 1, Ruiheng (Eddie) Ma is one I am very thankful for. His optimism and energy is contagious and he always manages to uplift the moods of those surrounding him in the classroom. He's very thoughtful- e.g. grabbing us Chromebooks, and not at all afraid to speak up for what he believes in discussions. Out of school, occasionally he'll even go with me to a nearby restaurant to keep me company. Thank you, Eddie, for being who you are, and  have a happy Thanksgiving to all!

Margaret: Guilty or Guiltless?

At the conclusion of "The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber", we found Macomber as an entirely new person- brave, reckless, and dare-devilish. After a precipitate hunt for buffalo, Macomber had found this inner part of him that he thought he never had before. And for once, he was a happy man.
Unfortunately for him, a bullet from Margaret's gun slammed into the side of his head during the heat of the hunt when the last final wounded buffalo was cornered in a bush. Needless to say, Macomber died by Margaret's hand. The question is, did Margaret do this intentionally?
Mentioned earlier in the text, the relationship between Margaret and Macomber had always been tenuous. The only thing that kept the "happy" relationship going was Macomber's money and Margaret's looks. Macomber knew Margaret wasn't that pretty that she could run off, and likewise were the thoughts of Margaret on Macomber. This discovery of new found confidence during the hunt wiped all of Macomber's insecurities away, and what would likely follow this hunt if he hadn't died would be that he would leave Margaret behind to find a more faithful wife, or just live his new reckless life in bliss. This evidence is confirmed when Wilson clearly states that Macomber would've left her anyways since he had changed when he attempts to calm the distraught Margaret.
Margaret would also not like this change because she liked having the upper hand in their relationship, always teasing her husband for the mistakes and weaknesses in his character. When Macomber had "come of age", Margaret had lost this advantage in this relationship that she so very much enjoyed.
All this evidence points to one direction: Margaret had intentionally killed Macomber. She used the confusion of the hunt as a perfect opportunity to remove Macomber and to come clean as well. From killing Macomber, she would benefit by taking his money and be free from his rich grasp. There would be no way officials could extract the thoughts that raced through her head that day, and the only person that would know for sure of the actual events that occurred would be the person in question herself: Margaret.

6-Word Stories

There once was a legend about the great Ernest Hemingway. He was challenged at a bar and asked if he could tell the shortest story. He took upon that challenge and did it in six words. What he wrote: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."


1) Bring supplies: knife, flashlight, and non-perishables.

2) The fool went without proper headgear.

3) In honor of our fallen rescuer.

4) And our second contestant was ambushed.

5) Look out, something from above you!

6) He overcame his fears and jumped.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

This argument is about the main character of the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller.

I believe that Proctor, even with all his faults and imperfections, could still be considered the hero of this story. Although his name is brought down by the horrid crime of lechery, Proctor should still be considered a good person.
One example that shows Proctor knows goodness is how he isn't willing to let his own sin's consequences harm another person. When Elizabeth was taken away to Salem after Mary set her up with the supposedly witched poppet, Proctor was adamant that he go to Salem to right this wrong. He knew it was because of his lust for Abigail that led to Abigail wanting to remove Elizabeth so that she could take Elizabeth's place. This just shows how even though Proctor committed sin, he still tried his best to stop it from causing other's pain because of his own fault.
Another reason Proctor is a hero is that he is willing to do something that helps others rather than helps himself. During the convincing of Proctor to confess, he was willing to lie and sin again so that he could have a chance at life. What finally made him to make this decision was the fact that his children and wife needed him. He made the right choice, but unfortunately for him, he was still to be hanged.
These reasons and examples, combined with the fact that he was very aware of the fact that this craze about witchcraft was false and attempted to stop it (which very few people in the town of Salem were brave enough to do), depicts John Proctor as a hero.

There Goes The Neighborhood

In the history of humans, there have been many instances when different groups of people must share the same community. During these times, ideas and cultures and technologies were mixed, but conflict between the two groups was bound to arise.

When Europeans first came in contact with the locals of the New World, indeed the aforementioned items above were exchanged. The Europeans and Native Americans exchanged cattle, iron-working, religions, foodstuffs, diseases, and more. Unfortunately, over time, the differences of the societies became too apparent and rose to violence. European want for land and converts to Christianity, along with just plainly viewing the natives as inferior led to conflict. The new settlers and explorers' superior weaponry combined with their diseases they brought ended up decimating native populations. This would be a perfect example where basically all locals were wiped out resulting from the new arrivals, thus the term "There Goes the Neighborhood" as we would call this scenario today.

Not always would the newcomers clear out those who lived in the so called "Neighborhood" originally inhabiting the region. Such an example would be a situation we today should be very familiar with- when we take our metaphor literally. Since nowadays we live in a quicker paced world, we often see new people moving in and out of our neighborhood, especially in cities. When these people move in, rarely is the case that the rest of the members of the community would be cleared away. In a world where illiteracy is at its rarest and news travels globally, people are more connected than ever. Thus, those newcomers to your neighborhood are sure to have multiple things in common with your other neighbors. These common things create connections that lead to friendship and prevent conflict from arising. 

Of course, there is an incredible amount of examples where two groups of people must come together to inhabit the same area. Of these cases, many of them lead to conflicts, whether large or small, through having different beliefs. And when the conflict gets out of hand and one group must leave, a person living today would say: "There Goes the Neighborhood".

Me

Hello, my name is Kevin, and I am a sophomore attending Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. I moved to Chicago from the suburbs and was once an incoming freshman. Some hobbies I have include reading and playing video games. One club I currently attend is Math Club. One club I wish to attend by the end of this school year is WYMUN. If you have any common characteristics with me, talk to me so that we can relate.