one page and a half of Plot arc summary.

Plot arc summary. Choose a film or play you know, and in 300 words or less: - specify the work, its writer(s), and its initial date of production, - identify and briefly describe the protagonist and setting, - specify the protagonist's central goal--the one that unifies the plot--and - explain a) the methods the protagonist uses in pursuit of the goal, b) the obstacles the protagonist encounters, and c) the outcome of the quest. In a conclusion (which may go beyond the total 300-word limit for the assignment), present and defend your judgment whether the film/play's focal quest 1) creates identification with the protagonist and 2) treats a type of conflict that has profound significance for you and perhaps for other audiences. Example: In the film The Desert Rats (released 1953; script by Richard Murphy), Richard Burton plays a British officer assigned to command an Australian unit that is helping to defend the North African coastal city of Tobruk against the Nazis commanded by General Rommel. The year is 1942, early in WWII, when the Allies were in full retreat and the Nazis looked as if they would win. The Australian troops resent being commanded by a Brit, and Lt. Col. McRoberts, the Burton character, wants to be accepted by his men throughout the film. For a long time, the men don't accept him; some discuss killing him. We can see that the men's attitude hurts McRoberts. McRoberts doesn't curry favor with the men; he's a cold, efficient commander. When one of his Australian officers disobeys orders, McRoberts prefers charges, alienating the men even more, though he finally rescinds the charges and wins that officer's respect. He commands them through a series of exciting encounters with the powerful enemy; during one raid, he is captured and meets Rommel, but later escapes back to Tobruk. At the film's climax, McRoberts' unit defends an isolated hilltop under constant Nazi attack for eight days. In despair, McRoberts tells headquarters he's pulling out to save his remaining men, but when he emerges from his cave to lead the retreat, the men refuse to go. We understand that they have come to accept McRoberts' vision of the war and to respect him. Together they endure one last Nazi bombardment, then hear bagpipes signaling the arrival of a relief force. McRoberts and his men stand on their hill, laughing in relief and triumph. (277 words) Conclusion: The central problem of The Desert Rats is familiar to everyone; we've all yearned to be accepted by our peers, just as McRoberts yearns to be accepted by the men of his Australian command, so the audience can identify easily with McRoberts's goal. His situation is complicated by a contradiction: while our democratic ideology tells us that men and officers are basically peers, the army is not a democracy; orders must be obeyed and discipline maintained if the larger conflict, the fight against Naziism, is to be won. McRoberts resolves this contradiction in a classically Confucian manner: he disciplines himself by resisting the urge to curry his men's favor and by fighting their common enemy, the Nazis, with ruthless determination--and his self-discipline eventually projects itself into his men, as well, and wins them over to a willing acceptance of McRoberts and his values. If the audience accepts the film's implications, we will discipline ourselves as McRoberts and his men do. What does this mean in practice? It means that we will accept and internalize the discipline of our appointed leaders: we will obey. In a melodramatic, black-and-white, heroes-versus-villains world, we will accept whatever orders are necessary to beat "the enemy," whoever that turns out to be. There are, indeed, situations where that simple, melodramatic logic is key to survival and to getting things accomplished. In most of life's conflicts, unfortunately, that logic is too simplistic. Most of our decisions require nuance rather than black-and-white, good-guy/bad-guy reasoning. In the final analysis, films like The Desert Rats give us the thrill of seeing a lot of action and suspense, but they also teach us a misleading lesson about life that too many audience members are likely to generalize into situations where it doesn't fit.