Belonging_and_as_You_Like_It

A sense of belonging can emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups. communities and the larger world. Belonging can also be prevented by choice or by barriers. Although place can provide a sense of familiarity and safety it is the community within the place and an understanding of the world around you that provides a sense of belonging. In the film freedom writers, directed by Richard LaGravenese, several types of belonging and not belonging are conveyed. Belonging and not belonging are also conveyed in Shakespeare's As you like it. The concept of belonging is conveyed in the film Freedom writers through relationships within people, people and the world and people in a society or group. At the beginning the students belong to their ethnic groups, their gangs. This is established with the scene in the classroom where close up shots of tables being dragged to form close knit circles, the are self segregated within the class. Also narration from Eva such as "they are my family" she tells us, shows she belongs to a gang. we believe her because she believes herself. the kids express there feelings on belonging to a gang, "atleast when you die for your own, you die with respect, you die a warrior" We also learn that the students belong to the apparent dumb class, but only because they are 'dumb'. The teachers call them unteachable as they are a volatile mix of students. Erin relates her students to the world of history and literature. Shakespeare's Montagues and capulets become modern day Latino and asian gangs, The victims of the holocaust persecuted for the same reason as the students themselves. The students learn to belong because they weren't dismissed. Someone actually cared, took the time to find out why they skipped school and learn about life on the streets and poverty and violence. Someone listened to them and they felt like they belonged. Erin Gruwell is the teacher of room 203. She clearly does no belong to the same social class as her students by the clothes she wears, her awful jokes and the idea that she cant pronounce tupac properly. "you have no idea what your doing up there do you'" her students say to her and a close up of her face allows the audience to acknowledge that she feels that she doesn't belong. There is also Ben. Ben is the only white boy in his class and doesn't belong. He is always scared and is afraid to move up the back of the room away from the teacher. "i cant go back there" "yes you can" no, no i cant" a close up shows him really scared and anxious. Ben begins to belong more as the class overcome ethnic boundaries. Techniques used throughout the film to help create a sense of belonging are voice over narration, which is used when the sections of each diary are read out. As each different person reads we see their stories through visual images and we sympathize each person differently. It also shows a sense of belonging. One student reads out from his diary, "i walk into the room and feel as though all the problems in life are not so important anymore. i am home." The background music used in the film relates to the genres the students are into aka hip hop, rnb and rap. Close ups are probably one of the most important techniques used. They capture the facial expressions and focus on emotions and understanding which leads to a sense of belonging. One of the fundamental concepts of belonging is that to another person through the bond of love or friendship. In Shakespeare's as you like it love it the key aspect of belonging, mainly through rosalind and orlando. Through Shakespeare’s use of dialogue and imagery, we are able to witness the level of harmony and acceptance. Rosalind’s dialogue to Celia “my affection has an unknown bottom, like the Bay of Portugal” shows her extensive infatuation with Orlando and how she believes she truly belongs with him. Orlando's infatuation is also shown through is love poems in act 3 scene 2. Belonging to family is also discussed throughout the play. This is through the notions of oliver and orlando who took away his inheritance, and duke senior and his younger brother duke frederick, who hath banished him from the court. In the end this brotherly notion his somewhat restored. Rosalind and Celia's friendship show that they belong to each other - Celia says "pronounce that sentence on me, my leige, i cannot do without her company. Each text gives us background knowledge at the beginning. In freedom writers this is through news and radio footage providing information about racial tension and gang violence in Longbeach, foreshadowing what we are about to witness in the film. Voice narration of Eva speaking tells us that she doesnt belong as an american as such but to a gang and to her father. As you like it also gives us knowledge in the first act. It is established that in contrast to freedom writers and the sense of belonging to a family, Orlando does not belong in his family because his brother has disowned him taking away his rights to the inheritance and doesn't respect him of a brother. This can be seen in Act 1 Scene I when Orlando says "But i, his brother, gain nothing under him but growth - for the which his animals on his dunghills are as much bound to him as i" Room 203 in the freedom writers is like the Forest of Arden in AYLI. Each of these places is one of the keys to reaching a sense of belonging. Shakespeare contrasts the settings of characters in order to challenge the notions of belonging and manipulate the audiences understanding of belonging to place. Symbolism of the forest of arden in contrast to the man made court allows for this to happen. "are these woods more free from peril than the envious court'" is a quote used by duke senior full of emotive language allowing the audience to favor the forest. However also in this speech the duke uses personification giving the forest human characteristics "finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks" showing the reader that he does not belong to the forest because he wants the forest to belong to him. Richard LaGravenese uses the idea that for someone to understand the idea of belonging to a community or group, some form of history must be learnt or the worldview changes. Erin Gruwell and Rosalind have their similarities. They both hold a certain power and catalyse other peoples sense of belonging. Miss gruwell uses her teaching to allow her students to understand the world around them enabling for them to relate and belong. We see this clearly in the scene where she is telling her students about how jews and blacks were thought to be the lowest forms of people and goes into telling them about the holocaust. She has all the students attention for the first time, and what she is saying means something to them. Rosalind uses her philosophies such as "nay , you were better speak first, and when you were graveled for lack of matter you might take to the occasional kiss. Very good orators when they are out, they will split, and for lovers, lacking - god warrant us - matter, the cleanliest to shift." Rosalind's power and control can be seen in act 5 scene 2, when silvius says and so am i for phoebe, phoebe, and i for ganymede and orlando says and i for rosalind and rosalind replies and i for no woman. Rosalind is very adamant and strong in her responses throughout this repetition. This appears to the audience that rosalind is in complete control. However even though mss gruwell and rosalind are similar, they are different. Miss gruwell finds belonging as a teacher to her class of room 203. This belonging is of person and community or group. Rosalind's sense of belonging is thrown around a fair bit throughout the play. She is exiled from where she only knows, goes into the forest as a man to be better accepted but doesn't belong because she still uses language of a court person not that of a shepherd, pretends to be a woman while dressed as a man and finally gets married as rosalind (her true self) to orlando establishing belonging within two people. But rosalind does not belong in the forest. In each text, once belonging is established a form of 'ritual' takes place. In AYLI it, 4 couples get married followed by a dance. the dance scene is highly important in a sense of belonging as a community. In freedom writers, the class dont get married but they fight to stay together, "everybody is cool with everybody, everybody knows everybody. this is the only place where we really get to be ourselves. There is no place like this out there for us." Everyone agrees. A group hug occurs when the class finds out they will be together junior and senior year. This hug and also the scene in the middle of the montage where all the students are dancing together in the classroom is shown. can be related to the dance in the sense that belonging is being portrayed. What else can be drawn into perspective is that the actors used in the film also relate somehow to the story. Hilary Swank played teacher Erin Gruwell, suffered a brief period of homelessness and poverty after the break up of her parents, and also the young actors who mirrored the roles they were given. They belong to their character. In elizabethan times, actors we're always men, so they cannot specifically relate to their roles as such. One major difference in the two texts is that in Freedom writers everyone became to belong. In As you like it however, Character Jaques never really found anywhere to belong.