Hi everyone. This is my 4th essay. The question is REALYYYYY difficult to answer so i, like, spent 3,5 hours planning and writing it. Pheww! I was glad finishing it. I’m not very opstimistic about this one. please correct me thoroughly, including the outline as well. Please recommend if you have a shorter outline so that i can learn some things from it. Thank you so much. please take good care of me.
P.S: Don’t hold back. Please tell me straight away if my essay is VERY bad. I’m only 14 so i still have a long way to go (more unfortunately, I don’t speak English =.="). I need special attention on my writing so… ^^ Hope you guys would help me.
“Films can tell us a lot about the country where they were made. What have you learned about a country from watching its movies? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.”
Outline:
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Introduction: Thesis: Movies provide us with a wide range of information about the country where they were made.
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Body paragragh 1: Main idea: Historical background (Historical movies)
Reflect a country’s past
Not anyone cares to learn about the past of his own country
Movies, both entertainning and informative, help widen our knowledge about different nations
E.g: Chinese historical movies: describe how life used to be thousands of years ago (how people fought for the throne, how badly they treated women,…)
Understand the harsh medieval life in eastern countries -
Body paragraph 2: Main idea: Social and cultural environment
Not anyone haa the chance to travel abroad
Watching films is the only way to understand the cultures of other countries
Eg: Compare Vietnmese culture with others’:
Vietnamese take off their shoes when they go into a house, whereas American don’t
Number four means “misfortune” to japanese but Vietnamese don’t think so
When a vietnamese teenager put up his indexfinger and the one beside that, he means to say “hello!” but foreigners don’t seem to understand that.
Get closer to the world even when we stay at home. -
Body paragraph 3: Main idea: The attitudes and ideas towards life
In the same circumstance, two people from two country would not behave the same
Based on the cultural beliefs
Movies are grounded on normal life Display the customs and ideologies
E.g: I may feel pessimistic about my grades in school, but Americans seem to be optimistic whatever the situations are
Learn how to deal efficiently with certain circumstances and people
Useful when travel abroad -
Conclusion: Although the languages in some movies are different from mine, i still have a vivid picture of how life is in other parts of the world. From all the reasons above, watching films is the best way to acquire a full understanding of other nations that we don’t have the opportunity to go to.
My essay:
In my viewpoint, one of the most effective ways for people to understand each other’s culture well is watching films. Movies provide us with a wide range of information about the countries where they were made.
One important aspect of films, especially historical ones, is that they reflect a country’s past. Nowadays, not many young people cares to learn about the history of their own country. Therefore, movies help widen our knowledge about different nations’ histories. For example, by watching historical chinese movies which describe how desperately people fought for the throne, how badly mandarins treated the poor, etc., I gradually understand the harsh and unfair medieval life in eastern countries. Only movies can bring us entertainment as well as a chance to know another country’s history.
Another benefit of watching films is that they talk about various cultural and social environments. Not all people have the chance to travel abroad so watching films is the best way to understand other cultures. For instance, Vietnameses take off their shoes when they go into somebody’s house while Americans don’t; Japaneses don’t like number four because they think it means “misfortune”; etc. Studying different cultures is an important yet difficult task, but fortunately, we’ve had films as a short-cut to the outside world even when we stay at home.
The last advantage of watching films is that characters in movies express different attitudes and ideas towards life. Since recent movies are grounded on normal life, they clearly display people’s attitudes and ideologies. For example, when something unfortunate happen to me, I usually feel disappointed and pessimistic while others may express optimism about the situation, no matter how bad it may become. By watching movies and get to know different aspects of life, we learn to deal with certain circumstances, which will come in handy in the future.
Although I may not understand the languages in some movies, they can still give me a vivid picture of how life is in other parts of the world. From my view, watching films is the best way to acquire full knowledge about countries that i don’t have the opportunity to go to.
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