Cover Letter

English 381 Literature and Cinema

Spring '10

Dear Reader,
There is an interesting story behind my enrolling into this class because I had to go through the head of advising to get this class approved for the LA general requirement.  Without this class it was a possibility of not having my requirements to graduate.

My intentions coming in this class was like most students who need to fulfill a Literary Arts General Education requirement along with the attitude of a Senior with one semester left.  The phrase "JUST PASS!" filled my head.  Being that I needed this class to graduate, I had to pass.

Once I signed up for the class I envisioned a class where we just discuss books and their film adaptation.  Little did I know, that we would be doing that but to the farthest extreme possible.

        O' Brother Where Art Thou? is no new piece of cinema for me.  It is one of my dad's favorite movies and you can almost guarantee that it will follow us on any family vacation.  He loves the slapstick humour that is exhibited throughout the film; I have never heard him laugh harder, and I guess you could say that this has given me a personal attachment to the film.  Though I have seen it many times, I didn't mind watching it just once more (it won't be the last) in class, and laughed just as hard as I ever had.

This comical work of art is pretty amazing.  I had never seen this movie and going into it, I thought it would be just another old historic generic literature movie that doesn't appeal to my interests.  After watching the movie, I must say I was totally in shock.  This movie was surprisingly great.  he theme and notions within this movie had a vast range from racial barriers to religion and redemption. The introduction really wasn't that promising but as things moved along, the movie became entertaining and engaging.

Overall the film's modern satirical story  based on Homer’s Odyssey is a classic.  I could sit down and watch this movie several times and still pick out things that I didn't notice or conclude before.  I must say after watching this movie, the song that Everett, Pete, and Delmar sung was in my head for the rest of the week. 

After watching the film for the second time in class, I find myself still wanting to watch the film again. Everett's character, especially in conjunction with his friends Pete and Delmar, is a riot. When presenting our group web essay ideas, I remember the group that studied this film made an excellent point about the main trio. I can see how all the three main characters, when viewed together, act as a complete representation of Odysseus. His flaws, strengths and characteristics all come out in these characters. I liked the film's use of color and sepia-toning. It enhances the atmosphere and time-specifc setting. The Coen brothers did a great job with the film - adapting a classic epic poem with a specific, American voice.

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