Wan Wu
6/28/11
To Be Successful
The Shawshank Redemption is a story about Andy Dufresne, who goes to prison for killing his wife and her lover (although we are not sure if he did it until near the end of the movie). While in prison, he thinks about escape all the time. He works for the leader of the prison as he is prepares for his dream. After 20 years of effort, His dream comes true.
From this movie, I know two things which are good for me. The first is persistence. At first, I did not like this movie; it seemed boring. But by the time I got to the end of the movie, I understood all of things Andy did. Compared with Andy, I am lucky. Andy lives in prison, but he can use his hand to change his life. He never gives up his dream, so he can overcome a lot of trouble. Though there is a lot of trouble in front of him, he never thinks about giving up.
Furthermore, I know that I am the only one can save myself from Andy. When he is in prison, he creates his own solution to his problem, using just his own will power and a rock hammer. He is different from other people in prison. They are just waiting to leave the prison someday, maybe after 30, 40, or even more years, but Andy can make his new life with his own hands and his mind. If he could not do this, he might die in prison. So I understand that if I want to be successful, the first thing I need to remember is keeping my sanity and focus, and the second is save me by myself.
Teacher's note: Nice post. Since Shawshank Redemption is a movie with a surprise ending, I would be careful about giving away too much of the ending. This is called a "spoiler". Notice how I put spaces only after commas and periods. I had to make a number of corrections, so please compare with your original.
I like that you recognize how this movie connects with your own feelings. Sometimes, movies with a lot of talk seem boring for ESL students. Please link to
http://www.MoviesGrowEnglish.com/students.html for more discussion about this. Take care. --mike
http://www.MoviesGrowEnglish.com 