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Southern Illinois University Carbondale

CESL  TODAY

Volume 58, Term 051, January-March 2005-03-08
Center for English as a Second Language
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Carbondale, Il 62901-4518

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Big Fish

Big Fish

 There are many differences between the book and the film. One of that movie displayed Don fighting with Edward at Sandra's home, exactly in the middle of the yellow flowers in front of Sandra's home; on the other hand, the book says Don had met him in the middle of a dusty street on the mountains and they were in the cars, but in the film there wasn't any cars when Don was fighting Edward. In fact the difference between the book and the film makes the story heavier and at the same time it was less realistic, because some time the human being's mind can't believe this. The difference in the Big Fish book and film was a really bad idea, because sometimes it makes us confused. So I disagree with the difference between the book and film.
By Awni Najim, AE2


Interesting Part-When Sandra Took Edward to Her Family

I found a difference about when Sandra took Edward to her family. That part was never showed by the film. In the book, Sandra got married first then told her father second. If this part was in the movie, I think that would be interesting. When parents hear their family member got married who didn't invited them, they will feel very surprised and get very angry. When Sandra's father meets Edward, Sandra's father will be very angry and Edward will be happy in movie. Also, Sandra will be worried because her father and Edward are her favorite men. The frame will become interesting in the movie.
by Jamie, AE2


Big Fish

There are many differences between the book and the film; I'm going to talk about one difference. In the book we can see that the dog liked Edward. But,in the film there were no dogs,the dog was the girl who liked Edward. So,this makes the film less realistic and this change was a bad idea. That's because it's hard for the viewer to get this difference. In my opinion if the director does the same thing as the book,it will be more realistic. And, you can't know which story is the real one.
-By Ammro


Differences in Big Fish

From the book, Edward Bloom left Ashland and arrived at a town which looked like a horrible, dark, and expansive place. If people wanted to leave here, the dog would get the people's fingers. When people urged Edward to stay here, the dog saved Edward from a crowd of people. According to the movie, Eward arrived at a town called Spectre where people were very nice and friendly. And the girl took Edward's shoes and hung them on the rope; that means he couldn't leave the town anymore. It is opposite of the book, which said the dog got people's fingers. I think the dog's biting the people's fingers made the plot look very bloody. So, the little girl replaced the dog, and made the plot brisker, not full of blood. It is a good idea to make the movie lighter, not terrifying.
-By Anny, AE2


(Untitled)

"This is a brand of fantasy that will not appeal to everybody, particularly sitting as it does cheek-by-jowl with a more serous story. This film does not argue for fantasy as some films do, but for tolerance for those who need fantasy to survive" (Mark Leeper). Big fish is a real fantasy movie which is transcending time and place. It's enough to stimulate our imagination.

The story is like an old tale and they also use computer graphics to make it more like reality. The movie sometimes shows us the present and at other times shows us the past. A spectator would find it complicated but still could enjoy the complication.
-By Sally, AE2


Big Fish

According to Joseph Lopez, "Big Fish asks us to let go of our common sense and simply believe that anything can happen." He also said, "and now think about how fun life would be if you could still be that gullible." I just agree with his opinion. After watching "Big Fish", I thought that how pure we were in childhood. And we simply believed fantastic stories although we had never seen them. I found out an important thing: that as I have grown up, how contaminated and how corrupt I am. But Edward Bloom had such a pure and neat spirit until he died. Edward Bloom wanted to be a "Big Fish" with his son and his son also finally understood his father. And he understood that a man could be great if he could be loved by his son. "Big Fish" really lets me think and realize a lot of things. Watching "Big Fish" is likely to take something out of my mind.
-By Danny.


Big Fish



Big Fish is hardly magic movie. That is a famous actor playing---Albert Finney. It is a movie, though son has some misunderstanding, but that was comprehensible. I feel the movie was very interesting but Shannon Patrick Sullivan says "too far one way or the other ­ too sappy, too bizarre, too inane." I think, we need to relax when we see any movie. If we always use a serious manner watching a movie or in life we could feel anything is boring and monotonous. Finally, I look forward to the movie's ending. I guess that it will be a special and interesting end.

Shannon Patrick Sullivan sentence from: Shannon Patrick Sullivan
Link From:Big Fish, Big Fish Gallery

By Jamie, AE2


(Untitled)

is one of the most interesting stories I have read during this year. In my opinion, this story is very helpful for English language students. The reason is it has a lot of vocabulary as best as another story. On the other hand, this story has many things I disagree with. This story was converted to a movie. However, the movie we see is kind of different form the story. So sometimes it makes a kind of confusion for beginner students of English in CESL classes. Also, most of this story is talking about fiction. In fact, the big fish story is still helpful in vocabulary and reading.
By Awni


Differences in Big Fish

In the book, there were a lot of men who wanted to be in love with Sandra. Edward was one of the men, but he didn't do anything for a long time. However, in the film Edward saw the woman he's going to marry at the circus, but he lost her. So he worked as a circus member for three years and then went to Auburn to meet her. But she was engaged to Don Price.

The story of the book is more realistic than the film's. But I think Tim Burton, the director, made the film more interesting and funny. For example, when Edward met Sandra, time stops like they say when you meet the love of your life. I think that as the film was made by adding cinematics, we could feel the film is very interesting. I like it.

By Danny


Big Fish

The movie is full of fabulous stories that Edward Bloom owned. According to Joe Lopez's review "A big fish is a big fish." Edward Bloom makes his story become much of a fantasy even if his son doesn't believe his legend stories. But Edward Bloom knows he wants to make his life more plentiful for his family. Whether the stories are true of fake, the important thing means how to increase interest in your life... In his tales, he wasn't attracted by temptation. He was honest to himself and told us that he had courage and was not threatened. Nowadays, people every day are invariably trapped by temptation. I have to say that you have the ability to avoid many temptations. To be out of pollution, like Big Fish, it is a very important thing for everyone to think about.
By Anny, AE2


Big Fish

Shannon Patrick Sullivan said that "Burton makes 'Big Fish' succeed by making us eager to hear the next story, no matter how much of the telling has been stretched by Edward Bloom (in fact, that's part of the attraction)." "Big Fish" is a joy from beginning to end." I agree with that reviewer. While I saw the movie, I looked forward to the story. That's because stories in "Big Fish" were almost all uncommon and curious, so that made me interested and excited. Although the stories were unbelievable, I wanted to watch the next stories. I could make a smile all the time when I saw the movie. By Gloria, AE2


BIG FISH

I think is an interesting movie. I watched only half of the movie but every character had an attractive pwesonality. My most impressive person is the Chinese twins. At the end of the movie, they were real twins, but in the story they shared their lower half of the body. I don't know all of the movie but it is interesting. I'm sure it will be more interesting when I watch all of the movie. That is because this is Edward's and his son's fantasy.
By Maria, AE2


How to Approach

Edward approached Sandra both in the film and in the book. But his approach is different in the film and the book. In the book, his approach was small. He followed her between classes, down the halls, this sort of thing. Sometimes he brushed against her accidetly and said, "Excuse me." In the movie, his approach was big. He drew, "I LOVE YOU," in the sky and on a screen in her class. When he said to her, "I want to go out with you," in the book, they were in the hallway but in the film it was in her house and he gave her some flowers. I think the film is better than the book, because it is big scale and unbelievable, and it is easy to understand his big love.
-By Maria, AE2


Visual Effects of Movie

I don't know the scene of how Edward and Sandra met first. But when I think "how did Edward catch her love?", in the novel, I remember the fight of Edward and Don, at first. That was dramatic. But if that scene were in the movie, we couldn't feel such a dramatic shock, because it's a night scene, so we couldn't watch the appearance of two men's face covered by blood clearly. And when I think about the movie, I remember the scene when Edward went to Sandra's house,and said a declaration of his love. That was also a dramatic scene, equal to the novel. We can see the visual beauty of the many yellow flowers he presented to her, and also can see Edward's happy smile when he fell down. So I think it was a good idea to change this scene.
-By Hatsuko AE2


Big Fish

This is a very funny and overstated movie. Some parts in the movie are funny and interesting; for instance, Edward in the circus, in the small town where he lost his shoes, when he pursues his love, and so on. The director use flashback style sequence. Sometimes I am confused about whatıs going on. According to Joe Lopez, "while the fantasy sequences are great, the moments we spend in the reality of the situation really hurt the film." I agree with this article. In this movie, the father always tells the son his story about his life. However, he never tells the truth. The fatherıs story is like a fairy tale. In my opinion, the son becomes strongly interested in the truth, and so he opposes his fatherıs stories. Everybody listened to many fairy tales or folk tales when they were a child. No story is true, but we enjoy them a lot. "just remember anything can be real." And then you can enjoy your life.
-By Mandy


Big Fish Reviews

According to David Butterworth , Burton had a "dull and boring" movie. I think "BIG FISH" is not dull and boring. I don`t agree with David Butterworth. The movie has an interesting main idea, so this makes the movie enjoyable. Also one thing that gets my attention in the movie is imaginary characters(The giant, Edward Bloom...). I`m watching this movie with a big interest. Even if the movie`s vocabulary is a little bit hard, but I`ve learned new words which I can use in my daily life. According to me "BIG FISH" is very good and interesting, so I like this movie. -By Alp Caneri


Special Thanks



A special thanks to all those who gave their best and tried their best.

************************************
CONTRIBUTORS

AE1

  • Jamie Wang is from Taiwan.
  • Lacy Songis from Korea.
  • Alisa Lee is from Korea.
  • Seunghun Jang is from Korea.
  • Angelica Silva de Limongi is from Venezuela.
  • Jeong Ah Moon is from Korea.

    • AE2

  • Ammro Al Kurashi is from Saudi Arabia.
  • Anny Chen is from Taiwan.
  • Awni Najim is from Qatar.
  • Gloria Seo is from Korea.
  • Ji Young Kang is from Korea.
  • Ju Hyoung Kim is from Korea.
  • Sally Lee is from Korea.
  • Danny We is from Korea.
  • Hatsuko Hashimoto is from Japan.
  • Maria Uetsuki is from Japan.

    • EAP1

  • Alp Caneri is from Turkey.
  • Mandy Chung is from Taiwan.
  • Eriko Ami is from Japan.
  • Yun Young Lee is from Korea.
  • Ahmed BaMuqabel is from Yemen.
  • Hyo Ju Han is from Korea.
  • Hong Ju Jun is from Korea.
  • Byung Hoon Kim is from Korea.
  • Mi Rae Yi is from Korea.

    • EAP2

  • Luciana Mottola is from Colombia.
  • RiNa Park is from Korea.
  • Masaki Kitagawa is from Japan.
  • Yen Cheng Yeh is from Taiwan.
  • Sang Hee Kim is from Korea.

    AC Students

  • Jun Ki Chi is from Korea.
  • Phoebe is from Korea.
  • Ji Hyun Jeon is from Korea.
  • Byong Kyun Kim is from Korea.
  • Jun Hui Min is from Korea.

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