Theme+Study+Report+Exemplar

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=Exemplar D: Achieved= = =

My theme investigation examines how characters change. In the texts I read, characters’ attitudes change for many reasons. The texts I chose to use in my report are: Closed, Stranger, a novel by Kate de Goldi, Had Enough, a documentary produced by ALAC, ‘Meeting Kurt’, a short story by Kate Murray, ‘The Hills’, a short story by Patricia Grace, ‘Chinese Whispers’, a short film directed by Neil Pardington and Stuart McKenzie, and Billy Elliot, a feature directed by Stephen Daldry.

Characters change to feel in control
In Closed, Stranger, Max’s and Westie's relationship is built on power and control. Westie is dominant over Max and Max follows Westie doing what ever Westie wants. Max realises he is being controlled by Westie: "I suddenly couldn't stand him calling the shots any more.” He starts to change and challenge Westie so that he could gain his self control back. The reason for change in the documentary Had Enough is similar because Jim is being controlled by alcohol. He had exhausted every way he "had ever heard of to stop drinking". When Jim finally changes and gets in control of his drinking he finds being sober rewarding because he is able to take control and live the kind of happy and rewarding life he wants to.

Characters are changed by uncontrollable events
Kurt from the short story ‘Meeting Kurt’ is changed by the birth of his son from an unplanned pregnancy. Being a father at such a young age means a big change for Kurt. An example of this are changes in his appearance. When Julie, his former girlfriend, sees him she thinks back to how Kurt used to look neat and proper, but now he looks scruffy and unshaven with loose and dirty hair. She notices how he has become much more mature and seems less naive. Julie also completely changes her attitude to Kurt when she finds out by chance that he is now a father, just 13 months after they had been going out. Similar to the way Kurt and Julie change, the main character in ‘The Hills’ is changed by an event out of his control. The boy changes his whole attitude to life after he is cavity searched by the police. We see this change in attitude in the way he looks at the hills. At the beginning he describes the hills with a sense of humour as he loves to see them. By the end of the story after he has been searched, he does not care what the hills look like and wonders “if he will ever look at them again.”

The time and process taken to change
In Closed, Stranger, Max changes from being best friends with Westie to hating him. The process and time it takes Max to change and realise that he truly hates Westie is gradual. His dislike and rage towards Westie develops and builds up slowly over time through a whole series of events, especially after Meredith’s death: "All the rage I'd lain on in the months since Meredith's death, all the blame I knew was his by right, all the guilt I'd felt for her having been in the car reared up, overwhelmed me, stopped me cold and told me just one thing: that I hated him." The time it takes the character to change in the short story ‘The Hills’ is different to the gradual time process of change in Max. In ‘The Hills’, the change is almost instant. His ideas about life and his attitude changes straight away after the ‘search' incident. We can see this when he thinks "that's what I meant when I said something can happen and you can't be what you were after that."

The reason for change
In ‘Chinese Whispers’,Vincent becomes something he is not so that he can be part of a group and feel a sense of belonging. At the start of the film, Vincent is lonely and feels that he doesn't fit in with his family. When the opportunity comes along for Vincent to fit in somewhere and belong, he takes it. This causes him to change and become an active member of the triad rather than his family. Vincent has to do things like taking drugs and wrecking a restaurant. This change in his behaviour is only so he can fit in somewhere and be part of a group. In the film Billy Elliot, the reason for change is different from Vincent. Billy's behaviour changes from obedient son to defiant individual. Instead of Billy's behaviour changing so he can fit into a group, his behaviour changes so he can be an individual and follow his passion. Billy's change makes him different from the typical young son and boy his age. Billy's behaviour changes so he can be who he truly is, even if it is different to the majority of boys his own age. This is illustrated when Billy goes to ballet class instead of boxing, and when he is the only boy in Mrs Wilkinson’s ballet class.

CONCLUSION
From my theme study, I can see that change can happen in many ways and be triggered by many different factors like fate, choice, and ambition. In the texts I chose, the change that occurred is a change of opinion or outlook on life. Some characters become more successful or wiser because of change. One common factor is that all the characters are significantly different in some way as a result of change.