Eng 323

Final Exam ENG323

Movie: “Groundhog Day”

Character: Phil Connors

Episode: The part of the movie where Phil starts to feel utterly helpless, then anger at his situation, and starts killing himself in any way he can think of.

Class Comments: I would have fallen asleep if I attended class for the viewing, not out of boredom, but because I’m always tired . Ultimately, I viewed the film at home with my family. There was a handout that accompanied the syllabus that goes over the parts of the film quite well. I particularly like “i. Joke: They must have saved money making this movie because all the retakes were potentially usable”(Groundhog handout)—I thought the same thing the first time I saw this years ago! What skills the actors have to give the same performances over and over again with different lines from BILL MURRAY (intentional emphasis). But, on a more serious note, I like how the film cataloged the stages of grief Phil went through as a result of his dire consequence of having to live the same day over and over and over again.

Anecdote: I have, at times, felt so overwhelmed by all the things I have to do in any given day, that I start to feel helpless. I manage the schedules of several different people while holding two jobs and attending University full time. It can be quite stressful. So stressful, that some days while I’m walking across campus, I have this inner dialog with myself. “I’ll just quit! Yeah, I’ll quit school, I’ll quit my job(s), and I’ll become a bum and live under a bridge!” But, unlike Phil, I don’t have the ‘luxury’ of getting to live out that particular fantasy. Instead, by the end of my journey across campus, I’m usually calmed down enough to trudge on.

Topic: #9 The nature of knowledge and its effect on those who possess it.

Class Comments: “o. Repetition is the foundation for Groundhog…” (Groundhog handout)

Movie: “Groundhog Day”

Episode: Toward the end, Phil decides to start using his time to learn...