Snow Ball Paper - 1st draft

Revelation is described as a disclosure of which it reveals something that was previously unaware of. An example of a revelation is the realization of one’s sexual orientation after experiencing some form of affection towards the same sex. It is not always at an instant where a revelation is found, though it can also be a process in which it takes duration of time whether it takes a day or a year to realize something that was not discovered before. A Revelation trope is a familiar thing one may see as repeated, similar to a cliché. An example of a revelation trope is the different ways one is exposed to the truth in which it reveals a new insight of the person, changing the perspective of what one may think compared to what he/she had previously believed. Revelation tropes are introduced by a revealer in whom he/she tries to uncover the truth about an unacceptable situation. It delivers a message in which a majority of people might not accept because it reveals a fact that most people do not want to hear for it might not have a kind of benefit for ones self.

Most people have discovered revelations by undergoing an experience that has made them realize what may be best for his/her own benefit. In the movie Fox Fire, Angelina Joli played a character named Legs, a revealer in most situations, where she influenced a group of high school girls to revolt against their teacher. The issue was about a high school girl who was sexually abused by her teacher during school detention hours. A revelation trope is found in Fox Fire when a few girls turned against the scheme of hurting the teacher. Others tried to resist by not believing the sexual harrasment was the truth. Legs took the initiative to try to motivate the girls to fight back the teacher to demand self respect. The girls eventually fought against the teacher which gained them their respect. The Message that was taken place was to fight the superior in order to save the girl from being harassed again.

Similar to the movie The Matrix, Morpheus, known as a computer hacker, introduces Thomas Anderson to the real world and how the world he was living in was “a ravaged wasteland where most of humanity [has] been captured by a race of machines which live off of their body heat and imprison their minds within an artificial reality known as the Matrix” (http://www.imdb.com/). Morpheus reveals to Thomas Anderson, known as Neo in the real world, in order for him to understand that he is ‘the one’ to save the people of Zion, the last human city on earth, from the machines that make up the Matrix. In relation to Fox Fire, Morpheus and Legs have similar characteristics in which they influence those who are less experienced to fight against their superior, or in Neo’s case his nemesis, to prevent such situations from happening again. Both situations include the Revealer/Prophet, who is physically distinct to those they are trying to share the message with, which changes the reality of ones perspective by involving them into troubled situations.

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In Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, a young man named Luke Skywalker seeks Jedi Master Yoda to continue the teachings of Obi-Wan Kenobi who had previously died in Star Wars: Episode IV. Yoda instructed Luke the ways of the force in order to defeat Darth Vader. Luke tried to find the Revelation of his life within Yoda’s teachings, however, a startling revelation was discovered when Luke and Darth Vader were in a battle against one another which Darth Vader reveals to Luke that he is his father. The Revelation Trope was the whole concept of Good vs. Evil in which no one knows until the end of the movie who would really win. In Star Wars, Luke is looking up to a God-like figure such like Obi-Wan Kenobi who tries to teach him the way of the Force, but because of his death, he was unable to succeed in his prophecies of being a real Jedi Master. Yoda took his position which continued the teachings, also looked upon as a God-like figure in which the developing prophet is learning from the mentor prophet of what the real life message is. In relation to the Matrix, Morpheus is somewhat of a God-like prophet where he teaches Neo the ways of the Matrix and how to go against it. Neo learns from Morpheus and by the third movie becomes into this Jesus figure where he already learned the facts of the trade of life, to sacrifice himself to save the people of Zion from the machines that control the people’s lives. Similar to Star Wars, both Movies have a God-like Prophet who share a message with the less experienced Developing prophets.

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Written in the late 1800s, the short play book, An Enemy of the People, by author Henrik Ibsen, tells a fictional story about a town taken place in Scandinavia. In the story, the town is dependent on a large bath that is provided for the towns’ people. Unfortunately, an issue is introduced by Dr. Stockmann, a medical doctor who is also the medical officer of the town's bath. He discovers that the bath's water supply is contaminated and tries to alert the people of the town. He first informs Hovstad, editor of the town's newspaper 'People's Herald', and Aslaksen, the newspaper's printer. He gains their support, however the mayor of the town, who is also the brother of Dr. Stockmann, does not entirely agree with his discovery. The mayor is concerned about the Dr.’s proposal of publishing the contamination of the bath in the town’s newspaper for it would cost plenty of money which includes taxing the people of the town to repair the damage.

In the long term one can agree that the mayor does not want the people to follow Dr. Stockmann’s requirements to fix the bath and because the mayor disagrees with his brother is all because of jealousy. In reaction to Dr. Stockmann’s discovery, the mayor persuades Hovstad and Aslaksen, who were in the process of printing the Dr.’s proposal in the newspaper, to go against him and his word in which they both influence the people of the town to go against him as well. In defense to try to save Dr. Stockmann’s perspective of the contaminated bath, the people of the town looked at him as the enemy of the people. Though, in the end Dr. Stockmann had the option to move out of town, instead he decided to stay and fight against those who do not understand his perspective, the truth, of the contaminated baths’. In An Enemy of the People the revelation is portrayed when Dr. Stockmann made the discovery that the water in the baths’ are contaminated. Because of this revelation, it led Dr. Stockmann to reveal the truth of the contamination to the people of the town.

In comparison to the book Feed by M.T. Anderson, the main character named Titus narrates the story of him and his relationship with a young girl named Violet. They both live in the future, a world where everything is ran under the feed, a small chip planted in a person’s head. Titus explains how the feed is “the only way to get all this stuff, and it’s no good getting pissy about it, because they’re still going to control everything whether you like it or not” (Anderson 48). Although the feed may be beneficial to those who use it, Violet thinks otherwise. Violet who was known to be Titus’s girlfriend has the feed, though it was planted in her head at the age of seven which makes it difficult for her to use it correctly. Violet can still use the feed, however if the feed malfunctions then she is at a great risk of dying. Because of Violet’s condition, she is able to think against the Feed whenever she pleases. Nevertheless she still has an even greater risk of damaging her Feed by resisting it, causing herself to weaken. Due to her condition and resistance against the feed, it makes her different from everyone else which cause people to look down upon her, making her feel left out. The purpose of the Feed is to advertise the mind by feeding the person with different messages which influence people to do what is being fed. This puts Violet aside from those who follow the Feed because she believes that:
“No one with feeds thinks about it […] When you have the feed all your life, you’re brought up to not think about things. Like them never telling you that it’s a republic and not a democracy. It’s something that makes [her] angry, what people don’t know about these days. Because of the feed, we’re raising a nation of idiots. Ignorant, self-centered idiots” (Page 113).
Because of her condition, Violet is allowed to wander in her own mind and freely think about anything, resisting the feed to do exactly what she wants, not what the feed tells her to do. Violet exposes Titus about resisting the Feed, revealing how the Feed is taking over people’s minds in a bad way. Instead of Titus resisting the Feed, he resisted Violet and her revelation about the Feed. Violet’s revelation was not fully understood until Violet passed away due to the malfunction of her Feed.

In connection to An Enemy of the People it took Dr. Stockmann, a man who became an outcast after revealing to the town about the outbreaks in the baths. Because of the truth that was revealed, nobody in town believed him, as well with Violet who was also viewed as an outcast in which she tried to expose the Truth about the Feed to Titus. Both Stories have their similarities because the Revealers are not always noticed which make it difficult for many, including the reader, to understand the message.