Sarah Swinderman
Women’s Empowerment and Pathos in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
The characters and a lot of the context for the Chinese movie And the Spring Comes and the American movie Mona Lisa Smile are similar. Both Wang Cailing and Katherine Watson are teachers of the arts first and foremost. They are outcasts in their particular part of society, fighting for their beliefs. In the case of the Chinese movie, Wang Cailing is passionate about opera music, which is traditionally Western music, and she receives some disapproval from other characters in the movie. In the case of the American movie, Katherine Watson wants to teach her students to take a critical eye to modern art, but the administrators at the school think that it is more valuable to teach art history and that it is more important that the students memorize the textbook. The movies shine a light on the women’s empowerment of the time and use pathos to connect the viewer to the main characters.
Much of the plots of the movies deal with the empowerment of women, specifically when it comes to the expectations of marriage. Both main characters are unmarried women in their thirties, who feel societal pressures from the people around them to get married. Often Wang Cailing’s friends ask her why she is not married and try to help her arrange for a marriage, and when Wang Cailing goes home, she feels that same pressure from her parents. She even feels it enough that she starts to believe in her need for marriage, or at least tries to alleviate some of the pressure she feels. When she goes to the match-making place, she has sort of given in to those pressures for a moment.
Katherine Watson receives similar questioning due to her lack of husband. Her students ask her why she has yet to find a husband, as all of them are expected to forgo the path that Wang Cailing took in pursuing her dreams and instead settle down and become a wife and homemaker. Katherine Watson also subverts this expectation in her encouragement of her students to reconsider this lifestyle choice. Throughout the movie, she doesn’t really waver in her opinions on this matter. Both she and Wang Cailing are strong women characters who represent the empowerment of women to choose their paths in life.
Both movies also build pathos towards the main characters, so that the viewer sympathizes with the oppression that they face. In And the Spring Comes, we see the main character of Wang Cailing go through a lot of emotional distress, so much so that she attempts suicide at one point in the movie. We also see the ballet teacher that she befriends go through a similar situation with his love for his art, and he eventually gets himself sent to jail to escape the hate that he receives. One of the scenes that builds the emotional appeal the most is the scene where Wang Cailing goes to jail to visit him and cannot pretend that she doesn’t know why he got himself sent to jail. Both parties are emotional about their removal from society.
In Mona Lisa Smile, all of the main students that are followed go through pressures and personal issues in the movie. In particular, one student wants to find love but is unlucky in love, the other has been having a sort of relationship with a professor which is sure to end in heartbreak for her, and another student is smart enough to get into the top law programs in the country but feels pressure to choose between pursuing that dream and becoming a wife and a mother. One of the most surprising emotional appeals of the movie is, however, in the scene with the student that has been presented as least likeable throughout the movie when she goes through the revelation that her husband of only a little while has been cheating on her. Despite her conservative mother’s views, she tearfully defends herself and decides to divorce him to go live independently in New York and pursue her individuality. By the end of her movie, her transformation from the most conservative student to the most liberal makes the viewer feel the most emotional connection to her as she cries while Ms. Watson drives away.
The empowerment of women combined with the pathos, especially at the end of the movie, in Mona Lisa Smile leaves the viewer with a bittersweet, feel good feeling at the end of the movie; that Katherine Watson has changed the lives of these women for the better and opened their eyes to new possibilities but also that she now must move on become the driving forces behind these feelings. The issues with empowerment of women combined with the pathos in And the Spring Comes leaves the viewer feeling a little defeated at the end of the movie. In the end, the characters simply could not overcome, which serves as a more realistic conclusion to the events that transpire in the movie. These movies use these same tactics and themes to affect different feelings to the viewer by the end of the movie.
Women’s Empowerment and Pathos in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
Re: Women’s Empowerment and Pathos in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
Dear Sarah
I’m delighted to share my idea with you. Overall very nice job!
I can clearly see you main focus is about women’s empowerment and I think the sections of the text are really fit for your focus. I do really like the conflict you state between the women’s empowerment and the pressure from society as I think it is a classic topic which has discussed by a lot of people for a long period.
However, I think it would be great if you could use the cultural aspect and some non-verbal strategies to support your analysis.
Please let me know if you have any questions
Good Luck
Xiaoxi
I’m delighted to share my idea with you. Overall very nice job!
I can clearly see you main focus is about women’s empowerment and I think the sections of the text are really fit for your focus. I do really like the conflict you state between the women’s empowerment and the pressure from society as I think it is a classic topic which has discussed by a lot of people for a long period.
However, I think it would be great if you could use the cultural aspect and some non-verbal strategies to support your analysis.
Please let me know if you have any questions
Good Luck
Xiaoxi
Re: Women’s Empowerment and Pathos in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
Hi Sarah!
Thank you for sharing your composition with us. I enjoyed reading it.
As for my general reaction, your article has a well-organized logic and clear focus. You have focused on women’s empowerment and pathos, which I think is a profound topic. And you have done it successfully!
Under the topic of and women’s empowerment and pathos, you have provided plenty of evidences, which could well support your topic. Most of the evidences are detailed and appropriate that I can easily understand and connect them with your topic. But I feel it better if you add more personal thoughts and analysis on them.
You have divided your composition into two parts. One is about women’s empowerment while the other is about pathos. However, when it comes to the organization and coherence, the connection between these two parts is not strong enough. It may be better you add some connecting sentences between them. Moreover, you could also point out a focus on each paragraph that make your composition more clear to read.
I notice that you have set yourself in an objective position to state your opinions, which is better for giving evidences and considering readers’ position. This makes the topic more persuasive.
You have put each film in each paragraph for comparison that readers can understand the point you give of each character at once and keep the paragraphs from too long.
Your language is fluent and natural, and there are seldom grammar errors. Yet you can make it more vivid by using metaphor and rhetoric that your composition can be more touching and attract more sympathetic responses.
You did a nice job!
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Jiamin Zhao
Thank you for sharing your composition with us. I enjoyed reading it.
As for my general reaction, your article has a well-organized logic and clear focus. You have focused on women’s empowerment and pathos, which I think is a profound topic. And you have done it successfully!
Under the topic of and women’s empowerment and pathos, you have provided plenty of evidences, which could well support your topic. Most of the evidences are detailed and appropriate that I can easily understand and connect them with your topic. But I feel it better if you add more personal thoughts and analysis on them.
You have divided your composition into two parts. One is about women’s empowerment while the other is about pathos. However, when it comes to the organization and coherence, the connection between these two parts is not strong enough. It may be better you add some connecting sentences between them. Moreover, you could also point out a focus on each paragraph that make your composition more clear to read.
I notice that you have set yourself in an objective position to state your opinions, which is better for giving evidences and considering readers’ position. This makes the topic more persuasive.
You have put each film in each paragraph for comparison that readers can understand the point you give of each character at once and keep the paragraphs from too long.
Your language is fluent and natural, and there are seldom grammar errors. Yet you can make it more vivid by using metaphor and rhetoric that your composition can be more touching and attract more sympathetic responses.
You did a nice job!
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Jiamin Zhao
Re: Women’s Empowerment and Pathos in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
Xiaoxi,
Thank you for your response. I like the idea of incorporating cultural aspects, particularly the cultural differences between the two different movies, and will try to add a bit about that in my revision.
Thank you for your response. I like the idea of incorporating cultural aspects, particularly the cultural differences between the two different movies, and will try to add a bit about that in my revision.
Re: Women’s Empowerment and Pathos in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
Jiamin,
Thank you for your response. I agree with you that I need to draw a stronger connection between the paragraphs about women’s empowerment and pathos. While I do think that the paragraphs themselves are focused, I could add some more analysis throughout.
Thank you for your response. I agree with you that I need to draw a stronger connection between the paragraphs about women’s empowerment and pathos. While I do think that the paragraphs themselves are focused, I could add some more analysis throughout.
Re: Women’s Empowerment and Pathos in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
My Revised Essay:
In watching the Chinese move And the Spring Comes and the American movie Mona Lisa Smile, I noticed a similarity between the two in that they both exemplify women’s empowerment through their main characters and in that they use pathos to cause the audience to sympathize with the characters, particularly the women.
Wang Cailing and Katherine Watson upheld their values during the movie, showing their independence and bravery in the face of oppression. Both Wang Cailing and Katherine Watson are teachers of the arts first and foremost. They are outcasts in their particular part of society, fighting for their beliefs. In the case of the Chinese movie, Wang Cailing is passionate about opera music, which is traditionally Western music, and she receives some disapproval from other characters in the movie. In the case of the American movie, Katherine Watson wants to teach her students to take a critical eye to modern art, but the administrators at the school think that it is more valuable to teach art history and that it is more important that the students memorize the textbook. They both fight for their values and work against the greater society and opinion.
Marriage, as a form of oppression for women, was critiqued through the eyes of both women. Both main characters are unmarried women in their thirties, who feel societal pressures from the people around them to get married.
Throughout Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine Watson receives questioning from those around her about her lack of marriage. Her students ask her why she has yet to find a husband, as all of them are expected to forgo the path that Katherine Watson and Wang Cailing took in pursuing their dreams in favor of becoming a wife and homemaker. Katherine Watson also subverts this expectation in her encouragement of her students to reconsider this lifestyle choice. Throughout the movie, she doesn’t waver in her opinions on this matter. She and the other characters in the movie have the luxury of a status that allows for little consequences to her actions. She is able to subvert expectations while still maintaining her quality of life and without risk of being ostracized from society.
In the case of Wang Cailing, her friends often ask her why she is not married and try to help her arrange for a marriage, and when Wang Cailing goes home, she feels that same pressure from her parents. Not only is she looked down upon for her dream of becoming an opera singer, but society also judges her for her single-ness and independence. She eventually feels enough pressure that she starts to believe in her need for marriage, or at least tries to alleviate some of the pressure she feels. When she goes to the match-making place, she has sort of given in to those pressures for a moment. This is a more appropriate reaction for the culture and for the realism of the movie. Her life was shown as an immense struggle, partly because of her status as a true outcast of society, and as a result, she went through much more emotional turmoil than Katherine Watson.
This emotional turmoil builds pathos. The moment in the film where Wang Cailing attempts suicide is one of the scenes with the most emotional appeal. It shows how low she felt as a consequence of her independence and because her personal goals did not align with society’s expectations of her. We also see the ballet teacher that she befriends go through a similar situation with his love for his art, and he eventually gets himself sent to jail to escape the hate that he receives. One of the scenes that builds the emotional appeal the most is the scene where Wang Cailing goes to jail to visit him and feels emotional at the lengths he’s gone to in order to escape the judgement he feels on a daily basis. She recognizes it as him giving up, much like she attempted to.
In Mona Lisa Smile, all of the main students that are followed go through pressures and personal issues in the movie. One of the most surprising emotional appeals of the movie occurs in a scene with the student that has been presented as least likeable throughout the movie. When she goes through the revelation that her husband of only a little while has been cheating on her, she is forced to reevaluate all of the values that she determinedly upheld throughout the movie. Despite her conservative mother’s views, she tearfully defends herself and decides to divorce him to go live independently in New York and pursue her individuality. By the end of her movie, her transformation from the most conservative student to the most liberal makes the viewer feel the most emotional connection to her as she cries while Ms. Watson drives away. Both characters are able to overcome in the end, a characteristic of the Hollywood style and a luxury that Wang Cailing was not afforded.
The empowerment of women combined with the pathos, especially at the end of the movie, in Mona Lisa Smile leaves the viewer with a bittersweet, feel-good feeling; that Katherine Watson has changed the lives of these women for the better and opened their eyes to new possibilities but also that she now must move on become the driving forces behind these feelings. The issues with empowerment of women combined with the pathos in And the Spring Comes leaves the viewer feeling a bit defeated at the end of the movie. In the end, the characters simply could not overcome, which serves as a more realistic conclusion to the events that transpire in the movie. These movies use these same tactics and themes to affect these different feelings on the view
In watching the Chinese move And the Spring Comes and the American movie Mona Lisa Smile, I noticed a similarity between the two in that they both exemplify women’s empowerment through their main characters and in that they use pathos to cause the audience to sympathize with the characters, particularly the women.
Wang Cailing and Katherine Watson upheld their values during the movie, showing their independence and bravery in the face of oppression. Both Wang Cailing and Katherine Watson are teachers of the arts first and foremost. They are outcasts in their particular part of society, fighting for their beliefs. In the case of the Chinese movie, Wang Cailing is passionate about opera music, which is traditionally Western music, and she receives some disapproval from other characters in the movie. In the case of the American movie, Katherine Watson wants to teach her students to take a critical eye to modern art, but the administrators at the school think that it is more valuable to teach art history and that it is more important that the students memorize the textbook. They both fight for their values and work against the greater society and opinion.
Marriage, as a form of oppression for women, was critiqued through the eyes of both women. Both main characters are unmarried women in their thirties, who feel societal pressures from the people around them to get married.
Throughout Mona Lisa Smile, Katherine Watson receives questioning from those around her about her lack of marriage. Her students ask her why she has yet to find a husband, as all of them are expected to forgo the path that Katherine Watson and Wang Cailing took in pursuing their dreams in favor of becoming a wife and homemaker. Katherine Watson also subverts this expectation in her encouragement of her students to reconsider this lifestyle choice. Throughout the movie, she doesn’t waver in her opinions on this matter. She and the other characters in the movie have the luxury of a status that allows for little consequences to her actions. She is able to subvert expectations while still maintaining her quality of life and without risk of being ostracized from society.
In the case of Wang Cailing, her friends often ask her why she is not married and try to help her arrange for a marriage, and when Wang Cailing goes home, she feels that same pressure from her parents. Not only is she looked down upon for her dream of becoming an opera singer, but society also judges her for her single-ness and independence. She eventually feels enough pressure that she starts to believe in her need for marriage, or at least tries to alleviate some of the pressure she feels. When she goes to the match-making place, she has sort of given in to those pressures for a moment. This is a more appropriate reaction for the culture and for the realism of the movie. Her life was shown as an immense struggle, partly because of her status as a true outcast of society, and as a result, she went through much more emotional turmoil than Katherine Watson.
This emotional turmoil builds pathos. The moment in the film where Wang Cailing attempts suicide is one of the scenes with the most emotional appeal. It shows how low she felt as a consequence of her independence and because her personal goals did not align with society’s expectations of her. We also see the ballet teacher that she befriends go through a similar situation with his love for his art, and he eventually gets himself sent to jail to escape the hate that he receives. One of the scenes that builds the emotional appeal the most is the scene where Wang Cailing goes to jail to visit him and feels emotional at the lengths he’s gone to in order to escape the judgement he feels on a daily basis. She recognizes it as him giving up, much like she attempted to.
In Mona Lisa Smile, all of the main students that are followed go through pressures and personal issues in the movie. One of the most surprising emotional appeals of the movie occurs in a scene with the student that has been presented as least likeable throughout the movie. When she goes through the revelation that her husband of only a little while has been cheating on her, she is forced to reevaluate all of the values that she determinedly upheld throughout the movie. Despite her conservative mother’s views, she tearfully defends herself and decides to divorce him to go live independently in New York and pursue her individuality. By the end of her movie, her transformation from the most conservative student to the most liberal makes the viewer feel the most emotional connection to her as she cries while Ms. Watson drives away. Both characters are able to overcome in the end, a characteristic of the Hollywood style and a luxury that Wang Cailing was not afforded.
The empowerment of women combined with the pathos, especially at the end of the movie, in Mona Lisa Smile leaves the viewer with a bittersweet, feel-good feeling; that Katherine Watson has changed the lives of these women for the better and opened their eyes to new possibilities but also that she now must move on become the driving forces behind these feelings. The issues with empowerment of women combined with the pathos in And the Spring Comes leaves the viewer feeling a bit defeated at the end of the movie. In the end, the characters simply could not overcome, which serves as a more realistic conclusion to the events that transpire in the movie. These movies use these same tactics and themes to affect these different feelings on the view
Re: Women’s Empowerment and Pathos in And the Spring Comes and Mona Lisa Smile
Reflection:
1) What were your expectations for the border-crossing activity? Are your expectations met? Why or why not?
Going into the border-crossing activity I wasn’t fully sure what to expect. I expected to interact with Chinese students and to be able to share ideas with one another. I also expected to have my eyes opened to new ways of looking at both movies through the essays I read. This expectation was definitely met. In reading both essays, I gained a new insight into the movies and was able to open my mind to new ways of looking at the messages of the movies.
2) Please name three things that struck you most when you interacted with the Chinese
peers, and explain why. (You may comment on the differences and/or similarities in
lexical choice, writing style, idea presentation, rhetorical preference, cultural convention
etc.)
The first thing that struck me both in reading the essays from my Chinese peers in my group and in our class discussions was the organization of ideas. A few people in class commented on the length of the paragraphs and the prevalence of one or two sentence paragraphs. This was also something I noticed, however I did not have such an adverse reaction to it that others may have. I saw it as an interesting organizational tactic that did work well in many of the papers. I think it struck me because we don’t often see this type of construction in many of the papers we write for courses here, as it is more of a blog or news style feature.
I also noticed the use of quotes as a framing device for the essays as a similarity between both of the essays I read. This was something that I remember being suggested to me as an attention-getting opening in high school, but I haven’t really considered it since then. I enjoyed the creativity that it allowed and how well that the ideas of the quotes were incorporated into the essays I read. It made me reconsider the external quote as an interesting framing device for an analysis.
The last thing that I noticed in the essays was the freer form. I already mentioned the paragraph lengths, but I also noticed a less formal introduction and conclusion and a freer organization of paragraphs. This allowed for ideas to present themselves more organically and for the analysis to go even deeper.
3) Did you incorporate what had been discussed into the revised draft? If so, please
elaborate on how the discussion had led to the revisions you made. If not, please explain
why.
One revision that was suggested to me was to add in some cultural differences between the movies. Though I wasn’t quite sure how to do this, I attempted to add a few sentences of cultural analysis to a few of my paragraphs. I was actually inspired by a conversation on one fo the essays of my peers to add a bit to my essay on differences between the two movies.
One of my peers also suggested that I incorporate more analysis throughout, so I attempted to add a few sentences of analysis to each paragraph. After re-reading my paper, I agreed that I did a lot of summary in my original draft, so I also cut a few sentences of that out in favor of more analysis and balance in my paper between summary and analysis.
The last suggestion that I implemented into my paper was the suggestion to draw a better connection between pathos and women’s empowerment. I attempted to create a better transition in my paper from the paragraphs dealing mainly with women’s empowerment to the paragraphs dealing mainly with pathos. I reorganized my paragraphs to create a smoother transition.
4) Do you think the activity is beneficial to you in terms of knowledge gains or skill
enhancement? If so, please elaborate. If not, please explain why.
Through this activity I learned a lot and felt that my mind was opened to new possibilities for writing. It is so interesting to me how people from other cultures and people whose first language is something other than English use the English language. Creativity-wise, I think it opens the mind to better and more interesting writing. As someone who has spoken English all of my life, doesn’t speak another language fluently, and has now chosen to study this language in college, it can be easy to fall into the same writing patterns time and time again because I am only exposed to the same writing patterns in my education and in my daily life. Though I sometimes enjoy following a pattern, I think it is important to broaden your mind to other ways of thinking and always challenge the conventions you have come to know. I honestly wish there was more opportunity to do this in my education because I feel that I learned a lot from reading the ideas of my Chinese peers in this exchange.
7) Could you provide three adjectives to describe your feelings about the activity? Please
explain your choice.
Eye-opening- This activity allowed me to see both movies from a different perspective and allowed me to see how different writing styles can offer an open and interesting analysis
Thought-provoking- The essays of my peers caused me to consider new ideas about the movies and made me think about my essay and analysis differently.
Helpful- I found it helpful and encouraging to receive feedback from Xiaoxi and Jiamin on my writing and how I could improve my essay.
8) Any additional comments, suggestions, and observations you would like to make to
better help us assess your performance in this activity?
Overall, I really enjoyed learning from Xiaoxi and Jiamin in this exchange. In my initial comments to them, I tried to give an overview of my reading of their essay as well as specific suggestions for revision. Then, in my second comments, I reread their essays and really tried to put some thought into their comments and the specific sections we were talking about. Rereading their essays made me think of different ideas that could be incorporated and fit with their focus.
1) What were your expectations for the border-crossing activity? Are your expectations met? Why or why not?
Going into the border-crossing activity I wasn’t fully sure what to expect. I expected to interact with Chinese students and to be able to share ideas with one another. I also expected to have my eyes opened to new ways of looking at both movies through the essays I read. This expectation was definitely met. In reading both essays, I gained a new insight into the movies and was able to open my mind to new ways of looking at the messages of the movies.
2) Please name three things that struck you most when you interacted with the Chinese
peers, and explain why. (You may comment on the differences and/or similarities in
lexical choice, writing style, idea presentation, rhetorical preference, cultural convention
etc.)
The first thing that struck me both in reading the essays from my Chinese peers in my group and in our class discussions was the organization of ideas. A few people in class commented on the length of the paragraphs and the prevalence of one or two sentence paragraphs. This was also something I noticed, however I did not have such an adverse reaction to it that others may have. I saw it as an interesting organizational tactic that did work well in many of the papers. I think it struck me because we don’t often see this type of construction in many of the papers we write for courses here, as it is more of a blog or news style feature.
I also noticed the use of quotes as a framing device for the essays as a similarity between both of the essays I read. This was something that I remember being suggested to me as an attention-getting opening in high school, but I haven’t really considered it since then. I enjoyed the creativity that it allowed and how well that the ideas of the quotes were incorporated into the essays I read. It made me reconsider the external quote as an interesting framing device for an analysis.
The last thing that I noticed in the essays was the freer form. I already mentioned the paragraph lengths, but I also noticed a less formal introduction and conclusion and a freer organization of paragraphs. This allowed for ideas to present themselves more organically and for the analysis to go even deeper.
3) Did you incorporate what had been discussed into the revised draft? If so, please
elaborate on how the discussion had led to the revisions you made. If not, please explain
why.
One revision that was suggested to me was to add in some cultural differences between the movies. Though I wasn’t quite sure how to do this, I attempted to add a few sentences of cultural analysis to a few of my paragraphs. I was actually inspired by a conversation on one fo the essays of my peers to add a bit to my essay on differences between the two movies.
One of my peers also suggested that I incorporate more analysis throughout, so I attempted to add a few sentences of analysis to each paragraph. After re-reading my paper, I agreed that I did a lot of summary in my original draft, so I also cut a few sentences of that out in favor of more analysis and balance in my paper between summary and analysis.
The last suggestion that I implemented into my paper was the suggestion to draw a better connection between pathos and women’s empowerment. I attempted to create a better transition in my paper from the paragraphs dealing mainly with women’s empowerment to the paragraphs dealing mainly with pathos. I reorganized my paragraphs to create a smoother transition.
4) Do you think the activity is beneficial to you in terms of knowledge gains or skill
enhancement? If so, please elaborate. If not, please explain why.
Through this activity I learned a lot and felt that my mind was opened to new possibilities for writing. It is so interesting to me how people from other cultures and people whose first language is something other than English use the English language. Creativity-wise, I think it opens the mind to better and more interesting writing. As someone who has spoken English all of my life, doesn’t speak another language fluently, and has now chosen to study this language in college, it can be easy to fall into the same writing patterns time and time again because I am only exposed to the same writing patterns in my education and in my daily life. Though I sometimes enjoy following a pattern, I think it is important to broaden your mind to other ways of thinking and always challenge the conventions you have come to know. I honestly wish there was more opportunity to do this in my education because I feel that I learned a lot from reading the ideas of my Chinese peers in this exchange.
7) Could you provide three adjectives to describe your feelings about the activity? Please
explain your choice.
Eye-opening- This activity allowed me to see both movies from a different perspective and allowed me to see how different writing styles can offer an open and interesting analysis
Thought-provoking- The essays of my peers caused me to consider new ideas about the movies and made me think about my essay and analysis differently.
Helpful- I found it helpful and encouraging to receive feedback from Xiaoxi and Jiamin on my writing and how I could improve my essay.
8) Any additional comments, suggestions, and observations you would like to make to
better help us assess your performance in this activity?
Overall, I really enjoyed learning from Xiaoxi and Jiamin in this exchange. In my initial comments to them, I tried to give an overview of my reading of their essay as well as specific suggestions for revision. Then, in my second comments, I reread their essays and really tried to put some thought into their comments and the specific sections we were talking about. Rereading their essays made me think of different ideas that could be incorporated and fit with their focus.