UVA What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised you and how?Critique?
A soldier, sitting alone on a stair, contemplating his failure as anguish and self-disgust materialized and the sorrows of war cascaded down his cheek.
In "Saving Private Ryan," Spielberg not only characterized the men of World War 2 who emerged through the fire and brimstone that is war, but also those who could not cross over the hot coals and embers; thus succumbing to the human emotion that is fear.
This film surprisingly transformed a grueling battle into a beautiful allegory of human experience and emotional conflict. Bullets traveling over and through bravely fortified soldiers, A coward running through death incarnate, and acts of mercy being paid in kind with treachery. If art is the creative application of the human experience into creating something meaningful, then this film is a veritable masterpiece.
An american soldier, Mellish, grappled with a german soldier on the second floor of a war torn french home. As Upham, a terrified translator, stepped over the fragmented bricks of a felled wall, he was aware of the clash taking place above him. The frames rapidly changed from Mellish slowly losing his grip on life to Upham collapsing as he attempted to summit the stair, unable to rise to the challenge.
The pseudo-limbo that is this metaphorical "stair," represented decision. Regardless of what we tell ourselves, in life, there is always another step. We don't always get to pick what situations that we are put into, and I find this utterly terrifying, however when faced with immense hardship we do get to pick what decisions we make, and I know that when the time comes I will overcome fear and summit that stair.
Holt Educational Consultant - / 14,835 
4783 Dmitri, this is more of a movie review than a reflection upon how the movie surprised you and how. When you read the word "Critique", I think you decided that the essay wanted you to present a movie review. Let me correct that misconception. You were not being asked to present, a movie review. You were being asked to explain how the movie affected you as person. Did it help you develop something in your personality? Were you persuaded by the movie to consider how you view war and its effects on the lives of the soldiers? Why did you choose this movie in particular? Do you come from a military family? Or are you a soldier yourself? It seems to me that your essay needs more work. It doesn't really offer an insight into your personality because you decided to take an unattached approach to the review of the movie that you wrote. The only reflection at the end, where you make a connection with yourself, shows that you are not trying to connect the movie with you on a personal note, you are just discussing it as a viewer. That is not the point of the essay. Try to revise the essay based upon the questions I provided above.
@dmitrology
Hi Dmitri, I agree with Holt that you should add more about your personal experiences into the essay. You could relate the descriptions of the movie in your article to a particular moment in your life, and explain why these movie scenes remind you the experiences and how they inspired you. Also, focus on describing the details of your own experiences and thinking process.
