LANGUAGE ARTS DEDUCTIVE Assignment

At the beginning of the film Awakenings, our main character Dr. Malcolm Sayer is shown content with his life. Initially, he is a passionate doctor who has accomplished things in his life that define and shape his character. For instance, doing the scientific experiment about worms for five years earned him prestige: therefore, it also helped him to earn the job. He “proved” that it is not possible to “extract one decagram of myelin from four tonnes of earthworms.” His works prove that he is a man of determination and perseverance. Director Penny Marshall, has also shown in the movie that he finds plants intriguing. Hence, he visits the arboretum frequently. In addition to that, he also keeps plants in his fridge and studies about them with the aid of his botany textbook. As soon as he reach home from work, he rushes to the kitchen to take care of the plants. His interests towards plants prove that he is a curious individual. Even though he seems to be joyful in his life, Marshall believes something is missing!

In the initial scenes, Marshall presents a world that questions Dr.Sayer’s propensity to avoid human interaction. He lives by himself, and his house is filled with books. As a result, he has preoccupied himself with books like any stereotypical doctor would. There does not seem to exist a world where he could connect with real people. Marshall captured medium shots of the patients Dr.Sayer encounters with- emphasizing noise, how overwhelming it is on his first day at job? After observing the patients, Sayer got exhausted, at this particular juncture, Marshall took an internal framing shot- showing Sayer opening a window, making him feel like he is trapped in his job. He has weak social skills, thus, he hides behind glasses and files. During his leisure at the hospital, he visits the arboretum instead of having lunch with his fellow colleagues. At the arboretum, Marshall captured a long shot of Sayer that isolates him from the rest of the