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The films “And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile” reveal the roles women play in society and how their decisions and actions are tested, specifically related to their positions as women teachers. “And the Spring Comes” displays a woman protagonist, Tsailing, who values her passions, family, hard work, and love. “Mona Lisa Smile” displays a woman protagonist, Katherine, who values education and equal opportunities for women. She sees young women and wants to support and reveal to them that they should make something of their life and be independent. Both of the women in these films face trials due to the fact that they are women in a position of influence, that being a teacher. With that influence, come the qualities that both women carry: the character, emotion, and logic of an independent role model.

In “And the Spring Comes” we are presented with Tsailing, a woman who does not have much money, but has great character. It is revealed from the beginning scenes that she is not going to give up her dreams of becoming a singer. She continues to practice in her small home and teach at the school nearby. These acts of continuing to learn and teach despite her financial state display the true hardworking and passionate character of Tsailing. When she and her friend are to perform in the street at a local show, she again displays her passion and love for opera as she sings while everyone begins to leave. Addiotionally, we see Tsailing’s commitment as a teacher is vastly different than of her friend Hu’s. He pretends to attack a young woman in the hopes his misery would end and he may be put in jail. This is the final result. Tsailing can barely look at him after. Tsailing puts teaching to work in a different way, a more empowering way when she begins to help a young woman, who she believes has cancer, make it to the finals in a singing competition. These actions go to show the true loving character of this woman as a teacher to others. The movie then reveals how she began to took life into her own hands then deciding that a man was something she did not need. She decided to create a life for her own and take her experience of being a teacher with her as she begins her new journey. She defied norms and adopted a young girl, being a single mother. This will be another opportunity for Tsailing to grow as a learner and speaker. The empowerment she will feel as she raises a young girl will be unbreakable under any circumstance. Through the remarks, judgements, and trials faced, this woman raised a little girl, got multiple jobs, continued teaching, and always made time for others after learning she needs to take care of herself first. Tsailing’s character is one of persistence in hard work. Her emotions are strong, yet guide her to see the good in other and always want to help. She has revealed throughout the whole film, from living alone to starting a family, that she is an independent role model for others, and now her daughter.

In “Mona Lisa Smile” the main protagonist asks those around her to challenge the norms they are expected to live by. In asking others to do this presents one of bravery and courage. The film presents, Katherine, as a “modern” woman, teaching art at Wellesley College. She is someone who truly cares about the thoughts and aspirations of her students. Katherine, being a woman of empowerment, wants to empower her students to think for themselves, not just for the grade and prestige in the classroom. She wants to provide them with a sense of independence and reveals her own independence when she accepts the job at Wellesley College to teach art. While teaching is her goal, her other mission is to reveal to these women she teaches that they do have a voice and their voice matters. The revealing of “advertisements,” as one student called them, scene in this film truly highlights the power women can have and how it is portrayed poorly to the public. Katherine sternly stands at the front of the room, while the students looking uneasy sitting in their chairs. Katherine begins to go through a series of slides. Slide after slide revealing how they are all portrayed as their husband’s, maid’s, and sex icons. The students at the all girls school believe these are the “roles they were born to fill.” Teary eyed Katherine does not stop her empowerment quest here. By the ending scene we see another teary eyed Katherine, but for a different reason. The women she had grown so close to know and teach have reached out to her, they have graduated, and Katherine has seen the empowerment she has placed into them. She has taught these women to seek their own independent fulfillment in life which further reveals the impact an empowering woman teach can have on others. Katherine’s character is one that encompasses great determination. Her emotion reveals a love for learning, and teaching, but also giving a voice to women. Her independence and logicalness shines through as she has created a life of her own influencing others as a teacher.

Both of these films reveal the empowerment of women than can come through teaching. The women in these films reveal a sense of independence and drive in all that they do. Whether it be teaching or becoming a mother, or both, these women know what hard work, determination, and belief in the self can get them. Their admirable character shines through in how they choose to treat others. Those that have oppressed them, they choose to continue on their way with kindness and a sense of love in mind. This loving and passionate emotion is what fuels them. These women have their focus on goals, goals for the betterment of themselves and those they love. This logical thinking on how to empower and influence others is an aspect both of these women embody. This aspect of discussing two women teachers, presents the importance that women play in society and the influential role they have on students and anyone around them.

Dear Katherine

I have read many of my classmates' article about both movies. Most of them are focus on the strength of independent women who aim at chasing their dreams fearlessly. However, your opinion is quite innovative, for your article not only focus on the sensational experiences of Katherine and Tsailing, but also tell us their value to people around them by teaching. While they were achieving their goal, they influenced others deeply.

However, Your theme mainly concerns about "teaching", but your article mostly describes the experiences of both protagonists. Perhaps it will be better if you show us more detailed meanings of "empowerment through teachings".
Wu Tong

Dear Katherine

Thanks for you sharing your composition. I really enjoyed reading your analysis. And now, I would like to give you some personal opinions and advice after reading and thinking.

While reading your composition, I can easily find out and understand its theme and the meaning of your sentence. It is unobstructed to follow your thinking during my reading time. And the theme you discuss about is attractive. I haven’t seen any classmate of mine writes the same topic as yours.
To my surprise and high agreement, you focus on not only women’s empowerment but also the point that it can come through teaching. I didn’t realize the latter before reading your article. The clause in your composition that “the empowerment of women than can come through teaching” is the topic I think you focus on. And the parts of your article fit this topic well.

I notice that you have not only list evidences but also describe and analyze some typical examples in detail during the time you analyze each movie’s protagonist to support your argument. And you have analyzed briefly behind these typical examples. All of these made me feel your article was vivid and more persuadable while reading it and following your thinking.

When it comes to the organization and coherence of your composition, I feel that your organization and coherence are great: Every time you finish analyzing a film, you sum up its protagonist’s spiritual significance. And after these analyses, you have drawn a final conclusion directly at the beginning of the last paragraph. This kind of organization makes me easy to understand your thinking. But I would like to suggest you to add some transition words between paragraphs, such as the third and the forth paragraphs. “Finally, we can understand that both films reveal the empowerment of women…”

And I feel that a point you want to mention in this article are unclear: “He pretend to attack a young woman in the hopes his misery would end and he may be put in jail.” in the second paragraph. I know he really has terrible misery in that town. But I can’t know what kind of misery do you think he has in this movie. As you can see, different people may have different view of the same plot. Maybe his misery in your mind is not the same with that of mine? If you don’t refer to it clearly, your readers will not understand your thinking at this point.

And I would like to support you turn some indirect description into direct description. Just like “The revealing of ‘advertisements’,” in third paragraph. I didn’t understand when I saw these words. Only after reading 2 more sentences did I understand it meant “The editorial criticizing her”. Why not use a more direct description to make your readers easier to understand?

So, I hope you can consider whether you can add some transition words and make more direct and clearer description when you refer to some objects or events in the next version.

Very nice job! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Yours,
Zhen S.

Zhen,

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I think you make a great point about my transition words. That is something I would like to include in my revisions. Overall thank you for taking the time to thoroughly look at my essay and make suggestions. Additionally, you made a great point about defining "misery" because our definitions might be different. I will be further explaining what I mean so that readers can relate to my opinion. Thank you so much for your suggestions!

Kate

Revised Essay:

The films “And the Spring Comes” and “Mona Lisa Smile” reveal the roles women play in society and how their decisions and actions are tested, specifically related to their positions as women educators. The film, “And the Spring Comes,” displays a woman protagonist, Tsailing, who values her passions, family, hard work, and love. Tsailing stays true to her passions and works to create a happy life for her and her daughter. The film “Mona Lisa Smile” displays another woman protagonist, Katherine, who values education and equal opportunities for women. Katherine sees young women and wants to support and reveal to them that they should make something of their life and be independent. Both of the women in these films face trials due to the fact that they are women in a position of influence, that being a teacher. With that influence, come the qualities that both women carry: the character, emotion, and logic of an independent role model. These three components are devices Aristotle introduces in the forms of ethos, pathos, and logos.

First looking at the film, “And the Spring Comes,” we are presented with Tsailing, a woman who does not have much money, but has great character. It is revealed from the beginning scenes that she is not going to give up her dreams of becoming a singer. She continues to practice in her small home and teach at the school nearby. These acts of continuing to learn and teach, despite her financial state, display the true hardworking and passionate character of Tsailing. When she and her friend are to perform in the street at a local show, she again displays her passion and love for opera as she sings while everyone begins to leave. Additionally, we see Tsailing’s commitment as a teacher is vastly different than her friend Hu’s. He pretends to attack a young woman in the hopes his misery, due to other’s views and opinions of him being a male ballet dancer, would end and he may be put in jail. Hu being sent to jail is the final result and Tsailing can barely look at him as he stands in the cell claiming he is finally happy.Tsailing puts teaching to work in a different way than her counterpart, a more empowering way when she begins to help a young woman, who she believes has cancer, make it to the finals in a singing competition. These actions go to show the true loving character of this woman as a teacher to others. The movie then reveals how she began to take life into her own hands then deciding that a man was something she did not need. She decided to create a life for her own and take her experience of being a teacher with her as she begins her new journey. She defied norms and adopted a young girl, becoming a single mother. This will be another opportunity for Tsailing to grow as a learner and speaker. The empowerment she will feel as she raises a young girl will be unbreakable under any circumstance. Through the remarks, judgments, and trials faced, this woman raised a little girl, held multiple jobs, continued teaching, and always made time for others after learning she needs to take care of herself first. Tsailing’s character is one of persistence in hard work. Her emotions are strong, yet guide her to see the good in others and always want to help. She has revealed throughout the whole film, from living alone to starting a family, that she is an independent role model for others, and now her daughter.

Second, looking at the film “Mona Lisa Smile,” the main protagonist, Katherine, asks those around her to challenge the norms they are expected to live by. In asking others to do this presents a character of bravery and courage. The film presents, Katherine, as a “modern” woman, teaching art at Wellesley College. She is someone who truly cares about the thoughts and aspirations of her students. Katherine, being a woman of empowerment, wants to empower her students to think for themselves and not just for the grade or prestige in the classroom. She wants to provide them with a sense of independence and reveals her own independence when she accepts the job at Wellesley College to teach art. While teaching is her goal, her other mission is to reveal to her students that they do have a voice and that their voice matters. The revealing of “advertisements,” as one student called them, the scene in this film truly highlights the power women can have and how it is portrayed poorly to the public. Katherine sternly stands at the front of the room, while the students sit in their chairs looking uneasy. Katherine begins to go through a series of slides. Slide after slide she clicks through revealing how they are all portrayed as their husband’s, maid’s, and sex icons. The students at the all girls school believe these are the “roles they were born to fill.” Teary-eyed Katherine does not stop her empowerment quest here. By the concluding scene we see another teary-eyed Katherine, but for a different reason. The women she had grown so close to know and teach have reached out to her, they have graduated, and Katherine has seen the empowerment she has placed in them. She has taught these women to seek their own independent fulfillment in life which further reveals the impact an empowering woman teach can have on others. Katherine’s character is one that encompasses great determination. Her emotion reveals a love for learning, and teaching, but also giving a voice to women. Her independence and logical thinking shine through as she has created a life of her own influencing others as a teacher.

Finally, we can understand how both of these films reveal the empowerment of women that can come through teaching. The women in these films reveal a sense of independence and drive in all that they do. Whether it be teaching or becoming a mother, or both, these women know what hard work, determination, and belief in the self can get them. Their admirable character shines through in how they choose to treat others. Those that have oppressed them, they choose to continue on their way with kindness and a sense of love in mind. This loving and passionate emotion is what fuels them. These women have their focus on goals, goals for the betterment of themselves and those they love. This logical thinking on how to empower and influence others is an aspect both of these women embody. This aspect of discussing two women teachers presents the importance that women play in society and the influential role they have on students and anyone around them.

Reflection on Border Crossing Activity:

This activity has strengthened both my collaboration and writing skills. I feel as though working with other students has revealed a different perspective on how I personally should work with others and how I can adapt to specific writing requirements. With the other students, I felt as though their feedback was well thought out and they made great points. I now know that I need to be more clear in my writing when describing characters and transitioning to a new topic or paragraph. When working with others, I learned that it is key to give constructive criticisms but also praise areas they did well in. It is important to highlight areas of improvement but also displays was is working well and how the writer has a strong skill set in certain areas. I feel as though I can also adapt to specific writing requirements after this activity because it was heavy analysis based. This attribute made for my growth in description and explanation or character choices and ideas in the essay as a whole.

Additionally, I feel as though feedback is important when analyzing and reviewing a piece or work. It is important to gain multiple opinions and perspectives so that one can be as knowledgeable as possible in multiple areas. Feedback can lead to the tailoring of original ideas and the formation of new ones. I felt the feedback conversation occurring in this activity was beneficial because I learned something new. Those I engaged in discussion with provided constructive suggestions and complimented the sections they enjoyed. I felt like I gained a sense of confidence in my writing but also was very appreciative and seeking advice to improve it.

Overall, I appreciate the new skills I have gained from this activity. Working with other students was a great opportunity to discover new ideas and writing styles. I feel as though I am leaving with a sense of an improved self and a new skill set of knowledge. I think this was a unique opportunity and I now know how to properly engage in writing and give beneficial feedback.