October Sky - 1st assignment PDF

Preview

Summary

1st assignment...

Description

1

October Sky Dominant Themes

Colin Haveroen

NAIT ENTR 2363 Norman Leach May 20, 2020

Word Count 1004

2

October Sky Dominant Themes October Sky had many different themes that have been studied by different post-secondary schools and high schools. In this assignment six different themes are going to be exampled from various scenes of the film. The first one that will be examined is Homer’s commitment to carry on building his rockets after destroying his mothers’ fence. Homer learned from that experience and moved his testing ground to a more open part of the area. After this test the rocket almost destroyed his father’s office and hurt people and this was when his father said, “Don't you ever let me catch you with these fool things on company property again, you understand me?” (Johnston, October sky 1998). Homer was committed to building rockets and getting out of Coaldale and not becoming a miner, so Homer and the team walked eight miles to the new launch site off company property. When Homer’s father is injured at work and required surgery that the company would not pay for, someone had to go to work in order to keep the house and pay for the medical bills. Homer chose to go work in the mine so his brother would not forfeit his sports scholarship. Leadership is the next entrepreneurial theme to be examined and there were several displays of this. When they did win the local science fair and they had to go out of state, they all told Homer he has to be the one to go as this was all your work. Another example of this would be when he talked to Quentin in the cafeteria and asked for help disregarding what everyone would think of him. Some of

3

the scenes combine the different themes and as stated previously for commitment, Homer led the team to a different launch site to continue on with the rocket building and testing. Homer had some opportunity obsession instances throughout the film as he was initially driven to build rockets after seeing Sputnik streak across the sky and listening to it in science class. Homer had the passion to do something different and get out of Coaltown after his attempt at football was cut short due to lack of physical genetics. The coach said “Homer, you sure got guts, but you gotta know when to quit.” (Johnston, October sky 1998), which displays another opportunity obsession quality of hard work and determination. One of the main scenes that really displays Homers opportunity obsession was when he couldn’t sleep after being accused of starting the forest fire. He started teaching himself trigonometry and calculus in order to prove it was not their rocket. He worked through his lunchtime at work and stayed up late, eventually missing work to get help from Quentin. The scene when Homer did not show up for work and went with Quentin to search for the rocket was an example of his tolerance to risk his job in order to follow his passion. There are many other examples of risk tolerance in the film right from the beginning. When he launched his first rocket off the fence with no protective barrier or safety measures around them. When Homer had to get the nozzle welded on, he snuck into the company metal fabrication shop and talked one of the workers into welding it up for him and even asking to be taught how to do it himself. Everything

4

about the initial rocket creation displays ambiguity because there is so much unknown what will actually work. Homer had so much creativity throughout the entire film and an example of this would be the using the washer as a nozzle for the rocket, they understood how the propellant needed to leave in a smaller orifice to create lift. It was apparent that they needed to be creative and adaptive in order to finance their endeavor. Homer and his team were able to recycle the old railway tracks in order to purchase the proper material for their nozzle. This is also an example of the self-reliance as they also found material for their launch pad and shelter. A very clear instance of the ability to adapt was during the national science fair and the rocket nozzle was stolen, he called his mother and got his team involved and a new one was made in time for judging. One of the lighter side of creativity was the naming of the first rocket, the Auk. It named after the Great Auk which is a bird that does not fly in the air but underwater (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019). Homer’s motivation to excel probably began before the films timeline but it was initially evident when he was trying out for the football team and then after he was cut the line was “Why should the damn jocks be the only ones gettin' scholarships?” (Johnston, October sky 1998). This demonstrates how he was planning to leave town when he graduates and not work in the mine. Another motivation was how he recognized his father’s health condition which made him not want to work in the mine. Homer could not stop his pursue of rocketry and getting to college and was motivated by

5

his high school science teacher and principal because one could see the passion in Homer. The strongest theme that was present in this film regarding entrepreneurship is actually very interwoven with each of the other six and is difficult to isolate. The one that is most prominent is Homer’s ability to keep going and his ability be committed to the end goal of getting out of Coaltown. The commitment and motivation to excel were so closely tied together because they mesh together, and you essentially need one and the other to succeed.

5

References Johnston, J. (Director). (1998). October sky [Motion picture on DVD]. Universal City, CA: Universal Pictures. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, July 03). Great auk. Retrieved May 21, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/animal/great-auk...