Craham 8uckner

11082011
Ms Caruso
Lngllsh 1101lall
Chess 1he ulLlmaLe Mlnd Came
A chessboard could be a valuable recreaLlon of Lhe genre of Lhe movle kevolvet by dlrecLor Cuy
8lLchle because lL could represenL one's flghL agalnsL Lhelr ego 1he game of chess already plays ouL a
large role ln Lhe movle buL Lhe game could have much more meanlng dlrecLly assoclaLed Lo Lhe purpose
of Lhe LexL Lhan Lhe orlglnal genre porLrayed AlLhough Lhe movle used lL as a sLepplng sLone Lo reach
Lhe maln ldea of !ake Creene (maln characLer) freelng hlmself of hls eLernal ego (Sam Cold) Lhe game
chess lLself can be used as a Lool Lo rld oneself of Lhe ego aL leasL Lemporarlly
ln Lhe fllm !ake Creene and hls new boss play a serles of chess games all of whlch !ake wlns by
sLlcklng Lo a formula LhaL supposedly can be used as a LemplaLe Lo succeed ln any slLuaLlon 1he formula
was parL of Lhe scheme for a masLer con" ln whlch Lhe user could wln Lhe ulLlmaLe wln" 1he formula
ls as follows (for Lhe mosL parL) Lhe user feeds pleces Lo Lhe opponenL and leLs hlm belleve LhaL Lhey
Look Lhose pleces because Lhey're smarLer and Lhe user ls dumber" 1he ldea ls Lo use Lhe opponenL's
ego agalnsL Lhem ln order Lo Lrlck Lhem and wln aL Lhe lasL mlnuLe ln Lhe end of Lhe movle !ake
dlscovers Lhe ldenLlLy of hls boss lL ls hls old cellblock maLe Lhe chessmasLer ln Lhe flnal game of
chess played ln Lhe movle Avl (Lhe chessmasLer) asks !ake Lo explaln hls con Lheory afLer whlch he (for
Lhe flrsL Llme) wlns Lhe game 1he serles of games can be applled Lo Lhe orlglnal formula each maLch
beLween Lhem was a plece LhaL Avl fed Lo !ake ln order for !ake Lo belleve he was beLLer unLll hls ego
goL Lhe besL of hlm Avl needed !ake Lo become aLLached Lo hls ego so LhaL !ake could evenLually
Comment [BC1]: lncorporaLe parenLheLlcals
lnLo Lhe senLence
recognlze LhaL cerLaln LhoughLs were Lhose of Sam Cold and ln Lhe end he would have Lhe capablllLy Lo
shuL Lhose feellngs off" and rld hlmself of hls ego
Cf course ln reallLy Lhls ls probably Lhe worsL sLraLegy Lo acLually employ ln Lhe game of chess
one needs every plece Lo make sLraLeglc LacLlcal declslons and ouLsmarL Lhe opponenL AlLhough Lhere ls
a way Lo make Lhe sLraLegy posslbly work Powever lL would lnvolve Lradlng smallervalue pleces for
valuable poslLlons on Lhe board LhaL open up Lo oLher LacLlcalbased moves and/or capLures of Lhe
enemy's pleces lf applled correcLly Lhe opponenL's ego would Lake over causlng Lhem Lo feel backed
lnLo a corner" maklng Lhem more vulnerable Lo maklng dumber rasher and more reckless chessboard
declslons 1hls leads Lo Lhe ldea LhaL when playlng a game of chess wlLh 100 aLLenLlon and focus Lhe
ego parL of our braln ls Lemporarlly less acLlve as Lhe mlnd ls mosLly lnvesLed ln dolng algorlLhms and
sLraLeglc moves 1herefore lL really ls llke one ls playlng agalnsL Lhelr ego for lf Lhey begln geLLlng a blg
head" and Lhlnklng abouL Lhe pleasure of beaLlng Lhelr opponenL Lhey are more llkely Lo make bad
moves resulLlng ln loslng
8egardless of wheLher or noL Lhls sLraLegy ls accuraLe and beneflclal ln Lhe game of chess Lhe
game ls a good genre Lo porLray my LexL Chess ls a game played wltb Lhe player's mlnd oqolost Lhe
opponenL's mlnd Llkewlse my LexL kevolvet ls much llke Lhls concepL as !ake Creene (Lhe player) musL
baLLle Sam Cold (hls egoand parL of hls own mlnd) Lo rld hlmself of Lhe person LhaL he LhoughL was
hlmself slnce day one" CeLLlng Lo Lhe polnL where an lndlvldual can recognlze Lhelr own ego ls dlfflculL
Llke chess lL requlres an elaboraLe serles of Lrlcks and acLlons Lo make one reallze whlch LhoughLs are
genulne and whlch are a producL of Lhelr own ego Cne facL ls for cerLaln when a person fully lnvesLs
Lhelr aLLenLlon ln Lhe game Lhey do noL Lhlnk abouL how greaL wlnnlng would be (mosL of Lhe Llme)
Lhey do noL Lhlnk abouL whaL [okes would be funnler Lo Lell Lhelr frlends nor whaL ouLflL would look
Comment [BC2]: 1hls paragraph reads as
summary CrlenL Lhls lnformaLlon so lL reads
as raLlonale for your recreaLlon
Comment [BC3]: 1hls paragraph ls all abouL
chess and does noL conLaln defenseLype
lnformaLlon
Comment [BC4]: keep yourself ouL of Lhe
paper especlally slnce you use yourself
unnecessarlly such as you do here Also Lake
ouL references Lo Lhe asslgnmenLs ln Lhls
course
beLLer on Lhem Lhe nexL day 1hey are focuslng on a game LhaL ls prlmarlly deslgned Lo LesL your mlnd Lo
besL Lhe mlnd of anoLher
When Avl flrsL meeLs Creene ln Lhe fllm he lnforms hlm LhaL Lhey Avl and hls parLnerLhe
masLer conman have already saved hls llfe once and Lhe nexL Llme wlll noL be for free 1hey lnform
hlm LhaL he has a rare dlsease ln hls chesL LhaL wlll klll hlm ln Lhree days unless Creene does exacLly as
he asks AfLer he flnds ouL LhaL all of Lhls ls Lhe LruLh Lhe men lnform hlm LhaL Lhe flrsL Lhlng he musL do
ls glve Lhem all of hls cash whlch Lhey are Lhen golng Lo loan ouL and he has no say ln Lhe maLLer
Accordlng Lo Lhelr formula Lhey are ln Lhe flrsL sLage of Lhe chess game 1hey are maklng !ake glve away
hls pleces Lo feel Lhe lnfluence of hls ego Pls ego lndeed beglns Lo acL up as Lhey Lhrow hls money
around ln fronL of hlm lL beglns asklng quesLlons and Lhlnklng LhoughLs such as you wag Lhose flngers
aL me agaln and l'll fucklng break 'em" and why ls lL sLlll so hard Lo see my money go?" 1hls ls Lhe
flrsL parL of geLLlng Creene Lo recognlze hls own ego 8y drawlng hlm closer Lo hls own ego he would
evenLually be able Lo dlsLlngulsh lL as noL belng Lhe real hlm"
AnoLher greaL quoLe LhaL accuraLely sLrlkes Lhe lnLenLlons of Avl and hls parLner ls spoken by Avl
ln Lhe movle 1he less power you have ln Lhe real world Lhe more power you Lhlnk you have ln Cold's
world" ?ou see Lhls as !ake geLs less and less powerful LhroughouL Lhe fllm and hls LhoughLs"or Sam
Cold's LhoughLs (one mlghL say) geL more and more frequenL
A few sLraLegles can be used Lo brlng abouL success agalnsL many opponenLs ln Lhe game of
chess 1he flrsL of a few dlfferenL meLhods Lo beglnnlng a sLraLeglc chess maLch ls Lo move ouL Lhe flrsL
Lwo pawns and arrange Lhe backrow pleces lnLo defenslve poslLlons LhaL cover each oLher and as many
oLher pleces as posslble ln as few moves as posslble
1here are four rules" Lo Lhe formula Lhe flrsL of whlch ls oo coo ool qet smottet b ploloq o
smottet oppooeot" 1hls ls fundamenLally Lrue LhroughouL mosL aspecLs of llfe and lL works especlally
Comment [BC5]: Agaln summary
Comment [BC6]: Why does Lhls maLLer?
well for Lhe example of chess 1he ego wlLhln a person ls clever 8y playlng Lhls proverblal chess maLch
wlLh hls ego !ake Creene does geL smarLer 1hroughouL Lhe fllm he sLarLs asklng quesLlons of hlmself as
he beglns Lo recognlze Lhe power and ldenLlLy of hls ego lL ls Lhe conman lnslde hlm and he ls Lhe one
belng conned
1he nexL rule ls tbe qteotest eoem wlll blJe lo tbe lost ploce oo woolJ evet look" Cbvlously
Lhls rule applles dlrecLly Lo Lhe ego 1he ego ls our greaLesL enemy and nobody knows lL because Lhey
Lhlnk LhaL Lhelr ego ls Lhemselves lL Lruly does hlde ln Lhe lasL place anyone would ever look ln Lhe
game of chess one Lrlck ls Lo seL pleces up LhaL look as lf you have one plan ln mlnd 1hen make cerLaln
moves Lo make Lhe opponenL belleve you are slmply seLLlng up a defense for a fuLure aLLack When Lhey
leasL expecL lL you sLrlke on anoLher slde of Lhe board Laklng a greaL poslLlon on Lhe board (and maybe
a valuable enemy plece) and Lhrowlng Lhe opponenL offguard 1he enemy was hldlng ln Lhe lasL place
Lhe opponenL was expecLlng rlghL behlnd Lhe aLLack LhaL Lhe enemy was preparlng 1he nexL guldellne
of Lhe formula ls tbe botJet tbe bottle tbe sweetet tbe vlctot" lf you have ever worked ouL Lhen you
can see Lhls ln work on a mlcroscoplc scale 1he harder you push yourself Lhe beLLer Lhe resulLs wlll be
1he mlllLary sLresses Lhls by pushlng lndlvlduals Lo Lhelr breaklng polnLs afLer elghL Lo Lwelve weeks of
rlgorous Lralnlng Lhese men come ouL sLronger Lhan Lhey LhoughL posslble noL [usL physlcally buL
prlmarlly menLally
1he lasL rule ls olwos ptotect oot lovestmeot" ln chess Lhe defense of your sLronger pleces ls
essenLlal Loslng your queen early ln Lhe game ls noL only a blow menLally buL also an exLreme dlsablllLy
LacLlcally 1he characLers ln kevolvet LhaL fall Lo do Lhls end up broken and losL uoroLhy Macha Lhe
caslno owner and man LhaL was behlnd !ake Creene's orlglnal lncarceraLlon does noL proLecL hls
lnvesLmenL ln supplles (cocalne and hard cash) buL he also doesn'L proLecL hls own lnLeresLs Pe doesn'L
look afLer Lhe wellbelng of hls employees whlch lnevlLably leads Lo hls hlLman Lurnlng on hlm and
followlng whaL he knew was morally rlghL
Chess ls a greaL genre Lo porLray Lhe message ln Cuy 8lLchle's kevolvet noL only does lL play a
large role ln Lhe movle lLself buL lL embodles Lhe enLlre polnL behlnd recognlzlng LhaL Lhe ego ls a
LrlcksLer lnslde all of us and lL wlll sLop aL noLhlng Lo geL whaL lL wanLs

Comment [BC7]: Craham

AlLhough you have some greaL ldeas abouL
how chess compares Lo Lhe movle Lhe
purpose of Lhls paper ls noL Lo glve summary
or Lo glve a comparlson or conLrasL buL Lo Lell
how an ldea can be beLLer porLrayed ln
someLhlng LhaL oo develop unforLunaLely
you dld noL moke a recreaLlon whlch made lL
more dlfflculL for you Lo Lalk abouL lL ln Lhe
paper 8emember all recreaLlons needed Lo
be approved lf you would have come Lo me
wlLh Lhls recreaLlon l would have asked you
whaL you made
Also much of your paper ls sLlll summary [usL
llke your 8A paper lf you read a book for
school Lhen Lhe Leacher [usL summarlzes lL ln
class anyway you wlll be lefL wonderlng whaL
he or she has Lo say abouL lL lL's Lhe same ln
papers LxpecL LhaL your reader wlll noL need
a summary LhaL Lhey wlll only need your
ldeas
lor your revlslon l'd llke you Lo work on
Laklng ouL summary and lncorporaLlng your
ldeas and also work on Laklng ouL all
lnsLances of lnformallLy and conversaLlonal
language Work Lo make your paper sLrong
LeL me know lf you'd llke help wlLh your
revlslons l'm looklng forward Lo seelng whaL
you'll do ln your porLfollo!

Ms C