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Charlotte's Web
As we ponder over our reading experiences as children, almost every American will remember reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. How we read as children and how we read as adults is not at all the same. One might state children read for the pleasure of the story and adults simply read too much into the given text. However, one must realize the images being portrayed to our children. How could a story about a pig and a spider relay unwanted messages to our children? It is important to remark how social guidelines are presented in this text. The most obvious is the assignment of gender roles to the characters Not only does this affect the human characters in the story, but it also affects the farm life. The other social guideline found in this text is the barnyard society. This society can in turn represent our human society. These two guidelines of society are taught unknowingly to our children through this story. What is perhaps the most surprising is how little attitudes have changed. This book was originally published in 1952 and these stereotypes still exist in our society forty five years later.
Fern is an eight year old girl who is full of energy. She spends most of her time taking care of a pig named Wilbur. Who would ever believe a little girl would demonstrate mothering abilities? E.B. White has even gone as far as to depict Wilbur as Fern's own child: "A minute later, Fern was seated on the floor in the comer of the kitchen with her infant between her knees, teaching it to suck from the bottle" (6-7). Not only does Fern mother a piglet as her own infant, she also plays with dolls. This once again reinforces the mother image girls should follow according to social standards. In fact, mothering b...
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The power of literature over our beliefs as a society is unquestionable. E.B. White could not declare this on his own, so he depicted it through his character, Charlotte: "'But Charlotte,' said Wilbur, 'I'm not terrific.' 'That doesn't make a particle of difference,' replied Charlotte. 'Not a particle. People believe almost anything they see in print...'" (89). E.B. White was aware of his influences over our culture: the gender roles and the barnyard society. We judge, as a society, what is right and wrong or what is acceptable and unacceptable. Literature and media helps guide
us to our conclusions as adults and as children. This is where Charlotte's Web comes into effect. One could conclude this story has remained a children's classic over the last four and a half decades because society can still relate to it as a whole ... not very much has changed.
Are adults overprotective of their children? To what point do we protect children? Where should the line be drawn? Along with those questions is how easily children can be influenced by these same adults. Two poets, Richard Wilbur and Billy Collins, express the ideas of how easily children can be manipulated and how sometimes adults think they are protecting their innocent children, when in reality they are not. Wilbur and Collins express these ideas in their poems through numerous literary devices. The literary devices used by Wilbur and Collins expose different meanings and two extremely different end results. Among the various literary devices used, Wilbur uses imagery, a simple rhyme scheme and meter, juxtaposition of the rational and irrational, and a humorous tone to represent the narrator’s attempt to “domesticate” irrational fears. Conversely Collins uses symbols, historical interpretations, imagery, diction and other literary devices to depict the history teacher’s effort to shield his students from reality. In the poems, “A Barred Owl,” by Richard Wilbur, and “The History Teacher,” by Billy Collins, both poets convey how adults protect and calm children from their biggest, darkest fears and curiosities.
Can you imagine a world where literature did not exist? It’s very hard, nearly impossible. Literature plays a major role in shaping society. Literature is a word used to describe written or spoken material. Literature educates, informs, entertains and influences the reader or listener in a myriad of profound ways. Broadly speaking, “literature” is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination. Writers can change one’s beliefs, thoughts, actions, indeed their entire lives. In Northrop Frye’s The Educated Imagination, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Plato’s The Republic, the writers use literature to utter the importance literature bestows on society. The three writers state their opinions using different methods to prove to the readers that their opinions are valid. Since each author has a unique writing style, most envision their writing with a relatable figure. Some would argue that Frye’s writing style is much like that of a textbook, very instructional and factual, Lamott reminded them of a conversation with a friend and that Plato’s writing style is very informative, akin to a professor carrying on a dialogue with an inquisitive student.
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
Yellow Wallpaper’.” Gender in Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts, and Contexts. (1986): 147-64. Rpt. in Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale. 163-166.
...Literature. Vol.1. Ed. Rossi, Patricia. Addison Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. New York: Copyright 1999. 2655-57.
Scope of practice refers to the actions, procedures or processes that are permitted to be done by a professional in his or her profession by the law (Anderson, 2013). The scope of practice that is permitted by law is basically based on the educational qualifications and the experience in the particular field. All the health care professionals have this scope of practice including nurses which is governed by a governing body of the particular ...
By the 1960s, economists were overconfident with discretionary fiscal policy because they thought it would eliminate the instability of the recession. They thought of discretionary fiscal policy as more of a fantasy. The economists believed this idea because in the 1950s, and 1960s they thought Congress would know how to use the desired stimulus to get the economy back to a desired level of RGDP. However they were wrong, since the poor performance during the 1970s the economists have transformed to ardent detractors. The reasons d...
Henderson, Gloria M., Anna Dunlap Higgins, Bill Day, and Sandra Stevenson Waller. Fences. Literature and Ourselves 2009 Mla Update. Sixth ed. N.p.: Pearson College Div, 2011. 143-97. Print.
Literature has had a major impact on society, and, also our history. Literature has reformed and shaped civilizations, changed political systems, and has exposed injustices (3). Our literature has changed and developed as we have, keeping up with our society. “...literature is crucial for the advancement of society (3).” With literary works, we can convince others to view things a certain way, share our opinions, and more. Literature is greatly intertwined with our society and everyday lives, and they would not be the same without it. Literature plays an irreplaceable role in our
Blum, Deborah. “The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?” Signs of Life In the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.
Since Igbo people did not construct a rigid and closed system of thought to explain the religion man anyone seeking insight into their religion must seek it along their way. Achebe has explained the Igbo concept of “chi” in an essay being that each individual has a chi, a “spirit being” parallel to his physical being (Achebe 82).
Nigeria has a rich culture stemming from the many civilizations that inhabited the land. In the novel Thing Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe brings light on to the great Igbo people, a society Nigeria hosted for centuries. The tale follows a man named Okonkwo as he tries to make amends for his father 's failures and a name for himself within his village. This path leads Okonkwo to become reckless and unreasonable. Through this, readers are exposed to the village’s judicial system, revealing that the clan’s laws based off sexism, superstitious nature, and deep religious ties.
The kinds books children and young adults read today are read because they offer either important lessons or qualities that the children and young adults should portray. Books that children read reflect on the social structure on our world. A significant social issue today is one of gender inequality where men and women are still not seen as equals at home or in the workplace. This inequality reflects the sexism that occurs against women. Sexism is discrimination and stereotyping based on sex, most commonly against women.The sexism between men and women that exists today reflect the female stereotypes often seen in literature new and old. Literature published in the Nineteenth and Twentieth century, like Little Women and Peter Pen, and even
I believe the journal article I have chosen is credible because, peer reviewed journals are considered as the basis of academic research and professional knowledge. They present information that is in a clear and concise fashion, as a result leading to a high level of credibility. Also, the care and effort it takes to develop a publishable manuscript means it can be months between the time research is conducted and the results are even submitted for publication (Solomon, 2007). This indicates that time and effort has been put in the journal article to make the information that is being conveying to the audience authentic and that only the highest quality of research is published. The journal article that I have chose...
In Things Fall Apart we witnessed the destruction of a traditional native culture. More specifically we witnessed the challenge and weakening of Igbo spirituality, as well as the death of the tribe's livelihood. The apparent cause can be found in a seemingly good intended mission acting as a gateway for the intrusion of a foreign government, and its quest to conquer and domesticate a self-sustaining, prosperous culture. Although the Igbo downfall was caused primarily by the invasion of "Christian missionaries," their own religious doctrine and passivity played a significant role in allowing the initial infiltration of an alien religion, and the final dissolution of a once prosperous culture.