“You can’t join the Mathletes, it’s social suicide!” One of the many notable quotes from the well-known movie, Mean Girls, shows the realm of socializing as a teenager. In any social setting, we’re prone to failing miserably in making or keeping friends. How badly people screw up in a social situation depends on the location, time, and setting. Sometimes saying a wrong statement, wearing the wrong outfit, or doing the wrong thing can botch friendships and lead to social failure. Other times, we miss an opportunity to communicate with others by getting caught up with ourselves or with technology. Whether we do it intentionally or unintentionally, socializing can be a relatively easy thing to complicate and screw up. There are many different …show more content…
Her character and personality is a prime example of perfectionism. In the movie, she secures the title of “queen bee” within her group of friends. Regina controlled her friends on what to believe, what to say, and even what to wear. Showing no signs of sympathy, Regina refused to allow anyone below her standards of ideal into her small group of friends. Quickly, she mastered superiority making not only her friends feel inferior but also other peers. Annoyed at Regina’s manipulating, controlling, and self-centered ways, Regina’s group of friends turn their back to her. In the end, Regina loses her friends and becomes hated as a result of her perfectionism. Regina’s perfectionism leads to her social …show more content…
To his luck, he arrived to the United States at the time cigarette smoking peaked at a high. All of his co-workers smoked constantly throughout the day. On the other hand, Samuel, keeping with his traditional beliefs on smoking, did not smoke cigarettes. During Samuel’s first week of work, his acquaintances constantly greeted him and offered tons of cigarettes but he took none. Eventually, all offers came to a halt and he earned the reputation of as an outcast in the office for not smoking. Although done unintentionally through his conservativeness and keeping with his traditional views, my uncle let himself become the social outcast in the
The smoking issue is very complicated and some of the arguments are beyond the scope of this essay. Still, we can obtain a balanced outlook if we consider the following: the facts of smoking, individual right, societal responsibility, and the stigma of smoking. Haviland and King write essays which contain very important points, but seem to contain a bias which may alienate some people. To truly reach a consensus on the smoking issue, we must be willing to meet each other halfway. We must strike equilibrium between individual right and societal responsibility.
Stephen King’s short story "Quitters, Inc." involves a smoker trying to kick the habit, and getting results no matter the means. Dick Morrison meets Jimmy McCann, an old friend, in the bar of the Kennedy International airport. McCann has stopped smoking, gained a promotion, and become physically fir since the last time they met. He tells Morrison about an agency that helped him quit smoking and gave him a business card for Quitters, Inc., which Morrison just put in his wallet. A month later he sees the card fall out of his wallet and decides to go see them. Upon going to Quitters, Inc., Morrison meets Vic Donatti, the man in charge of his case. Morrison signs a contract saying that he won’t reveal anything they do in the course of his treatment. Donatti tells Morrison that he will never smoke again after that day. When he goes back for his next appointment, Donatti starts by punching the cigarettes Morrison had on him whilst still smiling. Donatti then reveals how much they know about their clients by referencing Morrison’s handicapped son who he told them nothing about. Donatti tells him that he is a pragmatist, or someone who is oriented towards the success or failure of something through practical means. Donatti shows Morrison that a rabbit can be taught that eating food will cause an electric shock to occur and therefore after enough aversion training the rabbit will starve itself to avoid the shock. Donatti then explains the various ways they discipline their clients for slipping up, the tenth and last being death. They guarantee you won’t ever smoke again. After a series of non-smoking, Morrison slips up, his wife is kidnapped, and he is called in to watch her get electrocuted for thirty seconds. Afterwards she tells him that she understands what they are trying to do. After months of not smoking Morrison gains weight and Donatti says that if he can’t lose it they will cut off his wife’s pinky finger. After that Morrison passes on the Quitters, Inc business card to a man known only as Crony, and tells him they changed his life. Years later Morrison and his wife meet McCann and his wife at a theatre. When he shakes the hand of McCann’s wife he notices something is wrong. Later the realization hits him that she only had four fingers; her pinky was missing.
Smokers understand how hard it is to quit. They admire those who were able to quit. We understand the risk of smoking and the obvious side effects that could result in death. Although all the studies show the death effect of smoking, many of us are still unable to quit. In the essay, Phillip brought his girlfriend to a social gathering, where she pulled out a cigarette and started smoking.
Cady displays a solid control over her emotions. There is a scene where Regina is kissing and flirting with Aaron in front of Cady to make her jealous. Instead of lunging across the table to attack Regina (“how we would solve it in the wild”, according to Cady), Cady stays calm and doesn’t let Regina get to her. Although adolescence can be a time of emotional turmoil, Cady does not let her emotions control her. The fourth developmental task is membership in the peer group. This particular task is the main focus of the entire film. When Cady first starts school, she isn’t a member of any particular group. This changes when she gets invited to start hanging out with the “Plastics”. Even though there are only three members in the “Plastics” (four when Cady joins), they would still be considered a clique. The three members, Regina, Gretchen, and Karen are extremely close and loyal to one another (more in the form of loyalty to Regina from Gretchen and Karen). Regina puts in place strict rules and those who don’t follow them will be kicked out. Another huge part of the “Plastics” are their group boundaries and norms. As far as selection, all three girls share similar interests and values including shopping and the importance of looking “good”. At first, Cady doesn’t have much in common with them, but she is soon socialized to fit right in. Throughout the movie, Cady begins dressing,
This leadership style has a strong focus on task requirements and less emphasis on concerns for people. When she asked for something she wanted it done immediately with no regard to what the needs of her followers were. When Gretchen wanted to make the word “fetch” a trend at school Regina halted her and demanded that she stop. On the other hand Regina’s mother, Mrs. George had a country club (1,9) leadership style. She was more concerned with being the “cool mom” than being an authoritative figure. This is reflected in the scene where she meets Cady for the first time she emphasized that there were no rules in her house and even went as far as to offer 16 year old Cady alcohol. She was exceptionally eager to be “in the mix” with the girls, making more of a friend than a parent.
In the essay “Letting Go” David Sedaris, writes about his involvements with smoking. Throughout the essay Sedaris expresses his views and experiences with the teairble habit of smoking. Sedaris grew up in the 1960s and 70s when smoking was a common thing to do, so much so that grade school students in his native North Carolina would have field trips to tobacco factories where they were given packs of cigarettes to give to their parents. Sedaris describes views about smoking that changed throughout his lifetime. At one stage in his life he was against smoking and was even bothered by the smell of cigarettes. Then Sedaris himself in a different stage of his life became a smoker. Sedaris’s own mother had health problems due to her smoking habit,
Who holds the key of power in your life? Is there a person or group of people that you are allowing to dictate your life choices? The movie Mean Girls brings to life the everyday peer pressures teenagers deal with. Main character Cady Heron experiences peer pressure for the first time, from multiple classmates. Although it is said that a person can not be persuaded to do or say anything without their consent, is this really true? Cady deals with situations in which she is being pressured from two sides of the spectrum. In the end she realized what was happening to her, but the peer pressure she endured impacted the entire school.
The central point the author drives home is that at the turn of the twentieth century, cigarette smoking was not deemed an acceptable practice for middle or upper class men in the United States. The author states that there were numerous factors, each seemingly more extreme than the last, that lead to the acceptance
Recent studies show that high school students no longer only talk to, and/or become friends with the stereotypical cheerleader, jock, or band geek that they are, but rather look much farther than that. Maybe a quarterback does not understand his algebra class, and his nerd of a classmate wants to learn how to throw a perfect spiral for physics. Tradeoff. The quarterback asks the nerd to help him, and visa-versa. Wait a minute. They actually had fun together, and are now fr...
College helps students learn interpersonal skills. Being in college is way for students to socialize better. Living on campus students have many opportunities to interact with many different types of people. Students also can develop better social skills whether it is by partying or joining different clubs and organizations. “According to Arthur Chickering's "Seven Vectors" student development theory, ‘developing mature interpersonal relationships’...
Regina’s determination to gain wealth was unwavering. She let her husband die because he was not going to report her brothers for stealing his bonds. Regina then turns on her brothers and demands a greater percentage of the money since she can destroy them because they stole Horace’s bonds. To Regina, money means freedom to escape and go to the south where social standing is measured by the cloths and jewelry you have. This is against Marxist society because Marxists believe that everyone should be equal in money and standing (Hamilton 172). Regina wants to go to Chicago and Paris but in the process she lets her husband die and looses the love of Alexandra (Galens 165). She now has the option to have the bright, flamboyant social life she wanted but she can only have it alone now.
However, the characteristics of a narcissist, a grandiose sense of importance and uniqueness, exhibitionist, entitlement –the list goes on- do not fit Nora’s personality throughout the entirety of the play though they do fit certain scenes.
In the essay “Letting Go” by David Sedaris, he writes about his experiences with smoking. Throughout the essay Sedaris expresses his views and experiences with smoking. Sedaris grew up in the 1960’s and 70’s when smoking was a common thing to do, so much so that grade school students in his native North Carolina, would have field trips to tobacco factories where they were given packs of cigarettes to give to their parents. Sedaris describes views about smoking that changed throughout his life-time. At one stage in his life he was against smoking, and was even bothered by the smell of cigarettes. Then Sedaris himself, in a different stage of his life became a smoker. Smoking caused Sedaris’s mother to gain some health problems due to her smoking
Along with technology being a distraction, it can also cause students to be less social.
Social influence/peer groups were one of the dominant themes in my observations, survey, and literature. Social influence looks at how individual thoughts, actions and feelings are influenced by social groups (Aronson, 2010).The desire to be accepted and liked by others can lead to dangerous behavior. College life can be an overwhelming experience for first time college students and or transfer students as they struggle to manage class time and social activities in an attempt to fit-in in the new environment that they may not be used to. Students can experience too much anxiety and drop out of college or fall behind classes. Working at the Cambell Student Union information Center, I observed a great deal of students falling into this trap of social influence and peer pressure. A female student tripped as she was going up the stairs to Spot Coffee but did not fall. What appears to be a group of guys who are not popular (guys who are not very well known), were seating where popular students normally seat. The group of guys started laughing at the girl and stopped. One guy kept laughing, but it was obvious he was forcing the laughter as to purposely attract attention. He started making jokes about the girl and carrying on the laughter so he would appear to be funny. Another example, which portrays peer influence, involves parties over the weekend. Multiple students stated they were falling behind in classes on the grounds of their friends wanted to go out the night before and they did not want to seem/appear “lame” so they tagged along. The influence of a group is intensified by the person’s desire to be an accepted member of the peer group. To achieve this desire he tries to conform in everyday to the patterns approved by the grou...