Saturday, September 7, 2019
How poverty effected mozrts music and life... Essay Example for Free
How poverty effected mozrts music and life Essay Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had been one of the most prolific musicians of all times. Mozart was the son of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart and he was born in Salzburg Austria. At the young age of four Mozart already showed his prowess in music and it is in this regard that his father, Leopold (also a renowned musician) had been so proud of him and did everything in his power to expose Mozart into the musical field. (Moss, 2007). Mozart had been a great success in the field of music and tons of people admired his prowess in composing music as well as on his ability to master many musical instruments. It is in this regard that at the age of fifteen Mozart earned a post in the orchestra that works for the Archbishop of Salzburg. However things did not work well between the Archbishop and Mozart and thus Mozart was kicked from his position and left the archbishopââ¬â¢s premises even though it is against his fatherââ¬â¢s wishes. Mozart had also been a success in Vienna even after he had grown up. However, life did not bode well with Mozart in spite of all his successes in his musical career. Poverty had been one of Mozartââ¬â¢s constant companions during most of his life especially since he do not know how to manage his money well and also according to his mother he would give almost all of his money to his friends if one would only let him be. (Chew, 2007) In spite of Mozartââ¬â¢s brilliance in the field of music he was snubbed in the court of England. Thus, he went to Manheim wherein he met and fell in love with Aloysia Weber. However, life had not been kind to him as his mother died in Paris and he was also rejected by Aloysia. (Microsoft Encarta, 2001). However, even though he lost his job in the Archbishopââ¬â¢s place he still continued living in Vienna. And from there in the year of 1782, he composed the Abduction from the Seraglio which had been a great success. Following that, he married the sister of Aloysia, Constanze. However, poverty did not make their lives any easier and it made it even harder by Mozartââ¬â¢s constant illnesses. Poverty greatly affected Mozartââ¬â¢s life as well as musical career. It is due to poverty and through lack of patronage that his music for the years to follow had not been very popular and consistent. It is in this regard that Mozart was forced to rely on the kindness of his friends in order to continue to survive. Mozart returned to his teaching careers since income from his performance had not been very steady. Poverty even forced him to stop performing and thus he spent most of his time writing compositions. However, in spite of his many compositions money still did not trudge their way. It is hard to believe that after living a life of extravagance and luxury Mozart died in illness and poverty. One of the primary reasons why Mozartââ¬â¢s music ceased to be a success in Vienna is the fact that people found his music too complex and thus in his latter life of poverty Mozart adapted simplicity on to his music making Vienna love his music once more. However, Mozart still died at the early age of 35 and he died full of debts and still living a life of poverty. It was said that Mozart was buried in an unmarked grave. Mozartââ¬â¢s influenced reached musicians such as Haydn, Schubert, and Strauss. (Encyclopedia Brittanica). Basically, poverty greatly affected Mozartââ¬â¢s life. Used to living an extravagant life he was reduced to a life almost similar to that of a pauper. Due to poverty Mozart was forced to stop doing the thing he most wants to do (performing in public). However, Mozart did not let poverty rob him of the right to compose music and thus in spite of his poor life he still managed to compose a lot of musical items. Although poverty made Mozart and his familyââ¬â¢s life hard, it still did not lessened Mozartââ¬â¢s genius in terms of music and thus he still went on writing music that is nice on the ears and he even remedied the one flaw Vienna public found on his music (his music being too complex for the people of Vienna). Thus, to conclude even though poverty has greatly affected Mozartââ¬â¢s life and musical career he still went on doing what he knows best (even though he was struck with poverty and certain illnesses), composing. References: Chew, R. (2007). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Austrian Composer [Electronic Version] from http://www. lucidcafe. com/library/96jan/mozart. html. Encyclopedia Brittanica. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART [Electronic Version] from http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9108745/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart. Microsoft Encarta. (2001). Wolfgang Amadeaus Mozart [Electronic Version] from http://home. comcast. net/~cjwin1/ilike/mozart/mozart. html. Moss, C. K. (2007). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [Electronic Version] from http://www. carolinaclassical. com/articles/mozart. html.
Friday, September 6, 2019
Animal Motif on Macbeth Essay Example for Free
Animal Motif on Macbeth Essay Shakespeare uses animal motif extensively to convey to the audience Macbethââ¬â¢s thoughts and also to reflect the progress of the plot in general. In scene i and iii of Act III, horses are mentioned repeatedly. Before delving into these scenes, it is important to note the role of horses previously: recently, Duncanââ¬â¢s fine, well-bred horses turned wild and ate each other. In scene i, Macbeth urges Banquo to his horse: ââ¬Å"Hie you to horseâ⬠(III, i, 34) and in scene iii, the murderers that Macbeth hired become conscious of Banquoââ¬â¢s presence: ââ¬Å"Hark, I hear horses. â⬠(III, iii, 8) The horses epitomize the witchesââ¬â¢ prophesy that fair will be foul and foul will be fair. Horses that are meant to facilitate transportation (constructive) are now destructive. This change in the influence of horses reflects the deep degree to which disorder and confusion extend in Scotland now. On a few occasions, Macbeth uses an animal to directly describe his feelings. He does so in scene ii, right after he provokes men into vowing to murder his friend Banquo, by saying his mind is ââ¬Å"full of scorpionsâ⬠(III, ii, 36). Indeed, like venomous scorpions, Macbeth is now fully engaged in harming others. Another example is when Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that they ââ¬Å"have scotched the snake, not killed itâ⬠(III, ii, 13), an indication that Macbeth does and will not feel his position is secure until Banquo is killed as well. It is also worth noting that even though Macbeth is referring to Lady Macbethââ¬â¢s earlier serpent motif (I, v, 64), Macbeth is comparing the snake to Banquo, while Lady Macbeth compares the snake to Macbeth. This change seems inappropriate, since Banquo does not seem to possess the characteristics that snakes are typically associated with: slyness. Macbeth is in fact deceiving himself into thinking that Banquo is as cunningly treacherous as himself, as is shown in his soliloquy when he thinks: ââ¬Å"[Banquo] chid the sistersâ⬠(III, i, 56). During Macbeth and Banquoââ¬â¢s first encounter with the witches, Banquo clearly states that he â⬠neither [begs] nor [fears their] favours nor [their] hate. â⬠(I, iii, 60-61) It was Macbeth who criticized the witches of being ââ¬Å"imperfect speakersâ⬠(I, iii, 70) and demanded to know more. Macbeth is deluding himself into thinking negatively of Banquo to justify himself for murdering his friend, to rid himself of guilt. This effort is in turn a stage of Macbethââ¬â¢s transformation of losing conscience and becoming one who is full of only greed and ambition.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
The Career Of Katherine Dunham Theatre Essay
The Career Of Katherine Dunham Theatre Essay Katherine Dunham modern dancer and choreographer, born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois United States of America, she were completed her study at the Chicago University and went on to earn a higher degree in anthropology. According to Darlene, (2006) turn to the side of dance she began her first school in Chicago in 1931, when she becoming dance director for the works progress administrations project of Chicago theatre. A flashy performer, she was best known for her choreography in such musicals as Cabin in the sky 1940, and for action pictures, notably Stormy Weather 1943. According to Barbara, (2000) Dunham studied abut the dance forms in the Caribbean, especially Haiti where she lived for many years, and is credited with bringing Caribbean and African determines to a European dominated dance world. Her company traveled globally in the 1940s-60s, and she consistently denied performing at segregated venues. According to Joyce, (2002) in 1967 she founded the Performing Arts Training Center fo r inter-city younger in East St Louis, IL, and in 1992 went on a 47-day appetite strike to protestation in resistance to the American banishment of Haitian refugees. Her honours incorporated the Presidential Medal of the Arts (1989) and the Albert Schweitzer Prize. Introduction Dunham is perhaps most well known, however, for her unique blending of anthropology and dance. According to Jessie, (2002) Dunham challenged mainstream academic circles by using her anthropology not only for articles and books, but also as a catalyst for her own artistic dance productions, which heavily drew on the dance forms and cultural rituals she witnessed and documented through total immersion in the cultures she observed. Dunham traveled the world with these productions, bringing African culture, through movements, rhythms and sounds, to the worlds consciousness. This hybrid of anthropology and dance later morphed into what is today known as the Dunham technique, a special type of dance training utilizing movements witnessed in her field work. According to Darlene, (2006) Dunham technique is today studied and practiced around the world. After Dunham retired from dancing, she moved to East St. Louis, a blighted, predominantly African-American city which she hoped to revitalize through establishing a vibrant cultural center. Dunham established there an interactive museum and a dance institute (which continues to teach her technique to students from around the world). Research objectives Dunham desired to experiences this academy the base of enough larger cultural institution that world bring the East St. Louis community with each other. Just as surely as Haiti is overcome through the character of vaudun the island possessed African American Katherine Dunham when she first went there in the year of 1936 for the purpose of study dance and ritual. According to Joyce, (2002) in her book, Dunham discloses how her anthropological research, her work in dance, and her fascination for the people and cults of Haiti worked their trance, catapulting her into experiences that she was often lucky to have had. According to Richard and Joe, (2008) Dunham explain how the island came to be possessed by the deities of voodoo and other African religions, as well as by the deep class distributions, particularly within mulattos and blacks, and the political strife remain enough in evidence at present. Full of flare and suspense, Island Possessed is also a pioneering work in the anthropol ogy of dance and a captivating document on Haitian beliefs and politics. Discussion The book Island Possessed,à details Ms. Dunhams experiences and sentiments of her adopted homeland, from the year 1936 to the late 1960s, and even describes her final initiation into the Vaudoun (Voodoo) religion of the half-island. According to Patrick, (2006) she speaks Haitian Creole fluently, she has owned a beautiful 18th century Haitian estate, Habitation LeClerc for decades, and, in the early 1990s, she put her life on the line and went on an extended hunger strike, when President Aristide was overthrown and forced to leave the country. According to Jane, (2007) Ms. Dunham also adopted a young girl from the French West Indies island of Martinique, back in the 1950s, as further demonstration of her love and commitment to the Diaspora. Introduced to Theater One of those baby-sitters, Clara Dunham, had come to Chicago with her daughter, Irene, hoping to break into show business. They and other amateur performers began rehearsing a musical/theatrical program in the basement of their apartment building, and Dunham would watch. Although the program wasnt a success, it provided Dunham with her first taste of show business. According to Darlene, (2006) Dunham and her brother were very fond of their Aunt Lulu. However, because she was experiencing financial difficulties, a judge granted temporary custody of the children to their half-sister Fanny June Weir, and ordered that the children be returned to their father as soon as he could prove that he could take care of them. Katherine Dunham Katherine Dunham was born June 22, 1909, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, in DuPage County, and died May 21, 2006 in New York City. Although one of the most important artists (and scholars) of her time, she remains largely unknown outside Dance and African-American studies. According to Darlene, (2006) Sara E. Johnson supposed that the breadth of Dunhams accomplishments is perhaps one explanation for the underappreciation of her work. Dunham worked so hard on so many different things that she remains hard to classify. She almost single-handedly created a genuine artistic and cultural appreciation for the unique aspects of African dance, especially as manifested in African diaspora cultures. According to Joyce, (2002) Dunham was also a serious anthropologist that began her career with ground-breaking studies carried out in Jamaica and Haiti as a student at the University of Chicago. Finally, she was a tireless advocate, who led to a brief arrest during race riots in East St. Louis and a 47 da y hunger-strike carried out at the age of 82 against US discrimination against Haitian refugees. Dunhams Artistic Academic Background This process was, in fact, a remaking of memory through performance. As Hamera reinforces, the practice of he social work of aesthetics is especially communal and corporeal, and where corporeality and sociality are remade as surely as formal event is produced. According to Jessie, (2002) in this sense, Afro-Caribbean culture and sociality voyaged across the Atlantic to the rest of the Americas, Europe, and Asian-wherever the Katherine Dunham Dance Company performed. According to Ruth, (2009) Dunhams Research-to-Performance Method Armed with these researched dances of the black Atlantic and an understanding of their Functional social contexts, Dunhams dance theater became a prime laboratory where Afro- Caribbean cultures could migrate through the performance of her choreography and through the personalities of her individual dancers in the act of performing the Dunham oeuvre. Uncovering Danced Memory Katherine Dunhams earliest written ethnography provides ample proof of her prescience as a fieldworker and scholar in uncovering an ancient African dance surviving in the Caribbean on the island of Jamaica. According to Joyce, (2002) in her fieldwork represented in Journey to Accompong, she utilized a functionalist theoretical frame by recording the various social institutions in relationship to each other in the village of Accompong. Kinship, ownership patterns, religion, work group organizations, clothing and material culture, age, gender (unusual for her time), and social interaction were the sequential subject matters of her chapters. Yet, as she reveals, she had come there to study and take part in the dances. According to Naima, (2001) Accompong was and is one of the maroon villages in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, having been established by run-a-away slaves from the Spanish as early as 1650 and later the English rulers in the 1690s of these maroons the Coromantees, an Akan g roup from the West African Gold Coast made up the largest ethnic group. They fought many battles with the British and were finally given their independence by England in a treaty signed in 1738. Thus, as a nation within a nation, the maroons of the cockpit region of the Blue Mountains had sufficiently maintained their ways of life for two centuries by the time that Katherine Dunham had arrived to study their dances and ways of life. Enslavement and colonialism had taken its toll even among those so long separated from European influence. But Dunham was determined to unearth a vital expressive part of their successful victory and independence against the British. She would soon discover this same phenomenon among the petwo dances among the Vodou practitioners in Haiti against their French captors. Through her intense engagement of the participatory insider role with the dancing maroons, she gained historical insights that were embedded within the dancing act itself: According to Richard and Joe, (2008) The war dances are danced by men and women. Their songs are in lusty Koromantee, and from somewhere a woman has procured a rattle and shakes this in accompaniment to Ba Weeyums. Some of the men wave sticks in the air, and the women tear off their handkerchiefs and wave them on high as they dance. According to Patrick, (2006) few of these turns, and we are separated in a melee of leaping, shouting warriors; a moment later we are bush fighting, crouching down and advancing in line to attack an imaginary enemy with many feints, swerves and much pantomime. At one stage of the dance Miss May and I are face to face, she no longer is a duppy, but a maroon woman of old days, working the men up to a pitch where they will descend into the cockpit and exterminate one of his majestys red-coated platoons. Afro -Jamaican dances, such as the Coromantee war dance, represent in a direct way the concept of dance itself as having rhetorical voice. As Judith Hamera explains, performance, including dance, is enmeshed in language, in reading, writing, rhetoric, and in voice. Dunham implicitly understood the movement rhetoric of the Coromantee dance and the relationship between its performance and the writing of her ethnographic experience in Jamaica. According to Richard and Joe, (2008) Dunhams willingness to engage the maroon dances on the cultures own terms, treating dance as another social system, allowed her a unique view into the role of the nearly forgotten Koromantee dance as a part of the maroons hard won battle for independence from the British. According to Joyce, (2002) this is a prime example of dances unique rhetorical voice-what dance anthropologist Yvonne Daniel calls embodied knowledge: Community members are in an open classroom with dance and music behavior. These sorts of knowledges are on display as community instruction for social cohesion and cosmic balance, Participants learn from observation, witnessing, modeling and active participation. According to Ira and Faye, (2009) Dunhams implicit understanding of this embodied knowledge established her philosophical foundation that would serve her use of dance and the body, according to Clark, as a repository of memory. Moreover, she trusted her choreographic acumen to represent her understanding of her research, which in the Jamaican case, had been unearthed and cajoled from the continuing, yet reluctant, milieux de mà ©moire lingering in Accompong. According to Richard and Joe, (2008) in her active participation, Dunham was, thus, one of the first to demonstrate the continuity of specific West African dances that served enslaved Africans with similar purposes in the colonial New World. It is significant that this discovery was cognized in the act of dancing, through corporeal immersion in the communal dances of the people. We realize from todays contemporary scholarship the importance of Dunhams early trans-Atlantic performance connections. According to Joyce, (2002) Africanist anthropologist Margaret Drewal revealed in the 1990s that African-based performance. Primary site for the production of knowledge, where philosophy is enacted, and where multiple and often simultaneous discourses are employed. As I have said elsewhere, dance, for African peoples, whether on the continent or in the diaspora, is a means of enacting immediate social context, history, and indeed philosophical worldview. Dunham understood these multiple strat egies embedded within Africanist performance, such as in her treasured Koromantee war dance. Honouring Katherine Dunham as the progenitor of African American dance would be misleading and disrespect the legacy of other African Americans who contributed their own particular ways of knowing movement. According to Jane, (2007) it introduced Bannerman to Pearl Primus. Both Dunham and Primus were pioneering giants in the American dance pantheon with different ways of making dance. Since the programme was ultimately going to comment on the dance practices of African Americans, these two pioneers had to be discussed. According to Ruth, (2009) collecting life stories and reflections on movement and descriptions of individual interactions with works of Dunham and Primus would speak of the diversity that is American dance making than the celebration of any one artist. Dunhams Staged Caribbean Dances of the Black Atlantic Dunham perceived her form of dance-theater as intercultural communication. For example, when international audiences viewed her 1948 ballet Naningo, she was allowing non-Cubans to interact with one of the ritualized ways in which male Afro-Cubans had retained their cosmological secret rituals perpetuated from the Ejagham people of todays Cross-River area of Nigeria. According to Jessie, (2002) Naningo, as an all-male ballet was a fusion of balletic athleticism, Dunham technique (particularly rhythmic torso isolations and the use of the pelvis as the source for extending the legs), and a recontextualization of the movements of the Cuban male secret society called Abakua. Through program notes, the exuberant virtuosity of the dance, and the cryptic Abakua symbolic movements, she transported European audiences to secret enclaves in Cuba that only initiated Abakua members could have previously viewed. She also cast one of her Cuban dancers in the role of a traditional Abakua figure that drums upstage center throughout the entire ballet, as an authentic gaze watching over her appropriated fusion style. According to Barbara, (2000) as the curtain closes, after all the Dunham technique dancers have left, the ballet ends with that figure moving across the stage in enigmatic movement phrases representative of the symbolic language of the Abakua Cuban male society. Secret society rituals, restaged in a secular theatrical setting is not a substitute for being there, but it does transmit an underlying social strategy of male survivors of the Atlantic slave trade, as well as a vision of sacred danced symbolism in that survival strategy. According to Ruth, (2009) Dunham company performed Naningo for people internationally who had no idea that the Abakua society even existed. In the adept hands of knowledgeable researchers like Katherine Dunham, performance becomes another mode of bridging t he cultural gaps that make cross-cultural understanding such a difficult goal to reach. Conclusion In conclusion, life of the Dunham and career are miraculous, and although she was not alone, Dunham is perhaps the best known and most influential pioneer of black dance. She wanted to make a point that African-American and African-Caribbean styles are related and powerful components of dance in America. Performed imagined migration is underpinned by her specific artistic intent and projected audience reception. There are many ways to present dance on radio but a visual image is preferable if the discussion concerns elements of a form. The programme makers can then include descriptions of how the shaping of arms and legs display rhythm or portray expression and how contours of the torso fulfill the dancers intended personification. Radio though is an excellent tool to stir the minds eye especially if the words relate life stories and movement experiences in a descriptive way. Bannerman contacted me to research and be the presenter for the 45-minute programme You Dance Because You Hav e To aired on 21 September 2003. Interested in emerging American dance forms producer, Richard Bannerman submitted a proposal to BBC Radio 3 to make a documentary on Katherine Dunham. Bannerman knew Radio 3 wanted to explore new territories in dance and Katherine Dunhams story was relatively unknown in Britain. Bannerman also found the repertory of The Alvin Ailey Dance Company inspiring and speculated that Katherine Dunhams life would be a good starting point to discuss in a general way, the dance practices of African Americans. In our preliminary meeting it became clear to me that our programme had to respect the diversity of African American practices.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Julius Caesar Essay: Marc Antonyââ¬â¢s Power of Persuasion -- Julius Caesa
Marc Antony's Power of Persuasion in Julius Caesar à à à à à à à In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, although Marc Antony is allowed to make a speech at Caesar's funeral, he must not speak ill of either the conspirators or Caesar.à Antony was infuriated with Caesar's assassination, and wants to seek revenge on his killers as well as gain power for himself in Rome's government.à He must persuade the crowd that has gathered that Caesar's murder was unjust, and turn them against Brutus and Cassius.à He tries to stir his listeners' anger, rousing them into action and yet say nothing bad about his enemies.à Marc Antony uses several persuasive devices in his speech, which allows him to successfully convince the citizens of Rome to turn against the conspirators. à à à à à à à à à à à à The first of these devices, specific evidence, allows Antony to oppose Brutus' explanation for the assassination and prove Caesar was a good ruler.à He says, "He hath brought many captives home to Rome,/Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill" (III.ii.97-98). He continues with, "When the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept" (III.ii.100).à Marc Antony uses these examples to show the crowd that Caesar cared deeply about Rome and its citizens, and to remind them of the contributions he made.à Caesar risked his life to take captives, and then gave the ransom money to the public.à Marc Antony says that Caesar was compassionate, he felt his citizens' sadness and wept with them.à The audience remembers what a good ruler Caesar was, and regrets that he's gone.à Brutus had told the citizens he killed Caesar because of his ambition, but Antony disproves this.à He says, "You all did see that on the Lupercal/I thrice presented hi m a kingly crown,/Which he did thri... ...ence to feel the opposite of what he's saying A.à "Honorable men" 1.à Tone of voice tells his feelings-sarcastic tone à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à à 1.à Repetition-forget actual message B.à à "No mutiny" 2.à Connects to "Honorable men" (134) 3.à Repetition-loses message IV.à Emotions- Appeals to citizens' sadness, horror, then anger A.à Sadness-shows his own grief 1.à (115) B.à Horror 1.à Carries in Caesar's body 2.à Shows where Caesar was stabbed-(186) C.à Anger-makes conspirators seem evil 1.à (235) 2.à (135) V.à Props-Keep interest and appeal to grief A.à Caesar's body 1.à Appeal to audience's emotions 2.à Show personal grief B.à The will 1.à Keep audience's interest a.à (140) b.à (155) 1.à Show audience how great Caesar was VII.à Conclusion-what happened after speech Ã
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Why I Hunt: A Predatorââ¬â¢s Mediation by Rick Bass :: Hunting Women rick Bass Essays
Why I Hunt: A Predatorââ¬â¢s Mediation by Rick Bass Five years ago you could have found me hiding under my covers, praying to a god that I no longer believe in with my eyes shut tightlyââ¬âbut not anymore. These nights I offer up a two minute thanksgiving for the sake of karma; I look out into the darkness and I recognize the shadows as objects in my house rather than the faces of my dead grandfathers. It feels good to open my eyes, but Iââ¬â¢ve traded in that old ignorant twinkle for a steady calmness. I still duck and cover when an insect the size of my pupil is within five feet of me, but from a distance I know that I am not so different from the tiny creature. If I am a predator, I am not the kind of predator who hunts but rather the one who kills out of fear. I prefer the role of the preyââ¬â it suits me well. I avoid conflict: I prefer spending time at home with my wife, I weigh less than 100lbs, and I have been notorious for becoming paralyzed with laughter upon being attacked by testosterone-laden family membe rs. If a human or other animal my size or larger were to want me for dinner, I would be an easy target though my meat wouldnââ¬â¢t feed a family of four. As a member and supporter of the earthââ¬â¢s weak little peacekeepers (small humans with loud voices), I can say that despite Rick Bassââ¬â¢s honorable honesty, I found ââ¬Å"Why I Hunt: A Predatorââ¬â¢s Mediationâ⬠to be a threat to womankind. Not all women are vulnerable, but with weapons the hunter can make most anyone his prey. There are predators in the United States who hunt women the way Bass hunts elk. If Bassââ¬â¢s non-human targets are replaced with women and children, the essay has quite a different effect on the reader, though the arguments donââ¬â¢t change. When Bass describes his love of ââ¬Å"sitting in some leaves, completely hidden and motionlessââ¬âwaiting, and waitingâ⬠(63), I picture him waiting in a park for an unattended child or an unaccompanied woman. My concerns about Bassââ¬â¢s instincts arenââ¬â¢t neurotic. Iââ¬â¢m a loving woman who occasionally hugs trees and wants to feel safe in the worldââ¬ânot a card carrying member of PITA.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Influence of Stereotypes in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay e
Introduction Section One: Harper Leeââ¬â¢s Life Section Two: Time Period Influences on Leeââ¬â¢s Writing Section Three: Influence of Stereotypes Section Four: To Kill a Mockingbird Reviews Conclusion Works Cited Introduction Which doll is better? In the 1950s, psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark asked black children between three and seven to answer this simple, yet revealing question. The kids were shown four dolls that were exactly the same except for their skin colors. Almost three quarters of the children chose the white doll as being superior and attributed positive characteristics to it. When asked why they picked it, they replied with, ââ¬Å"Because itââ¬â¢s whiteâ⬠(Abagond). Almost half a century later, in 2005, Kiri Davis repeated the test to see if psychology has changed in any way. Results show 71% of the children preferring the white doll (Edne). These tests demonstrate the incredible stereotypical beliefs still present today. The belief that there is only one acceptable perception to anything is ingrained into societyââ¬â¢s minds, and limits individuals from thinking for themselves. Author Harper Lee explores this topic as she displays to readers prevalent stereotypes and thei r effects in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Section One: Harper Leeââ¬â¢s Life Harper Lee was born April 28th, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. Leeââ¬â¢s father, Amasa Coleman (A.C.) Lee, was a former newspaper editor who served as a state senator and lawyer. Due to his occupations, A.C. had a tremendous influence on her writing. Not only is A.C. a writer just like Lee; but, the main character in Leeââ¬â¢s novel, Scout Finchesââ¬â¢, father, Atticus, also practices law. Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a white woman who is found guilty and murdered. Simil... ...ompany, 1960. McLeod, Saul. "Asch Experiment." SimplyPsychology. N.p., 2008. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. . Pauli, Michelle. "Harper Lee Tops Librarians' Must-read List." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 02 Mar. 2006. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. "POLL FINDS WHITES USE STEREOTYPES." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Jan. 1991. Web. 09 Feb. 2014. . "The Scottsboro Case | The Nation." The Scottsboro Case | The Nation. N.p., 31 Aug. 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2014. . Shmoop Editorial Team. "Harper Lee: Childhood." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 08 Feb. 2014. . Teen Help Blog." Teen Help Blog. N.p., 28 Dec. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Diverse Racial Experience Essay
The chapter by Ruth Frankenberg entitled, ââ¬Å"Introduction: Points of Origin, Points of Departureâ⬠, argues that the way one is perceived in society drastically changes their experience and advantage over others. Therefore, white women are often distinguished by their whiteness which gives them a more diverse racial experience (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 1). With being white comes various additional components that set it apart from the other raced women of the world. Moreover, being a white woman automatically links them to a more favourable position of superiority in the way that they are often identified. This means that they get certain benefits by being white, as colonialism positioned them to have a large portion of control and authority over others. This provides them with the advantage to define the public and its individual beings the way they believe or want it to be. Moreover, they see their whiteness as a normative position in society that is invisible. Frankenberg`s goal is to make whiteness visible so that a white person can identify that they have an advantage over a person of colour by virtue of their skin. She also takes into consideration the intersectionality of class, culture, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality in a white racialized body (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 1). Colonization is an important factor to Frankenberg because of how it uncovers the concept of whiteness and how it subsequently became associated to a position of authority and power. In the article `The Murder of Pamela George`, the author observes that history of colonial violence permitted white men to annex land that did not belong to them and treat it as though they were entitled to it (Razack, 2004 ,pp.127). This perception has perpetuated the control and authority of white people throughout history. A critique in the second wave of feminism made white feminists reconsider what and for whom they were advocating. The movement of feminism was envisioned to include all women but it only targeted one specific group of white middle class women. This occurred because the women could only see there suffering from their particular standpoint. This is seen in the article ââ¬Å"The Problem That Has No Nameââ¬Å" by Betty Friedan since she assumes that all women are homogeneous and all have the same lived experiences. She does not consider race, class, and sexuality as a factor in feminism (1997). White women mostly consider their whiteness as undetectable and thus not subject to racism (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 3). These white feminists in the second wave were unintentionally being racist towards other women; this made them unsure about how to precede and resolve this issue (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 4). Frankenberg educated herself about racism by positioning herself to learn from the standpoint of women of colour. Enakshi Dua stated in her article that, in order to understand how race and gender are interconnected one has to listen to the lived experiences of women of colour (2005, pp. 64). Frankenberg followed this method formulating questions that she wanted to investigate to find out how racism affects a white women`s life and how society propagates racism through societal means. After answering these questions Frankenberg proceeded to figure out how white women can fight against racism. Most white women believe that their race is invisible and do not realize that it gives them a distinct experience in the world. This is because the dominant class structures society and thus normalizes whiteness. White women and women of colour have distinct experiences that are subject to how they experience racism. Whiteness is socially constructed and it does affect a white women`s life. However, white women usually tended to regard racism as something that has no effect on them and that women of colour only have to live through (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 6). This belief does not put the onus on the white people and it does not identify the perpetrator of the subjection. Racism does not just happen, it is constructed (Tim Wise 2005). Therefore, it impacts the lives of white women which makes race and gender intersectional for all women not just women of colour. There is a denial in the observations that there is one specific dominating male gender. There is also an abundance of only white women`s experiences by this masculine hegemon. After women realized that the world view did not only have to be seen on a male standpoint the world started to shift views (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 8). Women of colour now want to focus on a standpoint from a radicalized point of view in order to stop racism. Moreover, since white people are the oppressors they cannot see how their situation is reinforcing racism. People of colour are the oppressed and know exactly how they are underprivileged. Subsequently, women of colour were the first to see how gender, race and class forms a persons experience in life (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 8). White women did not see their race as something that was constructed. They did not see themselves as racialized because they were coming from a position of privilege. This position for a white person was normalized throughout American history. Therefore, in order to deconstruct race white women have to admit it is something that affects them (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 11). Race is in a fluid motion and changes constantly with society because it is an economic and political construct. Historically, the white dominance was vindicated because of false biological account that white people were superior (Frankenberg, 1993, pp. 13). This biology justified colonization as well as the enslavement of people of colour that soon followed. The justification shifted to culture as the reason that made people inferior and if they integrated with American culture they would achieve success on merit like white people. However, this belief kept blaming people of colour for their position in society.People of colour were first seen as different from white people, then there was an embrace of colour blindness, and finally people realized that they needed to be able to see the differences in society so they can explain them. This last movementââ¬â¢s purpose was to make people aware of race; this was led by the people of colour themselves. They did not want to be invisible because there situation was not improving because people were ignoring the underlying problem. The racialization of people of colour and white people was constructed with colonization. The European culture was embedded into the way the United States constructed its country. This constructed whiteness as belonging and being a person of colour as an outsider (Dua 2005, pp. 60). The dominant western culture ââ¬âwhich was white- positioned itself to dominant over the other races. This created the standard citizen that belonged and made people of colour not included in the so called superior western culture. Frankenberg`s argument illuminates how the dominant class rationalized whiteness as not being racialized. Colonization formed the dominant race and reproduced it through society. By normalizing whiteness the white people did not need to consider how it benefited them and subsequently how it negatively affected people of colour. By naming whiteness, Frankenberg will be able to pinpoint how that perception can change so that people can be equal even with there differences. In conclusion, by admitting that white people are racialized will assist anti-racist feminists in their mission to stop the racialization of all people. This would stop white people from believing that they are the only ones that belong in North America and eventually create a system based on meritocracy rather then privilege by virtue of a persons skin.
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