In this selection from the autobiography of Malcolm X titled “My First Conk”, readers will find out about Malcolm X's first real step towards what he calls “self-degradation”. Although there is no exact thesis stated in the excerpt there are still clear points stated throughout the reading. When Malcolm X wrote this piece the idea was to show the reader how society can make one feel like they must change to be considered better than who and what an individual really is. It is also expressed that one's individuality can be taken away and the negative outcomes one can struggle with after that change. It is described that society can be a truly horrifying thing and the ways men and women try to fit in can be both shameful in the long
However, there are people who are born in unprivileged places and are forced to migrate and move away from their ‘culture’ for various reasons. Mohsin hamid’s , ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’, tells how the protagonist ‘Changez’, someone of middle eastern decent, moved to America for a better life experienced how hard it is to fit in a different culture. Hamid’s text showed how he struggled as a result of a collision between eastern and western culture and how the aftermath affected his own sense of self. All the
Crime and Punishment written by Dostoyevsky portrays the moral dilemmas and mental torment of Raskolnikov, who is an ex-student in St. Petersburg. He comes from a family of a dependent mother and marriage-like sister whose responsibilities and duties as the only son and brother come upon Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov has some very ordinary human qualities such as he’s intelligent, compassionate and caring. However he can’t be assumed ordinary because he has a notion of nihilism in his mind, he suffers from the “Napoleon dilemma”. He considers himself “superman”, above the human race, beyond the society he lives in.
The reason for this was that England was overpopulated both with homeless or extremely poor people and their prisons were too working over their capacity. In America they found an opportunity to start over and redeem themselves. In England there was only one religion, the English religion, if someone were not to follow it they would surely be prosecuted. Because of this a great deal of people wanted to escape the religious oppression they faced in England and went to America where they could “do more service to the Lord”. At the time people were also discontent with the political system instated in England, this being a Unitary Parliamentary Monarchy.
It is shown through the characters names, for the names are often related to important political figures of the early twentieth century. Each character is symbolic of something all his or her own. Helmholtz Watson is sought to be one of the most rebellious characters in the brave new society. He has a conflict within himself but is much interested in others. Much like John B. Watson, the man known for the Little Albert Experiment, Helmholtz is curious, but much too bored with his lifestyle.
Americanized Americanized composed by Bruce Dawe is a satirical poem that directly attacks the American ways of life and how countries are losing their cultural identity by conforming to the American standards. Americanized is also how the basic human relationships have been perverted by consumeristic culture, and how a consumer-driven society that dehumanizes its citizens and robs them of their individuality. Throughout the poem Dawe uses an extended metaphor: The mother being America and the child representing a smaller, developing country which is slowly being embedded with the American ways and values. Dawe uses irony within the title of the poem which sets the tone as it is spelt the American way, ‘Americanized’ with a ‘z’ instead of the Australian way ‘Americanised’ with a ‘s’. This reinforces the idea that we are losing our cultural identity by conforming to American standards including their way of spelling and punctuation.
Michael and David Reflective Paper September 2, 2013 These articles represent the significant difference that social class can have on individuals when determining their scholastic achievements, earning power, and position within society. The sad reality is that this particular topic seems frozen in time. It matters not if the events took place in the 1800’s, early 1900’s, 1960’, or are taking place in our present day and age. An individual who is born into a low-income home in a very poor section of town that is well known for riots, gangs, murders and thefts would have to have a high motivation level to make a difference in their life. This motivation would need to be present from the time they were a child through adulthood.
In ‘A question of Black or White’ Sara Upstone reflects upon a person’s self. She cites the many reasons for Shahid’s apparent difficulty in belonging. Also in ‘The search for identity in The Black Album’ Ulla Ambursley discusses Shahid’s religious and sexual identity with reference to how it shapes him as a young Asian male. The main theme that links the two pieces of work is how Shahid is emotionally torn between his Pakistani and Muslim background and his newly discovered world of artistic and sexual freedom courtesy of his feminist tutor Deedee Osgood. Ambursley states that Shahid’s father’s death prompts him to move away and find himself a new start “The city would feel like his; he wouldn’t be excluded; there had to be ways in which he could belong” (The Black Album – p16).
People simply think of this as normal behaviour, because he is a product of society. 2) The views on narcissism in text 2 and 3 are not the easiest texts to compare, because they are more or less contradictions of each other. In text 2, narcissism is looked on as a growing problem in the American population, and especially the American youth are being more and more narcissistic according to the book “Generation me” and text 2. Professor Jean Twenge explains that she’s convinced, that today’s young people have
In his article, “Family Values in America”, Dudley Erskine Devlin presents the readers with two different common opinions on causes and solutions for the decline of family values in the USA nowadays. He says, some social critics offer us to rediscovery the traditional values of the nuclear family with a father, a mother and children. Others argue that the entire communities have responsibility for raising children and our culture need to be adjustment. Devlin also adds his own argument: “We just need to back off and give the kids some space.” I both approve and disapprove the author’s reviews in certain points. Devlin shows us some facts and examples of divorce rates, one-parent family and murderous kids in America.