Question: Choose two poems with the experience of living with two cultures, and show how the experience is reflected in the language of the poems The two poems chosen are ‘’Half-Caste’’ by Jhon Agard and ‘’Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’’ by Moniza Alvi. The first poem ‘’Half-Caste’’ by Jhon Agard talks about his past and his dislikes of the term ‘’half-caste’’. He thinks when people call you half-caste they are calling you ‘half’ a person but really he is a whole person. He personally thinks that ‘‘half-caste’’ is a ridiculed term and very racist. The second poem ‘’Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’’ is about a mixed race girl who tells us about the gifts she receives from her aunts in Pakistan.
She mocks the Americans for creating values based off superficial ideas. Throughout her essay, Price’s sarcastic tone is used to show the mockery towards the Americans for overemphasizing their values based off shallow thoughts Price previously argued that the pink flamingoes were popular because they were pink. But “why, after all, call the birds “pink flamingos”--- as if they could be green or blue?” Price looks down on the Americans because they popularized the flamingo just because it’s pink when it couldn’t possibly be any other color. At the end of her essay, Price brings in a few allusions from other cultures. The flamingo in the United States was like the “Early Christians associated with red phoenix and for the Ancient Egyptians symbolized the sun god Ra.” Her use of the metaphor to compare the flamingo to the red phoenix of the Christians and sun god Ra of the ancient Egyptians with the addition of her sarcastic tone derides the Americans for stressing the importance of the flamingo even though it’s not essential to anything.
While he suggests how to kindly treat one race of women, he emphasizes on how to womanize another. The culture associated with “How to date a browngirl, blackgirl, whitegirl, or halfie”, believes that women will act accordingly, and should be treated based on their own culture and race. In “Girl” by J.Kincaid and “How to date a browngirl, blackgirl, whitegirl or halfie” by J.Diaz both authors describe how culture influences the outlooks, and stereotypes on women. The expectations of females seen in “Girl” revolves around a strict set of cultural rules for women. Through oral transitions the girl’s mother spreads the beliefs of their culture.
In Katherine Wilson’s “Dude Looks Like a Lady,” she begins with a powerful introduction saying “this is about hair, breasts, and identity” (Wilson 21), insinuating it is going to be a gender identity piece. Reading more of the first page, you assume the thesis is about the common misconceptions of how a woman is supposed to look and how not looking that way could take away from a woman being a woman. Wilson gives the example of her hair being buzzed and people looking at her differently. Although she tries to argue the hardships of not looking like the normal female, Wilson’s argument fails to meet the rest of her story. She claims her argument is about “hair, breasts, and identity,” she is really just ranting and raving her being disrespected and her own issues of being black.
This enforces the idea that unlike Lennie, she is a complex character in the novel. Steinbeck mentioned that Curley’s wife’s voice had a “nasal, brittle quality” which is a clear sign of her flirtatious behaviour. Although her intentions were flirty, the fact that it was described as ‘nasal’ by the author made it obvious that it was unpleasant to the ears. The reaction from George made it clear to the reader that she was an attractive woman, however he was being apprehensive as he “looked away from her and then back”. This contrasts with Lennies reaction as his “eyes moved down over her body” blatantly checking her out.
As an example two influential short stories will be discussed in depth in order to shed light into the lives of the two authors and their stories. The short stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) and Angela Carter (1940–1992) both sideway the same idea; the confinement of women in particular roles and positions in both personal and professional lives, posed on them by patriarchal figures. Toril Moi quotes in her examination of feministic criticism, Sexual/Textual Politics (2002), Elaine Showalter’s idea that “women writers should not be studied as a distinct group on the assumption that they write alike, or even display stylistic resemblances distinctively feminine” (Moi, 2002: 49), which comes across when reading the two stories which are stylistically already very different. It might be so that a feminist reader of both times (there’s some 80 years difference between the two stories) did not only want to see her own experiences mirrored in fiction, but strived to identify with strong, impressive female characters (Moi, 2002: 46), and looked for role-models that would instil positive sense of feminine identity by portraying women as self-actualising strong identities who were not dependent on men (Moi, 2002, 46). The two stories bring out two female characters, very different by position and character; the other a new mother, scared and confused of her own role, and the other a young newly-wed girl, still a child, being fouled by a much older man, mainly as a mark of his authority over women in general.
Margie Perez English 103, Critical Reasoning & Writing Professor Gary Essay #1 Hunger as Ideology Analysis. Susan Bordo [p. 139] “is particularly interested in the cultures assumptions about gender identity about the differences attributed to man and woman in the stories we tell ourselves in the ways we picture our attitudes toward food, eating, cooking, body size, and shape." Ethos is used [p. 138] by listing her position, background, and accomplishments, creating a trustworthy source of information. When Bordo is talking about [p. 139], "The Woman Who Doesn't Eat Much," pathos is present by including her feelings in words such as [p.139], "this commercial makes many of us particularly angry.” Bordo uses logos [p. 144] by stating “women’s lives are out of control, including our well-documented food disorders…” Also, in the Jell-O ad [p. 146] she points out the lack of logic meaning the visual image of the
Focusing on the picture with the young woman lying against the man, this picture is posed like this to make women think that they need to not only look like her, but act like her as well to get the man. As Killbourne states, "There are two identical women looking adoringly at the man in the ad, but he isn't looking at either one of them. . . Clearly the way to get beautiful women is to ignore them, perhaps mistreat them" (272).
There is a struggle for equality especially in the Islamic countries where women have no right to be equal citizens to men, where women still live under the direct control of their husband, their father, or their brother, where the Koran is often used by men in power to justify their treatment of women: “Tell the believing woman to lower her gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent and to draw their veils over their bosoms”. Marianne Lyles studied the issue of the woman in the Islamic world which she presented in her article entitled The Struggle for Equality: Islam and Its Effects on Women. She claimed: “In Islamic countries today, women are forced to wear clothes that cover their entire body, including their face. It is hypocritical the way women are treated in the Muslim world because Muhammad supported certain rights for women. He also put an end to female infanticide and slavery.
This was the attitude in 1930’s America towards black people and women. Curley’s Wife is represntive of the marginalisation of women. Steinbeck throughout the novel calls her “Curley’s Wife” and we do not know her real name. This shows that she is not treated as a person but a possession of Curley’s, which shows the ranch as being a microcosm of 1930’s America. She is also call other names in the novel by the men, “tart”, “tramp” and “rattrap”.