Marijuana or cannabis is one of the most commonly abused drugs.
Marijuana consists of the dried and crushed leaves, flowers, stems, and
seeds of the cannabis sativa plant. Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, also
know as THC, is the primary psychoactive, mind-altering ingredient in
marijuana that produces the feeling of being “high.” In this paper I
will discuss some of the uses of marijuana, the effects of marijuana, its history, and some of the treatment methods for marijuana.
Cannabis is one of the oldest known agricultural plants. Therefore it
has a large presence in the history of the world. Woven fabrics have
been discovered that are believed to be hemp fibers from 8000 to 7000
B.C. The first know use of hemp comes from China in about 4500 B.C.
Which was used for rope, net making, and cloth weaving. Also, China was
the first to use the plant for psychoactive purposes. India has
documented the use of marijuana, or “bhang,” in the group of religious
books known as the four “Vedas,” in about 1400 and 1000 B.C. These books
refer to marijuana as one of the “five kingdoms of herbs…
which release us from anxiety.” Scientists believe that cannabis was
introduced to the Middle East and Europe via India. Evidence has shown
the use of cannabis in Norway and Germany in 400 B.C. In America, most
believe that the Native Americans were aware of this plant, but most
likely introduced by the Spaniards. The Spaniards brought the cannabis
seed to Chile around 1545. In America, the plant was first grown in
Virginia and Massachusetts in the sixteen hundreds. This plant was
considered legal from the 1600’s until the 19th century. There is little
evidence that shows marijuana being used for recreationally use in the
U.S. during the 17th and 18th centuries. The drug became popular in the
mid-19th century and was in most drugstores in though the beginning of
the 20th century. Around the same time the recreational use for
marijuana was first discovered. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 put a
heavy tax on manufactures, importers, dealers, pharmacists, and medical
practitioners. This tax outlawed the substance for recreational use.
There was a very negative attitude toward marijuana during the 1940’s
and 1950’s, although there was a resurgence of this drug during the
1960’s. Though this resurgence marijuana is still used for recreational
use today.
Marijuana has many harmful effects on the human body. When
marijuana is smoked the chemical THC enters the body through the lungs,
when eaten it enters the body through the stomach. It moves through the
bloodstream to the brain, as well into the body’s tissues and organs.
This drug takes almost four weeks to completely leave the body.
Marijuana affects the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Researches
have linked pot smoking to precancerous lesions in the lungs. It also
reduces the amount of oxygen available to the heart. This drug may also
temporarily depress the body’s immune system. Smoking marijuana will
destroy white blood cells, which help the body fight viruses. Marijuana
also affects the hormonal systems in both men and women. In males, it
will lower testosterone levels, lower sperm count, and may cause
impotence. In females, marijuana may have some effects on pregnancy and
can also cause birth defects. Finally, marijuana can affect the brain.
If frequently used, it may impair short-term memory. Also, the drug may
cause a person to experience a loss of motivation and many behavior
problems. Some of these problems may be loss of ambition, will,
diminished physical activity, and self-neglect. The use of marijuana
also impairs perception of time, distance, and coordination.
There are many different uses for marijuana. In the early years
marijuana was used for fabric, rope, and cloth. Later, it was used to
treat many health problems. It was believed to help with menstrual
pains, gout, constipation, and forgetfulness. During the 19th century
many medical articles were issued discussing marijuana’s value in
treating ailments such as headaches, insomnia, and menstrual cramps. To
get the effects of marijuana, a person may smoke the substance or eat
it. Marijuana was first used for recreational use in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries. Mexican and Caribbean immigrants introduced the
practice of smoking marijuana to America. It was first started in the
southern part of the county and later became popular in cities such as
New York and Chicago. In a recent study showed that over 40 million
people have experienced marijuana. The number of regular users is
estimated to be between 10 and 15 million people. Most of these people
are between the ages of twelve and twenty-five. While ten percent of
high school students are daily users.
There are several methods in prevention and treatment of marijuana
abuse. The most popular method of prevention is criminal punishment,
which has served as a longtime strategy against drug abuse. Several
other affective methods include educational and training programs, as
well as medical and psychological based treatment. Most of these
programs seem successful in the prevention and treatment of marijuana.
Some of these programs may try to break marijuana dependence. If a
person stops using marijuana abruptly, they may experience a physical
discomfort, which may last anywhere from 48 to 96 hours. After a person
experiences this there dependence on marijuana is gone. Most of these
programs are voluntarily or a person may be forced to take part in one
of these prevention or treatment programs. These programs serve as a
good tool in trying to reduce the numbers of people who continue to use
the drug marijuana.
In conclusion, marijuana has been apart of the world’s culture for a
long time. During this period there has been a wide variety of uses for
this drug, some legal, but most are illegal. Scientists have been able
to distinguish many of the uses for marijuana as well as some of the
harmful affects that the drug may cause. With this gained knowledge we
as a community are able to educate the people, especially the youth, of
the world about the harmful affects of the substance marijuana.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Women in the Media
The Psychological Power of the Media to Trap Women in A Role. The power
of advertising to change, shape and mold the public's opinion has had a
major impact on the lives of women. Women are the main target for many
advertisements and are used in many forms of advertising. The media has
historically used propaganda to define who women are and what they
should be. The time period following WWII maybe one of the greatest
examples of how completely media can control the ideas of the society
on a specific group of people.
During WWII women were encouraged to go out to factories and work to support the war effort. This gave women a sense of need and belonging that many had been left out of before they had the opportunity to persue any type of career in an acceptable manner. With the men away at war, women were encouraged to find work outside the home due to a lack of factory workers who could produce war goods. Once the war ended, however, this propaganda not only stopped- it abruptly changed.
Once the men were back in the states there was an excess of workers. Men came back form war to find that there were no jobs or that their wives were occupying them. With production plummeting after war time highs there were few jobs to offer the men returning home. This started a media blitz on women. Women were encouraged to return to the home and take care of their families. Women's magazines were overflowing with ideas on how to make a perfect wife and mother. It was obvious that if you weren't happy making your family your job, there was something wrong with you as a woman.
The problem was that women were unhappy; President Kennedy commissioned a report on the he status of the American Woman due to the magnitude of this problem (Schneir 38-47). The report basically said that women were unhappy with the idea that they were fundamentally only responsible for being wives, mothers and homemakers; they had nothing they could associate as their own accomplishments.
Another study came out in 1963; it was called The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. "What she detected was a concerted campaign since the end of WWII to convince American women they could achieve happiness in life only through marriage and motherhood-an ideology she labeled "the feminine mystique"" (Schneir 48-9). Friedan's research also lead her to find an enormous amount of articles in women's magazines by supposed experts devoted to telling women that they should seek their fulfillment in being a wife and a mother. The fact that more women were going to college and becoming better educated only lead to more discontent and the idea of having courses on marriage and motherhood in college was brought up. If a woman was unhappy with her status she knew from what everything she read told her that something was wrong with her; she was not fulfilling her duty as a woman.
The Influence of the Media on Women's View of Beauty and Self-Worth Another way in which the media has had a great influence over women is by controlling the image of what is beautiful for a woman in our society. The more technology that is created, the more unrealistic our ideas of the "perfect" woman become. "The body beautiful is a woman's responsibility and authority. She will be valued and rewarded on the basis of how close she comes to embodying the ideal. Whatever the current borders of beauty, they will always be well defined and exceedingly narrow, and it will be a woman's task to conform to them-for as long as humanly possible" (Chapkis 14). This leaves little room for interpretation to the idea of beauty. There is no flexibility in it; the media creates an image and women try to live up to it.
Women are forced to live within the constraints that the media puts on them because these constraints become societies "ideal." The media can even go so far as to pick a hair color that society will adopt as more desirable for themseles. One study showed that from 1950-1980's there was an inordinate amount of blondes in advertisements and in magazines. Even Playboy portrays blondes as sexier. The study also showed that 84% of women think that men prefer blonde haired women, in reality only 35% of the men interviewed preferred blondes. This kind of distortion is something that the media perpetuates in the minds of women. It is important that women start to differentiate myth from fact when the media is concerned. Many disorders that women have when image is concerned come from trying to perpetuate a beauty myth inflected by the media. Media needs to be held accountable for the societal ideas that they are perpetuating. Until larger perameters are made for beauty, no one, not even the models can fit the "ideal."
Works Cited
Cash, Thomas F.. Sex Roles. "The American Image of Beauty :Media Representations of Hair Color for Four Decades." vol.29, 113-23, 1993.
Chapkis, Wendy. beauty secrets. Southend Press, USA. copyright, 1986.
Covell, Katherine and Kyra Lanis. Sex Roles. "Images of Women in Advertisements: Effects on Attitudes Related to Sexual Aggression." vol.32, 639-49, 1993.
Schneir, Miriam. Feminism In Our Time. Vintage Original Press, N.Y.. 1994.
During WWII women were encouraged to go out to factories and work to support the war effort. This gave women a sense of need and belonging that many had been left out of before they had the opportunity to persue any type of career in an acceptable manner. With the men away at war, women were encouraged to find work outside the home due to a lack of factory workers who could produce war goods. Once the war ended, however, this propaganda not only stopped- it abruptly changed.
Once the men were back in the states there was an excess of workers. Men came back form war to find that there were no jobs or that their wives were occupying them. With production plummeting after war time highs there were few jobs to offer the men returning home. This started a media blitz on women. Women were encouraged to return to the home and take care of their families. Women's magazines were overflowing with ideas on how to make a perfect wife and mother. It was obvious that if you weren't happy making your family your job, there was something wrong with you as a woman.
The problem was that women were unhappy; President Kennedy commissioned a report on the he status of the American Woman due to the magnitude of this problem (Schneir 38-47). The report basically said that women were unhappy with the idea that they were fundamentally only responsible for being wives, mothers and homemakers; they had nothing they could associate as their own accomplishments.
Another study came out in 1963; it was called The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. "What she detected was a concerted campaign since the end of WWII to convince American women they could achieve happiness in life only through marriage and motherhood-an ideology she labeled "the feminine mystique"" (Schneir 48-9). Friedan's research also lead her to find an enormous amount of articles in women's magazines by supposed experts devoted to telling women that they should seek their fulfillment in being a wife and a mother. The fact that more women were going to college and becoming better educated only lead to more discontent and the idea of having courses on marriage and motherhood in college was brought up. If a woman was unhappy with her status she knew from what everything she read told her that something was wrong with her; she was not fulfilling her duty as a woman.
The Influence of the Media on Women's View of Beauty and Self-Worth Another way in which the media has had a great influence over women is by controlling the image of what is beautiful for a woman in our society. The more technology that is created, the more unrealistic our ideas of the "perfect" woman become. "The body beautiful is a woman's responsibility and authority. She will be valued and rewarded on the basis of how close she comes to embodying the ideal. Whatever the current borders of beauty, they will always be well defined and exceedingly narrow, and it will be a woman's task to conform to them-for as long as humanly possible" (Chapkis 14). This leaves little room for interpretation to the idea of beauty. There is no flexibility in it; the media creates an image and women try to live up to it.
Women are forced to live within the constraints that the media puts on them because these constraints become societies "ideal." The media can even go so far as to pick a hair color that society will adopt as more desirable for themseles. One study showed that from 1950-1980's there was an inordinate amount of blondes in advertisements and in magazines. Even Playboy portrays blondes as sexier. The study also showed that 84% of women think that men prefer blonde haired women, in reality only 35% of the men interviewed preferred blondes. This kind of distortion is something that the media perpetuates in the minds of women. It is important that women start to differentiate myth from fact when the media is concerned. Many disorders that women have when image is concerned come from trying to perpetuate a beauty myth inflected by the media. Media needs to be held accountable for the societal ideas that they are perpetuating. Until larger perameters are made for beauty, no one, not even the models can fit the "ideal."
Works Cited
Cash, Thomas F.. Sex Roles. "The American Image of Beauty :Media Representations of Hair Color for Four Decades." vol.29, 113-23, 1993.
Chapkis, Wendy. beauty secrets. Southend Press, USA. copyright, 1986.
Covell, Katherine and Kyra Lanis. Sex Roles. "Images of Women in Advertisements: Effects on Attitudes Related to Sexual Aggression." vol.32, 639-49, 1993.
Schneir, Miriam. Feminism In Our Time. Vintage Original Press, N.Y.. 1994.
Preventing Abortion
There are many issues in America today such as violence, drugs, teenage
pregnancy that is on a rise. There is also abortion which is what I
chose to write about today due to the fact that it has been such a
controversial and important issue of my generation although it has been
an ongoing issue for centuries going back to 2600 B.C when the first
recipe for an abortion
producing drug. Since the 19th century English common law forbade
abortion. Abortion prior to quickening (feeling life) was a misdemeanor
and a felony after that. In the early 1800s it was discovered that human
life did not begin when she “felt life” but at fertilization. In 1869
the British Parliament
passed the “Offenses Against the Persons Act” Eliminating the bifid
punishment and dropping the felony punishment back to fertilization, so
across the middle years of the 19th century each state passed their own
laws against abortion. In 1967 the first two states to legalize abortion
was Colorado and California and by June 1970 New York passed the first
abortion on demand law with a 24 week limit it became the 16th state to
allow abortion while the other states were still very restrictive and
only allowing abortions for pregnancies due to rape, incest, life of the
mother or severe fetal handicap.
Abortion seems to be the importance of my generation because there are so many young girls getting pregnant and trying to take the easy way out by having an abortion but little do they know that, that coward way out is sometimes more painful and more risky then actually giving birth and that complications rates of abortion increase with younger teenage women, younger women who carry their baby to term have better births then older women if they get proper care. I don’t believe these girls/women are fully aware of the dangers this can impose on their mind, body, and spirit. Statistics show that one in four of our generation is not living because they were killed before they were born.
There are two fractions in this controversy that are apart in their views on abortion whereas the pro-choice movement contends that a women’s right to abortion is absolute, the pro-life choice asserts that a fetus’s right to life is indisputable. Because of this debate the 1973 U.S Supreme Court ruling in Roe VS Wade which legalized abortion based on the 14th amendments right to privacy.
Most Americans believe that abortions should be illegal with exceptions of rape and incest but the truth is most abortions are not for either of these two reasons, most abortions are done because of various of other reasons such as the mother being to young and having sex without any knowledge of what there doing, because the father doesn’t want to be apart of her life or the baby’s, or sometimes just because the women/girl doesn’t feel like they can handle it when I believe that god never puts to much on a person he feels like that they can’t handle it. There were other exceptions that were included in the bans on partial birth abortion that was proposed by congress.
Abortions have affected many different people in various ways everyone knows someone that has had an abortion rather you know it or not. One in every six women has had an abortion and it has had different affects on them many women that have had abortions have had major psychological problems such as depression and some times called post-abortion syndrome that comes after an abortion, bladder injury that can lead to peritonitis which is an inflamed infected lining of the abdomen, bowel injury. Breast cancer women who have aborted have higher rates of breast cancer later in life and has increased by 50% since abortions have been legalized, Ectopic (tubal) pregnancy which is a pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus. After an abortion you are 8-20 times more likely to have one of these, Effects on future pregnancies like bleeding in the first three months, less likely to have a normal delivery, your next baby will be 3-4 times more likely to die in the first few months of life.
As I stated before abortions go back to ancient times and have been practiced by women all over the world using barbaric tools and odd instruments. This is why I believe that it’s a women’s choice to be able to have an abortion under certain guidelines but not because they had a one night stand and didn’t like the guy or just because you think you’re not ready, or because you think you’re parents might kill you, or my figure is going to be ruined if I have this baby. Many women have died t trying to self abort in ancient times and even a few today but its now less common because it was legalized in 1973 some people say that you cant be on both sides its either pro life or pro choice. I can’t really decide because in a way I feel like it’s a women’s choice if she wants to suffer through an abortion but I would never get one!!
So what should our government do about this issue?? I believe that the government should keep abortions legal with stipulations on them, along with educating the mothers about the complications that come along with having this procedure. Also start allowing the schools to have sex education classes to help them understand how and when sex is appropriate and if they are already sexually active how to use protection and birth control. A lot of people say it’s the parent’s job to educate their kids about sex but as the old saying goes it takes a village to raise a kid so why shouldn’t the schools be apart of the village?? The government should make it lawful to have an abortion ONLY if theirs a health risk to the mother or the baby, incest victims, and certain aged rape victims which is very rare case that a woman raped has become pregnant. I say certain aged rape victims only because a 9-12 year old girl that has been raped shouldn’t have to endure all that pain at such a young age not knowing how or what this is happening to her. So just to leave you with a few things to think about here are some quotes from the bible: “Ye that loves the LORD, HATE evil…” Psalms 97:10, “Thou shalt not kill.” Exodus 20:13, “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: Even so thou knowest not the works of GOD who maketh all.” Ecclesiastes 11:5
A regretful abortion: “I am in my early twenties and two years ago, I found myself pregnant.
I love children and cannot wait to be a mother…but I was taken up in the idea that I wouldn’t be able to give up my baby for adoption, and I knew I couldn’t raise a child in my situation. I was living with a man I knew I wasn’t happy with and I knew it was wrong, no matter how you look at it. I let him help me to believe that abortion was the best way to deal with the situation. I grew up in a christen home and have always been a pro-life advocate! I thought abortion was the worst thing in the world you could ever do… and you know the sad thing? I still feel this way, only now, I have to live with the regret that I had an abortion. I carried my child in my womb for nine weeks. Do you realize that at nine weeks, you can see the child’s eyes, spinal cord, heart, fingers are starting to form…I have to live with this for the rest of my life. I know there are many people out there that think you can have an abortion and just forget about it the next day. It doesn’t work like that, I have tried so hard to let this go, and know that my child is in heaven and I will eventually meet him/her one day. But right now while I’m here I live with the regret, the guilt, the absolute disgust with myself, and though I’m working on forgiving myself, I know I will never forget!”
TO the government, parents, teachers, and counselors educate our young people about using birth control and condoms. If she’s already pregnant please, please let them know about the alternatives to abortion like adoption any thing to save a life there are plenty of loving families that cant have kids that want them. If you think birth control and condoms are to costly their not you can get them free all day long at the local clinics and that’s why we have Planned Parenthood and other places like it that helps with this sort of thing. Most people just don’t know so they need to be educated and this is were the government comes in and this is why one out every four have been killed and abortion will continue to be such a controversial issue.
Abortion seems to be the importance of my generation because there are so many young girls getting pregnant and trying to take the easy way out by having an abortion but little do they know that, that coward way out is sometimes more painful and more risky then actually giving birth and that complications rates of abortion increase with younger teenage women, younger women who carry their baby to term have better births then older women if they get proper care. I don’t believe these girls/women are fully aware of the dangers this can impose on their mind, body, and spirit. Statistics show that one in four of our generation is not living because they were killed before they were born.
There are two fractions in this controversy that are apart in their views on abortion whereas the pro-choice movement contends that a women’s right to abortion is absolute, the pro-life choice asserts that a fetus’s right to life is indisputable. Because of this debate the 1973 U.S Supreme Court ruling in Roe VS Wade which legalized abortion based on the 14th amendments right to privacy.
Most Americans believe that abortions should be illegal with exceptions of rape and incest but the truth is most abortions are not for either of these two reasons, most abortions are done because of various of other reasons such as the mother being to young and having sex without any knowledge of what there doing, because the father doesn’t want to be apart of her life or the baby’s, or sometimes just because the women/girl doesn’t feel like they can handle it when I believe that god never puts to much on a person he feels like that they can’t handle it. There were other exceptions that were included in the bans on partial birth abortion that was proposed by congress.
Abortions have affected many different people in various ways everyone knows someone that has had an abortion rather you know it or not. One in every six women has had an abortion and it has had different affects on them many women that have had abortions have had major psychological problems such as depression and some times called post-abortion syndrome that comes after an abortion, bladder injury that can lead to peritonitis which is an inflamed infected lining of the abdomen, bowel injury. Breast cancer women who have aborted have higher rates of breast cancer later in life and has increased by 50% since abortions have been legalized, Ectopic (tubal) pregnancy which is a pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus. After an abortion you are 8-20 times more likely to have one of these, Effects on future pregnancies like bleeding in the first three months, less likely to have a normal delivery, your next baby will be 3-4 times more likely to die in the first few months of life.
As I stated before abortions go back to ancient times and have been practiced by women all over the world using barbaric tools and odd instruments. This is why I believe that it’s a women’s choice to be able to have an abortion under certain guidelines but not because they had a one night stand and didn’t like the guy or just because you think you’re not ready, or because you think you’re parents might kill you, or my figure is going to be ruined if I have this baby. Many women have died t trying to self abort in ancient times and even a few today but its now less common because it was legalized in 1973 some people say that you cant be on both sides its either pro life or pro choice. I can’t really decide because in a way I feel like it’s a women’s choice if she wants to suffer through an abortion but I would never get one!!
So what should our government do about this issue?? I believe that the government should keep abortions legal with stipulations on them, along with educating the mothers about the complications that come along with having this procedure. Also start allowing the schools to have sex education classes to help them understand how and when sex is appropriate and if they are already sexually active how to use protection and birth control. A lot of people say it’s the parent’s job to educate their kids about sex but as the old saying goes it takes a village to raise a kid so why shouldn’t the schools be apart of the village?? The government should make it lawful to have an abortion ONLY if theirs a health risk to the mother or the baby, incest victims, and certain aged rape victims which is very rare case that a woman raped has become pregnant. I say certain aged rape victims only because a 9-12 year old girl that has been raped shouldn’t have to endure all that pain at such a young age not knowing how or what this is happening to her. So just to leave you with a few things to think about here are some quotes from the bible: “Ye that loves the LORD, HATE evil…” Psalms 97:10, “Thou shalt not kill.” Exodus 20:13, “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: Even so thou knowest not the works of GOD who maketh all.” Ecclesiastes 11:5
A regretful abortion: “I am in my early twenties and two years ago, I found myself pregnant.
I love children and cannot wait to be a mother…but I was taken up in the idea that I wouldn’t be able to give up my baby for adoption, and I knew I couldn’t raise a child in my situation. I was living with a man I knew I wasn’t happy with and I knew it was wrong, no matter how you look at it. I let him help me to believe that abortion was the best way to deal with the situation. I grew up in a christen home and have always been a pro-life advocate! I thought abortion was the worst thing in the world you could ever do… and you know the sad thing? I still feel this way, only now, I have to live with the regret that I had an abortion. I carried my child in my womb for nine weeks. Do you realize that at nine weeks, you can see the child’s eyes, spinal cord, heart, fingers are starting to form…I have to live with this for the rest of my life. I know there are many people out there that think you can have an abortion and just forget about it the next day. It doesn’t work like that, I have tried so hard to let this go, and know that my child is in heaven and I will eventually meet him/her one day. But right now while I’m here I live with the regret, the guilt, the absolute disgust with myself, and though I’m working on forgiving myself, I know I will never forget!”
TO the government, parents, teachers, and counselors educate our young people about using birth control and condoms. If she’s already pregnant please, please let them know about the alternatives to abortion like adoption any thing to save a life there are plenty of loving families that cant have kids that want them. If you think birth control and condoms are to costly their not you can get them free all day long at the local clinics and that’s why we have Planned Parenthood and other places like it that helps with this sort of thing. Most people just don’t know so they need to be educated and this is were the government comes in and this is why one out every four have been killed and abortion will continue to be such a controversial issue.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Facebook !
As if
parents did not already have enough to worry about now they need to worry about
their children displaying negative psychological effects from over using
facebook.
Facebook is very popular social networking site over eight
hundred million users. As an avid user of facebook myself, I find it hard to
believe that at one point it didn’t exist. Infact, it has become so much apart
of people’s lives that you can learn their life story just by checking their
page. Their friends, likes and dislikes relationship status
Phone numbers address everything.
Social
media like facebook may both positive and negative effects. Talking about
positive aspects of facebook, it helps to keeping touch with family and friends
making new friends, expressing you.
As we have
many positive aspects of facebook we have many negative aspects and effects of
the social media. Use of social media may harm on our creativity and knowledge.
Creative power may get generated from social media but it doesn’t make that
creative power of learning.
Facebook
has many possibilities of doing well in life. We can find relevant things which
we need in our life including authentic knowledge about different application,
instant news, word-making games, IQ test, etc. Facebook mainly used by
different people having different perception. Some of them used facebook as
communication tool, some as the media which is helpful in their daily lives.
Negative
psychological effects of facebook from ‘Overdosing’. Latest research which
examines teens and facebook was conducted using 1,000 teen surveys and
observation of 300 teens actively studying. It concluded that multiple negative
psychological effects could result from spending too much time on facebook and
other social media.
Negative
effects of facebook on teens who overuse this social media include; teens whose
facebook frequently may became narcissistic, teens who have a strong facebook
presence may display psychological disorders, such as anti-social behaviours,
and mania and aggressive tendencies.
Facebook do
not only effects on mentally but it also effects in educational aspects.
Although this pretty much goes without saying, being connected to technology on
a ongoing basis can seriously impact on teen’s education.
The time
has come to determine which should take and which should left for using social
media. Parents and families also have the responsibility to lessen the negative
effects of facebook and its overuse on their children. Parents should not
foster their children to monitoring such software at home.
Psychological
and educational effects of facebook, other technologies and media on children
is invaluable. Perhaps attentive family/parents have already take action. But
for those that have not, it is the time to wake up to the consequences of
facebook and overuse can have on our children and combat it.
Ways of Seeing
Ways of Seeing
-
John Berger
When it comes to art, personal perception of a
piece should be the principle driving force to understanding art. In Ways of
Seeing, John Berger mentions that a person’s perception of art can be
influenced by outside factors, such as captions or information about the
artist. Even though this does alter what someone thinks of a piece of art, I
believe this has a positive effect rather than a negative one on one’s
perception. More information allows the person to understand art at a secondary
level; he can delve deeper into the reason why someone created this piece of
art and relate it to his own feelings about it.
Berger also states his views on the reproduction
of art and while I disagree that it devalues a piece of art, I understand his
opinion as well. An original piece of work has its own aura. No matter how many
reproductions you see, only the original contains the true artists mark. For
example, in the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo, the famous painting God
creates Adam is on the ceiling. If you google it, you can find an image of it
in a matter of seconds. But if you visit the chapel, the view is completely
different; you see the connection of how God created Adam to other paintings on
the ceiling of the chapel. It completes the pictures and creates a story for
the observer. Plus, the ceiling itself is beautiful because of the immense
detail and color scheme created by Michaelangelo. So just like Milana said in a
previous post, art is still thrilling even though you saw the reproduction
before the original. However, reproductions introduce such great pieces of art
to people who cannot readily observe it. I believe Berger is incorrect in
saying that reproductions negatively impact art. A teacher once told me that
when people copy your work, it means they like it and it has some sort of
value. So reproductions actually increase the importance of a certain art.
In the next chapter, Berger speaks about the difference between nudity and
nakedness. I agree with him that “men act and women appear”. If we break it
down, women want to attract men and men want to find women they are attracted
to. A woman in nude makes her body more public and therefore allows men to
appreciate her while a woman who is naked is more private with her body. John Berger brings up a few good points but I believe he generalizes the public too much and even stereotypes them. I look forward to reading more of Ways of Seeing.
In his book Ways of Seeing, John Berger discusses the ways in which people perceive different works of art, and the ways art has evolved during a time of emerging technological advancements. Berger explains that there is no way of knowing exactly what moment the artist was trying to capture or what he/she wanted to portray by painting the portrait. In this sense, painting are silent and it is up to viewers to decipher what the artist meant when he/she painted the portrait. Viewers can only try to interpret what they see by learning about the backround/history of the artist and by analyzing the techniques used in the portrait. Berger also goes on to say that the way we describe something is preceded by the way we see it, but words cannot do justice to what we see, or explain what we see with our own eyes. I experienced this dumbstruck feeling at the Brooklyn Museum when I saw the breathtaking paintings but could not come up with the words to adequately describe what I saw. Berger explains that a drastic change that has occured as a result of society’s technological advancements is the development of the camera, which allows for easy reproduction of once prized and elite paintings. While paintings used to be signs of status and class and used to be valued and esteemed for their selectivity, they are currently much more accessible to people all over the world. However, because of the reproduction of paintings, art is more widely viewed and advertised through books, posters, and even television. Many people have even neglected to enjoy and experience art for its talent, aesthetics, history, or meaning, and instead see art as a means to make a profit. I agree with Berger that the way art is viewed has evolved dramatically due to technology and social change, and more and more people tend to overlook art’s true meanings instead of appreciating it for its aesthetics and significance.
The Achievement of Desire
The Achievement of Desire
- Richard
Rodriguez
This is the story of a man who
found himself through education. His whole life he was eager to read books and
learn more and more. He was the kid in class who always raised his hand, and
would always be caught reading a book at home all by himself. He came from a
middle class Mexican family that had struggled to make it to where they
were in the social structure. His parents were somewhat educated, but worked
hard to make a living. His siblings were also smart, but Richard always felt
like he was by himself. He had great parents but hints that there was
never that special bond between them, that his family and school were two
different worlds he had to learn to live with. He states “But withheld from my
mother and father was any mention of what most mattered to me: the
extraordinary experience of first learning,” (p. 623) and he shows how he would
not just open up to his parents when they asked what was new. He would just
reply with the “same old stuff” answer. His education had culturally
seperated him from his parents, the same education that has made him realize
this fact and speak out about it.
The “Achievement of Desire”, is a retrospective
style essay by Richard Rodriguez. Now, a doctoral graduate in literature from
the University of California Berkeley, Rodriguez began his education in
the state’s capital, Sacramento.
His reflective look at his education, from elementary level to college
admittance at Stanford, includes family dynamics, educators, and the introspective
self-examination of how these influences affected his childhood…….His success.
Richard begins his educational
experience with memories of the second grade, a hispanic student out of
his cultural realm of language and social status. As a “working-class
child”, in a private parochial school, he felt completely out-of-place.
His parents, hard-working un-educated, placed him in private school so as
to give Richard all the opportunities a good education can provide. Their own
lack of education resulting in dead-end hard labor employment only, they wanted
more for their three children, Richard being the youngest. Very early Richard
sees the differences between school and the affiliation of his home life. His
parents speech for instance, was filled with mis-pronounced words, incorrect or
out-dated facts were corrected by the pretentious second grader. By the third
grade he began to alienate his family by creating physical space between
himself and the daily commotion attributed to a family of five. Richard makes a
comment about shifting his “allegiance”, from his parents to his
teachers with his acts of exclusion from daily family life. As Richard
quotes in his essay,”He takes his first step towards academic success, away
from his family”. He had chosen school life and its demands, pouring himself
solely into his studies. Richard’s older brother and sister were “good
students”, with lots of shiny trophies earned by their many academic
achievements. Richard mentions an almost “rival” type relationship
that exists between he and his siblings. Admitting that he was
jealous at the “ease” that his brother and sister portrayed in regards to
their academia. Instead, Richard says he felt unconfident and anxious. Mr. and
Mrs. Rodriguez were supportive of their children, attending each graduation,
camera in hand. Meanwhile, Richard gives all the credit of his academic
success to his teachers.In the search for “dedicated” type people, a convent would surely rank high on the list of places to look. Richard knows he was sent to a good school. He Writes, “My earliest teachers, the nuns, made my success their ambition”. The many praises given by his teachers must have been the affirmation needed by the young Richard Rodriguez. He reports quickly conforming to their every action, diction and direction. Over ambitious, while lacking in self-confidence and self acceptance, he found ways of getting undivided attention from his teachers. His teachers compliments had become more important than those of his parents, a shift in respect had occurred. Richard reflects upon a particular instance on returning home from school with the compliment, “I’m so proud, you have almost completely lost your spanish accent”, from one of the nuns. This conforming compliment, set deep in memory like a turning point. Richard took a greater interest in his english class, reading and writing on everything the nuns suggested. He began to blossom socially, feeling more and sounding more like his classmates. According to his mother, the nuns at the precocial school were the best teachers. The school and its academic reputation had high regards in the capital city of California, a state that has been considered to be trend setting and inventive in its education system. Good teachers create great students. Teachers who look beyond their normal curriculum guidelines, those willing to see their students as individuals with varied interests and talents. Educators that evoke self-reliance, self-identity, and the ability to recognize change and growth within ourselves like Richard’s teachers did for him.
Richard Rodriguez the man, finally recognizes the effects of his education and school life on the boy. He reflects on the need to separate himself from his parents and their inclusion in school functions like awards ceremonies or any direct contact with his teachers. The embarrassment of the child, became a shameful act when viewed by the adult Richard. His childhood anger misguided at his parents limitations, became shame as he reached adolescence. Finally realizing his parents sacrifice to send their children to a school they could not afford was an important step towards adulthood for Richard. Describing his father as always laid back asleep in front of the television mouth wide open, snoring, unable to help with homework as a child; now reflects as an adult, the long over-time hours worked to pay for his children’s private education. The secretarial jobs his mother spent years at without chance of advancement in pay or professional status to help cover education costs. The adult Richard Rodriguez gives his gratitude and respect to his parents for their support in his success. He thanks them for the push towards english studies, instead of the anger he held earlier as a child. A published, well-respected author, Richard’s parents “Must be proud”!
Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage
Grief and a
Headhunter’s Rage
- Renato
Rosaldo
In Renato Rosaldo’s “Grief and a
Headhunter’s Rage” Rosaldo writes about ritual and the connection it has with
emotion, more specifically of the emotions associated with death. the ritual
mentioned through this essay is the ritual of Ilongot Headhunting. Rosaldo’s
argument is “that ritual in general and Ilongot headhunting in particular form
the intersection of multiple coexisting social processes,” but it should also
be recognized that those in the center of the ritual will have more feelings
aroused from the ritual than those on the outer edges. (594) The way
sociologists study cultures should change towards attempting to understand,
instead of the traditional attempt to explain.
Rosaldo used these words to describe
them: “The Ilongots… number about 3,500 and reside in an upland area some
ninety miles northeast of Manila,
Philippines.
For themselves, their neighbors, and their ethnographers, headhunting stands
out as the Ilongots’ most salient cultural practice” (588). The Ilongots of
this time practiced headhunting as a means to release the rage created from a
devastating loss, as he describes: “He (an Ilongot) says that rage, born of
grief, impels him to kill his fellow human beings. He claims that he needs a
place… ‘to carry his anger.’ The act of… tossing away the victim’s head enables
him… (to) throw away the anger of his bereavement” (588). The Ilongot man is
saying that this rage must be vented and focused away from those around him.
Here, it become evident that those in the center are in the focus. The Ilongot
says how the rage is born of grief, and those in grief (the ones who
experienced the loss) will be those in the focus of this ritual. Those outside
of the focus will not experience the full emotion of headhunting. Later in the
essay, Rosaldo mentions how he just did not understand how the grief and rage
was connected, but says he now understands, after a tragic loss of his own,
that to an Ilongot they went together in the most obvious manner.
Headhunting is a ritual based on
the grief resulting from loss. A ritual with familiar causes, a funeral, helps
in relating to the issue. While analyzing funerals, it became paramount to pick
a single one and expand from there. It is of the last funeral I attended. It
becomes obvious that funerals contain several parts, those of focus may be
labeled as; memorial, symbolism, and acceptance. Starting with memorial and
symbolism, it become understandable how something seen as normal by some can be
outright unusual for others. Within the memorial of the mentioned funeral, the
funeral of my friend Kris, there were pictures on display. While varying from
wrestling, cross country, navy photos, and a picture of him fishing, the
pictures show the presence of memories lessening the blow of the loss.
Affirming what they did in life was great, but is this logic obvious to
all?Rosaldo describes: “Once the raiders kill their victim, they toss away the
head rather than keep it as a trophy. In tossing away the head, they claim by
analogy to cast away their life burdens, including the rage in their
grief.”(598) Throwing the head away, is how the Ilongots reach acceptance;
while acceptance isn’t a part of the ritual, the ritual often forms a catalyst
with a product being acceptance. The methods of acceptance are countless. some
of the more apparent ones can vary from crying, to punching, and even drinking
in excess. Looking from the outside what would someone see when they look at
someone sobbing uncontrollably, punching a wall, or an all night drinking
binge?, They would see not the feeling of acceptance only what an outsider
would see, and those in the very thick of it all the methods of acceptance can
become all the more abstract. The afore mentioned funeral caused me to have the
urge to fish because it was the main thing Kris and I had done together lately.
While someone could say that it made perfect sense that I would have the urge
to do so, the question remains: what would be seen by an outsider?
Another key part of a funeral is
some symbolism; akin to the Ilongot throwing the head of a victim away, the
symbolism is used to express some idea; the thought of them (the dead) being
buried or cremated, aside from any specific spiritual beliefs, affirms that
they are gone from the living world. This along with the memorial forms the
catalyst to acceptance in this case then.
Rosaldo goes on to the criticize
on the way anthropologists tried to understand cultural aspects objectively, as
many aspects of culture require one to be a part of the culture to understand
it: “After being repositioned through a devastating loss of my own [I could]
better grasp that Ilongot older men mean precisely what they say… [their] anger
and my own overlap, rather like two circles, partially overlaid and partially
separate. They are not identical” (589-593). Here he notes that he could grasp
that they mean what they say; however, he also understands “All interpretations
are provisional; they are made by positioned subjects who are prepared to know
certain things and not others. Even when knowledgeable, sensitive, fluent in
language, and able to move easily in an alien cultural world, good
ethnographers still have their limits, and their analyses always are
incomplete” (598). This becomes a reoccurring theme throughout the essay: this
idea of understanding a culture to be futile, as cultures are subjective, and
only those within it will truly understand.
Further into his essay the “devastating loss” that Rosaldo mentions is explained as the loss of his wife after she fell down a cliff into a river:
Further into his essay the “devastating loss” that Rosaldo mentions is explained as the loss of his wife after she fell down a cliff into a river:
Immediately on finding her body I
became enraged. How could she abandon me? How could she have been so stupid as
to fall?... Going down I find a group of men, maybe seven or eight, standing
still, silent, and I heave and sob, but no tears (He describes this later to be
a form of rage)…’ Such feelings can be aroused by rituals, but more often they
emerge from unexpected reminders. (593)
The loss of his wife allowed him to feel the rage associated with death, and he feels actual rage towards his now dead wife. This is where the anger stems from, the anger that a person Rosaldo cared for is lost forever. Going on further, he explains a denial of rage among Anglo-Americans: “… upper-middle-class Anglo-American culture tends to ignore the rage devastating losses can bring. Paradoxically, this culture’s conventional wisdom usually denies the anger in grief at the same time that therapists encourage members of the invisible community of the bereaved to talk in detail about how angry their losses make them feel” (593). this denial is part of the cultural barrier that keeps us from understand other cultures fully, even outright denial as in the beginning of the essay where Rosaldo writes: “My own inability to conceive the force of anger in grief led me to seek out another level of analysis that could provide a deeper explanation for older Men’s desire to headhunt” (598). This shows that there was just a complete inability to understand, and opens up a real idea of subjective thoughts.
The loss of his wife allowed him to feel the rage associated with death, and he feels actual rage towards his now dead wife. This is where the anger stems from, the anger that a person Rosaldo cared for is lost forever. Going on further, he explains a denial of rage among Anglo-Americans: “… upper-middle-class Anglo-American culture tends to ignore the rage devastating losses can bring. Paradoxically, this culture’s conventional wisdom usually denies the anger in grief at the same time that therapists encourage members of the invisible community of the bereaved to talk in detail about how angry their losses make them feel” (593). this denial is part of the cultural barrier that keeps us from understand other cultures fully, even outright denial as in the beginning of the essay where Rosaldo writes: “My own inability to conceive the force of anger in grief led me to seek out another level of analysis that could provide a deeper explanation for older Men’s desire to headhunt” (598). This shows that there was just a complete inability to understand, and opens up a real idea of subjective thoughts.
The issue of cultures being
studied incorrectly has major implications; Prior to this essay, attempts were
only made to explain, not understand; With all explanations being hollow and
usually missing the point, Rosaldo shows his own ignorance and labels the
source. Ritual is a subjective experience and to those within the purpose is
apparent, to those outside of the ritual it is like fitting a square peg
through a circular hole. Only those on the inside of the ritual will ever fully
understand. Those outside are subject to cultural barriers such as the one
described by Rosaldo. In denying rage within grief, one cannot understand these
actions, like not understanding love in the matter we as members of culture
that includes non-arranged marriage do could cause those that support arranged
marriage to ask simply, why? Ultimately though, when talking of emotions, it
becomes apparent that they are all subjective. From looking at a ritual from
another culture or examining an individual’s emotions within the ritual,
everything is subjective. It should then be recognized that sociologists should
study cultures in an attempt to understand the cultures and not to just
explain.
Friday, August 29, 2014
My little child was died
By Shisir Parajuli
I remember that date very well: 9th
September 1999. I was in hospital. The hospital looked very horrified; the
environment of the hospital seemed very gloomy as a very wild storm coming very
soon. The dogs howling outside. It was Room no: 201 and bed no: 003 looked gloomier
than other beds and rooms. The boy who was on the bed laid stiffs, his legs
hanged outside from the bed, his body looked curved and static. He was in the
pool of blood and he produced the sound of pain as if he got some sharp pin in
his heart. And that sound makes me crazy because it was the sound produced by
my little son.
I can’t
really imagine that day, when the doctor bended his head by saying that he was
no-more. How could he leave me, huh! He promised me that he will always stay with
us and cares us. How God could steal our child from us? How God could be
selfish? Didn’t he had any idea of our son leave us we were be alone?
As the
doctor said me he was died from tuberculosis. My mind didn’t work at that time,
only ears heard something from doctor’s mouth. He murmured something and tried
to console me but I was lying in the floor as if I am going too died very soon.
The doctor
helped me to stand and fixed me to the small chair. Then, he said ‘Please sir
control yourself and take the dead body of you child.’ ‘NO! MY SON WAS NOT
DIED’, I replied toward doctor with loud voice. My son was not died. ‘Look!
Look towards his eyes, his eyes says something to me’. He promised me that he
will stay with us forever and you doctor said that he was died. How could I
believe in your voice? No God can’t be rude like that. How could I give this
message to his mother that her son was died? My wife’s prays, her faith upon
god can’t be waste and be like garbage. No, I can’t! She will die if she saw her
son’s death body.
No one
wants to listen my story so that I told my painful story to you my dear pet.
Listen my rest of the story. The people in the hospital tried their best to
console me and gave me sympathy but I was doing like obstinacy child and crazy
like, the most important things from my life was lost or destroyed.
After three
hour, I controlled myself and came to the real world where my child leaves us,
where I can’t imagine anything about this artificial world. I went near to my
little child’s death body as doctor said that he was died but his eyes says
something towards me. I can’t see that eyes in taking longer times. I was not
able to read his eyes because I was also the part of his ultimate death because
I can’t manage proper money and medicine for him. We basically belong to poor
family, you know. But nobody wanted to listen my painful story that, ‘my child
was died’.
‘Not
everyone in this world has the fate to cherish the fullest form of love. Some
are born, just to experience the abbreviation of it’. My child, my boy leaves
us. That time…that moment… that second… I… I… I just thought…
‘My little child was
died’
Analysis of Austin’s Irony and Richards’s Emotive Language
By: Shisir Parajuli
Every word has a meaning. This
meaning is correlated with words. Word’s meaning has been different through out
different context. Meaning of words differs from person to person, culture to
culture, society to society and country to country. Word’s meanings have
different types, it can function somewhere as irony, somewhere as literal
meaning, somewhere as emotive meaning. Meaning of words can be subjective
because determination of the meaning can be fixed only by the critical role of
readers. Meaning of one words will be common for one but that meaning can be
uncommon for others because it is the effect of alternatives view of language
system which is the series that deals with discontinuous games, or games of
language; fixing of the meaning of the text is not absolutely specific but
contextually determined by the readers of the text. And as a reader of the
theories of Austin and Richards; I am dealing with each of the theories with
three stories.
Austin
theory of speech act rejects the old logical positivist view of language as
description of a state of affairs in the world. Austin theory of speech act is closely
related with irony because performance of an act in saying something. He
further defines different types of speech act, including constative and performative.
As Austin
defines speech act in one hand and Richards defines his emotive theory through
literal and emotive meaning. Where literal meaning closely related with
referential meaning which is related with an idea of an object and emotive
meaning related with context or emotions.
Austin’s theory of the speech act and
Richards’s theory of emotive language resembles with each others. Speech act
distinguishes between constative and performative, the former begin an
‘assertion’ or ‘description’ the latter being an ‘utterance which allows us to
do something by means of speech itself.’ A performative is a way of doing
things with words, as in the example of promise, baptising or christening, the
naming of ships, or the priest saying ‘I now pronounce you man and wife,’
whereby the words enforce a social reality within a given and common understood
cultural context. The act of public exhibition that results in a transactions
between performer and audience; an utterance that, via its public display,
causes a linguistic interaction with the exhibition’s object.
I.A. Richards’s emotive theories distinguish
between emotive and referential meaning. Emotive meaning functions as a dynamic
rather than description. Referential meaning on the other hand relates with
descriptive. Emotive meaning ‘express’ rather than ‘inform.’ Marguerite H.
Foster in his ‘Poetry and Emotive
meaning’ also defines same as I.A. Richards in his ‘The meaning of meaning’ defines ‘emotive terms’ as the
use of words to express or excite feelings and attitude, and ‘the symbolic use
of words is statement; the recording, the support, the organization and the
communication of references’ (657).
Austin’s
speech act and Richards’s emotive theories seem similar in the perception of
meaning as; constative meaning relates with referential meaning or direct
meaning and performative meaning relates with emotive meaning or contextual
meaning. These two theories related with irony
because irony means something that meaning is different from our perception
it means that the meaning of irony closely related with the Austin’s speech act where irony can perform
as constative and performative as well. Then the meaning of one words differ
from context to context and reader to reader that meaning also deals with emotive
theories of Richards’s which is also related with the meaning of words with
literal and emotive meaning.
David J. Amante in his ‘The Theory of Ironic Speech’ defines " Ironic speech acts
have three participants: an ironist
(or eiron, henceforth both terms will
be used), one or more observers of
irony, and a target for irony" (77). Irony is the matter of perception and it
must, to become manifest, be seen by an observer or it does not exist. Observer
means the audience who participants of the related text. Who observes the text
care fully and justified the text through dealing with different context as
historically, socially and in the terms of religious aspect.
Firstly, Sadat Hasan Manto’s story ‘Open it’ has also these three
participants of ironic speech act where an ironist is the writer or author of
the story, observers are audiences of the text and targets of the text are the
suffering women representing Sakina. Secondly, Richards mayne’s story F**D has
also three aspect of participants where ironist is the author, observers are
audiences and targets are that the setting of the story and husband and wife
who are struggling for preparing chicken.
Ted Cohen in his ‘Figurative Speech and Figurative Acts’ argues that "Austin’s speech act
consist of three kinds of acts- three way of doing things with words" (669).
He generated the abbreviated formula- which he qualifies extensively-
Acts of saying something: locutions
(L)
Acts done in saying something:
illocutions (I)
Acts done by saying something:
perlocutions (P)
We
can apply the Manto’s story to this formula as in this way:
(L): Soldier said to her Open it.
(I): Soldier urged her Open it.
(P): Soldier persuaded her to Open
it.
Austin thinks that
illocutions are related to locutions by conventions (whatever exactly that may
mean) and that perlocutions are not connected in this way. The commission of a
locution leads to the occurrence of an illocution, but it does so automatically
by means of the rules of language. Austin
thought that sentences were either performative or constative that a clean
distinction could be made between them. Austin
language of illocutionary and perlocutionary effects allows us to analyze every
text’s orientation towards affecting an audience rather than committing ourselves
to the debilitating either/ or taxonomy of persuasive versus referential
discourse that is the product of the related text.
Irony is one of the influential
device which is used in the literary works for different perceptive. Mainly
irony is used in literary works to makes meaning of one text different from one
another. Using of irony makes the text more interesting. As Manto and Mayne
also use irony in their text to make that text strong in both emotionally and
intellectually. On the basis of that idea; Jack C. Gray in his ‘Irony: A Practical Definition’ defines "Irony
is widely employed literary device. There are almost as many different kinds of
irony as there are instances of it, and it can produce emotional and
intellectual effects in endless variety" (220). Irony makes the readers
quite aware about the hidden meaning of the text. If the reader observes the
text carefully then their emotional and intellectual effects affect the text.
Gray further says "Irony can be
a figure of speech, an effect, an attention, an outcome, a pretended ignorance,
and merely a vague sort of quality" (220). Irony makes the text more
exasperating and perplexing. Short glance of looking toward the text is not
sufficient to understand the irony of the text. The figure of speech as
metaphor and simile makes the irony more stronger. As in the Mayne’s story F**D
we can’t understand the text for the first time. Using of sensual images like
‘full curves of her breast and leg, lips parted, her head thrown back’ etc in
the story makes our perception different than the actual meaning of the story.
Irony means showing one thing but
telling another thing. The text which have irony makes the meaning of one thing
different in literally and actually or textually so as Brooks and Warren in
their book ‘Modern Rhetoric’ give an
amended and enlarged discussion of irony as "Irony always involves a
discrepancy between the literal meaning of a statement and its actual meaning"
(363). Manto’s story Open it has also irony. If we go through the story we can
find the meaning of Open it different literal level and actual level. The text
shows irony toward the action of volunteer, father happiness and doctor sweat.
In the last moment of story the victim girl Sakina is in her death bed where
she is motionless. The doctor checks her pulse and said ‘The window, open it!’
At the sound of the words, Sakina’s death body moves and undid her salwar and
lowered it. Her father is happy but doctor drenched with sweat from head to
toe. The utterance ‘Open it’ makes the irony here where Sakina is habituated
with gang rape by volunteer and understand the order same as she used to do it
before coming to hospital.
From the middle 19th
century the pornography has been widely used in the text. Actually the very
term pornography refers the explicit depiction of sexual subject matter; a
display of material of an erotic nature. Pornography uses sensual images and
erotic feelings by using female characters. Jennifer Saul in her book
‘Pornography, Speech Acts and Context’ argues with Catharine Mackinnon idea as
"The pornography is the subordination of women" (230). Speech act
works of pornography are little attention has been devoted to the more general
idea that works of pornography can be understood.
Mackinnon claims that pornography
silences women. Langton defends this claim as well, arguing that works of
pornography can be understood as illocutionary acts of silencing women. Both Manto’s and Mayne’s stories have
pornographic sense. In the both story women are silencing. In the manto’s Open
it; main character Sakina is being victim and being silence and Mayne’s story
F**D the women who works in the kitchen presenting as a pornographic sense. Viewers
of these two stories surface mean the pornographic sense that dealing with
women. Pornography also deals with Austin’s speech act and Richards’s emotive
theories because the meaning of pornography in the text seems related with
speech act as in the story Open it where the doctor’s utterance makes the
different sense toward Sakina that resembles with both irony and pornography
and in the story F**D the readers find out different meaning as different from
actual meaning and emotive meaning. The text is actually deals with preparing
the meal in the kitchen but we found different meaning than the textual
meaning.
In conclusion, Austin’s speech act and Richards’s emotive
theories concerns with the different meaning of one text. Pornography also
talks with Austin’s
speech act and Richards’s emotive theories because the meaning of pornography
in the text seems related with speech act and emotive theories in terms of
meaning. Irony always involves a discrepancy between the literal meaning of a
statement and its actual meaning or textual meaning. Irony develops with the
development of figure of speech, an effect, an attention, an outcome, a
pretended ignorance, and merely a vague sort of quality. Literary device needs
the irony. There are almost as many different kinds of irony as there are
instances of it, and it can produce emotional and intellectual effects in
endless variety. Austin’s
speech act and Richards’s emotive theories effects allows us to analyze every
text’s orientation towards affecting an reader rather than committing ourselves
to the debilitating either/ or taxonomy of persuasive versus referential
discourse that is the product of the related text. Both theories perform with
the meaning of text that meaning of words can be subjective because
determination of the meaning can be fixed only by the critical role of readers.
Word’s meanings have different types, it can function somewhere as irony,
somewhere as literal meaning, somewhere as emotive meaning and that all types
of meaning deals with both speech acts and emotive theories.
Works Cited
Amante, David J. "The Theory of Ironic Speech Acts." Poetics Today 2.2
(Winter, 1981). 77-96
Cohen, Ted. "Figurative Speech and Figurative Acts." The Journal of Philosophy
72.19 (Nov.6, 1975).
669-684
Foster, Marguerite H. "Poetry and Emotive Meaning." The Journal of Philosophy
47. 3 (Nov.9, 1950).
657-660
Saul, Jennifer. "Pornography, Speech Acts and Context." Proceedings of the
Aristotelian Society 106 (2006). 229-248
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Defining Literature
By: Bipin Karki
Literature
is the reflection of socio-historical, political, cultural, economic aspects of
the society. It is the mirror of the
society. Specially, literature is in written form. It can be further
distinguished according to major form of it such as novel, poetry, story and
drama. Literature does not have the fixed, final, single meaning. It differs
according to sex, gender, education, class, nationality, belief and so on. In
literature, writers use the figurative language such as irony, metaphor, pun,
paradox, ambiguity, simile, conceit, etc. In literature, there is an artistic
expression. It conveys ideas, feelings, view, ambitions, and emotions of a
writer in a beautiful language. It is imaginative because writer changes the
name, character, place and so on and modifies them in different ways. In literature,
the literary writers show their creativity. In literature, human life and
society are colored with the polished language of literary writers. It is
larger than life and more powerful than the real.
Different
critics have different opinions regarding the origin and definition of
literature. There are also contradictions among different critics but their
main argument seems to be somehow similar. Widdowson states that “the origin of
literature started along with some oral performances like folk songs, ballets,
speeches, hymns and so on. These are the essentials aspects of ancient period.
To make the god happy they used to perform drama. They think that, if drama
will not perform god will be unhappy and plague may occur” Widdowson 29.
According to him, literature originated in oral forms such as folk songs, hymas
and so on. Later, with the origin of different writer, the form of literature
changed and it got a written form. Literature is that form of art which not
only pleases human being; it also draws the attention of god and pleases the
god. Literary art touches the platonic ideas which are presented in a realist
form. In ancient time also, it was supposed that literary performance can solve
different kinds of riddles and accordingly drama is performed taking it as a
means of solution of the riddles.
Plato
accuses the literary writer as imitators. He says that literature is twice
removed from the reality. All human beings are copied from the nature, whatever
they write is also copied so, there is twice copy .
In this
brief survey of the originating classical discourse of ‘literature’; the
Neo-Platonist tradition, beginning with Plotinus (third century A.D), took the
Aristotelian position in imitation much further. For platinum, poets had a truly
noble role- almost god like in their ability to create- since their art touched
the realm of platonic ‘ideas’ on which, as we have heard, the created world was
modeled. Ironically, then, Plato’s own ideas about the unsatisfactoriness of
the poet and poetry in the pursuit of truth wear turned back against him by the
Neo-Platonists: poetic imitation was regarded as the highest of all imitations
because it offered access to the divine archetypes rather than merely copying
existing materialities. (Widdowson 29)
Plato was
negative towards poetry, he criticize poetry. He believed that poetry as
mimetic art. He believed that poets simply copy the word of appearance. He says
that poets should be banished from the nation. But the neo Platonists and
Aristotle are in favor of literature or poetry. ‘Neo-Platonist views were
profoundly influential throughout the Renaissance (Widdiwson 30).’
Literature
changes from the folk songs, oral myths to the English word literature.
Widdoson argues that “The English word literature dories either directly or by
way of the Acognate French literature from the Latin literature. The root word
from which is littera meaning is letter of the alphabet” (31). After a while it
is not only a word. It is like to read and write. In this sense the definition
of literature is gradually wide.
In the
late eighteenth century the literature development lead it to the professional.
During this period literature get professionalized which help in the
commercialization of literature almost at the end of eighteenth century. Widdowson states that:
This self
conscious pride in the paid professional status of the individual author or
writer word which themselves become more frequent in the later part of the
eighteenth century reveals the shift from aristocratic patronage as the matrix
for the production of literary writing to the commercial environment in which
individuals author sell different kinds of written wares in different kinds of
market. (33)
As this,
literature became more professional. Coming the eighteenth century, literature
got new enlighten it is because it became more professional genre expanding its
area. It started to cover all the aspects of the world. By covering every
aspects of human being, literature became more realistic.
English language and literature got
the value of academic subject in nineteenth century. “This subject is offered
by the University college
of London in 1820”
(Widdowson 42). Its purpose of teaching literature and language is to make
people civilized, moral or of having good human quality.
According to OED’s definition
“Literature is the pieces of writing that are valued as work of art, especially
novels, plays and poems (in contrast to technical books and newspaper,
magazines etc.)” (898).It focuses on the written documents not in the visual
text.
By the means of written literary
works, it provides us pleasure, fun and entertainment. The literary works
without pleasure, entertainment are not considered as literary work. It is the
characteristics of literature as literary work. Widdowson argues “It has in it
an element of entertaining display and surely we expect literature to be in
some sense entertaining, or, to put it in slightly different terms to afford pleasure.
That literature is an adult game, a sort of make- believe, is suggested in some
of the words we applied to pieces of literature- “fiction”, “story”, “tale”,
‘play’” (1).By means of literature, people become free from irritation,
boredom, anxiety, sufferings, pain and
so on. It shows that literature provides pleasure, entertainment and it works
as a medicine of irritation, anxiety, pain, suffering etc.
Literary devices have mainly four kinds of
genre (forms). They are different on its characteristics. They are play, essay,
poem and story.
The play is performed on the stage by the
characters. The characters perform their role through dialogue. That is why
dialogue is the core quality of play. “The distinctive appearance of a script,
with its stage directions, character parts and divisions into acts and scenes,
identifies drama as a unique form of literature. A play is written to be
performed in front of an audience by characters and presents the story through
and action” (908). It is made for performance. It is to be seen, dialogue and
acted
In the essay, the essayist puts main
idea and tries to support those main
ideas with details and arguments. The essayist expresses his/her ideas,
feelings, views, emotions in a convincing way. In this sense, persuasion is the
major feature of essay. It is directly addressed to the readers. “The essay in
its pure form uses words to establish ideas that are addressed directly by the
essayist to the reader. Thus, it’s essential quality is persuasion” (5). Essay attempts
the reader to persuade something by means of argument which is directly
addressed to the reader by the author.
In a poem a poet uses personal
feelings, emotions and views which are not directly addressed to any reader
rather they are overheard by the reader. In the poem the poet speaks himself/
herself rather than to any reader while speaking. The poet thinks deeply or
meditates and discloses his/her feelings. Poets use the figurative language,
such as irony, metaphor, simile, pun and so on.
A story is narrated through a
narrator. It is the inner quality of the story. The words of a story are
directly addressed towards reader. It gives moral lesson. The elements of a
story are plot, characters, point of view, style, tone and language, symbolism etc.
Literature has got the direct
relation to readers. It cannot exist without reader. Literature is made by the
reader. There is a great role of reader. Literature has not the single, final,
fix meaning it depends upon the readers’ social, economic, historical age
gender knowledge etc. “Every literary work has somewhat different meanings to
different people depending on their age, gender, nationality … and experiences”
(8).so there are multiples meaning of literary texts. If any writer writes any
literary works and if there is not any reader it is meaningless, but if there
is reader then it is fruitful, and then only it get success. Literature speaks
through the ideas of reader. In literary text readers have to create meaning.
For, them what is said is equally important to what is not said in the text. It
represents what is not said in the society. In
conclusion, literature having different genres tends to reflect the society. It
explores the class, gender, race conflict, exploitation, discrimination and so
on by the means of its different forms. It visualizes the society, the
socio-economic condition, political, historical etc. It tries to minimize the
problems of the society and have an ideal society. Literature provides delight,
pleasure, entertainment, fun, romance and so on. It decreases irritation,
boredom, anxiety, pain and sufferings. It tries to explore the problems of the
society by using figurative language. It is said that women should read
literature. It teaches moral lesson. It provides lesson to be moral and ideal
women guides the family and if females are ideal, their family become moral. If
it is moral then the society becomes moral. So women should be taught
literature. By the means of literature, society can be changed, developed and
idealized. It is a means of development. Hence, literature visualizes, reflects
the economic, political, historical and political condition of the
society.
Works cited
Berman, Morto and William, Borto. An Introduction to Literature. Second
Edition.
Kirszner,G.
Laurie and Mandell, R. Stephin. Literature, Fourth Edition, United states of America, Heinle and
Heinle:1991.
Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary of current English, Seventh Edition.
Scholes,
Robert. Comley, R, Nancy. Klaus and H Carl,Silverman. Michael, Elements of Literature. New
Delhi: Oxford
University press, 1998.
Widdowson,
Peter. Literature. London:
Routledge, 1999.
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