Manipulation through Language in The Memorandum
How one utilizes language to perpetuate certain images or perspectives can greatly influence the way people think. One can use language to manipulate the minds of others and bring them under some form of subjugation. In Vaclav Havel's The Memorandum certain characters use this tactic of manipulation through different means that involve language, and in the process, they gain the authority or recognition they are seeking. Ballas promotes the new creation of the synthetic language, Ptydepe, which reduces humans by mechanizing them for the purpose of a more scientific and efficient system of communication. The language is created so that people will show no emotions or flaws when speaking. This system is analogous to the bureaucracy, which also implements its linguistic power to establish and maintain order in every aspect of The Memorandum's society. Havel illustrates how language is intrinsically omnipotent by exemplifying the drastic effects it can have on people's rationality. The characters in the play who use language to their advantage gain power, and those who allow language to control them become victims of the cyclic struggle to systematize humanity.
Ballas is one person who uses language to manipulate and abate people, thereby exercising his power. Although subordinate to Gross by title in the beginning of the play, Ballas manages to finesse Gross into signing the supplementary order for the official introduction of Ptydepe, even though Gross is in opposition to the idea of an artificial language. He uses public opinion over the rubber stamp affair to manipulate Gross into submitting to his demands. Ballas strategically attempts to tell Gross what he be...
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... also lapse into self-alienation, unable to identify with who they are as humans. The characters in the play have become so involved in a systematic way of living that they keep a knife and fork in their office drawers that they take with them everyday to lunch "in a solemn, funeral-like procession" (2.12). As long as people allow this oppression of humanity, the circle of power will never cease. In the play, although Ptydepe was eventually condemned as a failure, instead of ridding the organization of the system, Ballas implemented a new method of communication, Chorukor. Just as the play ends as it begins, the system that controls people's actions and thoughts will remain intact until a greater power can control the system.
WORKS CITED
Havel, Vaclav. The Memorandum in The Garden Party and Other Plays. Trans. Vera Blackwell. New York: Grove Press, 1993.
Piaget and Vygotsky each created their own particular ideas of child development. Piaget differentiated development into four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, operational, and concrete. Conversely, Vygotsky based his theory of development on the fundamental ideas that children construct knowledge, learning can prompt development, development cannot be differentia...
In terms of shaping political thought and institutions in America, no two documents have had more influence than that of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The Declaration of Independence, drafted in 1776, was the zenith of the American Revolutionary campaign. Written largely by Thomas Jefferson, who was heavily influenced by John Locke’s ideas of natural rights, the document was as much a philosophical doctrine as it was a political one (Cummings 2015, 64). After being embroiled in a long, bloody war with Britain for over ten years, the Thirteen Colonies formally emancipated themselves from their mother country through the Declaration. They justified the Revolution and their need for independence in the document by
The other major example of conflict with authority is also partly responsible for the friction that occurs in the play. This example occurs in the fairy world between Oberon and Titania. Oberon, as king of the fairies, is the supreme authority in the fairy world. Therefore, by disobeying him, Titania is defying her supreme authority. Her disobedience causes the conflict in nature that is apparen...
GHB was first synthesized about thirty years ago by Dr. H. Laborit. He was a French researcher interested in exploring the effects of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) in the brain. Over the years many researchers have studied GHB’s effects. In Europe it is used as a general anesthetic, a treatment for insomnia and narcolepsy, an aid to childbirth, a treatment for alcoholism and alcohol withdrawal syndrome and many other things. During the 1980's it was available over the counter for its ability to stimulate growth hormone release which aids in fat reduction and muscle building. Now it is very popular as a recreational drug due to its pleasant alcohol-like hangover- free high and strong sexual effects. Some street terms include Liquid X, Liquid Ecstacy, Georgia Home Boy, Grievous Bodily Harm, and Scoop. GHB is not approved in the US and has been banned from over-the-counter sale by the FDA (1990). GHB has not yet been scheduled as a controlled substance by the DEA, and therefore simple possession is not illegal. GHB continues to be sold to legitimate laboratories and scientists for research purposes but selling it specifically for human consumption, especially while making claims about its health benefits, is a violation of current FDA regulations and policy. In some European countries, GHB is an approved drug available by prescription. The Federal control may have been an act to protect the pharmaceutical industry from competition from a safer, more effective and less expensive alternative to sleeping pills.
Slavery was a cruel thing. Being sold from owner to owner spending your entire life under the orders of someone else just because the color of your skin, being the mother or father to a child than seeing that child being taken away from you and shipped off somewhere else, working all day not knowing when your next meal would be, and getting beaten senseless just because you made one little mistake. Well, Harriet Jacobs tells her story of slavery except from the view of a female slave through her narrator Linda Brent.
In her advocacy campaign, Maynard made YouTube videos that reached 13 million views in a matter of days. Saying in her videos, “I decided to share my story, and that wasn’t an easy choice to make but I decided to share it because...
Abrams, M.H., et al. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. 2 Vols. New York: Norton, 1993.
One exciting thing about being a teacher is how you get to decide what you want to bring into your classroom. You also have many roles as a teacher, and I am looking forward to having all of these roles. Piaget and Vygotsky are both very famous psychologist who studied cognitive development. They have different views and opinions on what educators should do. There are certain roles I believe teachers should play, and I plan to compare Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories to come up with five roles I believe are important.
The differences these theorists have are how they view a child development just as the active role. For Piaget, the child is view as the constructor of knowledge where as for Vygotsky; the child is views as the co-constructor of knowledge. A child’s learning is subordinate to their development in Piaget’s opinion. In other words child are born with knowledge and learn on their own through what they experience by themselves. A child’s learning proceeds development in Vygotsky’s opinion. In other words, children learn from others as well with the help of a wiser and experienced individual. The similarities both these theorists have is that social interactions played an exceptional role in a child cognitive development. Piaget encouraged interactions and the most beneficial where the ones where the child interacted with peers their own age because children feel a basic equality. Vygotsky felt that social interactions leads development. Through interactions between children and adults cooperate in helping build meaningful constructions which learning therefore becomes a reciprocal experience where the children becomes the wise
Gainor, J. Ellen., Stanton B. Garner, and Martin Puchner. The Norton Anthology of Drama, Shorter Edition. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.
Shakespeare's presentation of the way in which King Claudius acts correlates with the view that each `Elisinorian' character assumes a pretence. Shakespeare presen...
3. Shipley, Joseph T. The Crown Guide to the World's Great Plays. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1984. 332 - 333.
Lourenco’s (2012) article makes the point several times that the biggest difference is that Piaget adheres to an autonomous view while Vygotsky adheres to a heteronomous view. Piaget sees the child as constructing his/her own knowledge and that this is an internal process. Vygotsky, on the other hand, sees the child as developing through social interactions and that this is an external process.
Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.
Piaget approach based on physical and social interaction aspect of cognitive development. According to Piaget, the establishment of operational behavior opposed to being a consequential reaction. This autonomous approach aids an individual in confronting the intersection of the physical and social worlds by perceiving action, operation, and social interaction collectively. Contrary to Vygotsky, he thinks heteronomous existence depends solely on a diverse social structure where the individual confronted with contrasting worldviews. In Vygotsky’s (1978) opinion, children begin to develop a personal directive in life and acquire beliefs about their position in society and the world based on their interaction with their environment. Vygotsky focuses on external action, activity, and