Language is more than words and the ability to communicate. It allows the world to express thoughts and ideas, but along with that comes influence and authority—matter that run society. Language impacts society in various ways, both bad and good. Everyday life, even texts and films, portray the effect of language. Whale Rider, “The Myth of the Latin Woman”, and The Crucible demonstrate that language is power.
To begin with, Whale Rider addresses the issue of women 's roles in many aspects. Paikea is an exemplar of a female counter-stereotype, in other words, she is not passive, weak, and submissive. She represents strength and confidence; she defies the odds against her of succeeding. Paikea struggles to gain the recognition and respect she
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Paikea tries to satisfy Koro’s desire for a tribe leader, but he silences her with his harsh words, tone, and body language. For instance, when Koro’s boat’s rope breaks, Paikea takes the initiative to tie the rope back together and rev up the engine. Without acknowledging her intelligence, he dismisses her skill and tells her, “Don’t do it again, it’s dangerous”. In the particular scene of the dying whales, Paikea walks to Koro, who prays in tears. She tries to place her hand on the whale, but Koro snaps at her, telling her that she’s done enough harm. Paikea knows she can stop the tribe from disappearing. She’s aware that she is the leader, but her grandfather refuses to listen to her. He silences her, shouting at her before she even attempts to help. This causes Paikea to feel powerless and weak, but eventually she pulls through by proving her grandfather …show more content…
Judith Ortiz Cofer writes about her experiences as a Puerto Rican woman. She explains how she understands the English language well and travels as far as she can, but somehow, the island follows her. People view her as a Latin Woman, and nothing past that. As a girl, she learned to “behave like a proper señorita” (Cofer), but her mother confused her by encouraging a mature look. This illustrates how in society, women are taught to cover up and dress modest, yet society also says to look sexy and feminine. This brings me to my point,words and connotations are powerful. The words ‘sexy’ and ‘feminine’ have sexual connotations to them, so does the word ‘Latina’. In the media, when a celebrity is the topic, for instance Jennifer Lopez, the words ‘hot’ or ‘fierce’ are often associated with her. Why can’t a caucasian celebrity like Jennifer Lawrence be hot? “Mixed cultural signals have perpetuated certain stereotypes—for example, that of a Hispanic woman as the “Hot Tamale” or sexual firebrand...In their special vocabulary, advertisers have designated “sizzling” and “smoldering” as the adjectives of choice for describing not only foods but also the women of Latin America” (Cofer). Words are influential. Throughout the years, language controls the way society sees different races and genders. For example, the word ‘nigger’ is just a word without the meaning behind it,
In Moby Dick, it follows the accounts of a young man named Ishmael. Ishmael is looking for money in the whaling business, the same thing as hunting game, but for whale blubber and whatever else they have to offer. At a tavern, he signs up to go whaling upon a ship named the Pequod, under the captaining of a man named Ahab. At first, Ishmael thinks he’s just your average whaling trip, but soon realizes there’s a deeper story behind Ahab. Ahab’s true intentions are to find a specific whale called Moby Dick. The whale is famous for sinking hundreds of whaling ships, and one was Ahab’s previous ship. In that process, Ahab also lost part of his leg at the knee. As you can imagine, most of the story Ahab is almost insane. At nothing anyone calls
Language is our power and expression is our freedom. Through a puff of air, we are able to communicate and influence the environments that surround us. Over the course of time humans have evolved, but by the means of language, humans have matured into humanity. The possibility of thought and emotions such as empathy show the ability to think with complexity. A crucial element that helps Suzanne K. Langer’s illustrate the essence of humanity throughout her essay “Language and Thought.” Langer thoroughly depicts what sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom by explicitly stating “The line between man and beast […] is the language line” (120). Consequently, this implies that if a person is declined the freedom of language they are hardly considered human. Many people around the globe have had their voices silenced due to corrupt governments and the oppression of their culture. These individuals are subjected to the devastating effects of the loss of language, which in turn, translates to the loss of power. Language is our foundation for hopes and opportunity, for with out it a person is shell of possibility that is subjected to a passive existence.
In this semester we read many essay but many of them had something in common. Every essay might have something like, yet there 's always something each essay make them so unique. In the 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology book has two essays that how felt a discriminated living in the United States for the color of their skin. Yet even though the two essay might seem alike, both essays go problems were treated different. In the essay "The Myth of a Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" by Judith Ortiz Cofer she talks about how she felt being a Puerto Rican living in a country of judgment for being a Latina. In the second essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" by Zora Neale Hurston , she talks about how being a black female living in the
In Chapter 69, the narrator vividly describes the image of a recently captured, decapitated sperm whale bleakly floating about near the Pequod while sharks and birds feast upon its dead remains. Despite the degrading imagery of, “the air above vexed with rapacious flights of screaming fowls, whose beaks are like so many insulting poniards in the whale,” the whale has still, “not perceptibly lost anything in bulk...it is still colossal,” (257). In the spite of its crude carcass, there is still human wonderment in regards to the indisputable massivity of the whale. However, the whale is not considered to be enormous just because of its literal size, but also because of the long-lasting effect its dead body will have on future ship encounters. It is the duty of a ship captain to avoid steering a ship into dangerous territory--the most common of which would be large rocks near the shore. In the lines, “...the whale’s unharming corpse, with trembling fingers is set down in the log-- shoals, rocks, and breakers hereabouts: beware!”, (257), the sperm whale’s carcass is often mistaken for rocks and, so, it necessarily follows that, “for years afterwards, perhaps, ships shun the place; leaping over it as silly sheep leap over a vacuum…” (257). The paragraph continues with the lines, “there’s your law of precedents; there’s your utility of traditions; there’s the story of your obstinate survival of old beliefs never bottomed on the earth…” (257), which reinforce the idea that since the sperm whale is already seen as being frightening and mysterious, its dead body ensues the same kinds of paranoid, uneasy thoughts. So, although
The first whale to ever be captured was Moby Doll. The capture of Moby Doll was an accident; the purpose of getting this whale was so a sculptor named Samuel Burich could make a life size model for the British Columbia Hall Aquarium. Moby Doll was shot numerous times, but would not die. Since the whale would not die they decided to keep the whale and put it on display. There was little information on how to take care of the whale. Moby Doll did not eat for fifty-five days while being held captive. They were giving the whale the wrong food and when they finally figured it out the whale killed itself a month later. “Stories of Killer Captive Whales”.
Captain Ahab was a fictional character that participated in whale hunting in a book called Moby Dick. Moby Dick was the name of the great white whale that Captain Ahab was pursing to hunt. “The Minke Whale also known as the baleen whale is the smallest of the rorqual species, and the females are normally larger than the males,” Sea Shepherd1, but due to commercial whaling they are facing extinction. Minke Whale Hunting is a problem in Antarctic Ocean which is also known as the Southern Ocean, They are being killed by the Japanese to be used for sushi. “The Japanese and other countries have been hunting whales since the 1800’s”, studies that were recorded in 1986 have shown that over 30,000 Minke whales have been killed.4 People should pay attention to this because an animal is being hunted and is near extinction. According to Sea Shepherd, “The taxonomy of Minke whales is currently in question, and soon there may be three species of Minke whales.”1 The Antarctic Sanctuary or the Southern Ocean Sanctuary was established in 1994 devoting 19 million square miles of waters is dedicated to the whales for feeding,” ABC News2 . Minke Whale Hunting is a global, national, regional, and local problem because the earth will have another animal that is extinct. By reducing the demand for sushi, by preventing the Japanese from hunting the whale, and enforcing the Antarctic Sanctuary Law, marine biologist and Oceanic Conservation can protect the Minke Whales before they are extinct.
Cofer uses the rhetoric appeal of ethos to establish her authority to make the argument that Latina stereotypes are just myths. Growing ...
When looking at the cycle of life one sees that creatures usually hunt others that are opposited from themselves. The relationship between cat and mouse is the apotheosis ot this idea, a classic case of one preying on the other where the two are looked upon as complete opposites. In Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" the whalers are hunting down the white whale. So according to my statement above this should make the crew members of the "Pequod" the absolute negation of Moby Dick. At first glance, maybe it seems this way, but in actuality the two are very similar. From the moment the crew members choose to embark on their voyage they become more like creatures of the sea than land dwellers. As the story evolves, the reader begins to uncover more and more similarities between the creatures on board the vessel, and those of the ocean. On top of this, as the characters progress and become more similar to their fellow ocean dwellers, they begin to actually show character traits similar to that of Moby Dick himself.
To begin, if Language were an element, it would be Oxygen. Oxygen is pervasive in our world and without it, our world would be lifeless and human life especially could not exist. Language, like oxygen, is vital to the survival of humans as it provides a means of communication to share thoughts with others in our society and in our world. Oxygen, when contaminated, becomes harmful to those who depend on it. Similarly, when language is tampered with, it quickly affects society and harms the ability of people to express their thoughts. Likewise, In the novel, “1984” written by George Orwell, the characters speak a version of English called Newspeak which effectively controls speech against the Party and serves to limit thought on a deeper, subconscious level. In addition, in the novel “Brave New World ” by Aldous Huxley, the same ideals of restricting human thought is present. Furthermore, these effects are visible in modern times and in modern languages.
Language has the power to influence and reshape our thoughts and actions. In Anthem, by Ayn Rand, there is a society which controls the language of everyone in it. Under the World Council, everyone is to follow the many rules put in place and no one even tries to break them. There is no “I” in their language, there is only “we”. With the power to influence and reshape people, language has a big impact on our thoughts and actions.
The short film ,”Humpback Whale Shows AMAZING Appreciation After Being Freed From Nets,” shows 3 men, and a woman are in a small boat, cutting away the net that inprisons the whale. This is a fine example of the value of human emotions enhancing the survival of the whale, that otherwise would more than likely die. After being freed the whale danced a happy dance of sorts, and showed it 's appreciation for valuing it 's life enough to risk their own safety to save it ("Humpback Whale Shows AMAZING
The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria, an essay written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, discusses the racial stereotypes Cofer struggles with as a Latin woman who travels across America. Throughout her life, Cofer discusses her interactions with people who falsely misjudge her as a Latin woman. Additionally, Cofer mentions other Hispanic women she has met in her life, who also suffer with racial assumptions. Although several people would disagree with Cofer and claim that she is taking racial remarks too seriously, racial stereotyping is a significant issue that should not be overlooked in our society. People should not base someone’s worth by their outward appearance or their ethnic background.
Language plays a major role in our lives today. It allows us not to just communicate with one another, but it allows us to play around with it, mend it, and potentially manipulate not only it, but one another. It has become simple for us to discuss taboo topics without feeling uncomfortable, connect with one another with pop language,make bad news sound somewhat beneficial and express our emotions/feelings clearly and concisely; however, it has also lead to mistranslations/miscommunications based on connotations, concealed truths, and loss of true significance and meaning.
Language is a part of our everyday lives, and we can describe the meaning of language in many ways. As suggested in Gee and Hayes (2011, p.6 ) people can view language as something in our minds or something existing in our world in the form of speech, audio recordings, and writings or we can view language as a way of communicating with a group of people. Language can be used to express our emotions, make sense of our mental and abstract thoughts and assists us in communicating with others around us. Language is of vital importance for children to enable them to succeed in school and everyday life. Everyone uses both oral and written language. Language developed as a common ability amongst human beings with the change
—. Language: Readings in Language and Culture. 6th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1998. Print.