Lessons of Equality, Understanding, and Tolerance in Disney’s Pocahontas
Introduction
[1] The children’s movie Pocahontas is an attempt by Disney to promote racial tolerance, equality, and understanding. Most of this movie is not historically accurate, yet an important message can still be learned using the characters from long ago. The first contact scene between Pocahontas and John Smith (0:28.34) demonstrates the importance of racial tolerance by showing strengths and weaknesses in both characters. By making neither character the sole initiator in this scene, there is no favoritism towards one culture or the other. Disney also uses symbolism in the surrounding environment and music to help support this point.
The Exchange of Roles
[2] Pocahontas and John Smith exchange the task of being the initiator in the first contact scene. After viewing this portion many times, it is clear that Disney wanted to create a first contact that demonstrates equality among the two cultures. Pocahontas and John Smith both show weaknesses and strengths, which deems neither character to be the superior race. Also, by exchanging the roles, each character is given a chance to show understanding and the desire to create a peaceful contact situation. An important message to children is that understanding is an essential element in creating a peaceful and communicative relationship between cultures and within cultures.
[3] The scene begins with Pocahontas in the forest looking down at Smith drinking water at the waterfall. She shows interest in the different looking man and wants a better view. She begins a tiger-like creep towards a new lookout spot at which he catches her reflection in the water. Smith quickly hides and loads his gun so that he can be ready when the Native appears. This situation demonstrates curiosity in both characters as they seemingly “hunt” each other out. She is portrayed as an animal-like figure, trying to blend in with the surroundings. Disney is trying to show the strong relationship between Native Americans and the environment. Pocahontas’s creep also deems her as being the initial predator and Smith the prey.
[4] The next exchanging of roles occurs when Smith jumps out from behind the waterfall to protect himself from any threatening forces. He is perceived as being very aggressive until he sees Pocahontas through the parting fog.
As a young child many of us are raised to be familiar with the Pocahontas and John Smith story. Whether it was in a Disney movie or at a school play that one first learned of Jamestown, students want to believe that this romantic relationship really did occur. As one ages, one becomes aware of the dichotomy between fact and fiction. This is brilliantly explained in David A. Price's, Love and Hate in Jamestown. Price describes a more robust account of events that really did take place in the poorly run, miserable, yet evolving settlement of Jamestown, Virginia; and engulfs and edifies the story marketed by Disney and others for young audiences. Price reveals countless facts from original documents about the history of Jamestown and other fledgling colonies, John Smith, and Smith's relationship with Pocahontas. He develops a more compelling read than does the typical high school text book and writes intriguingly which propels the reader, to continue on to the successive chapters in the early history of Virginia.
After their original leader, Bartholomew Goznold, dies, John Smith takes up his leadership position. Determined to survive and keep the colony going, he starts learning and observing the ways of the Indians. He tried to learn their language as well and tried to break the language barrier. He took a big gamble and came into the Indian camp to speak to chief Powhatan to bargain for food. Luckily for him, Powhatans daughter, Pocahontas, influenced her father to aid the Englishmen and John was able to secure food for the
Millions of people around the world use cell phones on a daily basis and people hardly realize the terminal risks. Cell phones may seem completely harmless, but they actually emit radio waves that can be hazardous towards the human body. Each time someone makes a call or receives a call, a type of cancerous radiation is given off by the cell phone in order for the user to communicate with the person on the other side of the line. Since the amount of cell phone users has rose rapidly, more people are being exposed to this kind of radiation. As cell phones undergo advancements, people are starting to use them more often, leading to an increase in the amount and length of calls each day. Some believe that these radio waves do no such harm to your body due to the radiation wave being weak but in reality, exposure to any kind of radiation is never safe. Radio waves might not affect the human body immediately, but after a long period of time the effects are bound to reveal. Cell phones can increase the risk of cancer because its radiation affects brain cells, causes tumors, and is hazardously absorbed by the tissues in the body.
Many people have heard of the renowned story of Pocahontas and John Smith; a girl who saves a guy’s life and they may or may not have fallen in love. But did Pocahontas really save John Smith? In John Smith’s books, Powhatan (Pocahontas’s father) turns from friendly to suddenly hostile. Furthermore, John Smith only even mentioned Pocahontas in his second book, after she had passed away. He also took credit for many of Pocahontas’s achievements. This scenario is a heavily debated subject, and from the evidence I was presented, Pocahontas did not save John Smith.
There are several negative stereotypes associated with video games and those who play them; some of these may often hold true. However, there are plenty of learning opportunities in video games. While the direct purpose of some games is to educate or train, other games that do not directly have this purpose can still become a learning experience for the player. As Ntiedo Etuk, president of the educational video game company Tabula Digital said, “The traditional view of video games has been that they are distractions from the task of learning” (Electronic Education Report 1). Video games are an effective tool for learning and retaining skills both inside and outside the classroom environment. The basic cycle of game play--the introduction to the game, game play, collaboration, improvement of these between each round, and evaluation at the end of the game (Klievink and Janssen 159)--are nearly parallel to the traditional classroom learning cycle of reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, taking a quiz, studying, focusing on items missed on the quiz, and taking a test or exam. Within this cycle, there are many opportunities to develop and perfect both educational, life, and occupational skills.
...p with the saving of John Smith. In both accounts, Pocahontas were the one who solved the differences between them in both stories. Whether or not Pocahontas was young or older than what she actually was, she has a good heart to save someone whether they were the same or different from her and her people.
The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles by John Smith, portrays the enormous troubles the settlers were faced with by the Native Americans. He explains how he was captured by Indians and also saved by a young Native American girl, Pocahontas. He vividly describes the ceremonies and rituals of the Natives performed before his execution. However, the execution never occurred due to the tremendous mercy showed by the king’s daughter who blanketed John Smith’s body her own. Pocahontas went on to persuade the Native Americans to help the settlers by giving them food and other necessities. Despite her efforts to reach peaceful grounds, her people were still bitter and planned an attacks on the colony. Nevertheless, Pocahontas saved them once again by warning the settlers of attacks. Pocahontas went on to marry an Englishman and traveled to England. She resembled the prosperity and good that was to be found in an untamed land.
Technology has always made an impact on our society. Over the last few decades, there have been many inventions that have changed our lifestyles. Cellular Telephony has, by all accounts, modified how we interact with others; but at what cost? Are there health issues associated with this technology? More explicitly can cell phones cause cancer? This question is the basis of this review. The researcher has compiled articles that cover this topic from diverse scholarly sources, and diverse countries.
One can analyze the story of “Hills Like White Elephants,” in the form of the structuralist perspective by using the system of binary oppositions. Robert DiYanni states in the text “Literature Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama,” that “Structuralist critics find all kinds of opposition in literature, from small scale elements, such as letters and syllables; through symbols, such as light and dark; to motions or directions (up and down)... places (inside and outside)... to elements of plot and character , such as changes of feeling and reversals of fortune” (1583). In addition, Isaiah Smithson’s definition of structuralist criticism supports Robert DiYanni’s statement. He defines it as “A method of analyzing phenomena, as in anthropology, linguistic, psychology, or literature, chiefly characterized by contrasting the elemental structures of the phenomena in a system of binary oppositions” (Smithson 145). Also, one can use Richard Webster’s definiti...
Thibodeau, G & Patton, K. (2008) Structure and Function for the Body. 13th Edition. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier.
Rothman, K. (2008). “Epidemiological Evidence on Health Risks of Cellular Telephones.”. [online] Available at:http://www.controlyourimpact.com/2008/03/disadvantages-of-cell-phones/#_note-1[Accessed 8 May. 2014].
Coster, P., & Woolf, A. (Eds.).(2011). World book: South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, (pp. 56-57). Arcturus Publishers: Chicago.
It can be easily stated that the apartheid movement bestowed cruel and unusual punishments upon the people of South Africa, in order to execute its purpose. However, apartheid could have not been carried out if they were not individuals who believed in its principles. In order to understand the National parties ideologies regarding the issue of apartheid, it is essential to acknowledge the history of Boer soc...
A system of legal separation amongst races dominated the Republic of South Africa, namely apartheid between 1948 until 1993. Apartheid led to the separation and discrimination between whites against people of colour. Not only was this racism commonly accepted between whites against blacks, but it was also legally enforced as white’s maintained priority in terms of housing, education, political power and jobs. I will be examining a particular event, The Soweto Uprising of 1976 which was an education related outcry by students. This event carries with it a great deal of importance as it was a very powerful thing to impact South Africa and help in the deconstruction of the Apartheid government.
Cell phones are one of the greatest inventions in the world. We can imagine how life would be without cell phones. Cell phones are very handy; it can make our communication easier. Also cell phones can provide us with everything, like relaxing with music, browsing the internet, chatting on social networking sites or playing games. Unfortunately cell phones are not risk free. Using cell phones involve emission of EMR electromagnetic radiation, which is a dangerous sort of energy wave, is produce by modern appliances that surround us in everyday lives. The worst causes of EMR are cell phones. These days especially children are getting addicted to cell phones. When you are talking on your phone, there are microwaves going through your head. There has been a study on the development of brain tumors and the amount of time you take on the phone due to radio waves. However, people do not realize the consequences and negative effects cell phones cause. It causes diseases and disorders and other harmful damages to our body and health. Nevertheless, cell phones are also not dangerous.