Their Eyes Were Watching God Gender Differences

Khealsea Elkins Professor Katherine Chiles ENG AFST 233: Major Black Writers 14 October 2014 Their Eyes Were Watching God: Gender Differences Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the most unsurpassed writers of twentieth-century African-American literature. Published in 1937, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God depicts the life of Janie Crawford, an African-American woman, who is in search of true love and ultimately her true self. In the novel, Janie shows us that love comes in all shapes and forms, and love is different with each person you choose to love. In the opening of the novel, Hurston uses a metaphor to say that, while men can never reach for their dreams, women can direct their wills and chase their dreams. Hurston uses this metaphor to make a distinction of men and women gender roles, and Janie went against the norms that were expected of her. Their Eyes Were Watching God is sometimes classified as a feminist novel, but that is not so. Feminism is often associated with men and women being equal without a doubt. This passage establishes a fundamental difference between genders. Chapter six is a prime example of these gender differences. Chapter six shows Joe’s need for control. During an argument between Janie and Joe, Joe states, â€Å"Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves† (71). Hurston’s statement here suggests that men during that time period needed to feel superior toShow MoreRelatedGender Roles in Their Eyes Were Watching God1087 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Gender Roles in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God During the 1900’s, women, specifically black women, were considered to be property of men in the United States, especially down south, in states such as Florida and Georgia. Legally, women had no voice. For example, if a woman was abused by her husband, the court system would not acknowledge it even if it did really happen. In the article â€Å"Sexism in the Early 1900’s†, Becca Woltemath states that â€Å"†¦a woman’s job is to take care of the houseRead MoreThe Harlem Renaissance By Zora Neale Hurston925 Words   |  4 PagesAmerica. Zora Neale Hurston contributed to the Harlem Renaissance with her original and enticing stories. However, Hurston’s works are notorious (specifically How it Feels to Be Colored Me and Their Eyes Were Watching God) because they illustrate the author’s view of black women and demonstrate the differences between their views and from earlier literary works. One of Hurston’s stories, How it Feels to Be Colored Me, reflects the author’s perspective of the colored race (specifically herself). AccordingRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God And The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1404 Words   |  6 Pages Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Great Gatsby are both novels which came out of a similar era and deal with similar themes but these novels also have their differences. Both Eyes and Gatsby deal with the issue of social class, and within that issue there is an issue of gender which shows how mostly the female characters are being oppressed. This oppression does not allow them to fulfill their dreams like the male characters which is a crucial point since these novels are also about self fulfillmentRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God Summer Assignment1071 Words   |  5 Pages Their Eyes Were Watching God Summer Assignment Passage: â€Å"Listen, Sam, if it was nature, nobody wouldn’t have tuh look out for babies touchin’ stoves, would they? ’Cause dey just naturally wouldn’t touch it. But dey sho will. So it’s caution.† â€Å"Naw it ain’t, it’s nature, cause nature makes caution. It’s de strongest thing dat God ever made, now. Fact is it’s de onliest thing God every made. He made nature and nature made everything else.†(Hurston 64-65) Journal Entry: (R) This is a passageRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God, By Zora Neale Hurston Essay1682 Words   |  7 Pages Three women. Two out of the three were slaves for several decades and was able to obtain their freedom before the Civil War. The third woman, however, was never a slave since they were around after the Civil War. First, Sojourner Truth was born into slavery, later leaving her master in 1926 before she was legally emancipated in 1927 by the law of New York (Gates 245). Truth was also a Civil Rights and Women’s Rights activist (Gates 245). Next, Elizabeth Keckley, who was also born into slaveryRead MoreAnalysis Of Double Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston And Invisible Man1335 Words   |  6 PagesBildungsroman Self discovery is at the root of many stories. It is easily limited by external and internal factors. Tales about self discovery are often called a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman, essentially, is a coming of age novel. Both Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison are considered a bildungsroman. In the case of those two novels, there is one unique concept that contributes to their examples of self discovery. Double consciousness is that idea.Read MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God1019 Words   |  4 PagesZora Neale Hurston’s novel highly praised novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was once denounced by many critics because it was categorized as a feminist novel. However, through further analyzation, the novel is now viewed simply as a protagonist developing a feminist conscience throughout her marriages. Zora Neale Hurston was born in Natasulga, Alabama on January 7, 1891. Mrs. Hurston was the fifth of eight children to John Hurston, a carpenter and Baptist preacher, and Lucy Potts Hurston, aRead MoreWomens Rights Essay951 Words   |  4 PagesWomens Rights The gender differences between men and women in society has been drastically reduced since the early thirties when, Their Eyes Were Watching God was first published. Through equal rights movements and generational education sexism and biases have been almost completely abolished. To deny some one of their human rights simply because of their gender is ignorance. Women and men should be treated equally depending on the type of person they are not on there gender. Zora HurstonRead MoreGender Roles In The Great Gatsby And The Sun Also Rises1657 Words   |  7 Pagesin class, each having a different author, expresses a common theme.The authors force us to examine the limitation of conventional gender roles and how they express this in each story. The literary works that specifically include this theme of gender roles are,The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway , The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. All the works are written around the same time, the 1920’s, which gives the reader an idea of the aftermathRead MoreAnalysis Of Zora Neale Hurston s Their Eyes Were Watching God1429 Words   |  6 PagesNeale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston’s Reconstruction era tale centers on Janie, a character who attempts to find her own identity in a social structure that seeks to find it for her. The sexism underscores the struggles Janie must face in order to grow and prosper as she continues on her journey towards maturity. This demeaning social force helps the author develop the theme that the restriction of freedom affects the ability of a person to make a difference in their society. Sexism

Cosmetic Surgery Life Or Image More Valuable - 1393 Words

Is life or image more valuable? In 2012, 14.6 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures, including both minimally-invasive and surgical, were performed in the United States (14.6 Million Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Procedures Performed in 2012). There a people who lose their lives each and every day just because they are not happy with the way they look. Patients who desire a change in appearance go to a cosmetic surgeon where countless numbers of mishaps could happen and do happen. This is an unsettling fact for many; however, there is nothing that can prevent people from going to the cosmetic surgeons due to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Cosmetic surgery should be limited because these surgeries have too many†¦show more content†¦Most of the cosmetic surgeries performed are to improve facial appearance. In the United States, the most common cosmetic surgeries on the face are rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, and rhytidectomy. Some nonsurgical cosmetic tr eatments include Botox injections and other procedures to hide wrinkles. (Cosmetic Surgery) The first reason cosmetic surgery should be limited is because there are several complications that could occur during surgery. The more surgeries one has preformed on them, the greater the chance of a mishap occurring during their surgery. These procedures have resulted in permanent disfigurement and even death. (Lusted, 13) â€Å"Patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, lung disease, or obesity are at higher than average risk of developing pneumonia or having a stroke, a heart attack, or blood clots in the legs or lungs after surgery. Other risks include bleeding, infection, skin breakdown, or accumulation of clear fluid (seroma) or blood (hematoma) beneath the incision.† (Cosmetic Surgery) Another reason cosmetic surgery should be limited is because most peoples’ expectations are not met after the surgery. â€Å"The results may disappoint patients, especially those hoping for an extreme change. Patients who look to cosmetic surgery as a way to improve thei r romantic

Shaping Identity Using Social Structure Free Essays

INTRODUCTION Social structure and social interaction are integral in evaluating a person’s identity. Identities are the sets of meanings people hold for themselves that define â€Å"what it means† to be who they are as persons, as role occupants and as group members (PJB article) People are generally influenced by the norms and beliefs of society. A person’s identity is formed through a combination of factors derived from social structure (macrosociology) and social interaction (microsociology). We will write a custom essay sample on Shaping Identity Using Social Structure or any similar topic only for you Order Now The self influences society through the actions of individuals thereby creating groups, organizations, networks, and institutions (PJB a soiciological approach to self and identity). Reciprocally, society influences the self through its shared language and meanings that enable a person to take the role of the other, engage in social interaction, and reflect upon oneself as an object. (PJB, a sociological approach to self and identity). This essay explores how components of social structure can be more important in shaping an individual identity than social interaction. PARAGRAPH 1 (Definitions Context) Social structure refers to the framework that surrounds us, consisting of the relationships of people and groups, which gives direction to and sets limits on behaviour. (Sociology, A Down to Earth Approach SDEA) K Plummer defines social structures as the patterns of predictable human actions that cluster around key problems in living and they vary in all societies. Social structure is all around us and is what helps to dictate our behaviour and keep our life in order. It sets the scene for an individual to behave and act appropriately in different settings at different times. Social structure is made up of culture, social class, social status, roles, groups and social institutions (SDEA). Social interaction is the way that people interact with one another (SDEA). According to K Plummer, human beings engage continually in social action and interaction with others – changing their own lives and others. We are never solitary individuals and always depend on others for a sense of who we are (K Plummer). A person’s action is influenced by the actions or awareness of others. Social interaction includes stereotypes, personal space, touching, eye contact, smiling, applied body language, dramaturgy, role performance, conflict and strain (SDEA). The difference between social structure and social interaction is that social structure provides a guide to everyday life and social interaction provides a meaning of sense (ref)? PARAGRAPH 2 Social status refers to a position that someone occupies (SDEA). Statuses can be prestigious or less prestigious and range from mother, daughter, spouse, lawyer to criminal. Most individuals are found to occupy several statuses simultaneously thus giving us the term ‘status set’(SDEA). For example, an individual can take on the status of mother, wife, employee and friend. Out of all the statuses we occupy, there is one significant status that tends to override all the other statuses one may occupy, this is termed as a ‘master status’ (SDEA). Status can be further divided into two types, ‘achieved status’ and ‘ascribed status’. To illustrate ‘achieved status’, Usain Bolt is best known for being the fastest man in the world. We see him as a 26 year old Jamaican track and field athlete, a son and brother, but ever since winning both 100 meter and 200 meter races in the London 2012 Olympics, his achievements has earned him that title. ‘Achieved status’ can be both positive and negative (SDEA). By contrast, factors that are involuntary and inherited such as race, sex, family social class, is known as ‘ascribed status’ (SDEA). These factors are usually beyond our control. As life brings change, so too do our statuses. It is constantly evolving according to changes and stages in life. Despite our state of affairs, it is our status that guides our behaviour. For instance, a colleague may turn up to work one day after facing some difficulties at home, however in a work environment, he would continue to work and behave in a professional manner regardless of his personal situations. In addition, individuals can also reinforce their identity by using status symbols in as part of their appearance. This can be in the form of a work uniform to signify an occupation, or in a fashion sense, the type of clothing worn is a silent statement of what sets you apart from others. PARAGRAPH 3 As Linton states, â€Å"a person holds a status, and performs a role†. Simply put, a status is a position and a role is a set of behaviours. With each status, follows a certain role for us to take part in. People tend to adapt to roles, moving through different roles in fluency as student, son, friend. Because people tend to have many different statuses and therefore, many different roles, conflict occasionally occurs among the various roles. The concept of role conflict is â€Å"conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses† (ref). A good example of role conflict lies in the working mother; she must take on the responsibilities of mothering the children at home while taking on the responsibilities of working outside the home, away from the children, in order to earn an income (RR). This kind of conflict involves roles which arise from separate statuses, but the same sort of conflict can occur from the roles of a single status. Role strain, then, is â€Å"tension among the roles connected to a single status†. A teacher, for example, can be friendly with his or her students, but must remain objective in grading them. Roles help to keep our behaviour aligned to our particular status. Roles are an essential component of social structure because they lay out what is expected of people. Role performance is the way in which someone performs a role, showing a particular ‘style’ or ‘personality’ (SDEA). Role performance allows us our own unique individuality to show through. PARAGRAPH 4 â€Å"Knowledge is power, information is liberating, education is the premise of progress in every society in every family†. These famous words quoted by Kofi Annan refer to a few social institutions that are a part of social structure. Social instituitions consist of family, religion, education, economics, medicine, politics, law, science, military and mass media (SDEA). Each one functions separately but together they enable society to maintain order and create a sense of community. The mass media influences our attitudes toward social issues, the ways that we view other people and even our self-concept (SDEA). Information in the media can be extremely persuasive, it can easily alter our perception if we are not careful or have very little experience in the topic of interest. They not only provide information and recreation but also mould public opinion and attitudes. The information and knowledge which we accumulate through life from media is part of creating an identity for ourselves. To demonstrate, smoking advertisements have been around to promote awareness and advises us of serious health implications. However, today’s youth may view it differently and partake in it because of peer pressure. On the other hand, media can also bring nations together when there is an important event such as the Olympics, press conferences and so on (RR). The topic of religion is another social institution as it involves patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its basic needs (steven Burkan). Emile Durkheim (1915/1947) [1] observed long ago that every society has beliefs about things that are supernatural and awe-inspiring and beliefs about things that are more practical and down-to-earth (Durkheim, E. (1947). The elementary forms of religious life (J. Swain, Trans. ). Glencoe, IL: Free Press. (Original work published 1915)). Religion teaches us to practise a way of life that is fulfilling for self and others, thus enabling individuals to become better people. This can also create a meaning of identity for some. The other social institutions such as education, politics, law and the military keeps society safe and in order. They inform us of rules and regulations so that society can function and maintain order. Each social institution establish the context which we live, shaping our behaviour and colouring our thoughts. (SDEA). Social institutions form the pillars of society, they are not only a set of rules, but markers for society to develop an identity that is aligned with culture. CONCLUSION Which is more important in shaping individual identity? Studies of social structure attempt to explain the significance of shaping one’s identity and in combination play a vital role in defining an individual. It is the content, which provides a way of making sense of who we are. This provides development to an identity which individuals are embedded in and therefore understood, communicated, and shared with others in culture. For example, individuals can define their identity upon meeting someone for the first time by describing what they do, where they are from or whether or not they are in a relationship. Social structure as we can see today can shape opinions, attitudes and thought which leads us to our behaviour and thus our identity. How to cite Shaping Identity Using Social Structure, Essay examples

Walden By Thoreau Essay Research Paper Most free essay sample

Walden By Thoreau Essay, Research Paper Most people think Thoreau to be in the shadow of Wordsworth. Thoreau strongly seeks to hedge Emerson wherever he can non revise him straight. Merely Walden was exempt from animadversion. Thoreau was a sort of American Mahatma Ghandhi, a Tolstoyan anchorite practising native humanistic disciplines and trades out in the forests. He was non truly an oppositional or dialectical mind, like Emerson, though surely an oppositional personality, as the sacred Emerson was non. Bing besides something of an elitist, once more and unlike Emerson, Thoreau could non ever manage Emerson # 8217 ; s edifice up a sort of Longinian discourse by citing without commendation. Walden, for its ceaseless power, is often uneasy because of an mute presence, or a ageless absence that might as good be a presence, and that stated in Thoreau # 8217 ; s diary: Emerson does non see things in regard to their indispensable public-service corporation, but an of import partial and comparative 1, as plants of art possibly. We will write a custom essay sample on Walden By Thoreau Essay Research Paper Most or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His probes base on balls one side of their centre of gravitation. His hyperbole is of a portion, non of the whole. This is merely a weak misreading of Emerson. However, it attributes to Emerson what is really Thoreau # 8217 ; s alteration of Emerson. Thoreau was besides a sort of Gnostic, but the Rebel Thoreau remained a Wordsworthian, reading nature for groundss of a continuity in the ontological ego that nature merely could non supply. Walden is considered as both a simple and a hard text, simple in that readers feel a sense of integrity. It is hard in that they have been persistently perplexed and on occasion exhorted in signifier. The primary inquiry is to seek what Walden agencies. There is besides the concern with Walden # 8217 ; s manner. Walden # 8217 ; s significance can be explained in two different ways. The first is by presenting a differentiation between signifier and content which at the same time focuses attending on the inquiry of signifier and reduces content to little more than censoring. From the first move follows the more interesting and more permeant 2nd significance. The preoccupation with Walden # 8217 ; s formal qualities turns Walden # 8217 ; s significance in a simple sense. The averment is to analyze the signifier of any literary artefact, which is to place its indispensable integrity, therefore the concern with Walden # 8217 ; s structural integrity is integrated good in the book. In other words, one can state that the common lesson of Walden is the virtuousness of simpleness. Thoreau substituted words like poorness, a word which set him apart from his mercenary neighbours. By poorness, he said, simpleness of life and fewness of incidents, I am coagulated and crystallised, as a vapour or liquid by cold. It is a remarkable concentration of strength and energy and spirit. Chastity is ageless familiarity with the All. My diffuse and diaphanous life becomes as hoar foliages and spiculae radiant as treasures on the weeds and stubble an a winter forenoon. Such Po verty or pureness was a necessity of Thoreau # 8217 ; s economic system. By simpleness, which Thoreau called poorness, his life becomes concentrated and organized. Walden filled Thoreau # 8217 ; s immediate demand of self-therapy. In this position, Walden is the declaration Thoreau was able to carry through through art. He had effected his ain declaration through cautious enterprise and mature repose. However, this repose of Thoreau, is a triumph of subject. He says it is the highest purpose in life, which requires the highest and finest subject. To go one with Nature is to go a psyche reflecting the comprehensiveness of a being. His desire to comprehend things genuinely and merely resulted in his belief that fatal saltiness is the consequence of blending fiddling personal businesss of work forces. In order to warrant his devotedness to pureness he wrote Walden. He believed that when work forces is able to happen his natural centre, a promise of the higher society adult male is possible. Like other plants of his clip, it has the alone attempt of American romanticism. It has impressive individuality and the desire for experience. In the terminal, Thoreau stated that if a adult male # 8217 ; s Hagiographas are interpreted more than one version, it is considered a land for ailment. He wanted Walden to be a fact genuinely and perfectly stated, otherwise he would hold considered it a failure if is served merely to pass on an bizarre # 8217 ; s refusal to travel along with society, if taken literally. Walden is an experience of the cosmic travels of the ego. At Walden pool, he wrote that the imaginativeness of oneself is the best symbol of our life. He went to Walden pool because he wanted to happen a topographic point where you can walk and believe with the least obstructor. He wanted a route where he could go and to retrieve the doomed kid that he is without any tintinnabulation of a bell. The nature of the business of crude concerns with necessities like constructing a hut, planting, reaping beans, fishing and naturalizing, gives each its religious quality. Walden was Thoreau # 8217 ; s ocean trip for a world he had lost, and it was a pursuit for pureness. Purity to Thoreau was a return to the spring of life, to the aureate age of his young person and senses. Warden follows the rhythm of developing consciousness, a rhythm that parallels the alteration of the seasons. It was a affair of purification because Thoreau had reached the winter of decay at the clip Walden was being revised for the imperativeness. Thoreau was non a naturalist but a natural historiographer of the mind utilizing natural facts as symbols for his quest for inspiration. He said that the natural universe reflects ourselves. In this sense, the Walden pool was the symbol. His intent was non to return to nature, but to unite the robustness of barbarians with the intellectualness of the civilised adult male. The civilised adult male to Thoreau, is a more experienced and wiser barbarian ; Life is most honoring when chaneled by rational rules.