Category: ELP

What if the religious right went beyond the elections and stages a revolution, establishing an American government that replaced the constitution with the bible?

 

If this were to happen which is highly improbable but still a possibility, this would potentially cause chaos and violent acts. This is due to the fact that the ideology of the bible will be translated into legislation that the public would be forced to abide by and follow. This would cause protests as people don’t want to change their ways and want equality. Women would be treated in an unequal unjust manner which would cause people in many more progressive areas to perhaps flee to other places in which their rights and opportunities remain intact and are not dictated by the bible. Women may create an uprising as the law being dictated by the bible will allow women to be oppressed by mean and create a misogynistic society with strict gender roles where women have to abide by the male authority of the household and the rules emplaced by them.

What are the implications of banning religious items of clothing or jewelry?

– Do you think banning religious symbols have any value or is this just removing basic rights/freedoms?

 

Personally I feel like banning religious symbols does a lot more harm than good and doesn’t really benefit anyone at all. All that banning religious symbols does is violating people’s rights to wear what they like. If what other people are wearing doesn’t impact you in any way there should be no reason to comment on it much less ban it. People should have the freedom to wear religious symbols and clothing if it enables them to feel liberated and express either their values or religion. Attire in itself is a form of expression and therefore people should not be stifled they should be allowed to express themselves through what they choose to wear. The choice should always be there which is why a ban doesn’t make sense and if unfair. What other people wear is none of your business and isn’t harming you in any way. However, I recognize that some reasons people want to ban these religious symbols are because they associate people who wear them as people with radical beliefs or extremists. This association leads people to have preconceived notions towards this group of people with no actual grounds and consequently put these people at a disadvantage whether it is a job interview or just the way they are treated in general in their daily lives. Another reason many people want to ban religious symbols is due to the fact that they view it male domination and female oppression, however, what many don’t realize is that many people choose to wear religious symbols out of their own choice and are not coerced or forced by external inputs.

What Role Does Poetry Play in Your Life?

How do you experience poems? Do you turn to them for inspiration or joy? For solidarity in moments of sadness?

Personally, I don’t read or write poems often however in today’s popular music it is relatively common that if you pay attention to the song lyrics that you can find poetry within the lyrics. Artists use poetry to veil a deeper meaning, this is a form of expression of perhaps a sentimental moment or a strong emotion that they use to convey a message. Recently an increasing number of popular artists are using their music to highlight issues to do with politics, sexism, and other controversial or potentially taboo issues that we face on a daily basis today. For me, I use music as a form of escape from reality as it gives me the ability to switch off for a little while and focus on my thoughts and emotions on how I am feeling and just being within my thoughts and the music helps to improve my mood to a point and my wellbeing. There are some days especially during this quarantine period in which I feel particularly mentally exhausted and claustrophobic and therefore I am unproductive. To tackle this I often end up resorting to music and I try to connect with the lyrics in certain songs which may be in the form of poetry.

 

 

In a time of anxiety and social distancing, what can we do to look out for one another?

Considering the nature of this time it is important to realize that none of us were prepared or are accustomed to this sort of circumstance and therefore there is an expected adjustment period. This adjustment period can be very tough emotionally and physically for a lot of people due to the unfamiliarity. It can bring about a sense of boredom, hopelessness, depression, anxiety, and loneliness which can lead to unproductivity. It is important to try to harness these emotions and turn it into something positive to enhance your life in some way and increase your state of wellbeing. At a time like this, there are really only 2 options either let your emotions pull you down or harness them to create something useful. This can be a lot harder than it sounds however with time and patience it is possible. At a time like this it is important that we do our part to stay home and practice social distancing in order to prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19, the consequently helps Singapore as a nation but also your loved ones, the elderly, society as a whole and yourself. Practice hygiene more vigilantly than usual frequent washing of hands is important, face masks when you go out of the house for any reason, ensure you are keeping your distance from people. Drink lots of water and rest well to improve your immunity and give your body a better chance of fighting. Understand that everyone is in the same boat and it is important to be there for each other because we all need support at this time, spend time with immediate family take care of the people you love. Listen to your friends, call them, text them make sure they feel heard and supported as these circumstances can induce a sea of emotions that are difficult to deal with alone. The fact that we are all in this together can be seen as a positive thing as we can all support each other and all understand what we are going through. There is greater strength when we support each other.

At the moment I am listening to a lot of random songs, but predominantly The Weekend because it helps me to find a route of escape from the monotony and slightly dull circumstances we are currently going through. It helps me relax and just get lost in the music briefly and provides a sense of freedom and escape. I find that his songs are really unique and they are just really interesting to listen to. His music shows a vulnerability that not a lot of music does and really reflects the non-sugar-coated truth which I believe is necessary. He isn’t afraid to test the boundaries and be different and he shows a side of things that are not often represented in mainstream media. He claims that his Ethiopian background is often reflected in his music and has shaped his identity in a multitude of ways and in the way that he expresses himself. The portrayal of this aspect too further adds to the complexity and depth and truth of his music and consequently makes it all the more appealing. Despite his music being a representation and expression of himself, his music still appeals to a very wide range of audiences hence it’s popularity.

Where should Isma’s loyalty lie: with her brother or her country? By informing the police of Parvaiz’s intentions, did she make the right or wrong decision? Can there be a correct moral decision when faced with the impossible choice between family loyalty and duty to society?

 

There are two answers to this question depending on the manner in which it is phrased. Technically speaking from a more emotional perspective, Isma’s feminine loyalty should lie with her brother due to the fact that he is her family and therefore it is important to protect him at all costs. She may presume the positive intentions and give him the benefit of the doubt because she knows him and knows that he wouldn’t want to do something that would have negative implications. Isma loves her brother and is aware of the potential harm that could come to him if she dares to report him and turn him into the authorities. She knows he doesn’t have it within him to be a bad person.

Despite this more normative concept of family coming first, Isma still reported Parvaiz to the authorities when he joined ISIS as she prioritized the duty to her country over her family. This is quite possibly due to the fact that she acted upon her utilitarianist values in which she makes her decisions based upon achieving the maximum net happiness for the greater good. In this case, regardless of the sacrifice and possible implications, this may have upon Parvaiz. Isma’s final decision was probably the more ethically and morally correct one due to the fact that if Parvais actually had bad intentions or was negatively influenced by keeping bad company it could possibly be catastrophic in which case Isma reporting her brother would be the morally correct decision. Yet another perspective for supporting her decision could be that she took this drastic action of reporting her brother to the authorities in order to protect him as she knows the harm ISIS can do and doesn’t want that to become a part of her brother’s life. Perhaps reporting him was the right thing to do even if her loyalties did, in fact, lie with her brother. Furthermore, this would consequently be benefiting the greater good alongside her brother and she can make this morally correct decision whilst being loyal to both her country and her brother. In this regard, even in the play, Antigone, Polynices becomes a branded traitor after uniting with the king of Argos to seize Thebes from his brother. Alike Parvais, Polynices was shamed publically and only defended by his sister who argues for proper burial rights.

With decisions like this there is always an extent of uncertainty due to the fact that although morals are objective they can still be interpreted differently due to the way shared knowledge impacts your personal knowledge. Isma was religious and through her religion, she may have been strongly influenced and her mindset may be primed a certain way in order to make the decision that she did. The manner and method through which one interprets shared knowledge or morals or socially accepted normative beliefs of her religion may differ and are subjective due to people’s personal scheme, upbringing, and experienced emotions.

In the video that we watched on Islamophobia, I learned about the multitude of ways in which British Muslims experience Islamophobia and consequent discrimination. This discrimination manifests through online bullying and tormenting, verbal abuse, being called a terrorist or a slut. This discriminatory degrading treatment, unfortunately, does not necessarily exclude children as Islamophobia is equally as prevalent in children’s lives whether it be at school or in the playground. 3/5 adults believe that Islamophobia is a problem. This treatment occurs on the daily and is a part of their reality that they have to constantly contend with living in this society they experience this in the workplace, public transport, interactions with random people. Islamophobia is believed to be subtle and overt as well as a structural and institutional problem with society. In addition, I learned that Islamophobia has been recently redefined and is now accepted as a form of racism. The inclusion of Islamophobia as a valid manifestation of racism has allowed the measures in the workplace, for example, to be subsequently implemented on cases to do with Islamophobia too. This is due to the fact that there is currently an active system emplaced to combat racism, however before the inclusion of Islamophobia under this domain, it was a separate issue altogether and one that did not have any management method or control system in effect. Now laws and systems that apply to racism also apply to Islamophobia as they lie under the same banner. The defining of Islamophobia was essential because

To what extent are our societal beliefs influenced by stereotypes?

Text’s chosen:

Literary: “The intoxicated” by Shirley Jackson

Non-literary: Donald Trump’s tweet

Throughout the literary text “The Intoxicated” by Shirley Jackson, the dialogue is utilized to portray how societal beliefs influence society’s perception of stereotypes as what is considered to be expected out of a certain group of people. For example, the host shook his head ruefully and said “kids nowadays” this shows how the host speaks condescendingly about people his daughter’s age due to the preconceived notions about how kids her age should act or are depicted to act due to the way teenagers are displayed to act. This occurs through the media as well as in daily life, minor implicit and explicit inputs all individually and collectively contribute to shaping people’s societal beliefs and their consequent perspective of society as a whole.

People often jump to hasty conclusions and make assumptions based on other evidence they have been exposed to prior, this aids the shaping of their mindset and consequent outlook on the world around them. This is evident when the drunk man says to the daughter of the host “It’s part of a stage you go through, like being boy-crazy.” This shows how he is drawing on his perception of stereotypes to generalize characteristics of a certain population, in this case, being “teenagers”. The way that he just assumes this to be a fact and an accurate representation of teenagers shows how external influences and societal norms have all contributed to impacting his perspective on how he views teenagers as a whole.

Furthermore, the drunk man is portrayed to contemplate saying “in my day, he thought of saying mockingly, girls thought of nothing but cocktails and necking.” This illustrates how socially accepted stereotypes and gender norms contribute to forming an outsider’s perspective on others and the world around them. The fact that he wanted to say it mockingly elicits the sense that his intentions were not positive as mocking in nature is not associated with positive connotations, hence it evokes the sense that stereotypes are contributing to his view on this matter as he automatically creates assumptions based upon stereotypes held by society regarding teenage girls. Both stereotypes and societal norms have a bi-directional relationship with one another due to the fact that their relationship can work in reverse order too and they are in a causal relationship in which one causes the other and it works either way. This shows how expected behavior and the image of teenage girls are of cocktails and necking due to what is considered to be normal for that population, through experiences, media, and reputation.

In the non-literary text which was Donald Trump’s tweet regarding Greta Thunberg, it becomes evident how the way he was potentially brought up and the environment that he has been exposed to have shaped his views whether it be politically or otherwise. Trump’s past experiences and values he has been surrounded by have aided the formation of his current mindset and consequent views. Societal beliefs have enabled the shaping of his identity and hence the stereotypes he assumes are accurate. This is portrayed through his use of specific diction. He described what Greta stands for to be “So ridiculous” the word ridiculous indicating something that is completely absurd altogether. The fact that this is how he perceives Greta’s views and actions show how his belief systems due to societal beliefs he is exposed to have created negative perceptions. Greta’s passion for the environment and her emphasis and call for action on the impending and very current climate change taking place with potentially imminent devastating impacts appears to be absurd in Trump’s perspective. He states that Greta should go and work on her anger management issues due to the fact that she holds a contradicting viewpoint to his and is very popular for her age.

Trump furthers his extreme perspective through the use of including stereotypes he says Greta should “go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend!” This very explicit use of stereotyping is present due to socially accepted norms as many perceive this activity to be that of a common activity teenagers participate in. This use of stereotyping is implicitly showing Trump’s obvious aversion to the fact that Greta is getting involved in matters she is too young to be involved with as he believes she should be at the movies instead because that is her place, according to society at least. The way in which Trump says this with so much conviction shows the extent to which he believes this to be true. This is depicted through the specific punctuation he utilizes for emphasis. At the end of his statement claiming that Greta would be better off seeing an old fashioned movie with her friend, he uses an exclamation mark placing emphasis upon his perception of what she should be doing predominantly due to the fact that she is a teenager and watching movies with friends is an action often associated with teenagers. However, given the context, this display of stereotyping has negative connotations as it is painting teenagers as a population in a negative light particularly targeted at Greta as she is evidently going against the stereotypical norms of teenage girls.

Furthermore, in the non-literary text which is Donald Trump’s tweet, he uses repetition to convey emphasis on certain words within his tweet, he says “Chill Greta, Chill!” The use of the word “chill” consecutively shows how Trump is again influenced by stereotypes and is treating her like a teenager with anger issues that should be going to the movies with her friends. The manner in which he says this is belittling in the sense that he is disregarding her actions and perspective primarily due to the fact that she is a teenage girl and that this is not her place according to the impact societal beliefs have on him. The way he makes her appear inferior to him and makes it seem like she needs to be put under control because she is apparently not “chill” and adhering to normative beliefs she is an unruly teenager; this subsequently makes her cause appear to be unimportant the way that Trump perceives it.

The literary text relates to the non-literary text in the sense that they both share attributes of how people in society gain preconceived notions about something based upon stereotypes built on the basis of societal norms. The literary text shows how a drunk man interacts with a teenage girl and how the basis of their conversation is based upon the drunk man viewing the girl through the lens of stereotypes formed by societal beliefs. The man’s preconceived notions about the girl due to generalizing her as part of a population of teenage girls consequently primes his mind prior to any further interaction with the girl as these stereotypes have caused clouding of judgment and have caused him to already have opinions about her before actually interacting with her. In his mind, she is just a teenage girl and should, therefore, act like every other typical teenage girl. Similarly in the non-literary text, a similar phenomenon is impacting Donald Trump’s view on Greta Thunberg as his societal beliefs are caused by the presence and use of stereotypes through which it criticizes Greta for not aligning to. In Trump’s perspective, Greta should be doing things that typical teenage girls do instead of meddling in issues that are not considered typical of teenage girls.

 

 

In this advertisement for a pink bottle of perfume, we can observe a woman standing suggestively within an ambient setting wearing suggestive clothing. Everything about the way the woman is portrayed and the manner in which she holds herself is inherently seductive and sexual in nature. There are parallels made between the perfume and the theme of sex in the way the advertisement associates them. The woman’s facial expressions and pose are also suggestive of the same thing. The photograph is blurred in the background where the product is to bring attention to the product in the foreground. This advertisement is multimodal but predominantly image and a lower percentage of the advertisement is text as the image itself is very self-explanatory. The composition of the advertisement is very essential as in this case, the woman draws immediate attention. This is the primacy effect as when you first see the woman in the advertisement and the setting of a bedroom your mind is already primed in a certain manner to receive and interpret any new inputs. Therefore, when you then naturally follow to the actual product that the woman in the advertisement is facing your mind is already primed to think about the products use and function and status in a different manner than if you had not initially seen the setting and the woman beforehand it would just look like a pink bottle of perfume.

The name of the brand “GUESS” and the word underneath the brand name “seductive” are both in the same font which is an all capitals gold bold font already creating a preconceived associating between the two as they are automatically related in the viewer’s mind. However, the name of the product itself “I’m yours” is in a bright pink which happens to be the same color as the perfume they are advertising hence, making a connection between the two as now the perfume is associated with the phrase or the name “I’m yours”. The primary audience is women as it is targeted at women but the secondary audience is men. The primary audience is women due to the fact that the nature of the advertisement is targeted to appealing to women as it appeals to their expectations of a relationship and what their partner may want. They are led to believe that this way of living is associated with the perfume and consequently are tempted to purchase it. They are implicitly made to believe that this product will help them to achieve their expectations within a relationship with your partner and that the perfume is the answer and that it is the key to having the life of the image depicted by the woman in the advertisement, consequently creating a longing for that life and the product.  The secondary audience is men due to the fact that this advertisement will make men want their partner to wear this perfume or they want that type of lifestyle for themselves and their partner too, subsequently making the product or at least the way of living appealing to men too. Perhaps men would buy the perfume for their partner to wear due to the connotations associated with the perfume and what it means and what that perfume is meant to induce in their relationship.

 

Explain how Churchill uses language to establish a particular character’s identity, class, or social status. First, decide on a character, then analyze the specific language selected by Churchill for this particular character. Include direct quotes and dramatic techniques. Remember to consider both representation and identity in your response. Respond in paragraph form.

Churchill utilizes language to convey a character’s social status and level of education. Churchill portrays Joyce to be uneducated and due to her lower social and economic class. She does this to show the stark contrast between her sister, Marlene. For example, on page 76 Joyce said “You were in America or something. You sent a postcard.” Churchill’s use of grammatical errors in Joyce’s speech illustrates how due to circumstance Joyce hasn’t managed to improve herself in the way that her sister Marlene has. Though they came from the same background and grew up together this example shows how Marlene has done a lot for herself in terms of self-development and improvement and has climbed the social ladder. This illustrates the vast differences in social status between the two sisters. Furthermore, Churchill’s use of language on page 44 within Joyce’s speech “She’d better get married” shows how social expectations of women within society are apparent in this context and how Joyce expects her daughter to adhere to these norms and prioritize getting married over an education. In addition, this is further shown when Joyce asks Kit what she wants to do when she grows up and she replies with “Physicist” to which Joyce is explicitly displays her bewilderment as she replies “whatever for?”. The social constructs to which society of this time is formed are heavily represented through Joyce’s obvious aversion towards educating females as she strongly believes due to nurture and stereotypes that a woman’s ultimate goal is to get married. This consequently depicts that Joyce believes getting married should be a woman’s top priority even above being successful and self-sufficient and receiving and education. Joyce’s identity is consequently portrayed through her conservative mindset as her mindset is formed through her set of values and beliefs due to the time in which she was brought up as well as circumstances such as the extent of education she received. These are all contributing factors in shaping Joyce’s identity.

Another example of language being used to portray the representation of women in a different light on page 50 when Nell says “Derek asked me to marry him again” Win suggests that she could go on working and marry him to which Nell replies that she could go on working and not marry him. This sense of defiance going against societal norms of the time and not adhering to expectations displays the representation of a strong and independent woman. This also shows Nell’s social class as she is clearly educated and therefore has a more forward-thinking mindset. Another example of how language was used to depict a similar attitude is on page 6 when Marlene asks for the wine list. In the time that this is set in it is not typical or particularly socially accepted for women to drink and is certainly not the norm. Hence, this show of upstanding actions shows how these women are ahead of their time and think differently. They share a more modern belief system that encourages women to be independent and provide for themselves. Both these women share similar values and beliefs that shape their identity and they are represented to prioritize their personal work and education over relationships, marriage, and men.