Essay about The Breakfest Club - 683 Words

The Breakfast Club nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Theresa Puchta is very accurate in her description of the merits and limitations of John Hughes’ films. Almost all of the characteristics and themes she has described in the article: suburban setting, vague social concerns, high school cliques, uncaring parents, characters wearing the latest fashions and top 40 soundtrack music have been proven true in The Breakfast Club. The movie has a suburban setting inside a high school, and the characters each belong to one of the high school cliques: freak, princess, bully, jock and geek. At the very beginning of the movie when the characters are introduced, each of them are receiving a drive from one of their parents who is either too pushy,†¦show more content†¦They only address the concerns of their lives, none of society. The article was â€Å"right on† with these points. The biggest and most attractive feature of Hughes’ films is the realistic dialogue, critics say it is â€Å"hip-just the way teens talk.† Theresa Puchta puts a little spin on that, she writes â€Å"though Hughes’ dialogue is realistic, funny and literate-certainly several notches above the drivel usually spoken by people in teen films-it’s sometimes a bit too rich.† This point brings a lot of truth. This is definitely displayed during conversations between the five high school students when they try to psychologically figure each other out. For example, the bully is criticized by the others as just masking up the fact that he knows he doesn’t really matter to anyone, and knowing that no matter how hard he tries he won’t fit in. The teens slip these types of observations into their conversations so easily. Although teens do come up with profound statements it is usually after knowing the person well or the effect of a certain emotion/fa ct that person has made you realize. In â€Å"The Breakfast Club† the teens begin to analyze the bullies’ behaviour in the beginning of the movie after spending just a few minutes with him in detention. Besides this however, as Theresa pointed out, the lingo is very realistic and full of terms which teenagers used such as â€Å"blazing up† which means to smoke marijuana.

The Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison - 917 Words

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a story about a young African American man who struggles to break free from the black stereotype that white society has forced upon him. As Ellison’s views on the detrimental effects of stereotyping minorities become apparent throughout his novel, some readers would argue that his depictions of female characters seem to be slightly hypocritical—but in actuality, the narrator’s encounters with the female characters ultimately help him accept his invisibility, develop his character, and highlight the themes of invisibility and power. In the beginning of the novel, the narrator is invited to give his graduation speech at a â€Å"gathering of the towns leading white citizens† (Ellison 17); upon arriving at the event, he discovers that he is being forced to participate in the Battle Royal, a fight between African American classmates for the entertainment of the drunk white males of the community. During the Battle Royal, the narrator is constantly thinking about his image: â€Å"I suspected that fighting a battle royal might detract from the dignity of my speech. In those pre-invisible days I visualized myself as a potential Booker T. Washington† (Ellison 18). In Invisibility Embraced: The Abject as a Site of Agency in Ellison’s Invisible Man by Shelly Jarenksi, she says: â€Å"The narrator’s concerns about â€Å"dignity† and â€Å"potential† are significant because they announce the search for a culturally sanctioned identity that will dominate the novel untilShow MoreRelatedInvisible Man By Ralph Ellison1366 Words   |  6 Pagesfighter left standing, amidst unbridled carnage. The titular narrator of Ralph Ellison s novel Invisible Man, is no stranger to those experiences. In the beginning, he is forced to fight several other black boxers for the amusement of many heckling, white spectators. Through the imaginative use of objects, symbols, allusions, and the actions, thoughts, and purposes of the spectators, pugilists and risquà © entertainment, Ellison seeks to express a powerful image of American race relations and womenRead MoreInvisible, Invisible Man, By Ralph Ellison1994 Words   |  8 PagesInvisible Race and Gender in Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the unnamed narrator shows us through the use motifs and symbols how racism and sexism negatively affect the social class and individual identity of the oppressed people. Throughout the novel, the African American narrator tells us the story of his journey to find success in life which is sabotaged by the white-dominated society in which he lives in. Along his journey, we are also shown how the patriarchyRead MoreInvisible Man By Ralph Ellison1246 Words   |  5 Pagesauthor of Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, was born March 1st, 1914, and died April 16, 1994. He was born in Oklahoma City and named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous journalist and poet. When Ellison was 3, his father died of a work-related accident, leaving his mother to care for him and his younger brother. As a young boy, he always wanted to major in music, and he went to Tuskegee University to become a composer and performer of music. The summer before his senior year in college, Ellison went toRead MoreThe Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison Essay2164 Words   |  9 Pagestrying to rebel against the status quo. Protest literature emerged from the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s to 1930’s. Protest literature is used to address real socio-political issues and express objections against them. In his novel, The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison exposes the racism in society by focusing on the culture, in regards to the expected assimilation of African Americans and how the time period largely influenced the mistreatment of the African American population. He also uses symbolsRead MoreInvisible Man By Ralph Ellison1277 Words   |  6 PagesInvisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, is a story about a young African American man whose color renders him invisible. The theme of racism as a hurdle to individual identity is present throughout the story in a variety of examples. From the beginning of the novel the theme of identity is evident as the narrator states, †Å"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what I was† (Ellison, p. 1254). In the midst of living in a racist American society the speakersRead MoreInvisible Man By Ralph Ellison909 Words   |  4 PagesInvisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a novel which embodies the universal theme of self-discovery, of the search to figure out who one truly is in life which we all are embarked upon. Throughout the text, the narrator is constantly wondering about who he really is, and evaluating the different identities which he assumes for himself. He progresses from being a hopeful student with a bright future to being just another poor black laborer in New Your City to being a fairly well off spokesperson for aRead MoreThe Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison977 Words   |  4 PagesBook Review: Invisible Man Invisible Man is an American Literature novel published by Ralph Ellison in 1952. The novel traces the experiences of a young college black man growing up in Harlem, New York. Attempting to succeed in a predominantly white society, the narrator encounters shocks and disillusionments from being expelled from college to hiding in an underground hole to protect himself from the people above. He lives a repressed life as an â€Å"Invisible Man† for he believes that society ignoresRead MoreInvisible Man By Ralph Ellison1032 Words   |  5 Pageslike modern society some people leads, and others will follow. Subjects will conditionally generate their own ideas and realize these ideas rather than just be assigned tasks that question their beliefs. The author Ralph Ellison illustrates it best. Ellison’s realistic fiction Invisible Man perpetuates the manifestation of manipulation over the minorities in this society. As the narrator embraces every identity he has been given, h e starts to become more independent, and a leader in his community. Read MoreThe Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison3051 Words   |  13 Pagesportrayed through the narrator’s, the invisible man, journey through life. The problems with society are foreshadowed by the racism and the symbols of the color white presented in the paint plant. â€Å"The Invisible Man† by Ralph Ellison depicts the African Americans struggle to be viewed as an equal member of society through the narrators struggles through life to discover his individuality or place in society while the white man or the community conspires to â€Å"keep the black man down†. The story follows theRead MoreInvisible Man By Ralph Ellison1481 Words   |  6 PagesInvisible Man is a novel by Ralph Ellison, published in 1952. It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans in the early twentieth century. This includes black nationalism, the relationship between black identity a nd Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity. The grandson of slaves, Ralph Ellison was born in 1914 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His

Aspects of education are presented in Charles Dickens Essay Example For Students

Aspects of education are presented in Charles Dickens Essay Compare and contrast the way in which particular aspects of education are presented in Charles Dickens Hard Times and Barry Hines Kestrel for a Knave.  In this essay, I plan to evaluate the similarities and differences, techniques used and views expressed by each author in A Kestrel for a Knave and Hard Times.  Hard Times is set in Coketown; a fictional town invented in the 1850s by Charles Dickens. A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines is set in Barnsley in the 1960s. Both towns are located in Northern England and are industrial; employment for the locals is found mostly in the surrounding factories and mines. Charles Dickens novel comprises of and focuses on many diverse themes such as the educational structure of Victorian England and the Industrial Revolution, which changed how industry was viewed during the 1850s. Industrial towns such as Manchester and Preston sprung up in Northern England at the start of the Revolution. Prosperity came to those who owned factories or mills, while despair and poverty greeted the hands, (factory workers) as they were harshly referred to devoid of any notion of feeling or individuality. Hard Times exemplifies the problems of an industrial town in England in the 1850s. Dickens provides Coketown with a less than glamorous description: A town of red brick, or brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage.  He explains how black smoke spews continuously from the factory chimneys and how the river is polluted by an ill-smelling purplish dye.  During this period Dickens often wrote for a weekly publication called Household Words, each issue dealt with a different social problem of the period. Hard Times began as a series of weekly installments in the publication. Dickens seems to reflect on the industrial revolution with dismay and disappointment. The novel was fuelled by what Dickens had witnessed first hand in Manchester, fifteen years prior to writing Hard Times. The novel itself is comprised of three books: sowing, reaping and gathering. Book the First; Sowing offers particular ideas and opinions to the reader, rather like the sowing of multiple seeds. This book imitates an introduction that will be expanded upon during the remainder of the novel. The naming of chapters in Hard Times is significant as the titles themselves are relevant to the message Dickens is attempting to convey. The first chapter is called One Thing Needful, which tells how children are taught facts. Gradgrind, who believes in a nineteenth century concept called utilitarianism (solutions and answers to problems and decisions), runs the school. Dickens is critical of utilitarianism, as he believes that it affects education in a bad way. This view was influenced by what Dickens saw happening around him; people turning into hard-hearted machines, the effect of a utilitarian society. The school is designed to produce useful, fact-filled humans who will work well, causing no trouble as they have little imagination and lack their own opinion. The children are treated as products and are conversed to by numbers. The system aims to avoid personality (the naming system is a good example of this) and individuality, which is frowned upon, considered as a threat to Gradgrinds extreme control. Barry Hines and Charles Dickens are equally critical of the education system of their own particular era. Both writers share the view that pupils individuality and freedom are being destroyed by the systems. From a speech in 1857 Dickens states:  I dont like that sort of school where the bright childish imagination is utterly discouragedwhere I have never seen among pupils anything but little parrots and small calculating machines. It seems that even though Dickens is portrayed as a realist, he still believes children should be taught the arts (perhaps not too surprising as he is a writer of fiction). .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 , .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .postImageUrl , .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 , .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006:hover , .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006:visited , .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006:active { border:0!important; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006:active , .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006 .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf15d865ec484c51932402913b7d17006:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Antigone: The Tragic Hero EssayThe setting of the opening scene of Hard Times is a classroom. The Head teachers teaching methods are immediately clear when the book opens mid-conversation, interrupting an introductory facts lesson:  Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life.  Dickens gives the word Fact a capital letter, possibly to emphasize its importance to the reader. The opening lines are in direct contrast to what Dickens believes, but it was the established teaching method during this period. Mr. MChoakumchild automatically backs up Gradgrinds suggestions regarding facts. Gradgrind is a man of very harsh realities and proceeds upon the principle that two and two are four and nothing else. Dickens states in Hard Times that the schoolmaster, Mr. MChoakumchild, along with another one hundred and forty schoolmasters, had been taught everything there is to know. They all had the same principles, the same knowledge on all subjects, as if they were taught in a factory rather than a classroom. Dickens continues to talk about MChoakumchild, if he had learnt a little less, how infinitely better he might have taught much more! By this, Dickens means that the teachers of that generation had all been taught everything there was to know and believed that they were flawless, which they probably were, knowledge-based. The book starts in the way it does to immediately show the reader how reliant on facts the education system has become. Facts, calculations and precision in everything are encouraged, producing heartless and hard individuals, devoid of feelings or compassion. Fancy is completely discouraged, as is any use of the imagination, which is devoid of financial gain or practical benefit. Mr. Gradgrind uses his control to humiliate a pupil in front of the class in the opening scene. Gradgrind uses the number system to select Sissy from the class. The girls father works for the circus which does not please Mr. Gradgrind so his solution to the predicament is to cover up this plain fact with lies He doctors sick horsesVery well, then. He is a veterinary surgeon Gradgrinds control is so strong that the lies he tells are believed and become facts. Sissy has grown up in the circus, where play and imagination are encouraged. It is an environment that fosters emotions and compassionate behaviour and an environment that is free and unrestricted.