My homework assignment
My e-mail is not accessable at this moment and I need to save my homework somewhere. I am being creative and saving it here so I don't lose my work!
A& P by John Updike, page 333
Three young girls go against the “norm” by wearing bathing suits into a grocery store. They receive the usual “pressure” to conform.
Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, page 544
Talks about the pressure that is applied to young women to conform to societies expectations for women. How unhappy or uncomfortable a woman can feel if she does not feel that she fits into the stereotype that is expected of her. It can cause someone to be unhappy enough to commit suicide.
Daddy by Sylvia Plath, page 538
This poem speaks to Sylvia’s fear of her father, her husband and probably all men. It hints at her intentions of ending everything. Since Sylvia did eventually commit suicide we can assume that she felt unloved and unaccepted by her father. Ultimately, we can also assume that this person felt that they did not fit into society. Another tragedy of our hypocritical lives which makes people miserable if they cannot or will not play the game of hiding their souls in an effort to fit in.
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, page 565
This poem addresses the choices that we make in life. How we cannot change those choices even when we think we will go back and go another way at a later date. We seldom go back. And even if we do try to go back the road has changed so it is never the same.
Eleanor Rigby by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, page 546
A poem about the roles that we play in life. We attend church, get married, live and die. All the while, we are dying inside from loneliness, feeling as if we do not fit in.
We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar, page 499
The mask is our protection from everyone knowing our lives. We don’t say anything's wrong when there is. "Let them only see us while we wear the mask." Don’t let them in. Conform to mindless society. We are "tortured souls" but heaven forbid anyone else know that we have problems.
Salvation by Langston Hughes, page 467
A story about the pressure that people apply trying to get people to conform. A young man lies about what is real for him so that he can fit in or at least take the pressure off himself. But he is not happy with himself for giving into the peer pressure.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, page 83
A towns’ residents conforms by ritually murdering one of their own residents every year. They don’t remember how the ritual started or why they do it, they just do it. Any talk about not doing the ritual is put down as dangerous talk. Asking for trouble.
Conclusion:
I would have to say that these stories and poems all address the fact that society applies a lot of pressure on people to conform and “fit in.” A large segment of society does not feel like they “belong” but they will do and say the things that are required to make it appear that they do fit in. If most people were honest, they would probably admit that there are only a few people in their lives that really know them. That there are only a small number of people they know well enough so that they can really relax and be themselves around.
When a person decides to quit giving into the pressures applied by their peers they are labeled as radical. I would say that it usually takes a lot of courage to refuse to go along with the status quote. Although, the very act of rebellion can create a subgroup that again applies peer pressure to get its members to conform.
When people are pressured to conform they either grow very strong or they break. If they break they either surrender and return for the larger groups approval, as the boys did in the church where the people were trying to save them for jesus; or the pressure is too much for them to bear and they commit suicide like Sylvia Plath.
In conclusion I would like to suggest that the human species advances due to the people who have the courage to do things differently.
A& P by John Updike, page 333
Three young girls go against the “norm” by wearing bathing suits into a grocery store. They receive the usual “pressure” to conform.
Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, page 544
Talks about the pressure that is applied to young women to conform to societies expectations for women. How unhappy or uncomfortable a woman can feel if she does not feel that she fits into the stereotype that is expected of her. It can cause someone to be unhappy enough to commit suicide.
Daddy by Sylvia Plath, page 538
This poem speaks to Sylvia’s fear of her father, her husband and probably all men. It hints at her intentions of ending everything. Since Sylvia did eventually commit suicide we can assume that she felt unloved and unaccepted by her father. Ultimately, we can also assume that this person felt that they did not fit into society. Another tragedy of our hypocritical lives which makes people miserable if they cannot or will not play the game of hiding their souls in an effort to fit in.
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, page 565
This poem addresses the choices that we make in life. How we cannot change those choices even when we think we will go back and go another way at a later date. We seldom go back. And even if we do try to go back the road has changed so it is never the same.
Eleanor Rigby by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, page 546
A poem about the roles that we play in life. We attend church, get married, live and die. All the while, we are dying inside from loneliness, feeling as if we do not fit in.
We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar, page 499
The mask is our protection from everyone knowing our lives. We don’t say anything's wrong when there is. "Let them only see us while we wear the mask." Don’t let them in. Conform to mindless society. We are "tortured souls" but heaven forbid anyone else know that we have problems.
Salvation by Langston Hughes, page 467
A story about the pressure that people apply trying to get people to conform. A young man lies about what is real for him so that he can fit in or at least take the pressure off himself. But he is not happy with himself for giving into the peer pressure.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, page 83
A towns’ residents conforms by ritually murdering one of their own residents every year. They don’t remember how the ritual started or why they do it, they just do it. Any talk about not doing the ritual is put down as dangerous talk. Asking for trouble.
Conclusion:
I would have to say that these stories and poems all address the fact that society applies a lot of pressure on people to conform and “fit in.” A large segment of society does not feel like they “belong” but they will do and say the things that are required to make it appear that they do fit in. If most people were honest, they would probably admit that there are only a few people in their lives that really know them. That there are only a small number of people they know well enough so that they can really relax and be themselves around.
When a person decides to quit giving into the pressures applied by their peers they are labeled as radical. I would say that it usually takes a lot of courage to refuse to go along with the status quote. Although, the very act of rebellion can create a subgroup that again applies peer pressure to get its members to conform.
When people are pressured to conform they either grow very strong or they break. If they break they either surrender and return for the larger groups approval, as the boys did in the church where the people were trying to save them for jesus; or the pressure is too much for them to bear and they commit suicide like Sylvia Plath.
In conclusion I would like to suggest that the human species advances due to the people who have the courage to do things differently.
posted by Emma Beverage @ 9:35 AM
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