Arguments upon the American dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Arguments upon the American dream - Essay Example As stated by renowned American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, the American dream is the pursuit of happiness. Every American man has been trying his best in order to do better and earn more by getting a better job. In the novel, the protagonists, or the members of the family try their best to achieve as many possessions as they can as well as acquire wealth and make something of themselves. They each have a dream of their own and try their level best to achieve the status of a rich person. In the modern day and age as well, most Americans share the same dream and have tried their best to climb up on the wealth ladder in order to be able to have a higher purchasing power so that they can earn a higher status for themselves in society and be able to demand for more products. (The American Dream - F. Scott Fitzgerald) However, this very dream has been denounced according to the American people, commonly known as the Whites, because of the influx of a large population that has been setting and establishing itself within America, for a very long time. The Whites feel prejudice within their hearts against immigrants for the sole reason that they feel that the other people have been taking their jobs away and have thus, in the process, taken away their ‘American dream’. Because of this, the Whites are not being able to fulfil their desires due to the shortage of jobs and employment opportunities as well as seats in educational institutions, schools and colleges. The White race within the confines of the United States has also been shifting over the years because of migrations by people from different countries, belonging to different races. According to a number of reports, over the years, the shift has been so much that half of America consists of the Whites now and the rest of it consis ts of people belonging to other races, mostly the Blacks and the Browns. (Government Census) A race is a line of people measured on the basis of their skin colour; there are a number of people that are ‘racists’ or those that discriminate on the basis of a person’s skin colour and do not offer him jobs or educational opportunities because of the same reason. For a long time, White people have been known to be racists because there has been a history of them discriminating against people belonging to other races. Today in America people belonging to other races have been facing this problem very harshly and are finding it difficult to survive there. The Whites simply mention that they are forced to take these steps in order for them to be able to retain their jobs and other opportunities and not have everything being given away to other people. Being racist is a bad thing because discrimination on any ground is not a civil action to carry out. However, for the mos t part, there is a certain amount that the country might lose out on by losing a White majority because a vast amount of industrialization has been brought about by the Whites. They have been able to contribute a great amount to the world of modern information and technology with the help of the advent of the internet as well as other global communication facilities. They have set the bar for the

The Otaku :: essays research papers fc

The Otaku More and more we, as Americans are seeing other cultures intertwine with our own. With the introduction of TV, satellite and Internet it’s easy to find out more about a specific area in the world. Watching and reading about another culture you almost might make you obsessed with it. An Otaku is one such person. Otaku is a term common with people who make a hobby out of watching Japanese animation or anime for short. Most of these people who watch the anime are regular people that go to work or school and need something to relax with. An Otaku, on the other hand is a person that obsesses over anime. â€Å"An otaku is an obsessive fan of any one particular theme, topic, or hobby. Perhaps the most common uses are anime otaku (who sometimes enjoy many days of excessive anime watching with no rest) and manga otaku (Japanese comic books).† (WordIQ par. 3) Anime is like a Drug for them. Otakus just need to watch anime. This However, it doesn’t just stop with watching. One other thing that would define an Otaku is that they have a lot of collectables or even dress up like the characters they watch. "The otaku are an underground (subculture), but they are not opposed to the system per se," observed sociologist and University of Tokyo fellow Volker Grassmuck, who has studied the otaku extensively. "They change, manipulate and subvert ready-made products, but at the same time they are the apotheosis of consumerism and an ideal workforce for contemporary capitalism.† (Cyberpunk Project par. 29) They literally buy everything that has to do with the anime or at least try to make it. It’s amazing to talk to one of these individuals and find out how much time was spent working on their costume or how much money the spent getting a figurine imported from Japan. It’s almost good to have these types of people in a culture to spend the money even if they don’t have it.

Bilingualism in Children

Bilingualism can be viewed in two different ways. One way of viewing bilingualism is that it is a commendable trait for a person to have, that is alongside the thinking that it is a mark of high intellect. Another way of viewing bilingualism is that it is a negative upshot of Globalism, that it is a degradation of culture. It is undeniable that bilingualism is a prevalent topic in today’s society. Some even consider it as an essential trait for survival in the context of the modern world.This notion of bilingualism is especially prevalent in the US, where immigrants should adopt a second language to be competitive in terms of employment. That is why children from immigrant families are advised by their parents to learn a second language early as early as possible. The problem bilingualism arises when parents fail to consider that children are still in the stage of mastering their first language. Acquiring two language simultaneously is would be difficult for anyone regardless of age. It is a common notion that the children would eventually learn the second language.That is alongside the thinking that, as the children are exposed more to the society speaking the second language, the children would naturally the language. Although, it is observable that children from immigrant families gradually become more and more comfortable with second language through time. But it is also observable that the process that the children have to go through is not an easy one. The difficulty of children’s acquisition of a second language is expressed by Eva Hoffman in her book â€Å"Lost in Translation.† She had thrown in a very helpful query for this discussion: â€Å"†¦how does an individual bend toward another culture without stumbling over? † (Hoffman 209) Hoffman’s semi-autobiographical book is about her struggle to acquire a second language when family had migrated from Poland to Vancouver. The bulk of the book is about her lost of he r sense of place and belonging in her new society. But the fact that the acquisition of the second language would come as natural would not necessarily mean that the children would not be subjected to the consequences of being bilingual.Another book that would be helpful to the discussion at hand is Natasha Lvovich’s â€Å"The Multilingual Self: An inquiry to language learning. † In contrast to Hoffman’s work, Lvovich’s book had taken a more attention-grabbing approach. Lvovich’s work is about the struggles that her daughter had to face when they had moved to America. Although there are some minor differences between the two books, they are both talking the same topic of language acquisition. Both of the books had depicted how a child is subjected to consequences of being bilingual.A common consequence of bilingualism as Lvovich had depicted through the story of her daughter â€Å"†¦she is going through a very difficult period of adjustment a s a teenager growing into adulthood† (Lvovich 101) There was even a point in the book that Lvovich’s daughter became reluctant to speak their first language. Hoffman argued that a reluctance to speak the first language would result to the atrophy of the mother language of the child (Hoffman 98) ConclusionFor children of immigrant families to succeed in being multilingual, their parents should first do careful planning and learning about the nature of language acquisition. The parents should always keep in mind that childhood is already full of challenges as is. They should be aware of the consequence of being bilingual and they should also have at least an idea of how to counter them. Works Cited Hoffman, Eva. (1990). Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language. NY: Penguin Lvovich, N. (1997). The Multilingual Self: An inquiry into language learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Bilingualism in Children Bilingualism is the production and/or comprehension of two languages by the same individual (Cummins, 1981). Many children of varying nationality, acquire this ability of learning two languages through cultural maintenance and educational enrichment. Furthermore, the media continuously bombards children of stimulation of the other language (Cummins, 1981). Cummins (1981) stated that there is a strong tendency among children of replacing the first language with the other. A series of tests were made by Feldman and Shen (1969) about some language-related cognitive advantages of bilingual five year olds.Three tasks for children were made accordingly to gather information. These tasks of increasing difficulty were (1) object constancy, (2) naming and (3) using labels in sentences, respectively . In object constancy, children were primarily shown with objects such as cups, plates, sponge, match and suction cup soap holder. These objects were later physically transformed in front of them. Crushing the cups, burning the match and painting the plates were some examples of transformation. Transformed objects are placed beside an identical pre-transformed objects.Afterwards, the children were asked to identify which among the two was primarily shown. Naming, on the other hand, purposely tests the child's ability to use verbal labels to name familiar objects. The experimenter tried to confuse the children by switching the names of the familiar object and designating nonsensical names to objects. For example, calling an airplane as â€Å"car† and relabeling the cup as â€Å"wug†. The children were asked which among the objects was really an airplane. They were also asked which one was called a â€Å"wug† and then they were asked what it really was.In the third experiment, the child was requested to show his ability of using three sorts of labels in simple relational sentences such as â€Å" The cup is on the plate. † These labels, as discussed i n naming, were common names, switched common names and nonsense names. The principle for using simple relational sentences was that referential word meaning is the simplest sort of meaning. Words like â€Å"cup†, â€Å"plate† and even the part of the predicate â€Å"on† can all be thought of as referring to things. Results showed that bilinguals perform significantly better in the said three tasks than monolinguals do (Feldman & Shen, 1969).Moreover, bilinguals' advantage over monolinguals was more apparent in comprehension than production measures. These means they execute better where nonverbal pointing responses were required. In addition, functions related to labeling would be more advanced by having two languages. Research by Bialystok (2004), on the other hand, has shown that bilingual children develop control processes more readily than monolinguals do. They respond more rapidly to conditions that placed greater demands on working memory and carry out con trolled processes more effectively (Bialystok, 2004).On the other hand, Macnamara (1966) argued some studies have reported negative effects of bilingualism (as cited in Bialystok, 2004). In Feldman & Shen's (1969) experiment, it was found out that monolinguals do better in the use of either common names alone or nonsense names alone. Furthermore, Fishman (1967) added that disadvantages commonly associated with bilingualism would not appear in bilinguals whose languages were situation specific (as cited in Feldman & Shen, 1969). It was an accepted notion that bilinguals had deficits compared with monolingual peers.Nonetheless, studies show significant cognitive advantages of children with bilingual capacities. These advantages were dominant in comprehending rather than performing verbal actions. Other research pointed out bilingual advantages in the areas of creativity, problem solving and perceptual disembedding (Bialystok, 2004). These advantages of bilinguals can be uniquely attri buted to an early development in association and labeling skills (Feldman & Shen, 1969). Bibliography: Bialystok, E. , Craik, F. I. M. , Klein, R. & Viswanathan, M. (2004) Bilingualism, Aging, and Cognitive Control: Evidence From the Simon Task.Psychology and Aging, 19 (2), 290-303. Feldman, C. & Shen, M. Some Language-Related Cognitive Advantages of Bilingual Five Year Olds. Retrieved from http://eric. ed. gov/ERICWebPortal/custom /portlets/recordDetails/detailmini. jsp_nfpb=true&_&ERICExt Search_SearchValue_0=ED031307&ERICExtSearch _SearchType_0=no&accno=ED031307 Cummins, J. Bilingualism and Minority-Language Children. Retrieved from http://eric. ed. gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini. jsp_ nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED215 557&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED215557

AngloSaxon Literature Essay - 632 Words

AngloSaxon Literature As we take a look back at the origins of literature throughout the Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066), we see that many of their narratives, stories were simply passed down orally due to the lack of education prior to the era of Christianity. During the Anglo- Saxon Era literature initially began to be written down by the monks of the Christian Monasteries. The Anglo-Saxons contributed many details to human nature. The Anglo-Saxons named our modern day weekdays after Greek Gods. Heroism within an epic poem was often present during this period. Epic poetry was categorized as either elegiac or heroic. Elegiac poetry consists of a feeling of mourning or sorrow due to the loss or lack of something. Heroic poetry†¦show more content†¦The absolute origins of feudalism, which didn’t become into existence until the Medieval Period, began with the Anglo-Saxon belief of allegiance to their lord and king in the act of providence for the king in return for protection. These ide als lead to the importance of one, during this time period, to be recognized by many. Another Anglo-Saxon ideal demonstrated in Beowulf is the love of glory as the ruling motive of every noble life. Love of glory, fame, and recognition was important to the Anglo-Saxon culture. Beowulf’s reputation suggests, even prior to the â€Å"Wrath of Grendel† upon the Danes, that in Sweden, Beowulf’s home place, he was of heroic status. Boasting allowed, before battle, a feeling of confidence. Throughout this epic, Beowulf displays examples of boasting. Upon arrival in Denmark, he shows his heroic characteristics as he boasts before Hrothgar. He first states, â€Å"Hail, Hrothgar!† Then continues on to ask permission to battle the horrendous guardian of crime saying â€Å"Grant me, then, lord and protector of this noble place, a single request†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He also portrays heroism as he encounters Unferth, where explaining the swimming incident at Brecca allo wed him to boast about his strength and physical abilities. After successfully battling the â€Å"shepherd of evil†, Grendel, who had tormented the Danes for a long twelve years, he decided to display Grendel’s arm in the rafters of the mead-hall as evidence of hisShow MoreRelatedEssay AngloSaxon Language1062 Words   |  5 PagesAngloSaxon Language Nearly all knowledge of the English language before the seventh century is hypothetical. Most of this knowledge is based on later English documents and earlier documents in related languages (3). The English language of today represents many centuries of development. 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