An analysis of theme and purpose in children's literature, using "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, and the cartoon "The Smurfs" as examples.
Abstract This paper examines utopias in children's literature in the stories "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, and the cartoon "The Smurfs". It explains how utopias have been created by the authors, in these stories, in order to explore the benefits and negative aspects of utopian life. The writer describes each of these three utopias in the stories. The writer further suggests that what may appear to be a utopia on the surface can be quite ugly when all of the implications are pondered, and when it is realized what has to be given up in terms of individuality and freedom in order to establish a rigidly controlled society. The writer concludes that all of these fictional utopias present moral themes important for children to learn, but also present deeper implications for adults to reflect upon.
From the Paper "Reading and analyzing Gulliver's Travels, The Giver, and The Smurfs indicates that the basic purpose of these children's story utopias is the same, for they are meant to provide an easy, trouble-free existence for the inhabitants. The basic needs of daily life are well taken care of by established authorities, everything is meticulously planned, and dangers never arise. For children, these utopian environments are emotionally comforting, while providing a way of teaching morality and the importance of cooperating with others."
Tags: fiction, individuality, freedom, environment, daily, life
This paper discusses Alex Kotlowitz's book,"There Are No Children Here," which is about childhood in the Henry Horner projects of Chicago where children are not free to be children.
Abstract This paper explains that, at the Henry Horner homes, children are not looking to come over and play with the latest Matchbox cars because many of the children are already being lured by gangs and getting used by older kids in drug activities; friends are people you could trust, but at Henry Horner, Lafeyette, the child character in the book, didn't feel that he could trust anyone besides his family. The author points out that, to the kids of Henry Horner, the police become a threat because, even if they aren't doing something bad, they are constantly surrounded by bad things; therefore, if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, they are immediately accused of doing something. The paper relates that children at Henry Horner are desensitized to experiences such as violence, gang drug exchanges, and death; the children and the residents there have to put their emotions away and become stone on the inside.
From the Paper "In an area where the summertime is feared and school is a safe-haven, where it is dangerous to make friends as they might try to lure you into a gang, where drug lords run your neighborhood enforcing rules like a dictatorship with the manpower to back it up, you are stripped of your freedom. Sitting in public with a little kid can be embarrassing sometimes. "Mommy, that woman is fat!" or "Daddy, why is that man crying?" are questions that children will ask loud and clear without hesitation. They don't realize that other people can hear them or that other people have feelings that might be hurt. They are egocentric. However, for a child living in the Henry Horner homes where LaJoe and her children live, a comment like this can become life threatening."
Abstract The paper look at the arguments in favor of and against commercial advertising for unhealthy foods designed to appeal to children. The paper comes to the decision that the arguments put forth against the permissibility of advertising unhealthy foods and beverages to children are stronger than the corresponding arguments supporting unrestricted advertising to children. The paper provides a counterargument and concludes that in principle, advertising unhealthy foods to children is unethical for the same reasons that doing so in conjunction with tobacco products is prohibited by law.
Outline:
Arguments Supporting the Statement
Arguments Against the Statement
Decision
Rebuttal by Counterargument
From the Paper "In the United States, freedom of speech applies to commercial speech. Companies have a constitutional right to market legal product by targeting their advertising message to any segment of consumers they wish (Halbert & Ingulli 2000). Certain specific products are considered too dangerous for children and advertising those particular products to children is prohibited by law. Otherwise, there is no justifiable basis for prohibiting commercial speech or advertising messages designed to appeal to children for products like junk food, fast food, or breakfast cereal, all of which are perfectly legal for consumption by children."
Abstract This paper discusses and analyzes Toni Morrison's novel, "Beloved", and its message that legal, psychological and sociological conditions meant that true freedom nothing more than a myth for escaped slaves.
From the Paper "Even if Sethe and her family had been completely free legally, however, "freedom" from slavery would have been nothing more than a myth because they were not able to mentally escape from their past experiences. "In Beloved, Morrison allows the reader to share the legacy of slavery as the characters Sethe, Paul D, and Denver attempt to make a new life in freedom. However, they cannot put the past, lived in slavery, behind them; they must reveal it to themselves, to each other, and to the reader in 'digestible pieces.'" (Nigro) The traumatic events which were experienced by slaves cannot be wiped clean, and the past will continue to have an effect on the future. Today, the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder -- the psychological consequences of experiencing traumatic events -- would perhaps be identified in Morrison's characters. (Feldspar) Nightmares, flashbacks, irritability, emotional detachment, and other distress are common symptoms, and certainly experienced by Sethe and others in Beloved, all of which are a kind of continued mental slavery."
Abstract In this comprehensive book review of Salman Rushdie's "Midnight Children" the author looks at mixture and fragmentation as major themes that persist throughout the novel. This, the author believes, leads to clues to the meaning of hybridity. The author looks at the classic example of hybridity as shown in mixing spices and, takes this theme further in reviewing Rushdie's book. He points out one of the areas where hybridity can be seen in the book, is through the character of Aadam Aziz. Aziz is a doctor who has spent five years in Germany studying medicine and returns to his homeland only to find that he is different, forever changed. The author elaborates on this and other instances in the book and, concludes that hybridization is a fact of colonization, there is no longer the pure one or the other.
From the Paper "Even in the act of leaving and giving Indians their freedom, the British have exerted their influence. Methwold's metaphor shows the power of the colonizing force in defining the agenda for the newly freed nation. Yet this force is not completely oppressive. As Methwold asserts his supremacy through his constant retelling of his ancestors who helped to build Bombay, Sinai learns the discourse and uses it to empower himself. "Actually, old chap, ours is a pretty distinguished family, too," Sinai says to Methwold (122). The word "actually" indicates the slippage, the difference, and the correction of Methwold's original conception of Sinai. The mimic "old chap" softens the challenge as Ahmed Sinai identifies himself with the Englishman through this very English term of endearment. Through imitation, Sinai attempts to seize the power for himself. Though the lineage that Ahmed Sinai attributes to himself is purely fictional, it nevertheless shows the mimic effect of colonization."
Abstract This paper examines the concept of freedom and looks at five different views of freedom. The paper uses e.e. cummings' poem, "and freedom is a breakfast food", and a poem by Alfred Tennyson as examples of different concepts of freedom and ten discusses the inherent contradictions in the concept of freedom.
From the Paper "The themes of this poem are the fleeting nature of all things in life, including intellectual concepts such as freedom and how all these things are always juxtaposed with their opposite. The poem begins with the title line, "as freedom is a breakfast food", suggesting that freedom is the nourishment that gets people through the day. The rest of the poem compares and contrast things with their elementary parts. For example, truth can live with right and wrong..."
Abstract This essay discusses how Locke and Rousseau had two very different conceptions of human freedom. Rousseau's vision entailed a society where the individual's will was subordinate to the "general will." Locke, meanwhile, believed that freedom was impossible if individual freedom was not at the root of society.
Abstract An in-depth discussion of the meaning of freedom in American society. The author argues that freedom can only be obtained and can only have meaning on an individual level. He then supports this by examining the extent of which we are actually 'free' in American society arguing that complete freedom is still not evident.
From the Paper "Freedom is a nonentity, an abstract illusion that represents human wanting and desire for an ideal society. It is not on paper or in a word, freedom exits only in dreams or on the wings of a bird. American identity, as in the works of Douglass and Chopin, was founded on a belief in freedom but is better described by its slavery and repression. Freedom has always belonged to select groups and peoples. Every group and people to come to America, since it became America, has suffered great injustices and repression regardless of their background. America made a great industry of black slavery and black exploitation, women are still struggling to break the bounds of their slavery days and there are always new groups that are targeted every day."
Abstract Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality puts forth the ideas about human beings as a part of nature, but distinct from their natural freedoms because of civilization and social organizations. Rousseau's key idea is that in order to live with equality, we must be prepared to give up freedoms in order to work together so that a community structure can be co-produced. For Rousseau, personal freedom comes at too high a social cost, and so communitarianism is argued as a way to produce social equality.
Abstract Section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms identifies Canadians' fundamental freedoms of thought and religion. This discussion assesses its application in the last twenty years. The emphasis is on issues of religious observance-'Sunday shopping' and prayer in schools-and the issue of 'hate crimes' such as holocaust denial.
Abstract This paper reviews the concept of freedom as defined by Carlos Fuentes, a novelist, essayist and travelling diplomat. According to this paper, Fuentes believes that without the quest for freedom, freedom would not exist.
From the Paper "Freedom is often a concept that is taken for granted, misunderstood, and, as Carlos Fuentes notes, is often defined for the citizens of the world by institutions that have no other ultimate interest but to limit the freedom that appears to be so fleeting. Novelist, essayist, and traveling diplomat, Carlos Fuentes' quotation on what freedom is inspires the reader to think about what freedom truly is. It envelops concepts familiar and new, traditional and rebellious, and in the end encompasses the multitudes of facets that have founded nations, inspired societies, and given rise to revolution. In the beginning of Fuentes' thought provoking quote, he notes that freedom is freedom based on people seeking it. This thought is comprised of two primary parts. First, without the quest for freedom, freedom would not exist. It is the process of striving for freedom that ensures that the concept continues to exist."
A discussion on whether judges, who are responsible for interpreting the law under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, should have have restrictions imposed on their interpretive powers.
675 words (approx. 2.7 pages), 0 sources, 2006, $ 26.95
Abstract The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom protects important freedoms of all Canadians such as freedom of the press, religion, and expression. However, the implementation of the law, which allows almost unlimited power for judges to interpret the rights as they see fit, is worrying. This paper discusses the needs for limits on judges' interpretive powers.
Abstract This paper discusses the period covered in the primary documentation associated with Chapter 19 of Eric Foner's "Voices of Freedom", as a period of transition. It states that the era surrounding World War I demonstrates a time when the definitions of intrinsic values were being challenged and reassessed almost on a constant basis. From 1916-1920 America was involved in reformulating what values it was said to hold dear and the official take on what those values mean was often one that did not meet with everyone's approval. From President Wilson's speech admonishing American business for being too isolationist and short sited in international dealings to the final work in which Fitch expresses the context of regional labor strikes, there is a sense of a collective demand for change as well as a reassertion of the cries for freedom and even a reevaluation of the very definitions of freedom and democracy. Furthermore, the author asserts that each of these messages, from texts and transcripts that were written and felt between 1916 and 1920, is a timely message about the modern world.
From the Paper "Realizing with new zest and fear of democracy not being the underpinning of this peaceful conquest that Wilson speaks of a law is passed that bans free speech, when such speech could be seen as contrary to the cause of WWI and democracy, Congress and Wilson pass the Espionage act of 1917, creating yet another reason for protest, of the forgetting of the derisive nature of the past. Debs, in his speech could be talking about the Patriot Act, allowing government to overstep its constitutional boundaries, once again, some would say. Debs admonishes congress and the officials overseeing his trial, again naming names. (94-98) Bourne discusses disenfranchisement, as it is associated with old versus new immigrants and rightfully asks the do-gooders trying to Americanize immigrants to remember that they were also once immigrants who were given credit for establishing freedom and now taking it away by forcing their own brand of Americanism on the new comers."
Tags: values america era freedom democracy, modern world
Abstract This book discusses the black slaves struggle for independence and freedom from their slave owners and their attempt for economic Independence and freedom of mobility. It explains how the African Americans of the South have always had the ability to "vote with their feet" and the greatest way they did this was by fleeing to the North.
From the Paper "African-American individuals have always achieved a form of essential, human freedom through motion. But simply because individuals view themselves as possessing inalienable rights of freedom and of motion does not mean that these ideals have been upheld by the legal structures of the United States government. During the slavery era, African-American mobility in its most essential form was curtailed by the Supreme Court through the court's Dred Scott decision. ("Dred Scott Case" The Columbia Encyclopedia Online) The Dred Scott decision labeled black American slaves as property that could be returned from northern free states to southern slave states."
Abstract This paper discusses Jane Eyre's need for freedom and equality in the book 'Jane Eyre'. At the start of the story, Jane is thought of as being simply a dependent, and therefore is neither free nor equal to those around her. Throughout the novel Jane experiences various degrees of freedom and various forms of equality, but it is not until she finds both simultaneously, and under her own terms, that can she be truly content with her life. By the end of the book she has found all she needs in life.
From the Paper "In the book 'Jane Eyre', by Charlotte Bront?, the title character undergoes a lifelong struggle to find freedom and equality in Victorian society. Throughout the novel Jane experiences various degrees of freedom and various forms of equality, but it is not until she finds both simultaneously, and under her own terms, can she be truly content with her life. Jane's dilemma stems from her expanding definitions of freedom and equality, for due to her restless nature, each new taste of independence soon leaves her hungry for more."
