Literature : A Way Of A Person 's Mind Essay

Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel or play and, or considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.

Discrimination, it has been part of human nature for a long time, especially relevant subject in literature such as To Kill a Mockingbird. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character of Scout Finch was exposed to different types of discrimination as she grows up. Discrimination affected the lives of characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird because of society’s prejudicial views of race, gender, and class.

Throughout history, different people are treated with isolation and discrimination. This is shown in our culture through songs, movies, television shows, and other forms of art in every corner of the world. For example, the movie and song “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” parallels the oppression of minorities, specifically with the ‘Code Talkers,’ in the novel, Code Talkers, by Chester Nez, during World War II.

People look at the stories of corrupt government and unusual behavior ,and feel secure for in their eyes the stories are fabled. They aren’t aware that the world of today is headed down the same path. A world of dystopia is on the horizon as the world is slowly consumed by the bright lights in our palms. Authors, and filmmakers have utilized many tools to make their creations come to life in front of the intended audience. In these forms of entertainment, social commentary is used to relate the audience in the distant world. For example, in Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is placed in a book burning world that is against any form of actual thinking, but all that changes for Montag as he meets Clarisse McClellan who questions everything around her.

Introduction Prejudice refers to the judgements towards a person because of their race, social class, age, disability or sexual orientation. (Cherry, “What is Prejudice?”) Prejudice was, and still is, to a large extent experienced by people all over the world. It is a theme that is presented in so many works of literature in a plethora of different ways. One of the most prominent ways in which prejudice is explored is through the use of characters that perhaps are a different nationality or have a different orientation to the majority of the other characters in the works. Two texts, in which the theme is presented in an admirable way , are ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, and ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey. Through the use of the

Literature is the window to realizing the negatives of society and how destructive certain norms can be. Readers are brought into a completely different story than their own, but by using similar issues in today’s world, the readers can actually learn from the story and its overall message. All writers write for a purpose, whether it’s for a new meaning to life, to live a different life than our own, or to impact others on an emotional level by teaching them to see the importance of the little things. As a reader, you search for pieces of literature that interest you whether you find the story like your own, or wish you lived the life in the story. By using issues in today’s within their works, authors are able to grab the reader's attention long enough for them to get across what they wanted to get across. Often in many works of literature, writers use societal issues as their basis for the work’s themes and symbols. By doing so, this allows the reader to question the morality behind social norms and how impactful certain ideals can be in people’s lives.

This essay originally titled Studying Literature in Grade 12, has an abundance of information regarding and convincing the readers that the grade twelve English course should be composed of Canadian literature. The grammar in this essay however, was weak. The subject did not agree to their pronouns, making many sentences awkward. Overall, improvements could have been made. Some of these include MLA format, the title, introduction paragraph, grammar, punctuation and the citation format.

In today 's society, equality is a big deal, with many people still fighting for their rights. People all over the world are still being discriminated against, a topic that is not uncommon for a vast amount of dystopian novels. In fact, it 's a very common theme for multiple dystopian pieces. Scott Westerfeld 's Uglies, Joelle Charbonneau 's The Testing, Liam Hughes ' The Social Classes, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 's Harrison Bergeron, and Wes Ball 's interpretation of The Maze Runner all have social discrimination integrated into their story lines. Despite the many problems in dystopian societies, authors also present the classic hero that rises above those issues and works to rebuild their government or community. However, a hero isn 't just born, they 're made through a series of events such as problems with social class discrimination.

Fiction has been around for centuries, feeding the imagination of young and older minds. Usually when people read a fictional story, they don’t think about the connotation the story tries to convey. But every story has a message, and whether it be big or small, it takes a complex, deeper thinking to be able to find that message. It is apparent that the reason we study fiction is to be able to find that deeper thinking within ourselves and enrich our imagination.

Many feel that the most common cause of discrimination is because of someone’s abilities, while in actuality the majority of discrimination is done because of someone’s looks. In the novella Of Mice and Men, Author John Steinbeck crafted numerous characters to give a visual of what this discrimination looks like. Many types of discrimination occur in this novella. Ageism against senior citizens can be seen in a character named Candy and his dog, who are discriminated against for their appearance. Sexism against women can be seen in Curley’s wife, who is neglected countless times by her husband. There’s even a character named Crooks who experiences racism for being an African American, the most devastating example of judging people by appearances. Steinbeck and his creation of these characters can illustrate a message to readers about human nature; people discriminate against others based more on appearances than abilities. Analyzed within this essay is evidence of why Steinbeck created these characters, how the dialogue they experience adds to the claim and the overlooked abilities that each of these characters had.

People can not put on the news without seeing at least one story about social inequality or injustice, if everyone knows about these inequities why are they not being solved? Inequities are not limited to America, social inequity is a global problem making it extremely important to raise awareness of the topic. Inequities such as racism and sexism impact teenagers in America, but to counteract this persecution authors can use various genres of literature to promote tolerance and reduce the effects of inequities. Racism and sexism violates people’s rights in schools, the workplace, and almost every place in the world. Through the words of authors, society can learn the harmful effects of these inequities, and learn how

Most stories are not just stories written to entertain the reader. Intentional or not, writers are often commentating on the world around them. Social commentary is interwoven in the fabric of novels, and it is often up to the reader to determine what they take away from any given work. Although written for entertainment’s sake, stories usually include the social or political views of the author and serve as a platform for their views to be made known.

In colonial America, certain groups of people, specifically women and people of color, had to face societal struggles, such as discrimination. Discrimination can be based on many different characteristics—age, gender, weight, ethnicity, religion, or even politics. For example, prejudice and discrimination based on race is called racism. Oftentimes, gender prejudice or discrimination is referred to as sexism. Discrimination is often the outcome of prejudice, a preformed negative judgment or attitude. General well-being, self-esteem, self-worth, and social relations can be severely impacted in a negative way as a result of discrimination. Unfortunately, this obstacle still exists in our society today, but it is definitely not as severe as it was back in colonial American times. This idea that many times, certain groups in society are discriminated against due to their race, gender, appearance, etc. is a theme that is expressed in the early American texts, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, and “On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley.

When choosing novels in previous years, I have developed an imaginary checklist in which I run through. This checklist allows me to determine if a book is suited for me and the major theme(s) being studied during that year. The novels I often gravitate towards are the ones that I can relate to or share a connection with (text-to-self and text-to-world). These are the books I opt for because as a reader, I visualize the plot and being able to connect to it means I can sympathize with the protagonist or other characters in the book. In grade 9, as a class, we read To Kill A Mockingbird, this book was not specifically chosen by me, but it had a connection to the world we live in. Discrimination is a global issue, and in this particular novel,

It is commonly acknowledged that Literature is the reflection of the society. It is indeed true that literature reflects the attitude and perception of the society where it is written. Literature mirrors the vices of the society with an intention to make the society realize its mistakes and make amendments. The vast literature, produced from time to time, bears evidence to the fact that man is prone to discrimination. Treating a person or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of their sexuality, skin, and class has, been core theme of the Harper lee’s master piece To Kill a Mocking Bird. The novel is told from Scout’s perspective; through Scout, we witness the social construction of race, class, and gender. The novel continues to be taught in classrooms due to its illustration