Rebel Without A Cause : Rebel Without A Cause?

One of the main themes in Scott Westerfield’s text Uglies is the conflict teenagers have with where they stand in society and learning to respect and value themselves. Using examples from the text compare them with today’s world for teenagers.

Despite the large amount of people that feel confident and comfortable in expressing themselves freely, many adolescents have a deteriorating concept of self because of the belief that they should have to conform to their peer’s ideals. The identities of these children are being dictated by a need of acceptance from prominent social groups in their environment; however, teenagers must realize one’s own individuality as something beneficial and recognizing that conforming can become problematic in certain situations.

Adolescence describes the transitional stage in a teenager’s life, from childhood to adulthood, where an individual evolves physically, psychologically, emotionally, cognitively and socially. It is a defined social category that is expressed through immaturity and unpredictability and allows an individual to learn and discover their sense of self and identity. The idea of adolescence came into perspective after children were expected to take on adult roles as soon as they were mature enough to, going straight from puberty to adulthood. As society changed and moulded, so did the ideas about life stages, which is evident in Erikson’s theory.

     One of the major themes that are presented throughout the whole entire movie is the dysfunctional relationship between one of the characters and their fathers. The movie portrays father figures as problematic which then shape the actions and the characters themselves as the movie progresses. We can see all three dynamics of the father figure presented through Jim, Judy, and Plato. Through Jim, the father figure that he is presented with is a father who is weak allows himself to be walked on by Jim¡¯s mother and grandmother. Judy¡¯s father, on the other hand, is quite the opposite of Jim¡¯s father in that he is the overbearing, masculine, and insensitive. Lastly, we see the absence of a

From the time they are little, youths are being trained for adulthood whether they realize it or not. They must get used to the ways of the world if they are to survive in it. Perhaps the most tragic is the attempt to escape. Eady describes the children as fighting what is expected of them by “reach[ing] in self-defense” for a way to express themselves(27). They try to hide behind the wigs, lipstick, and sequins of a life they can only dream of.

When you picture a teenager you picture fighting, drinking, or answering back, am I right? However, this is simply not the case. Sure there is the minority of trouble makers. However this minority is exaggerated due to the news showing only this behaviour. This stereotyping has found its audience and crept into television shows and series. This has led to the creation of a mockumentary called “Summer Heights High” which has unfairly represented teen

“In our media-intensive culture it is not difficult to find differing opinions… The difficulty lies in deciding which opinion to agree with and which ‘experts’ seem the most credible” (Espejo 11). The perceptions of one age group in society of another age group are built upon assumptions that are made through what is visible. However, rarely is anyone willing to understand the reason behind someone’s actions. Sibling rivalry, the death of a loved one, moving to a new school, competition among peers, and the reputation adolescents have today often end up giving a misperception of society to teens and of teens to society, thus damaging the relationships between society, as illustrated by J.D. Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye.

The 1950’s was a time of great social change. The word, ‘teen-ager’ was recently coined and applied to people aged thirteen to nineteen. During this decade, people’s perception of youth and adolescents drastically changed as children became more rebellious. Previous to 1950. society consisted of two main stages of human development: children and adults. When the Baby Boom started in 1946, producing more babies, a new era of music, attitudes, practices, and dance began to appeal to kids that did not feel socially accepted by adults in society. This was the start of the teenage rebellion. With increased teenager presence came more disapproval because of rebellious behaviour. Teenagers were pitted against media, parents, and local authority. Teenagers started disobeying parents, getting expelled from school, and fighting back against authority. Indeed, the ‘50s were a time that saw upheavals towards the impact of the music, change of attitudes, new fashions, and new dances developed children into teenagers.

Rebellion is the denunciation of both conventional and cultural goals, but aims to replace both foundations with new goals and means of obtaining these.

First of all, with the use of plot and character as dramatic elements, MacLeod is able to depict the main characteristics of the nature of adolescence, mainly the search for identity and the quest for independence. Among the scientific community, adolescence is believed to be the most crucial period in human development. It is a period of “rapid biological, social and psychological change” (Soto, et al. 330). There are the transformations that define puberty, there are changes in the relationships and attitudes towards adults and peers, and many teenagers struggle to form a coherent identity (331). In the process of discovering their identities, most adolescents become self-centered. Having not yet

Rebellion is a common theme in both Rebel Without a Cause, directed by Nicholas Ray and Bonnie and Clyde by Arthur Penn, acts of rebellion create dramatic, memorable scenes that help create relatable characters and struggles. When one parallels the two films and the characters portrayed in them, it is clear to see that both Jim are Clyde are similar. One unforgettable scene from Rebel Without a Cause, is the chickie run that Jim competes in against Buzz, just to prove he is not a chicken. But Buzz’s sleeve gets caught in his door handle and falls to his unwilling death; In this case, Buzz’s rebellion leads to death. Just like Jim, Clyde also does darning things for the sake of self-preservation, this is shown when he robs the bank in front

The 1950’s were a time of change, the entertainment industry started to target steadily teenagers with their movies and messages. During the 1950’s many teenagers became rebellious and disobedient, and sought out something fresh and modern, opposing what their parents’ enjoyed, the very traditional heros like Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart. With the entrance of James Dean, Marlon Brando and the anti-hero archetype to the big screen, many teenagers could relate with the stories of defiant protagonists and rebellious actions. Moreover in the article titled“What’s the Big Deal? Rebel Without a Cause (1955)-Part 1”, by Eric D.Snieder, it states that “Teens had worries, too — they just didn’t have much in the way of movies, TV, or music to help

Teen activists are determined and passionate about what they believe in because they fight for what they believe in, get support in different ways, and they work in different ways. This shows they are all working to get their way to make the world peaceful. Teen Activism is when a kid either went through a tough problem or heard about the problem and wanted to set the problem right. The activist uses whatever they can to get their word out, advertisements, books, newspaper, internet, t.v, and people like their peers, parents, pets, family members, friends, and all of their fans.

It is no surprise that adolescence would be a turbulent time due to the very nature of the biological changes that occur in a young person’s body. Between hormonal and physical changes, cognitive development coupled with sexual maturation it’s no wonder some young people experience high levels of conflict and exhibit acts such as insurrection. Mead’s message regarding the state of adolescence is that although adolescence is an inevitable experience, those changes are more so a consequence of the environment and culture to which one belongs. Mead presents this view when speaking of a “primitive adolescent girl” “Her whole material environment was different…this routine of life which was so different from ours, so her social environment in its attitudes towards children, towards sex, towards personality, presented as strong a contrast to the social

Rhetorical analysis is a way to break down non-fiction texts by an effective use of words to persuade. The development of the adolescent brain is continuing to mature to a fully developed brain. It is known that teenagers’ decisions can be easily influenced; usually by their peers. Therefore, decisions made as an adolescent differs from the decisions and behavior from an adult. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the article, Can Teenage Defiance Be Manipulated for Good? By New York Times author, Amanda Ripley's, ideas to persuade people how teenagers make wiser choices when they are being encouraged to make positive decisions. In this persuasive article, Ripley uses ethos, logos, and diction in order to explain how teenagers beliefs can be influenced.