The Owls Are Not What They See Essay

Boys will be boys, and girls will be brutal. At least, that’s the impression one gets from reading Stephen King’s novel, Carrie. Endless bullying from all students on Carrie White is common at Ewen High, where the novel takes place, however, the bullying is taken more seriously by the girls. Carrie lives an unfortunate life, alone with her strictly religious mother. These factors lead to the wrath of Carrie White, the downfall of herself, and well, just about everyone else. King uses the theme of women and femininity to demonstrate that females often conform to hateful stereotypes, are completely different from men, and to show how religion can play a role in this.

In Francine Prose’ paper, “I know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read”, Prose describes why many high school student dislike reading literature that the American education system has preached. The premise of her essay is that today’s high school English classes are largely flawed in both material and teaching method. Prose contends that these practices are damaging to the students’ understanding and appreciation of literature. She harshly critiques the quality of required reading in American high schools and suggests a reconsideration of the English curriculum. She challenges the audience to acknowledge the curriculum’s impact on high school students and urges the audience to consider how it may addressed. Prose crafts her argument by using an appeal to logos, asking rhetorical questions and employing negative connotation.

“Owls” by Mary Oliver is a complex and imaginative view of nature and an analysis of its beauty and, at the same time, frightening aspects through the lens of Oliver. Throughout her story, Oliver explores the paradoxical anomalies of nature: the beauty contrasted with the fear as well as the complexity contrasted with simplicity. Using sensory language, parallel structure, and alliteration, Oliver establishes her awe-struck yet cautious view of nature as a paradoxical masterpiece.

In Francine Prose’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read: How American High School Students Learn to Loathe Literature”, the author is trying to explain why high school students are not asked to read more quality pieces of literature now a days. In my opinion I agree with Prose because I think the texts we read in high school are not challenging and not a lot of students enjoy the readings because they cannot relate. Prose uses the rhetorical strategy of degrading the books high school students are reading and she uses her own personal experiences to support her argument.

It proves “Men on television are…powerful” when Hank commands his family (Witt). In addition, “Women are portrayed as spending much of their time…talking” and “The women in these media are also more likely to be seen doing activities best described as stereo-typically female” (Signorelli). Most of the episode consisted of the women talking. While it conforms a lot, it also defies stenotypes. The Women on the show are average size, not “thin” (Signorelli). When talking, Frankie and hank don’t dominate each going against the stereotype of “…men are usually more dominant.” (Witt). Most of the female characters also wear little to no makeup defying women’s emphasis being “…on attractiveness and desirability”

Television networks are continually expanding their programming slates, and many in the past have switched to a year-round programming schedule that makes the phrase “summer return” basically absolute. On every channel, in every magazine, every darken theater, we see the way pop culture limits women’s role- girlfriends, victims, hookers, corpses, sex bombs, and “teases,” but why? Television, for most women, was the first place where they were able to visually see themselves represented. And for quite a while, they didn’t see much besides the loving wife, the dutiful daughter, gossiping girlfriends, fashion models, and the occasional maid, granny, or nanny. In Where the Girls Are: Growing Up

On September 20, 1984 a show aired that changed the way we view gender roles on television. Television still perpetuates traditional gender stereotypes and in reflecting them TV reinforces them by presenting them as the norm (Chandler, 1). The Cosby Show, challenged the typical gender stereotyping of television, daring to go against the dominant social values of its time period. In its challenge of the dominant social view, the show redefined the portrayal of male and female roles in television. It redefined the gender role in the work place, in social expectations, and in household responsibilities. The Cosby Show supported Freidan in her view of “castigating the phony happy housewife heroine of the

Symbolism is used extensively in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The theme of prejudice in the novel can be best perceived through the symbol of the mockingbird. Atticus advised his children that if they went hunting for birds to "shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (96). Miss Maudie explains this further by saying that "mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (96). Bluejays are considered to be the bullies of the bird world. They are very loud, territorial and

Anyone who’s watched American television knows all too well the trope of the bumbling husband who is constantly reprimanded by his naggy wife. In the hit AMC show Breaking Bad, this view is no different; While Walter White continues down his spiral into depravity as chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-kingpin, his wife Skyler is often portrayed as demeaning, argumentative, and a hurdle to leap over by both the audience and the characters. However, while many will argue that Skyler’s presense furthers this problematic stereotype, her actions could instead be viewed as a way of subverting traditional submissive gender roles and creating spaces of empowerment for female viewers.

People tend to only pay attention to what is right in front of them rather than diving into the deep reality hidden beyond. In the The Great Gatsby the reader is introduced to a very peculiar character during one of Jay Gatsby’s parties. This man, who is later named Owl Eyes, makes many strange statements that seem insignificant. At the end of the book those odd statements turn into the most important details of the whole story. If the reader puts more consideration into the bizarre things that Owl Eyes is saying they would know early into the story how it ends.

The “true” woman requires purity, domesticity, submission, and divinity while being beautiful, smart, funny, and wealthy. Though a character may embrace one or more of these qualities, it’s unrealistic for them to encompass all. Representation of the body of film is presented differently throughout Roseanne, Orange is the New Black, and American Beauty. One character throughout these films exist in ways that defy the standard presentation of the ideal woman or support it and it’s used for perversion. With Roseanne, the celebrity and character, she doesn’t fit the feminine sanction by being rowdy and too fat, which is considered excessive by the public eye.

We have all heard of strange and gory stories that are supposedly true, experienced by a friend of a friend. Whether true or not these so called "urban legends" tend to circulate throughout society thriving on each individual's fears and curiosity. What most people don't realize is, within these tales lies the attitudes and values of a community. These tales do not survive throughout the years solely on the basis of their entertainment level, but due to the fact that they reflect society's fears and anxieties. In dissecting these tales one can indefinitely find the social fallacy against females that has existed for decades, as well as the fears women have against men. However, more importantly, the values that society hold are

While gender roles of that in the 1970 's were framed by the traditional "Pop catches the pig and Ma cooks the bacon", Being Mary Jane is nothing short of progressive. Playing by her own rules, Mary Jane exemplifies the life of a successful news anchor who used stereotypes to propel forward, better known as Gender Judo, to climb the corporate ladder. Single and 1seemingly having it all, Mary Jane is yet missing an intricate piece to the American Dream puzzle-a family of her own. Through my lens, Being Mary Jane, a television show produced by Black Entertainment Television, frees us from the traditional framework of family by depicting women in a light of success without the dependence of a husband. It offers a relatable platform for women to be shown as competent, valuable and independent yet simultaneously sensitive to the needs of family nurturing which in turn offers a sense of completion.

I chose the first episode of the very popular television program The Event. I viewed the first episode on Netflix, October 20, 2011. This program originally aired on NBC, September 10, 2010, and is titled “I Haven’t Told You Everything”. This program has a total of twenty two series to date and is classified as an action-adventure drama. After viewing a picture of the main characters with the synopsis of this program, I noticed immediately that this was a male dominated show. The picture shows seven people standing together and merely two of the seven are female. The premise of the story is about a man searching for his missing fiancé. The story line was a prime example of the gender male

Firstly, the two women, Jules and Dana, are defined as The Whore and The Virgin which is two opposite ends of the spectrum whose deaths are meant to serve as bookends for the others. The order of deaths is irrelevant except in the case of the women. Jules, as the corrupted whore, has to die first, and Dana, the Virgin, has to die last, that’s if she dies at all. As Hadley says, “The virgin’s death is optional as long as it’s last.” The female characters are defined only by their sexuality; nothing else about them really matters. In certain scenes Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘male gaze’ is prevalent. When Dana is getting undressed in her room, Holden finds out that he can see through a window into her room, but she can’t. We see the camera follow Dana up and down as she takes off her clothes, then the camera switches back round to Holden, who we see watching her but trying to look away at the same time. Still, the men don’t fare much better with their prescribed roles. They are given the roles of The Athlete, The Scholar, and The Fool. The Athlete is your typical American jock who has a naturally athletic and muscly body and loves sports. The scholar is represented as being a book worm whose only passion is education and reading books and the fool is represented as being basically