Conformity requires an individual to get out of their comfort zone in order to belong to a certain group. This may cause them to loose their inner self and make them feel unwanted. In Peter Skrzynecki’s poem, St Patrick’s College, he makes evident the concept of conformity. Skrzynecki, in the first stanza, portrays conformity through the school, “impressed by the uniform”. This shows us that Skrzynecki has conformed and now belongs St Patrick’s. Through a cliché, Skrzynecki states that his mother only sent him to that school because she wanted to give him “what was best”. This quote allows the reader to be vicarious with him as everyone has experienced what their parents thought “what was best”. Peter Skrzynecki in St Patrick’s College is accepted to the school; however it isn’t evident that he wants to be accepted. Throughout the poem the reader gains a sense that he may not want to belong there. This is a cost however, Skrzynecki has to pay.…
Unfortunately the relationship between the speaker and the mother in the poem is unclear as it is stated that her mother has passed away and is in a grave, which is shown here in the following excerpt “… into the grave!” but all throughout the poem she speaks of her mother’s courage, which is shown here “courage that my mother had. Went with her, and is with her still… if instead she’d left to me. The thing she took into the grave!–That courage like a rock” which is not typically something that is said by someone who didn’t have a good relationship with the person who’d passed…
Nowadays in society, many people are trying to fit in with other people to become a normal individual, and by that, I mean being a conformist. In contrast, individual do not care about the society or their surrounding, giving them pressure. They want to be themselves, they go for shock value. In “The Sociology of Leopard Man” by Logan Feys, “Two Kind” by Amy Tan and Dead Poets Society by Peter Weir, the main characters are somehow a conformist in some ways, but actually they’re trying to break through the wall that prevents them from achieving their happiness. I believe that in order to to happy and one unique individual, people should look at things differently and in the ways that they want to in order to achieve their wants and who they want to be.…
Dead Poet’s Society is able to perfectly encapsulate Transcendentalist ideas by showing the transition of the Welton Prep boys. All their life, these boys are used to following strict orders from their parents and doing exactly as they are told. They would never in the life dream of going against their parent’s wishes. This film is able to show how just a little push in the right direction can immediately trigger social progress. These boys were able to learn from their teacher, Mr. Keating that it is okay to be your own person and express disapproval towards your parents. Once the boys finally realize that Mr.Keating is right and they should be the one’s in control, they are able to stand up for themselves and break out of the shell they have been living in for all of their…
The initial descriptions of setting and geography influence the purpose of any character, theme or symbol. In the book “A Lesson Before Dying” the courthouse and segregation along with syntactic balance patterns play an important role in influencing those three things…
Toni Morrison and William Faulkner are two of America’s most successful writers who seem to share many similar themes and motifs, Especially between Morrison’s Beloved and Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Both of these novels use multiple narrators, present their characters with struggles of their own identity, and show the difficulties of the people born into the lowest social class.…
The novel, A Lesson before Dying, was written by Ernest J. Gaines in 1993. Gaines was born on the River Lake plantation in Louisiana, where he was raised by his aunt, Miss Augusteen Jefferson. Racism was prevalent shown by the whites-only libraries in Louisiana. After 15 years of living in Louisiana, Gaines moved to California, although he states Louisiana never left him. California had libraries available for the blacks also. In California, he lived with his mother and which inspired him to the point of writing about six novels and scores of short stories. In 1953, Gaines was drafted into the Army, and he later went on to study creative writing at Stanford University. While in the library, Gaines…
In Emily Dickinson's poem "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain", Dickinson describes what seems to be a funeral in her mind. When one thinks of a funeral, they usually think of a ceremony for a person who has died. This funeral that Dickinson is experiencing in her brain, is actually a funeral for the death of her mind. Emily Dickinson describes events that usually take place at a funeral but the ideas she pitches to the reader doesn't exactly exemplify your ideal funeral. She tells the reader how there are mourners, a service, lifting of a box implying it is a coffin and nobody is being burried. In Emily Dickenson's poem, the reader can elaborate upon elements of poetry such as imagery, symbolism, diction, and metaphor that create a better sense of understanding.…
Sunstein starts the book by discussing the conformers, admitting that conformity can be easy an dat times, not bad, as it prevents ostracism, allows decisions based on others' experience, and gives minimal anxiety )as he presents with his Shakespeare, Lincoln and cigarette examples). However, Sunstein quickly counters this by bluntly stating that conformity can lead the whole mob to jump off the cliff together.…
If we think back I am sure we can all remember a time when we were sitting in class and the teacher asked a question; we knew in our minds that the answer we chose was the right one, yet when we looked around, the majority of the class had chosen a different answer. What did we do? We more than likely didn’t answer the question because the rest of the class would have looked at us like we were wrong. We didn’t want to be the odd man out of the whole class. Yu & Sun (2013) state, “when people have different opinions in a group, they often adjust…
Conformity: The Compliance of Standards During Conflict Conflict is caused by many things, and conflict affected many lives. There are many ways to deal with such conflict, one of them being conformity. Conformity is convenient and effective tool that is used in a time of conflict. Susan Bartoletti, the author of Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, told the story of Sophie Scholl’s conformity and Joanne Oppenheim, the author of Dear Miss Breed, shared the experiences of young Japanese Americans in internment. Both these authors, along with a few other authors, showed how conformity can help in a time of conflict, reasons not to resist the ways of the other party, and how one can comply while resisting the ideas of the other party.…
Conformity causes people to be something their not. In the movie “Dead Poets Society” Mr.Keating wants his students to discover their unique identity when he says “seize the day”. This quote clearly states that Mr.Keating wants his students live their lives to the fullest. Mr.Keating wants his students to live their lives not like the past students who failed to discover their identity. Another example of the danger of conformity is in the article “The Sociology of Leopard Man” in the article it states that the Leopard Man lives outside of society. This shows that Leopard Man…
Society struggles most with the temptation that is conformity, “For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure” (Emerson, “Self Reliance” qtd. in Littell 366). It is easy to get lost in a world full of conformists, which is why staying true to your own self is important. Independent thinking is vital; however, not being able to hear others out leads to a closed minded individual. The whole idea is for people to be free in thought and actions, and to do what they want, and not what society beckons them to do, “imitation is suicide” (Emerson, “Self Reliance” qtd. in Littell 366). Human nature, though it is subjective, will always guide you in the right direction as long as you let it. It is a constant battle for man between being a nonconformist and a conformist because of the many temptations, such as the desire to “fit in.” It is a cruel world, and the only way to avoid society’s expectations is to learn to trust yourself and be comfortable in solitude. A profound idea of Emerson’s is to be sure of yourself, and that is how you will gain respect in a hopeless and dependent world. People tend to get lost on the way to the pursuit of the Utopia, and the result ends up creating a breed of identical individuals, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with the perfect sweetness the independence of solitude...” (Emerson, “Self Reliance” qtd. in Littell 365). You have…
Death is one of the only true constants in the universe and is the only guarantee in life. Everyone knows of death and everyone will experience it, but to the living death is still one of life's greatest mysteries. In some cultures death is celebrated and embraced, while in others it is feared. However it is perceived, death holds different meanings for different people. Through the art of poetry a writer can give a reader many different outlooks and maybe a better understanding of life and death.…
In the story "The Dead", written by James Joyce, the author writes this story all to reveal the charater named "Gabriel". The author does a great job describing and revealing important characteristics that help the reader better understand such portraits.…