A Doll’s House - Feminism

In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, presents many context and views that reflects the society in his time. One of them is feminism. Feminism is an approach to sex and gender equality. A feminist movement is a movement against the stereotypical definition of woman created by men. Meanwhile, a feminism criticism in literature examines language and literature by exposing how these reflect masculine or feminist ideology. Although, there are clear feminist ideology in A Doll’s House, Ibsen argues that it was not a feminist criticism but rather humanism. In an interview with Ibsen, he disclaims “the honor of having consciously worked for women's rights.” Instead, he claims “to me it has been a question of human rights.”

The human rights in this play were specified at the female gender. In the 19^th century, women were treated poorly. It was so horrific that they were to be compared as “a little better than slaves”. Instead of being controlled by owners, women obeyed under the men or the husbands. One of the feminist at the time had described the equality of women:

"Under exclusively man-made laws women have been reduced to the most abject condition of legal slavery in which it is possible for human beings to be held...under the arbitrary domination of another's will, and dependent for decent treatment exclusively on the goodness of heart of the individual master." (Florence Fenwick Miller, 1890)

In the context of the play, Torvald views Nora as little more than a beautiful ornament of his home. He constantly calls her wife various animals/pets name. This is a form of dehumanizing of his wife.

HELMER: "Is that my squirrel rustling?" (Act 1 pg 24)

Nora had to hide her macaroons from Torvald because if he found out he might think she is spending money on excessive things. Nora’s liberty to buy things at her will is extinguished. Torvald has controlled all the spending of the house. Torvald view female as incapable of handling serious matter. Besides Nora that showed feminism criticism, Katherine also was criticized in a feminist point of view. Katherine was in need of money to support her family, and the only way to obtain money was to offer herself in marriage.

NORA: "Tell me, is it really true you didn't love your husband? Why did you marry him, then?"

MRS. LINDE: "Well, my mother was still alive; and she was helpless and bedridden. And I had my two little brothers to take care of. I didn't feel I could say no." (Act 1 pg 32)

Work Cited

• Cavedon, Jackie. "Nineteenth-Century European Feminism." Guided History. BU Blogs, n. d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
• "Feminist or Humanist, the Nature of Henrik Ibsen." StudyMode.com. StudyMode.com, 06 2008. Web. 06 2008. <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Feminist-Or-Humanist-The-Nature-Of-153358.html>.
• "What is Feminism?." Eastern Kentucky University. Eastern Kentucky University. Web. 23 Feb 2014. <http://wgs.eku.edu/what-feminism-0>.
• Delahoyde, Michael. "Feminism." Literature. Washington State University. Web. 23 Feb 2014.

Written Task - Long Island Brochure

Rational

Brochure is the format I chose for my written task. The benefit of a brochure is its ability to attract the readers. Attractions like colours, pictures, and other illustrations allowed readers to become mesmerize with the content in the brochure. I brochure would be about the geography content of Long Island, the setting of the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story, although a fiction, is based on real specific geographic settings and time. My intent is to describe these places at the time like in the story. The audience of the brochure is to attract potential people who are moving into the Long Island. Therefore, the brochure would be a little bias in terms of bringing out the best of each place. The four sites I chose to promote in my brochure are the West Egg, East Egg, Valley of Ashes, and New York. These places play a significant role in the story. For example the West Egg, the Buchannan’s resident plays the role where Daisy the beauty like of a goddess is introduced. Or another place like the Valley of Ashes, the dump-grounds of the city, is the place where the unfortunate death occurred. The outcome of this written task was not only to recognize the settings of the story but to describe its role towards the plot. Not only that, I also did some research on the Golden Age  or the “Roaring Twenties” where many people live luxuriously and party all night long. Overall, I viewed that brochure is an effective form of describing various settings in The Great Gatsby and to describe their significances.

Brochure: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1hcDdKJJBI-SWpsaTE4Ym5hX2c/edit?usp=sharing

Aspiration and Idealism

I’m sure most people dream and hope for the same things as I do, that is wealth, love, and peace. What more can a person really wants? However, the possibilities of having exactly what you wished for are pretty low.  That is why it’s called aspiration. Aspiration is the desire or longing for something or someone. People desire this perfection in their lives so that they could be truly happy. They've got everything they wanted. There’s nothing wrong with having such high hopes and idealism.

The cons or the effect of having these ludicrous dreams is the disappointment that comes after. If you really believe you can accomplish such a thing, but it turns out the opposite, you would be disappointed. This frustration, stress, and perhaps envy would destroy you both mentally and physically. You would be unease, walking around in circles, and over thinking. You would be searching for the solution to the problem, fixing whatever you can. Such pressure and stress act upon your mind has an effect on your health. In some way it’s like a scam. How is it a scam? Well, your aspiration would be “tricked” into remorse. You wouldn't want anything in the future, but instead you wanted to change the past. Just like Gatsby wanted Daisy and him to have the same affect like the days, five years ago.

I believe there are two ways to handle with this situation. If you wanted to aim high, then aim high! But expect nothing. You can hope that you would marry a sexy and hot model, but don't expect it to happen. You can hope of winning easy and big cash, like winning the grand prize/jackpot from the lottery. But its unlikely. If you wanted something more realistic, something tangible, and wanted the things you wish to become true. Then the second way is aim low. This is much better, as the probability of occurring such a common thing is high. It won't be something fancy, but at least it happened! You should be grateful and happy for it. To simplify these ideas, is that life or reality doesn't happened the way you wanted to. No matter how hard or effort you gave, you can't change the nature's course. That is why you dream/hope for it!

The Great Gatsby – The Prohibition of Alcohol (18th Amendment)

On January 19, 1919, the 18th Amendment was ratified. It was the first prohibition of alcohol in United States. The main purpose of this was ban and outlawed the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol. Consumed by the “devil” of the alcohol, people associate with bootleggers, gangsters, and alcohol-runners, and causes chaos through America. Using drugs were replacing alcohol causing a more devastating impact on the society. The productivity of America was greatly reduced. After several years after the 18th amendment was in to effect, it soon came to an end. In 1933, the congress repealed the 18th Amendment and while passing the 21st Amendment, which legalized the manufacture of alcohol. As a result of this, crime was actually reduced and many new jobs filled the void as the liquor industry expanded.

The 18th Amendment states:

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2. The Congress and the several states shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several states, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the Congress.

(Source: http://www.history.com/images/topic/content/anti-prohibition-buttons.jpg)

It was the World War I that opens a shot or an opportunity in dealing with alcohol. The congress began banning materials that will be used in making the alcohol beverages. This includes the wheat, fuel, etc.  This legislation is known as the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act of 1917. With this new legislation in effect, many of the country's breweries and distilleries were shut down. However it was only shutdown temporarily as this legislation did not last long. People were arguing that wheat/grains that were thought to be used in brewing the alcohol beverage were highly demanded due to the war.

The novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts the era of the Prohibition as the main character Gatsby, himself, is involved in bootlegging. The results from this illegal consumption of alcohol gave birth to many wealthy people. At that time, consumed by corruption, few police is determined to end this era and as a matter of fact most of them are involved in this business as well. The money gained from selling these beverages is the foundation of all Gatsby wealth. It was ridiculously a lot that he threw a party almost every week, distribute alcohol and free food. It was a paradise for everyone that the people themselves lack the discipline and moral. At that time it was all about fun. People knew him because he was rich and a source of this fun. An example in the story would be where people came to his house only for the party and entertainment. After the party ended, the house was quiet. If he was not into this business and gained easy money, no one would’ve known him and “Gatsby” would mean nothing.

Bibliography:

http://www.historicpatterson.org/Exhibits/ExhProhibition.php

http://www.albany.edu/~wm731882/18th_amendment_final.html

Metacognitive Journal 7

Education. Many things come to mind when I hear of this word. One of the things that surely pops into my mind is pain. There are many types pain when it comes to learning. It can be the pain and stress from staying up late, studying for tomorrow's test or it can be the pain from walking from RIS fifth floor to Reedemer Building fifth floor. Education can be painful and weary but is it worth it? That is the question. To me, I think it's worth the pain I've encountered. The knowledge that school gives us are foundation to who we are. Who would've known since they were born what careers are they going to be when they grow up. Some say, astronauts, doctors, etc but can they be sure about it. They might have been influence by their parents, media, or friends and so they decided to headed for that path. However through the pain and learning at school, we realized what subjects are best suited for us. For example, when I was young I wanted to become a computer programmer make awesome games. Undoubtedly this course of plan changed, and now I wanted to head for bio-medical science. We discover new things all time, everyday. The hardship today will help you succeed tomorrow. If you study hard for the test, you would most likely to receive a good grade. If you decide to push you efforts into your grades, you would most likely be accepted to ivy league universities. If you study in these top ten universities, you would most likely receive great career positions. If you earn huge batch of salary, you would most likely have a great relaxing life. You see its a chain reaction and a great example of how pain and hardship now will later pay off in your life.

My Awesome "American" Dream

After I graduate:

1. Get into a famous company/organization

2. Build up my body, add more packs.

3. Have a chill life

4. Earn lots of money, legally

5. Have a lot of fun


Lifelong goals:

6. Marry to a beautiful and caring wife

7. Travel to beautiful places around the world, especially Maldives before the island becomes flooded

8. Own a company that is well-knowned globally

9. Have a unique hobby

10. Invent something awesome

1950 Political Cartoon

"You read books, eh?"

This cartoon by Herb Block showed a type of propaganda about what's going on in the United States of America after the Cold War. The US is afraid of the idea of "communism" that they had launched many anti-communist campaigns. In a way, it showed that the US is paranoid and afraid of the idea of communism.One of the campaign was to investigate people. The officers had overdone and caused many hundreds of elementary and high school teachers to lost their jobs. Some were forced to be named by proliferating "anti-subversive" groups. The cartoonist wanted to portray this and so he drew the picture above where the "Anti-subversive Committee  is the "bad guy". The title as well as a caption, "You read books, eh?", resembles an officer interrogating a victim that does she only read books? or does she have a role in something else. The officers are trying to prove that the woman that she isn't just a regular teacher, but is also communist spy or a member of a group that wishes to overthrow the government. Normally, things like the world map isn't enough to show that she's a threat to the country. But to this committee they can "paint" anyone with really anything that can be related to "subversive" or overthrowing the government. To exaggerate this problem even more, the author uses a woman as a victim for a reason. Woman symbolizes weak or those who cannot defend themselves. Therefore, the picture shows the committee oppressing the weak Not only this, notice the amount of committee versus the amount of victim, Eight officers to one teacher. This further portrays the offensive and cowardly act made by this committee  This is ridiculous as they have taken it too far, and that someone needed to stop them.