Racism in the Loon Essay - 942 Words

â€Å"The Loons†: Social Racism Kills a Metis Girl Margaret Laurence’s short story â€Å"The Loons† from A Bird in the House has proven highly controversial as an example of racist literature. The Loons, is a representation of racial separation in mid-western Canada in the early 1900s. Here, Margaret Laurence uses setting and characterization to show how severe the prejudice of white people can be towards half breeds, after the period of new colonization. Piquette Tonnere, protagonist, who intends to fight those prejudices eventually, dies, leaving readers surprised to observe the cruelty of the society. The tale â€Å"The Loons† illustrates how racism exists in the guise of good intentions, intolerance and stereotyping. When Vanessas†¦show more content†¦Being ignorant about aboriginals, Vanessa has preconceived ideas about Picquettes heritage. It seemed to me that Picquette must be in some way a daughter of the forest, a kind of junior prophetess of the wilds, who might impart me, if I took the right approach......., or whatever it said in Hiawatha. (Laurence 419) Vanessa is suggesting that just because Picquette is an aboriginal, she must be a skilled tracker and hunter like legendary literary character Hiawatha. Piquette senses this, and she refuses to open up to Vanessa, by rejecting her friendly act. Vanessa immediately decides that â€Å"as an Indian, Piquette was a dead loss,† when she realizes that Piquette has no â€Å"Indian† secrets to share with her; she is confused by Piquette and ultimately rejects her. Alienated Piquette acts indifferently to her surroundings, and only once in the story her heartfelt feelings have been expressed: â€Å"Listen, you wanna know something, Vanessa?...Your dad was the only person in Manawaka that ever done anything good to me† (Laurence 422). Coming from Piquette, who keeps her emotions hidden, just like the loons who cry only at night, her words mean a lot: they show to the readers, Piquette’s loneliness and isolation. Grown up woman Piquette wants acceptance in white dominating society. She attempts to escape poverty and alienation by becoming a seductive woman to snare a man assuming marriage can be the only avenue of escape. In her make up and skin tight skirt,Show MoreRelatedShort Story Essay on Canadian Racial Diversity (Citing Akua Nuten, the Mystery of a White Man, and the Loons)783 Words   |  4 Pagescriminals made his claim seemingly powerful as it was truthful that there are many criminals who are White but really, it is just as easy to come up with a list of Asians, Blacks, and Latinos who are lawbreakers, rapists, and law rigging judges. In â€Å"The Loons†, the half-breed girl Piquette Tonnerre spent a month with the MacLeods, a Caucasian family on a holiday. During that period, the doctor’s daughter Vanessa was trying to make friends with Piquette but she was rejected and ignored by the narrow-mindedRead MoreThe Loons1387 Words   |  6 Pagesthe long-run. Both â€Å"The Loons† by Margaret Laurence and â€Å"Compatriots† by Emma Lee Warrior portray similar messages about the Natives. The main characters Hilda and Vanessa represent ignorance because of their stereotypical nature towards the culture. However, as Vanessa matures she goes through a realization and understands the sorrow and pain of Piquette and her tradition other than herself. Vanessa’s final understanding of Piquette’s life and culture symbolizes the loons. Both short stories revealRead More Racism in Literature Essay2573 Words   |  11 PagesThese works are written using a variety of elements of literatu re for instance setting, themes, conflict, and characters. The following essay discusses the element of racism as a theme in Margaret Laurence’s short story â€Å"The Loons,† Langston Hughes’ poem, I Too, Sing America, and W.E.B Du Bois’ book, â€Å"The Souls of Black Folk.† â€Å"The Loons† is a short story that was done by Margaret Laurence together with other stories in the sequence â€Å"A bird in the House† and was published in 1970. The story centersRead More`` Sula `` By Toni Morrison And The Great Gatsby1762 Words   |  8 PagesMorrison and â€Å"The Great Gatsby† by F Scott Fitzgerald are books based in the 1920’s. They are about life in that time seen from different perspectives upper white class (extremely wealthy) and of course the lower African American Class. It is obvious racism and discrimination were a crucial part of how society worked in America in this time. How blacks were separated from whites and looked down upon. How because of the color of their skin and race they were forced to live in poverty and denied equalRead MoreGloablization4764 Words   |  20 PagesSummers’ (1998) Skin Deep: Inside the World of Black Fashion Models, we see a very different view of Black woman’s beauty. The r unways of Paris and Milan served as the stepping-stones of many highly paid Black fashion models. Despite the pervasiveness of racism, many Black models found acceptance in this part of the world. We can trace this acceptance to the life’s work of Josephine Baker. Although her story is by far not an exceptionally happy tale she did gain prominence and acceptance in Europe long beforeRead MoreCracker Barrel3944 Words   |  16 Pagesmatters, health and safety, taxes, pensions and insurance. Cracker Barrel having to deal with the results of pending and threatened litigation. Cracker Barrel has also had to deal with negative press releases and other communications in regard to racism and homosexuality lawsuits. I have eaten at three Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Restaurants and have not found them to be that great. Their service was really no better than the average restaurant of this caliber. The demographics

The Struggles Of Immigration During The United States

The Struggles of Immigration â€Å"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.† (― Franklin D. Roosevelt) Immigration itself is a powerful word to all immigrants living in the United States. Let’s be honest with ourselves when you hear the word immigration, the first thing that pops up in our minds is Mexican. Why is it that when we hear the word immigration we think of Mexicans? That is something that nobody will ever understand. But immigration is not just about Mexicans, it is also about all the other immigrant people living in the United States. There are people from many parts of the country. Every time one sees the news, or social media one can see the many†¦show more content†¦If we could only legalize the people that are already in the United States, that would help out the economy greatfully. For example, if we could charge all the immigrants a $10,000 fine to be able to get their Green Cards this would increase our economy immensely. Let’s say that it would be $10,000 X 20,000,000 it would come out to be $200,000,000,000, This would gratefully help out th e economy. It is said that both high-skill and low-skill immigration leads to increased economic growth. Immigration benefit the U.S in two ways, â€Å"it had increased immigration to expand the American workforce and encourages more business start-ups† (Furchtgott-Roth 1). It also â€Å"increases economic efficiency by raising the supply of low- and high-skilled immigrants†( Furchtgott-Roth 1). Immigrants work and provide much of the low-skill labor for industries. If they didn’t most consumers would pay high prices for hotels and restaurants. Immigrants also benefit from and to the U.S research in science, technology,engineering and mathematics(STEM). One also has to take in account the impact of deportation. Everyday there are immigration stings, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE) goes out and start picking up immigrants that are illegal in the United States, which is impacting our economy in a negative way. Alright let’s begin, the cost to keep an inmate in jail is $129.44

Finding Forrester Free Essays

The movie Finding Forrester is based in the Bronx. Jamal Wallace meets William Forrester and at first is unaware that he is a famous author. William helps Jamal with his passion for writing which he covers up with basketball to get accepted. We will write a custom essay sample on Finding Forrester or any similar topic only for you Order Now He gets the opportunity to go to a different school for basketball until he figures out that he would rather be there for academics. William and Jamal have an agreement that William will help with writing and Jamal will keep him a secret. Jamal turns in a paper that William wanted to remain in the apartment, and Jamal gets punished for it when he finds out the first part of his paper that William started for him had published in the New Yorker. Jamal rather take the blame for plagiarism instead of telling them that he knew Forrester. He still covers up with basketball, yet purposely misses his two free throws at the championship game, so the school would want him for his academics and not his athletics. In the end Forrester comes to the school to read for the class and the professor is shocked that he is there, and loves the work that Forrester reads until he says that it is not by him it is by Jamal Wallace. Then the professor knows that they are friends and Jamal never plagiarized from Forrester. William Forrester dies at the end form cancer that he never told anyone about. The end result is that he left his apartment to Jamal and he also gave him a break in his writing. William left Jamal an unfinished book with papers giving him permission to finish and publish it as his book. This is a huge break for him, people never took him seriously he was just a kid from the Bronx and that’s all he would have been if Forrester never helped him. My reaction to this film is that no matter where you’re from you can make it big. Also a friendship can start from any type of situation. I think you can see how they each helped each other through the film. Forrester helped Jamal with his writing and got him a better future then he was headed for. Jamal helped Forrester live his life not cooped up in an apartment. You can see how hard it is to be accepted when you’re young. Jamal had to hide his academics like his teacher said â€Å"being smart doesn’t get you accepted. † Basketball is what got Jamal accepted. Even basketball didn’t do it for everyone. In a different school it can take more. When Jamal was trying to teach Clair how to play basketball you could see in her father’s face that he was unsure about Jamal. Overall I really liked the movie, it doesn’t seem like something I would pick up off a shelve at the video store and watch. I am happy I got the chance to watch it; there are many lessons to be learned in the movie Finding Forrester. How to cite Finding Forrester, Papers Finding Forrester Free Essays Finding Forrester The film, â€Å"finding Forrester†, was a good quality film, with a great theme and moral lesson. The film has two main characters, Jamal Wallace and William Forrester. Jamal Wallace is a talented 16-years old African American basketball player in Bronx, New York, whose secret passion is writing and reading. We will write a custom essay sample on Finding Forrester or any similar topic only for you Order Now William Forrester is a reclusive Pulitzer Prize winning novelist who never gave the world a second novel. He suffers from agoraphobia which prevents him from dealing with life. After an accidental meeting, Forrester becomes Jamal’s teacher and helps him to improve his writing skill. Jamal’s passion of reading and writing, and Forrester’s desire to be a part of the world again builds a friendship that changes both of their life. In his old public school, Jamal Wallace just another teenage boy who resembled all of his friends, except for his secret love to read and write. Once he attends the new private school, he is given a complete different experience. Jamal’s passion for writing is kept secret; he hides in his room reading and writing. During the class, the English teacher asks Jamal about thee significance of â€Å"the raven†, he responds that he had never read this prom before. He was afraid to be different and though his friends would leave him if he told them about his writing. That’? s also the reason that he didn’? t tell his friends about his high test scores. Instead, he showed off his genius in basketball, since it made him fit in school. However, the school discovered Jamal’s test scores, and thinks public school might not be the right place for him. The Easton’s best private school offers Jamal a scholarship. As his friend, William, encourages him to find an answer, which Jamal believes will be found at the private school. When Jamal attends the new school, his experience was changed. He works hard to fit in his new school because the majority of people are white and more educated. Jamal had a big conflict with Mr. Crawford–his new English teacher. There were lots of problems that Mr. Crawford had against Jamal, most of which were based on as well as Jamal’s race and as well as his writing talent. Even though Jamal’s life changes dramatically after he transfers to a new school, he never gives up when he is treated unfairly. William Forrester is the other main character in the film, who is a famous Pulitzer Prize winning author. However, after the death of his brother, he develops agoraphobia and becomes reclusive, isolating himself from the outside world. A series of event and the development of a friendship with Jamal Wallace changes William. In the film, Jamal teaches William the values of life that he is missing; he shows his integrity to Forrester by not telling anyone about his life of solitude. The friendship with Jamal helps William to overcome his agoraphobia. William realizes he could trust Jamal because Jamal deeply cares about him. He takes Forrester to the Yankee Stadium, where he listens to his life story. This makes William realize the importance of friendship, seeing life in a new perspective. Before watching this film, I had no idea what to write about it, but now I have discovered and learned a lot from those characters. Jamal helps William to overcome his agoraphobia and go outside again to be a part of the world. In exchange, Forrester helps Jamal with his passion and goal of uniting. The friendship between Jamal and Forrester turns into a whirlwind that sweeps both characters up and changes their lives forever. This film tells me the virtues of life. How to cite Finding Forrester, Papers

Schools Should Prepare Children For Life in Societ Essay Example For Students

Schools Should Prepare Children For Life in Societ Essay yIn todays information society people often think that characters from TV-showsor talkshow guests reflect our society. Although that opinion is rather based onthe disability of people to use information than on any logical thoughts, thereis something every talkshow reminds us of: people are not perfect. So, I say,society can not be perfect either. I believe that society works by that societydoesnt work. People are too different to put them all into one melting pot, butyou have to, because otherwise society would end in destruction and hate (asseen in the Third Reich). I believe that schools have an obligation to prepare children for life insociety. Therefore they dont necessarily have the ability to change society butI think todays situation in Germany is not nearly as bad as the situation inDead poets society, a movie based on a true story. In the movie a teachertries to let his students be creative and critical towards everything they seeand hear while neglecting values like punctuality and obedience. At first he issuccessful, but as soon as the school board notices his ambitions, he getssuspended for some odd reason. If a teacher in Germany tries to influence students in the way that they aremore creative that is generally seen as positive, but what almost makes thisimpossible is the number of students in a class and the time frame of just 45minutes, which is short if you are going to hear all the different opinions ofall the students. If we accept that there do exist problems in society that need to get fixed, wealso have to see that it is not schools job to do this alone. Schools just cannot make decisions for society, but they should work onproducing individual, critical and creative thinkers with a strong socialconscience. However other institutions need to support schools in doing that andI think it should specifically be pointed out that the current decrease ofteachers while numbers of students are increasing, can have fatal consequencesfor the next generations of citizens. Category: Social Issues