The Individual in Society - Unit Essential Questions

1. How do humans react to isolation?
     As humans, basic interaction with other members of society is a fundamental aspect of development and social construct. Beginning as a child, isolation has been a form of punishment for bad behavior resulting in groundings or time-outs. As humans grow and progress in society, isolation continues to serve as a negative enforcement to shape behavior and to hopefully mold young adults into respectable human beings. Due to all the various negative connotations connect with isolation, humans generally react in unfavorable manors when faced with solitude. Personally, if not forces into isolation, I enjoy the aspect of remoteness as I can find time for myself away from society and reflect on various aspects of life. Therefore, there is a fine line between punishment and voluntary isolation that defines the way that humans react to the lack of interaction.
2. What do individuals need in order to feel human?
     There needs to be a basic level of compassion and empathy that individuals need in order to feel human. Humanity is an aspect of life that all people misconstrued as being naturally attained, but in reality, humanity is more than being alive. Humanity is based in emotion, interaction understanding. In order to feel human, individuals must feel a sense of purpose and belonging that influence the way they view, interact and interpret the world that we inhabit.
3. What consequences do we face when we don't take responsibility for our actions?
     If people do not take responsibility for their actions, the repercussions and impact are larger than expected. Trust is the foundation that bonds humans and creates relationships. If one was not to own up to their actions, positive or negative, there would cease to be a bonding base within society, resulting in no sense of society. With regards to my own beliefs, I highly value and respect other's ability to be responsible for their own actions and decisions. When people lack this fundamental concept, I find that I lose a sense of trust and connections with that individual. This stresses the importance of honor and certainty in others.
4. How does a lack of compassion or understanding lead to prejudice or stereotyping?
    Stereotyping and prejudice are a continued aspect of discrimination in society today as a result of the lack of compassion and misunderstanding between people and groups. All people, regardless of race, religion, gender or ethnicity, are humans, made up of the same material of bones and muscles. People in the past and today create prejudice and stereotypes based off of physical characteristics and generalizations. These forms of discrimination create a general disconnection between people as a result of the lack of compassion and understanding that is imprinted on each new generation. This cycle has been continuous throughout history, and continues to evolve as new groups and individuals become victims of prejudices and stereotyping. This process not only results in a divided society, but also encourages bullying and a lack of select acceptance within new generations.

Twelfth Night - Act 4 Option Three Response

     In the play the Twelfth Night, Act 4 scene three plays an important role in developing the conflict regarding mistaken identity as well as the rising tension between the lives of Viola and Sebastian. The scene begins with a soliloquy from Sebastian where he admits his confusion and acknowledging the strange situation that he has wandered into, stating, "And though ’tis wonder that enwraps me thus, Yet ’tis not madness" (IV.iii.3-4). Similarly, Sebastian agrees to marry Olivia after she acts quickly and brings a priest with her to meet Sebastian, who she believes is Cesario. This agreement is very important in developing the play as it sets up for future disagreements and confusion. By accepting Olivia's hand in marriage, Sebastian has open the door for conflict with Viola/Cesario and the mistaken identity between them, Orsino's rage and jealousy towards Cesario, who may be either Viola or Sebastian. Finally, this scene will hold importance in the future of the play, creating a general confusion due to the Viola and Sebastian relationship. Therefore, if I were the playwright, I would include Act 4 Scene 3 as it plays a crucial role in progressing the tension and conflict that will ultimately unfold in Act 5.

Shakespeare's Gender Roles in Society Today

     In Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, Shakespeare includes various messages about society's trivial expectations of gender roles due to stereotypes portrayed through several characters. I believe that these messages should remain prevalent in society today as gender roles and stereotypes still negatively impact both males and females daily. As illustrated in the "Shakespeare Gender Swap" media clip, a woman and a man who share identical personalities and experiences, only differing in their name, are still viewed differently by members of society. Men are viewed as strong and brave while women are seen as week and shallow. Also, the clip "Happily Ever After: Perpetuating Stereotypical Gender Ideals" emphasizes the pervasive impact of gender roles that begin from a young age. It appears that children are exposed to societies gender roles through books and movies, resulting in a predisposition and early exposer to gender roles. In the play, Shakespeare comically indicates the irrelevance of gender roles through Viola's reaction to Orsino saying "there is no woman's sides can bide the beating of so strong a passion as love doth give my heart" (II.iv.103-105).Viola, as a woman masked, denies this statement by stating that she knows that woman love equally as men, with equivalent passion and emotion. Similarly, Orsino says "let thy love be younger than thyself, or thy affection cannot hold the bent" (II.iv.42-43) emphasizing the malleable nature of a woman, her emotions, and life. In my own life, I have witnessed the pervasiveness of gender roles as well as the impact they have on both men and women. There are set societal standards as to how women are over-emotional in relationships while men are the strong, often too stoic halves to the whole. Therefore, Shakespeare's messages regarding the negative impact and incorrectness of gender roles is still necessary for society to consider today as these roles still remain a force facing men and women of all ages daily.

"Diving Into the Wreck" SPOTTTS Analysis

"Diving into the Wreck"

Adrienne Rich

1973

S - The subject of this poem focuses on the importance of self acceptance and peace while breaking            free from society's expectations.

P - At the beginning of this poem, the reader familiarized to the concept that a person, not specified as a man or as a woman, is suiting up to go diving by themselves. As the power progresses, the person draws importance to little parts of their journey, like that of the ladder, emphasizing how unfamiliar and unimportant this object would be to other people who lack its usefulness and impact on a journey. Once the diver reaches the water, Rich uses imagery to portray their experience of progressing deeper into the unknown by describing the color gradient from blue, to green, to black. Similarly, the author personifies the ocean as a controlling force while dehumanizes the diver, comparing them to an insect who is complying to the demands of a larger whole, the ocean. Once the diver reaches the sunken ship, it appears that they now have a purpose, having reached the thing they came for. Also, the diver looses their ties to the human world, immersed in the world of the ocean where they recall that "I and she: I am he", exemplifying the lack of societal categorizing and gender roles (77). Comparatively, the diver seems to have reached an inner peace, finding their way and achieving their purpose, not joining a place where "names do not appear" (94).

O - Having been written in 1973, gender roles as well as societal expectations largely impacted the actions and beliefs of people during that time. Through writing this poem, Rich explores these beliefs through the divers exploration of the ship, as well as emphasizing the happiness and independence that rewards self appreciation and breaking from society and their expectations.

T - The explorative tone of the poem reveals the authors wishes for reflecting similar ideals in society, hoping that this meaning will spread and lead more people to question society. Also, due to the professional tone of the diver, it creates contrast with the mystical portrayal of the ocean, emphasizing the differences between the world and their different impacts on the diver.

T - The theme of this poem is to create importance around the subject of individualism as well as understanding between self activism and societal pressures.

T - The title, "Diving Into the Wreck" creates an explorative significance to the poem, emphasizing the beliefs of Rich, that there is a necessity for exploration of the barriers between society and individualism. Also, by having there be a wreck under the ocean, the poem's title highlights that although there is the world above ground that is full of society's beliefs, even the separate world below the sea isn't completely free from these impacts, and will always have part of societal influence, or a "wreck", within.

S - The poem is narrated by the diver who acts as an anchor between the two worlds. As the diver escapes the world of air and ventures downward into the ocean, the poem shifts as the diver enters a musical world of freedom and individual acceptance. 

The Awakening - Interpreting Literary Criticism

     Patricia S. Yaeger criticism of The Awakening by Kate Chopin degrades the character of Edna and her inability to speak for herself and expel a man's influence from her life. Yaeger emphasizes how Edna "can only act within some permutation of the subject-object relations her society has ordained for her", arguing that because of the time period, Edna will never fully experience a true "awakening" due to her pre-programed dependence on men. To support her claim, within the novel, once Edna does achieve freedom for her husband, she then turned to Alcée Arobin "in a way that pleased her at last, appealing to the animalism that stirred impatiently within her" (Chopin 106). Thus, even though Edna was able to isolate her life from that of her husbands, she still allowed her inner animal, or instincts, to guide her into befriending and romantically involving herself with Arobin. By comparing Edna's need for a man to "animalism", Chopin contradicts her message of feminism and freedom from male domination by suggesting that women are naturally in superior and yearn to have the controlling relationships that men implement. Similarly, Yaeger argues that Edna portrays the ideal that women have a natural incapability to speak on their own behalf as their language is "singular when it should be plural, masculine when it should be feminine, phantasmic when it should be open and dialectical." In addition, after Edna witnesses Adele give birth, "her speech was voicing the incoherency of her thought" (Chopin 151). Together, these assertions prove that Edna emphasizes women's inabilities to thrive without male influence as they lack the basic ability to compartmentalize and enforce structure in their conversations and their lives. Also, Yaeger argues that due to Edna's individual insufficiencies, she portrays a message opposite to that of what Chopin was trying to emphasize as she contradicts the characteristic of a strong, independent woman. In conclusion, Yaeger argues that within The Awakening, Edna's character is an erroneous portrayal of a woman who undergoes the revelation of feminism as her characteristics contradict that to which they try to illustrate.

The Awakening Chapter 31-End Dialectical Journal

"It was with a wrench and a pang that Edna left her children...But by the time she had regained the city the song no longer echoed in her soul. She was again alone" (Chopin128).
     This except highlights a key message that did not become clear until the near end of the novel. As Edna yearns to escape from her husband and her world surrounded by control, she never allows herself to fully escaper as she runs into the arms of more men. But, it becomes apparent that Edna will never be able to escape the control of men due to the fact that even if she breaks free from Leoncé, she will still be tied into a life dominated by her two sons and the care they require.

"I love you. Good-by-- because I love you" (Chopin 152).
     When Robert leaves Edna while she is away, the note he writes for her to find upon her return emphasizes the role that Robert plays in this novel. He is constantly the one person that Edna believes will open her life to endless possibilities and happiness, and yet, even when they declare their love for one another, her still leaves. This shows that true happiness with men and life in general may be unconventional and never truly unattainable.

"She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again" (Chopin 157).
     As Edna commits suicide, she recalls the split second of fear that overcame her but then left as quickly as it came. Fittingly, Edna chooses to leave this world in a poetic way. She swims out into the sea at Grand Isle, naked and perfectly at peace. The spot that Edna chose to commit suicide highlights her last chance at gaining control and freedom within her life as she choses to return to the one spot within the novel where she was free.

The Awakening Chapter 21-30 Dialectical Journal

"I have a quick temper, but I don't want to quarrel or be rude to a woman, especially my wife; yet I'm driven to it... she's making it devilishly uncomfortable for me" (Chopin 88).
       In this except, Mr. Pontellier reflects upon his feelings based on his wives new attitude and lifestyle. This part in the novel is particularly interesting as it highlights the opinions of outside sources rather than just that of Edna's inner feelings. By including this, Chopin emphasizes the views of society and traditionalists at the time while illuminating another perspective to further the importance and rarity of Edna's decision of self change.

"She says a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth. Nice thing for a woman to say to her husband" (Chopin 89).
     This humorous quote from Mr. Pontellier drastically portrays the progression of Edna's journey into freedom as well as her awakening. Edna is shown talking to her husband saying that weddings are regrettable, highlighting her character development as she no longer attempts to hide her newfound self and rather emphasizes her views to her husband by indirectly sating that she regrets their own marriage.

"A way that pleased her at last, appealing to the animalism that stirred impatiently within her" (Chopin 106)
      After Edna kisses Arobin, she states that she is at last pleases and finally giving into her deepest desires and wishes of her "animalism" that has been within her all along. At this point in the novel, Edna undergoes a turning point, fully giving into her freedom and kisses another man. This realization is detrimental in Edna's search for liberation as she illustrates her rejection of societal expectations and no longer chooses to conform to beliefs that she does not agree with.