English Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English Language - Essay Example English acts as a binding force and has been doing so for quite some time, apart from the United States, in countries like India and Australia too. India is a land of diverse cultures and myriad languages and in spite of the fact, has remained remarkably united. Some of its credit goes to the English language which was unanimously elected as the official language of the country. As for Australia, it is like America one huge melting pot of culturally and linguistically diverse people. English is the only unifying factor among the different immigrants of Australia. The Australian government has recently made it very clear that the acquisition of English is mandatory to people applying for its citizenship. Krauthammer C clearly points out in his article that "One of the major reasons for America's great success as the world's first "universal nation," for its astonishing and unmatched capacity for assimilating immigrants, has been that an automatic part of acculturation was the acquisition of English." Even though we may dismiss the intrinsic-power hypothesis that English possesses certain linguistic characteristics, which would make it the most preferred language on Earth as a racial claim, it nevertheless has to be considered. The simplicity of inflections in English and the flexibility of functions, which has grown over the last five centuries as a result of the loss of inflections, have greatly contributed to its dominance and popularity. One other inherent nature of English is the openness of its vocabulary which implies the free admission of words from other languages and the ready creation of compounds and derivatives. America therefore, is endowed with a unifying language which is indeed a blessing, as Krauthammer C points out But it has also blessed us, because of the accident of our origins, with a linguistic unity that brings a critically needed cohesion to a nation as diverse, multiracial and multiethnic as America." Though English spread all over the world because of exploitation and colonization, more than a billion people around the world today speak English. It is well on its way to becoming the world's language. Its cohesive powers to unite people from different countries, cultures and languages cannot be disputed. If America intends to successfully assimilate its diverse immigrants it cannot but expect the English language to give it a helping hand. Krauthammer C could not put it in a stronger way "English is the U.S.'s national and common language. But that may change over time unless we change our assimilation norms. Making English the official language is the first step toward establishing those norms."English has borrowed words and phrases from almost three-fourths of the world's languages and has both the genius and flexibility to make them its own. Every known language therefore, has something in common with English. What other world language has the same bonding and binding powers and also the right to be elected the "official" language of the US1 Euphemisms are words used to underplay the ugly. They are one of the ways through which we get a secret glance into a particular society's hypocrisy. If we observe them carefully in relation to the circumstances that give birth to them, it will be

Feminism in Film Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Feminism in Film - Movie Review Example The first is a romantic comedy romp set in stylized candy colors with serious underlying tones. The second is a true-to-life drama that is serious and heavy from the get-go. But both speak volumes on female oppression and the primacy of the "male gaze" in film and popular culture. Laura Mulvey (1990) has come up with the theory of the "male gaze", a theory that visual pop culture is tailored around pleasing the heterosexual male spectator and satisfying his desire for pleasure. Says Mulvey: In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote looked-at-ness. Woman displayed as sexual object is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to striptease, from Ziegfield to Busby Berkeley, she holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire. This paper will explore two movies where the issue of sexual roles, and the objectification of women, come into fore. These two movies are But I'm a Cheerleader and Boys Don't Cry. ... The film is a virtual commentary on stereotypes and the deleterious effects of stereotyping. For instance, the "evidence" used to demonstrate that Megan is a lesbian or has lesbian tendencies is the fact that she is a vegetarian, the photos she keeps of girls, and a displayed poster of Melissa Etheridge, known to be a gay icon admired and loved by lesbians. Equally disturbing are the activities they are made to undergo at the camp. For instance, they are bombarded by images of women performing tasks that are stereotyped as being for women and men performing tasks that are widely regarded as being for men. What this does is that it pigeonholes women and relegates them to certain roles in society, and conveys the message that they cannot nurture dreams that defy social conventions or venture beyond the parameters that have been set out for them. In effect, this supports the theory of the "male gaze", for in fact, these roles and these boxes have been created by a largely patriarchal and heterosexual society, where women are judged according to the yardsticks set up by men. Th e attractiveness of women, for instance, is judged through male lenses. If a woman behaves in a manner disapproved by men, then she is castigated, or in this case, called a lesbian. For example, the lead character's abject refusal to make out with a male character in the movie, Jared, is perceived as a deviation from the norm. This springs from the assumption that women jump at the chance to make out with men. The look and feel of the movie is very cotton-candy. There are deep hues of blue and pink. This suggests that the director is using color to further emphasize the point on stereotyping. Deep blue is