School Uniforms Essay Example for Free

School Uniforms Essay Uniforms in the School Environment: Can Clothing Really Effect Your Education? Going to public schools all my life, I heard the gossip of fashion and whose wearing what,pretty much everyday; at least in the four years of high school where it seemed that looks mattered the most. As people grow up, the way they present themselves becomes more and more important. Leaving a good mark in high school means a lot to some people, and some are ready to do whatever it takes to make that mark, whether it be putting someone down for their clothing or being an individual and not caring what others think of you or what your wearing. Having friends from middle school that branched out and went the alternative route; private schools, one of the first things that came back to me from them was how much easier it was to having a uniform to wear to school. Going to a school where uniforms are strictly enforced can help to create a better learning environment. Having uniforms would call for a lot less distraction in the classroom, there would be much more time for homework and there would not be as many problems concerning the wear of inappropriate clothing to take away from school time. A quote from the essay, The Achievement of Desire, by Richard Rodriguez fits particularly well in this essay. Get all the education you can, with an education you can do anything. This just doesnt seem like the main idea to many kids anymore and I think that uniforms would help to bring that thought back into a lot of our heads. I know that the idea of wearing a uniform repulses many people, but when broken down, school uniforms really do seem like the way to go. If it was a requirement to wear a uniform to school, there would be many more kids paying attention in classes. Looking around the classroom at what other kids are wearing is a great way to make time fly by. If everyone was wearing the same things, then the distraction of different clothing would be eliminated. Many people worry that uniforms would take away the opportunity for kids to be who they are or who they want to be, but I feel as though wearing uniforms would simply force kids to show their individualism in ways outside of fashion and appearance. When looking at an Opinion Board on the internet I came across the idea that visually uniforms result in a more equal and adult treatment of students, eliminating any idea that one student is being favored over another. Visually, all students were equal. They appeared equal which resulted in more equal treatment from both peers and teachers alike. When a student looks presentable, they will not only be treated as a student, but as an equal, which I feel both students and teachers would benefit from. In the essay, The ? Banking Concept of Education,written by Paulo Freire, there were two types of education discussed. Bankingeducation and Problem-Posing education. Banking education was looked at with the idea that the teacher was the higher power and the student was simply an object where as in Problem-Posing education, the teacher and students both taught and learned the information together. Uniforms would help bring Problem-Posing teaching back into the classrooms of many schools. There would also be a large drop in the amount of teasing that goes on in school. When I asked my old roommate, Maureen Brillante, who attended Sacred Heart Academy about the benefits of going to a school with uniforms, one of the first things she said was that it prevents peoples feelings from being hurt since everyone is wearing the same thing. There is a lot less gossip about clothes and it is much harder to judge people when everyone looks the same. The atmosphere around the whole school just seems brighter that way, she said with a big smile on her face. Having gone to an elementary school that did not have uniforms, Maureen experienced both worlds and found uniforms made high school that much easier to get through. Decisions, Decisions. Should I go home and get my homework done or should I go to the mall and get those new shoes I saw online the other day? Uniforms would help to eliminate one of these decisions. If you had to wear a uniform to school, maybe you would not be in such a rush to go buy the latest clothing, after all, you really cant even wear it to school. This gives a student more time for homework and studying. A great deal of studying and focusing is needed to succeed in school, which Richard Rodriguez emphasizes greatly in his essay The Achievement of Desire. The boy needs to spend more and more time studying, each night enclosing himself in the silence permitted and required by intense concentration. Without this concentration Rodriguez speaks of, a students grades are bound to suffer. Another benefit of uniforms is that you will save money because you wont be buying half the amount of clothes that you normally would be if you did not need to wear a uniform. This idea didnt even cross my mind until my interview with Maureen. In the long run, you really start to save money. A few outfits for the weekends are all you really need, and unless the school changes uniforms while youre there, you can pretty much wear your same uniform for as long as you can fit into it. There is also a lot more time in the mornings to wake up and have a healthy breakfast because you dont have to worry about picking out an outfit to wear. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I can say that there were many occasions where I skipped breakfast simply because I was running late and picking out clothes seemed to be the bigger picture at that time. I know when I was in high school, some girls came to school late or didnt come at all because they couldnt find an outfit they wanted to wear. Ridiculous? I think so. What did the wearing of school uniforms accomplish? It directly interfered with gangs, gang colors, gang associations, gang affiliations that tended to have more control over the students than either teachers or parents . . . School uniforms did away with such extra curricular activities as thievery. It is not uncommon for the police to receive calls from irate parents regarding their childs loss of an expensive clothing article. School uniformity focuses the attention on where it belongs: academics. You can find the important point that uniforms create less of a boundary to cross when it comes to what kids wear to school on the Holden Police Department web page. There are fewer rules at a school with uniforms simply because the section labeled Dress Code is either nonexistent or simply a brief section on how to wear your uniform properly. Gangs are brought into schools by the gangs members wearing their colors or their logos on their clothing. This brings together two worlds that just should never meet. Although I dont hear much about it these days, uniforms would give kids fewer things to want to steal in high school. Whether it be in the locker room or in lost-and-found, kids would be more honest, because who really wants to steal someone elses uniform? There would also be less shoplifting because kids would have enough money to buy the few outfits they need to wear outside of school. Sex-exploitation is another issue that would be eliminated with uniforms. Girls would not be allowed to wear such skimpy outfits to school, distracting less people, and creating better reputations for everyone. Less time would be spent in the schools main office and more time would be put into being in the classroom. Kids would have fewer ways to get detentions or even expulsion because inappropriate clothing would no longer exist. Forcing kids to find other ways to show their individuality would compel kids to think more about whom they are and not so much about what they wear. Although it may look as if its the cool thing to wear all the latest styles and be up on fashion, does it really seem worth it to risk getting simply an ok education? Where are those priorities of school work and studying for a test when you are out shopping at the mall? In the end it really does make the most sense to simply suck up the idea of wearing the same thing as every other girl or boy at your school and leave with a better education, and a better sense of seeing people for what and who they really are; not what they are or arent wearing. Imagining the idea of a school that one does not have to worry about what kids will say about their outfits, about whether or not what they are wearing is appropriate for school grounds or getting to the mall after school to buy that new sweater they saw in the AF catalogue (which means blowing off that tutoring secession they had to help raise their math grade), seems so far from reality and all that I knew in high school, yet at the same time seems like the ideal way to spend those four important years of high school, those four years in which all of your hard work pays off and gets you accepted into the number one college of your choice. That sounds like the perfect four years of high school to me. School Uniforms Essay Example for Free School Uniforms Essay A group of small boys and girls all warring the same colored uniforms assembled in front of a catholic school is what I imagine when thinking about school uniforms. This is probably what most people imagine. They have been attached to students of European and private schools. Such pictures of students dressing in school uniforms have led to stereotyping and a negative attitude towards schools enforcing a uniform policy. Displayed as robots without the ability to express them selves in a society that says you must express yourself and be an individual at all cost. The problem is that the cost to express yourself and be an individual is high in some cases, in Detroit, a 15-year-old boy was killed for his $86 basketball shoes (Tweeters 1997). I believe that cost is to high, it would be better to be laughed at and teased about warring a nerdy uniform, than to be shot by some gang member that did not like the color of the pants Im warring. School uniforms have been the cause of many jokes and harassment to those who wore them. In the past, public schools considered uniforms old and out dated trends, though recently many public schools are starting to implement and enforce a uniform policy. The implementation of a school uniform policy is important if we are still striving to improve our students. The arguments against them are fading while the positive reasons are promoting school uniforms and gaining ground. Some of the possible benefits are safety, cost, uniformity and competition in academics instead of fashions. The main argument against them is the need for students to express their individual selves; this argument is losing ground compared to the benefits of the uniform policy. Today many public schools are mandating and enforcing school uniforms for their students. San Antonio School district requires all 60,000 of its students to wear uniforms; over 60% of Fort Worths elementary schools require their students to ware uniforms (Radcliffe 1999). In 1995, the Texas legislature gave public school districts the authority to require uniforms under Texas State Law 11. 162 of the Texas Education Code. (Appendix A). The law however is a voluntary law; schools are not required to have a uniform policy. A Dallas attorney Domingo Garcia has filed a proposed legislation that would make it mandatory to wear uniforms in Grades k-12 in Texas (Ramos 1997). The first fundamental issue that school board officials and law makers should look at before they make new policies and laws concerning school uniforms is, will these new laws and policies have a positive impact on students overall performance. This would not be limited to academic performances only but should also include other socially learned behavior that will enhance the students ability to conform to the social norms needed to be successful in todays society. People for uniforms say that the academic performance has been and will increase by having the students ware them (Caruso 1996). A lessened degree of attention and concern with fashion will enable a better condition for serious study, as well as lesson the cultural and economic challenges of students and parents. (Cohn 1996, Paliokos 1996) Nathan Minster, a seventh grader at Country Day of Arlington said, Uniforms provide a better educational atmosphere, and symbolize school spirit. If all students dress alike, their attention will not focus on Johnnys new Tommy Hilfiger outfit. (Teeters 1996). Any situation that does not promote the improvement of students in school should be looked at and studied to find ways to change the situation. There are no positive aspects to worrying about not having the money to buy the coolest and newest fashions. Would it not be better to strive and worry about who can get the best grade or do the best science project. Is the reduction of crime going to help improve our students? We must agree that there is no part of our students lives that can be improved by the atmosphere of crime. We need to ask the question, What ought to be? When it comes to school and crime. How to deal with crime is one of the ethical questions all school administrators and lawmakers must address and act on accordingly. The statistics say that schools having a school uniform policy have seen a decrease in crime. Long Beach Unified School District was the first large urban school district in the United States to require school uniforms. They have seen substantial decreases in crime in the past five years since they have required uniforms. One incredible reduction was that sex offenses have decreased 93%. (Appendix B). The cost of implementing a uniform policy must also be looked at closely. The fact that all students have different degrees of economic status requires us to address this matter. If a student cannot afford uniforms would they not be able to go to school. Would it be better to have them spend all their money on uniforms so they could go to school, but because of that they dont have the money to participate in after school sports or social events. Maybe they would spend the money on uniforms instead of nutritious food, which could affect their health. The current Texas law does provide ways of providing uniforms for students who cannot afford to buy them. (Appendix A). The Long Beach Unified School District has privately funded over $160,000 for assistance to disadvantaged students. By doing this they have not put any financial burden on the taxpayers. The cost can be high, as it has been for the San Antonio School district, which has spent about $500,000 to outfit 90% of their students (Radcliffe 1999). Unlike Long Beach School District, San Antonios uniform policy has cost the taxpayers a lot of money. They ought to look at ways of reducing the cost to taxpayers, possible private funding from companies that participate in philanthropic programs. What are the ethical concerns for schools considering school uniforms? The nation has implemented school uniforms in about 25 percent of the public elementary, middle, and junior high schools according to the (California School News March 31,1997). The general improvements of the students who attend schools that requiring them to ware uniforms has shown an improvement. I can conclude from the improvements that we ought to have 100 percent of public schools starting uniform policies. I dont believe that waiting for years of research and study on this issue will change the outcome. Students are moving through school fast and to wait for years to go by before making this a policy can only lesson the improvement chances of the students who are currently in school. The motivation of this issue is not to infringe on students rights or burden parents with extra cost, but to simply improve the students. Do students have rights as part of the American populous? If so, what are there rights? Do they even have the right to choose to go or not to go to school, or is this, the rights of the parents and society? Our society is now more than ever concerned with our rights and feelings. Is a first graders mind able to use these rights for there best interest or is it up to the adult population? Parents are the ones who should teach and mentor the students in the spirit of the rights and how to use them for the good judgment and common sense. The Bible says, For I, too, was once a son, tenderly loved by my mother as an only child, and the companion of my father. He told me never to forget his words. If you follow them, he said, you will have a long and happy life. Learn to be wise, he said, and develop good judgment and common sense! I cannot overemphasize this point. (Proverbs 3: 3-5). Is it more important for us to make a place where the student can improve in the general sense compared to the First amendment claims that the students dont have the right of free expression? Any dress restriction that infringes on a students First Amendment right must be justified by a showing that the students attire materially disrupts school operation, infringes on the rights of others at the school, or otherwise interferes with any basic educational mission of he school (Grantham 1994). The legal aspect of requiring students to ware uniforms is a small matter if the majority of the parents back the policy. However, some will fight with every penny they have so that their kids will not have to ware the uniforms. The biggest legal issue is the First Amendments, right to free expression and the Fourteenth Amendment. They use this to say that the school has violated the students liberty to control his or her personal appearance ( Paliokos 1996). Stakeholders are involved in every part of this issue. Every person is a stakeholder. It will affect, children, adults, and elderly in one way or another, some more than others will. The children will be affected because they will have to ware the uniforms. Primary social stakeholders would be the students, parents, school employees and administrators, taxpayers, people opposed to and people for school uniforms. I dont have children but I am a stakeholder because if the uniform policy is voted on and passed the chances are my local school tax will increase to help pay for the new uniforms. Paying for the uniforms might not seem fair to someone in my position but if I look at the long term benefits of having our public schools improve the students I believe that the chances of a better society in my golden years is more likely to happen compared with the alternative of not improving the students. The improvement of students basic education holds very high stakes for all stakeholders. If a student receives a better education he/she will have a better chance and be better equipped to be part of our adult society in which they will have to abide by our standard. The responsibility of the schools and lawmakers is to improve students. They are also responsible to do this within a budget. This does mean there will be some compromises and restrictions to what and how they accomplish this task of improving the students. They must also stay within the legal aspects of our laws, which has been brought about by society from the past. If the laws are no longer valid they need to be changed for the current situations faced today by schools trying to improve students. Lets look at the stakeholders and what stakes they face. See stakeholder map Appendix C. Students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and the general society are the stakeholders we will look at although there are many more secondary stakeholders involved with this issue. What challenges, threats or opportunities do these stakeholders pose? What economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities do they have? We will start by looking at the students. The challenge they have has been a negative and stressful one, what to wear today? is a question that will no longer have to be asked each morning before school. The desire to have the coolest and newest fashions is no longer a challenge for the students who attend schools with uniform policies. The challenge to not be teased or laughed at is no longer there. Jacqueline Rios, a student at Glencrest Middle School said, The good thing about uniforms is that everybody wears the same color. And having uniforms is a lot better, because people cannot talk about and laugh at your clothes. (Teeter 1997). We do however have the threat that some of the opposing students will not comply which could cause discipline problems or even cause them to drop out of school. The opportunities for the students are all positive ones. Simply put they will have more opportunities to better themselves with academic issues because the priority of fashion standards is gone as Assistant Director of elementary school operations, Frankie Batts, said, Instead of worrying about their clothes or what everyone else is wearing, kids focus on math and reading, (Richardson 1995). Parents will also enjoy the decreasing challenge of keeping their kids in the newest fashions. The money issue will improve for them, Three outfits can run about $130, said Jan Underwood, owner of the U. T. W. Uniforms store in Fort Worth (Teeters 1997). Parents have had to struggle with deciding if what there kids are warring is proper. You might even ask, is it ethical to let my daughter go to school in an almost see-through and skintight outfit? The students being at a school with a uniform policy would now solve this problem. A possible threat from the parents would be from those who feel and believe that kids should be able to do and ware what they want and to force them to ware a uniform is a violation of their kids rights as well as the law. They do however seem to be the minority, most parents seem to support uniforms. The Longview Independent School district says they would support the decision for school uniforms if 75 to 80 percent of the parents were for it (Bell 2000). Teachers will have the challenge of enforcing the new uniform polices but it will be much easier then enforcing the current dress code. At most, schools the guidelines of a dress code can be subjective in determining if they meet the requirements. Lets say, if the school dress policy said that girls must ware skirts that go down to there knees and a student is seen warring one that does meet that requirement but it is see-through and she is not wearing underpants. This could cause a problem because the requirement is subjective. If the uniform policy was in effect this would not be because the see-through skirt would either be part of the uniform and accepted or not, it would now be an objective decision for the teacher to make, either it is a violation or not. One of the great opportunities that it would give the teachers is by having all the students dress alike they would be able to identify students who belong to the school and trespassers who dont. This is a great safety issue in todays times where it is important to regulate who comes on campuses. How about on a school field trip would it not be easier to identify your students in a crowd if you did not have to remember what everyone was warring. Say they were kidnapped would it not be easier to describe them to the police. School administrators have all the issues to deal with. They are the ones who are challenged to improve the students. They have the challenge to implement school policies like uniforms in an effort to improve students. Their decisions go from the smallest detail, what colors, what style, what material, all or which can have either positive or negative effects on other stakeholders. They must accomplish this and be able to stay within the legal, economic and ethical parameters that currently guide their decisions. What a privilege they have with this opportunity to improve students who will in turn improve society and possibly the entire world. Though this is a great opportunity, it is also a great responsibility to have. General society has a stake that is both short term and long term. On the short term, they will have to support the decisions of the uniform policies that are imposed upon the students and parents. Some of the long-term stakes would be requiring paying for some of the uniforms for students who cannot afford them. For the few who oppose the uniforms they will not have to compromise their beliefs so that their kids can get an education. The Texas 1995 law allows some exceptions to the rules with a written request that states a bona fide religious or philosophical objection to the requirement. (Appendix A) Some recommendations that should be looked at by schools before starting a uniform policy could help reduce the problems that occur from putting new policies into effect. They need to be able to justify the actions by demonstrating the link between a kind of dress and disruptive behavior or between a dress and improvements of the students. They should consult with the schools legal advisors to possible legal problems. Determine ways of enforcing the policy as well as what punishment would occur. Finding out what the parents and students think and involving them before the final starting date. They might try to find out what the students favorite color or type of material they want to use. They might even look at having some variety maybe two different colors. This way the students will feel included in the decisions and might not fight the policy, making the discipline problem smaller because they would be less likely to rebel. A financial study should be conducted prior to the policy to determine how much burden is going to be imposed on the school itself, how many students would require financial assistance with the cost of the uniforms. By keeping the primary stakeholders involved with the decisions prior to making the policy, schools have a better chance of success from the uniform policy. Appendix A Sec. 11. 162. School Uniforms. a) The board of trustees of an independent school district may adopt rules that require students at a school in the district to wear school uniforms if the board determines that the requirement would improve the learning environment at the school. (b) The rules the board of trustees adopts must designate a source of funding that shall be used in providing uniforms for students at the school who are educationally disadvantaged. (c) A parent or guardian of a student assigned to attend a school at which students are required to wear school uniforms may choose for the student to be exempted from the requirement or to transfer to a school at which students are not required to wear uniforms and at which space is available if the parent or guardian provides a written statement that, as determined by the board of trustees, states a bona fide religious or philosophical objection to the requirement. (d) Students at a school at which uniforms are required shall wear the uniforms beginning on the 90th day after the date on which the board of trustees adopts the rules that require the uniforms. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg. , ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Appendix B GRADES K-8 SCHOOL CRIME REPORT SUMMARY Since the inception of required school uniforms in all Long Beach Unified School District elementary and middle schools, in September 1994, school crime here has dropped 86% percent. SCHOOL CRIME REDUCED 1993-94 Before Uniforms 1994-95 Uniforms Required 1995-96 2nd Year with Uniforms 1996-97 3rd Year with Uniforms 1997-98 4th Year with Uniforms 1998-99 5th Year With Uniforms Change K-8 Enrollment 57,497 58,376 59,822 62,039 63,602 65,451 +14% Assault/Battery* 319 214 53 47 46 82 Assault w/Deadly Weapon* 6 3 16 11 8 24 Sex Offenses 57 15 5 4 2 4 -93% Robbery/Extortion 34 12 13 5 3 5 -85%. Chemical Substances 71 29 24 20 27 37 -48% Weapons or Look A like 145 78 28 24 12 36 -75% Vandalism** 1,409 1,155 127 93 98 106 Dangerous Devices 46 23 1 2 0 2 -96% TOTAL 2087 1529 267 206 196 296 -86% *The statewide category of assault has been revised because of different interpretations of what constitutes assault. Verbal threats without physical contact were sometimes reported as assaults. There is also a new, expanded definition of assault with a deadly weapon. Reported now is any item that is actually used in an effort to inflict any bodily harm, i. e. a foot, a fist, a pencil or a comb. **Under the new California Safe Schools Assessment School Crime Report, only vandalism over $100 is included. Some prior years incidents were under $100, so the actual reduction is less than this. Appendix C Bibliography Resources Bell, Becky. LISD group focuses on school uniforms Longview News Journal 22 March 2000; Local California Leads nation in Public School Uniform Use. California School News 31 March 1997: 4 Caruso, Peter. Individuality vs. Conformity: The Issue Behind School Uniforms. NASSP Bulletin 8,581 September 1996: 83-88. Chon, Carl A. Mandatory School Uniforms. The School Administrator 53, 2 February 1996: 22-25 Grantham, Kimberly. Restricting Student Dress in Public Schools. School Law Bulletin 25, Winter 1994: 1-10 Long Beach Crime Report Summary. http://www. lbusd. k12. ca. us/ Paliokas, Kathleen L. Trying Uniforms On for Size. The American School Board Journal 183, 5 May 1996: 32-35 Proverbs. The Bible. The Living Bible. 3; 3-5 Radcliffe, Jennifer. Irving joins movement supporting required attire. Star Telegram 25 March 1999 http://netarrant. net/news/doc/1047/1:NEA/1:NEA032599. html Ramos, Cindy. Capitol moves San Antonio Express-News 1 April 1997 Metro- Education Express: 4B Richardson, Ginger. Student uniforms in vogue at schools in Fort Worth Officials report success of voluntary clothing programs. Fort Worth Star Telegram, 16 August 1995; Metro Teeters, Amy. Growing up in uniform style. Fort Worth Star-Telegram 18 February 1997: Class Acts: 9 Texas State Law 11. 162 of the Texas Education Code. http://www. tea. state. tx. us.

Russians and Americans Essay -- essays research papers

Russians and Americans Americans often think that they have a better chance of finding a common ground with aliens from outer space than with "resident aliens" from Russia. Frequently Russian immigrants feel exactly the same way about their American co-workers, classmates and even spouses. A key to gaining and sustaining a mutual respect in cross-cultural relationships is an understanding of distinctive cultural norms of people from different countries. Without going too deep into historical and psychological aspects of typical Americans’ and Russians’ behaviors and traditions, let us look at a few dissimilarities between representatives of these two cultures. In Russia, children are customarily expected to stay with their parents in the same apartment or live nearby, and parents are often very upset when children move away. This closeness arises not necessarily by choice, but by deep-rooted traditions and, later on, by difficulties in getting a separate apartments. Many older people feel that several generations should still live together. Also, Russian grandmothers feel that it is their duty to raise grandchildren; in many cases they are involved in their childrens’ live much more than parents are and they greatly enjoy it. In the USA it is customary for the younger generation to leave home right after high school, often moving across the country to start college or a new job, and live in his or her own apartment or house. The older generation is even glad, when this move occurs, and happily builds plans for a free life that starts when "children are out of the house." Traditionally, Russian men are breadwinners, and wives are house-makers and full-time mothers. After the revolution in 1917, the majority of women entered the workforce, but people's mentality has not changed. All household duties are still considered a woman's responsibility, even if she works longer hours than her husband or makes more money. Lately, in the most "modern" families, husbands have started to take on more household duties, but in the majority of families, the situation remains the same as a hundred years ago. In the USA, if both spouses work outside the home, it is a norm to share responsibilities for housekeeping and for spending time with children. More so, it is quite normal for fathers in America to take care of children after work, even i... ...k for it beforehand. If a person get caught for a traffic violation he or she better give a policeman money right away even if the person did not actually speed; otherwise that person might loose not only his or her license, but also, for a few days, his or her freedom. Americans mostly mind their own business when it comes to somebody else's demeanor or behavior as long as it does not directly disturb them. Russians on the other hand, especially older folks, very often make it their business to know other people’s business. They might on the length of a persn’t dress or the misbehavior of a child and complement this opinion with a full lecture on appropriate clothing or upbringing of youngsters. In general, Americans are individualists and Russians are collectivists. This essay is the comparison of two great different nations, which are similar and different at the same time in our views and desires, aspirations, concerns and prejudices. It seems that Americans have much of an open mind than Rusians. Russians are very conservative. In most of cases it is difficult for them to a change in their beliefs. For the Americans freedom is good, but it is nothing without responsibility.

Dystopian Societies-1984 vs Fahrenheit 451

Dystopian Visions An imaginative society consisting of oppressive squalor in which all are heavily restricted by the absolute superiority of the ruling party. A society where repression and restrictions seem boundless, while the individual liberty of the citizen seems boundlessly obstructed. A society where mental deprivation and deception is the goal of the guardian; a society where misery and poverty are thrust upon the unsuspectingly loyal citizens; a society where the well- being of the people are of imperceptible acknowledgement, yet its inhabitants have been manipulated into perceiving such as utopian. Contrary to their deceit induced perceptions, these characteristics are quite the opposite of utopian, they are dystopian! Many authors portray their own vision of a dystopia through novels. Two highly intriguing dystopian novels are George Orwell’s, â€Å"1984,† and Ray Bradbury’s, â€Å"Fahrenheit 451. † Their visions were strikingly similar as the themes were both based on totalitarian governments maintaining control through propaganda and mental/social deprivation (mostly corporate and bureaucratic controls, although technological control was utilized). The protagonists find themselves in almost identical situations, for they have become enlightened of the misery, sacrifice, and evil that their society possesses. But they must conceal their knowledge, leaving them trapped, although they could not keep it hidden forever. In both novels came the mental sheltering of the society to thwart contradicting or rebellious thought that would come with the enlightenment of the sacrifices the society was withstanding. This social and mental control would render the majority of society incapable of independent thought, allowing the injustices to proceed. Forced ignorance masked the evil the government had laid upon them and if one were to unveil the ignorance, they had to conceal it with their lives. In both novels, those who could not shield their enlightenment would fall victim to the strong and cunning police forces of the society. These forces would brutally murder and vanquish the existence of those free of the government’s mental sanitation. As shown by the â€Å"thought police† in â€Å"1984†. This shows the extent to which the extinction of information and individuality was pursued. Another shared characteristic, although much more obvious in â€Å"1984,† is the use of propaganda in manipulating the people. In ‘Fahrenheit 451,† the propaganda came in the form of death. They would publically kill those who disobeyed, just as you see in the end of movie when they murder â€Å"Montag†. In â€Å"1984,† the society was infested with â€Å"Big Brother† propaganda. With posters, â€Å"Two Minutes Hate†, inflated numbers, and constant reassurance of â€Å"Big Brother† being the flawless and great protector of everyone, they deceived the people. I would like to point out the fact that they didn’t share the same figurehead type worship. In â€Å"1984,† everything and everyone was focused and revolved around â€Å"Big Brother†, whereas in â€Å"Fahrenheit 451,† there wasn’t as much as the singular idol to worship and direct praise towards. These societies painted by Bradbury and Orwell both utilized mental and social hindrance, through strong regulations. This type of control is otherwise known as the bureaucratic control. In â€Å"Fahrenheit 451† they put heavy restrictions on literature, and would incinerate all books they could locate. In â€Å"1984,† they were absolutely relentless with their regulations, even the wrong facial expression could get you killed. Corporate control was also highly utilized in these societies. Specifically, they would brainwash you as a daily routine called â€Å"Two Minutes Hate† in the, â€Å"1984,† novel. Here is an example of the Two Minute Hate’s effect on the people, â€Å"a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Orwell14). The government successfully manipulated the inhabitants into loving and feeling completely dependent to â€Å"Big Brother† and the government, while completely despising whoever â€Å"Big Brother† portrayed as the enemy. Big Brother† altered everything to make him seem absolutely flawless and created a false sense of superior and improving living conditions. All of this advertising and false media was not unique to, â€Å"1984,† though. In â€Å"Fahrenheit 451,† the government would use the media to show the deaths of those who broke regulations in place. Technological control was a third control used, as Telescreen monitors were implanted everywhere in â€Å"1984,† to ensure complete surveillance to avoid any risk of conspiracies or deviation from their norms. In â€Å"Fahrenheit 451,† they had robotic dogs that could sniff out and locate any human needed. The protagonists in these novels, Montag and Winston, are both unique to their society for they had the power to unveil the mask of ignorance and be enlightened to the true colors of the society they lived in. They both felt trapped and desperately needed to escape or alter their society. The differences between them and the others are made even more apparent by their wives and how they end up feeling about them. Winston mentally nicknamed his wife, â€Å"the human sound track,† (Orwell66) during their relationship. This being very similar to Montag’s feeling towards his bland and uninteresting wife as well. They both are overwhelmed by the now painfully visible misery and evil their society consists of, but must protect such thoughts with their lives. A significant difference between the two characters is the fact that Guy Montag was successful with his attempt to better society, for his city was destroyed leaving it up to him and some others to rebuild society. This unlike Winston, who was captured, tortured, and then allowed back into society with a new conformist attitude. These novels are criticizing the paths and patterns that human governments tend to take. With governments concealing/censoring information from the people and corruption being so widespread and apparent; these authors are presenting a possible outcome of our chronic blunder. Orwell was even directly criticizing the rule of Stalin in his day and how horrible such a society is and can be. These societies reflect the negatives of our society in a bloated and extreme way and if these relevant evils are not eliminated, our society is at risk of being reduced to a dreaded dystopia.

The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck - 957 Words

The Grapes Of Wrath introduces many real life topics, and difficulties relevant to the people in the 1930s and some still relevant to today. Throughout the book topics like migration, corporate profit, and even environmental impacts of human choices are all present in the book. Steinbeck is shown to makes many claims about each of these topics, but the topic that stands out the most are the issues with the criminal justice system. Steinbeck believes that the police and the criminal justice system are corrupt and generally police have a tendency to abuse their authority against poor people and migrants. Through the characters in the book, Steinbeck shows how he feels about police misconduct towards those living in poverty. Steinbeck uses his characters not just as entertainment for his readers, but as symbols so people are aware and conscious of what s really going on not just in the book but in the country they live in. He uses many examples in the book to show how cruel the police c an be. One example of this is on p.292 a woman is accidently shot in her hand, as the officer who shot her fell to the floor and tripped Tom took his gun and said: â€Å"Fella like that ain t got no right to a gun.† It s clear that the officer wasn’t considering the fact that no one was armed but him and didn’t show any remorse for the women mistakenly shot. Through this incident, Steinbeck is showing the abuse of authority and power against poor migrants who have little to nothing. He believesShow MoreRelatedThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck Essay1622 Words   |  7 Pages The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck, widely viewed as one of the most finest and powerful American writer, born to a middle-class family in 1902 in the Salinas Valley of California. Steinbeck is a writer who often spoke for the people. The Grapes of Wrath is a great movie, published in 1939, filled with many universal truths and views on human nature and society, especially where class is concerned. In the article, John Steinbeck The Grapes a wrath: A Call to Action says, â€Å"Steinbeck’s novel showcasedRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1075 Words   |  5 PagesKirsten Lloyd Mr. Eldridge AP Junior English 21 August 2014 Grapes of Wrath â€Å"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.† (Seneca), In the 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the reader accompanies the Joad family as they struggle to escape the crippling Dust Bowl of the mid- 1930’s. In hopes of establishing a new life for themselves after being forced off their land the family embark on a journey from Oklahoma to California in search of fruitful crops and steady work alongRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1563 Words   |  7 Pages John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, depicts a migrant farming family in the 1930s. During this time, life revolved around the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, making circumstances difficult for almost everyone involved, especially those who had little. This time of drought and despair caused people to lose hope in everything they’ve ever known, even themselves, but those who did not, put their hope in the â€Å"promised land† of California. Here, the grass was thought to be truly greenerRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1189 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† Shortly after being released John Steinbeck’s book â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† was banned because many critics viewed the novel as promoting communist propaganda, or socialist ideas. The ideas that many of these critics point to is Steinbeck’s depiction of the Big Banks/ Businesses as monsters, the comparison of Government camps to a utopia in contrast of the makeshift â€Å"Hoovervilles,† and the theme of the community before the individual, In his novel â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† John SteinbeckRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1093 Words   |  5 Pages In John Steinbeck s The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad and his family are forced from their home during the 1930’s Oklahoma Dust Bowl and set out for California along with thousands of others in search of jobs, land, and hope for a brighter future. The Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck’s way to expound about the injustice and hardship of real migrants during the Depression-era. H e utilizes accurate factual information, somber imagery, and creates pathos, allowing readers connections to the Joad’s plightRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1190 Words   |  5 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath April 14th, 1939, John Steinbeck published the novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The novel became an immediate best seller, with selling over 428,900 copies. Steinbeck, who lived through both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sought to bring attention to how families of Oklahoma outdid these disasters. Steinbeck focuses on families of Oklahoma, including the Joads family, who reside on a farm. The Joad family is tested with hardship when life for them on their farm takesRead MoreThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck702 Words   |  3 PagesJohn Steinbeck’s use of the intercalary chapters in The Grapes of Wrath helps weave the reader’s sympathy of the Joad family into a more broad sympathy for the migrant farmers as a whole, in the hopes that the readers would then be compelled to act upon what they have read. During the Great Depression, people had a big disconnect about what was happening in various parts of the country. People often struggle to find sympathy for events when they can’t even visualize a person who is suffering throughRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck2144 Words   |  9 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath is a well-known beloved novel of American Literature, written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. Whoever said a road is just a road has not read The Grapes of Wrath. From the time we read when Tom Joad, novel’s protagonist, returns home after four years in prison; the meaning of roads changed. Route 66, also known as the mother road the road of flight, was a lifeline road, which allowed thousands of families to pursue their hopes and dreams. This road is also the road thatRead MoreThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck1014 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was first written and later published in the 1939. Fr om the time of its publication to date, the exemplary yet a simple book has seen Steinbeck win a number of highly coveted awards including Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and later on Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Set at the time of the Great Depression, the book most remarkably gives a descriptive account of the Oklahoma based sharecropper Joad’ poor family in the light of economic hardship, homelessnessRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1064 Words   |  5 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath, originated from a John Steinbeck’s book, a legendary film that focus on a major point of American history. The story follows the Joad family on their journey to California trying to survive the hardships. This film, focus on the social problems of America like the Dust bowl, The Great Depression, and industrialism. The Grapes of Wrath was filmed in a journalistic-documentary style, which displayed the realism of the epidemic in the thirties. The thirties the period The Grapes