Gender and Television

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Gender and Television

Gender and Television

Something Old




Something New

By Vernon L. Bigelow

Idaho State University

In the article “All in the Formula” by Emily Nelson we learn that sitcoms are, “The financial backbone of network TV. NBC’s ‘Friends’ brings in several hundred million dollars a year in advertising and it pulls viewers into other NBC shows, driving up overall advertising rates. The studio producing the show also gets mote than $1 billion for selling repeats” (Nelson, 00). So the success or failure of a new sitcom is big money for lots of people.

The problem is that all sitcoms must follow tried and true conventions while somehow making it all appear new. In the article Ms. Nelson says, “Writers must balance TV’s hunger for something new against a rigid set of conventions laid down in the 150s and honed to a science in the decades since” (Nelson, 00). An example of this the arrangement of the sitcoms set. The convention of a living room with a sofa in the center and a staircase behind it has been established as a successful convention since the early days of TV. Ms. Nelson mentions “Father Knows Best” as the earliest use of this convention but I believe it predates even that. I can remember in the earliest episodes of “I Love Lucy” that they used the sofa in the center of the living room from the very beginning. They also use a stairway to get back and forth from their landlord’s, Fred and Ethel Mertz apartment. In the new sitcom “Happy Family” the writers added an alcove off the living room with a dining table. This is not really as new as it had been used in “The Bill Cosby Show”, “All in the Family”, and is used in “That 70s Show”. One thing I have noticed that is different today than in the 150’s is bedrooms. I don’t remember ever seeing a bedroom in “I Love Lucy”, or the “The Honeymooners”. It’s as if all the houses and apartments were built without bedrooms. You never saw the adult in a bedroom or in bed together. You might see the children in their bedroom and in bed but never the adults. In the late 50’s and in the 60’s you began to see adult bedrooms but not in the early 50’s. Today the scenes in the adult’s bedrooms are an integral part of any sitcom. So even though most conventions of past successful sitcoms are carried on in today’s sitcoms the unrealistic self-censorship of not showing parents and adults in bedrooms has been eradicated. In fact if anything it has gone too much to the other extreme. Today sitcoms do not show parents and adults actually having sex but they do everything but that. Sex and all the situations that can arise from sexual relationships are now one of the big areas dealt with in modern sitcoms. Some modern sitcoms even have come be almost all about sex and sexual relationships.

Two other areas that convention and innovation have to walk a tightrope are the plot line and the roles played. The conventional plot line is loving parents or adults battling with their children or youths. In the earlier sitcoms you usually saw only one child (“I Love Lucy”, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”), two children (“Leave it to Beaver”, “The Ozzie and Harriet Show”), or in the rare case three children (“My Three Sons”). Today we see families with more children (“The Cosby Show”) or multiple children from several families within the main family’s domain (“That 70’s Show”). The convention is to have a main cast large enough to supply plenty of situations and jokes but not so large as to be unwieldy (somewhere between 4 and 7). Some sitcoms have used this convention with the innovation of either a larger rotating cast of regulars or guests such as you would see in a variety show or a drama so as to create more situations and jokes. Some conventional plot line formulas but by far not all of the formulas used in sitcoms are weddings gone wrong, misunderstandings, incongruity, immaturity, stupidity, and the happy ending.

Gender is also an area in which convention and innovation have struggled. Lucille Ball set the standard for leading female actresses in sitcoms. In the “I Love Lucy” show she’s the main focus of the whole situation comedy but her role was cast as a costar of Desi Arnaz. The star was Desi Arnaz. He was the “I” in “I Love Lucy” and the plot line was the situations that arose in his relationship with his wife Lucy. At the time the sitcom was made Lucille Ball had established herself as a leading lady and top comedian in the movies and the “I Love Lucy” series was based upon her already very successful radio program, ”My Favorite Husband”. However when the series was made into a TV sitcom, it was named the “I Love Lucy” not “My Favorite Husband.” The speaker of the radio program was Lucy Ricardo, whereas the speaker of the TV sitcom was Ricky Ricardo. The shows were the same; yet the radio program starred Lucille Ball and the TV sitcom starred Desi Arnaz. Lucille Ball’s/Lucy Ricardo’s subservience to Desi Arnaz/Ricky Ricardo is further demonstrated when Lucille Ball bought out the very successful RKO studios. Using her accumulated wealth and her substantial business acumen she made the new company the leading studio of the times, and yet named it Desilu Studios rather than Ludesi Studios. When the “I Love Lucy” show became a big success Lucille Ball gradually became the star until finally she became the lead and in some episodes she even starred entirely on her own with out Desi.

Consider just two of what are now considered some her best and most famous scenes, the chocolate factory, and the vegevitamin commercial. In both she established women as important members of the American work force (recall she was working with another woman who was a very capable worker) and she carried them totally on own. This established that woman could be the leading star of a successful TV program. This led to the eventual break up and divorce of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and the end of the “I Love Lucy” series. After a short hiatus from TV she struck out on her own though with the very successful TV sitcom “The Lucy Show” which lasted for six years and then followed that with the “Here’s Lucy” for another additional six years. She established herself as a star on the level of Bob Hope and the Leading Lady of TV. When you see a Phyllisa Rashad in “The Bill Cosby Show”, a Jean Stapleton in “All in the Family”. Or a Roseanna Barr in “The Roseanna Barr Show” you are seeing women follow in the footsteps of Lucille Ball. She set the pattern, the standard, and a whole new genre for women in entertain and TV. When you see a woman play the part of second fiddle in a sitcom you are seeing the Lucy of the sitcom, “I Love Lucy”. When you see a woman playing the leading star of a sitcom you are seeing the Lucy of “The Lucy Show, and “Here’s Lucy”. Before her women were just costars to the leading men. But after her success with “The Lucy Show”, and “Here’s Lucy” she established a new convention a woman as the lead and star of the show. Without her precedent setting shows it is very doubtful we would ever have had the “Carol Burnett Show” or “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. Today they a lot less subservient to the male lead than in the past and usually get at least equal billing with the their male costars. We now see women in all types of roles, and all kinds of situations as stars and leads on TV. On TV a woman can even be President of the United States. In the early 50’s women played a secondary role to men on TV. Today they can and do play anything their imagination leads them too.

References

1. Nelson, Emily. (00). “All in the Formula, For New Comedies Old Rules Are Serious Business”; Wall Street Journal, Vol. CCXLII, No. 66, pp. A1 & A10, October , 00

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henry

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Henry IV, Part One details the struggle of King Henry IV to maintain his control of the English throne which he usurped from Richard II. The play begins with news that one of his commanders, Mortimer, has lost a battle to Glyndwr in Wales. However, another commander, Hotspur, has succeeded in defeating Douglas in Scotland, but refuses to send his prisoners back to the king.

Henry is furious about this, since prisoners are a way of earning money through ransom. He orders Hotspur to yield the prisoners under threat of punishment. Hotspur, impulsive as always, tells his father Northumberland that he will never give up the prisoners. Worcester tells Hotspur that it would be smarter to turn over the prisoners but at the same time form an alliance with Douglas and Glyndwr, and thus raise an army with which to overthrow Henry IV.

Hal, the affectionate name for Prince Harry, the son of King Henry, is a prodigal and a madcap (thief). He wastes his time in taverns with the lower classes of English society, and spends a great deal of time with a fat nobleman named Falstaff. In the first act Hal agrees to participate in a robbery in order to experience it. However, at the end of the scene and in soliloquy, Hal indicates to the audience that he is merely in disguise, and that he fully expects to assume the reins of power in the near future.

The thieves, led by Falstaff, carry out their robbery. Hal and Poins, another robber, play a trick on the thieves by robbing the money from Falstaff. The next night in the tavern Falstaff tells a roaringly funny tale about how he fought with many men before being defeated. Hal finally reveals the secret of the attackers to him, at which point Falstaff claims that he knew who it was all along, but that he did not wish to harm the Prince of Wales (Hal).




The rebels, led by Hotspur, unite Douglas from Scotland and Glyndwr in Wales. Together with the Archbishop of York they start to raise an army, gathering their forces at Shrewsbury. Hotspur does not get along well with Glyndwr, whom he views as being too mystical. The men also start to argue about how they will split up the territories, since Hotspur wants England, Douglas Scotland, and Glyndwr Wales.

King Henry calls Hal into his throne room and begs his son to mend his ways. Hal agrees to be more myself in the future. Henry then informs his son that the rebels are mobilizing near Shrewsbury, and Hal receives a military command. He immediately starts to prepare for war with Hotspur. Henry assembles his own armies and starts moving towards Shrewsbury. Almost as a joke, Falstaff receives an infantry command from Hal, which is difficult for him since he is too fat to be able to walk very far.

At Shrewsbury, King Henry offers to fully pardon the rebels if they decamp and return to their homes. Hotspurs agent, Worcester, fails to deliver this message to Hotspur because he is convinced that Henry will not honor the pardon. Thus Hotspur feels trapped into fighting. To make matters worse, Glyndwr is unable to arrive on time, causing the rebels to have far fewer men than they had expected. At the same time, Northumberland falls ill and is unable to help rally his troops. Hotspur, unable to wait any longer, decides to go ahead with the battle preparations anyway.

Henry puts nobles on the field dressed as himself as a form of protection. Douglas kills several of the impersonators before encountering Henry. The two men start to fight, but Hal arrives in time to save his father and chase Douglas away. Henry comments that he is sorry he ever doubted his sons abilities.

Hal next encounters Hotspur. After a brief exchange of words they start to fight with on another. While the two young men are fighting, Falstaff arrives and encourages Hal to victory. Douglas also arrives and attacks Falstaff, who soon falls down as if he were dead. Hal succeeds in killing Hotspur, but is sad that Falstaff has also been killed.

No sooner does Hal depart then Falstaff gets back to his feet and stabs Hotspurs body. He then picks up Hotspur and takes the credit for killing him. Hal cannot believe Falstaffs lies, but decides it is not worth arguing about.

King Henry succeeds in winning the battle once the leaders are killed or captured. He sentences Worcester and Vernon to death for their failure to offer his pardon to Hotspur. Hal chooses to pardon Douglas and set him free, realizing that this is strategically necessary if he wants to rule Scotland in the future. Henry then splits his army into two parts, one of which will march on York, the other of which will attack Glyndwr.



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bunch of shit

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--------------------------------------------------------------

Please make sure you read this file along with the online help

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Readme file contents

-DVgate Ver..6 Overview

-Precautions (Common)

-Precautions (DVgate Motion)

-NTSC/PAL Switcher

--------------------------------------------------------------

DVgate Ver..6 Overview

DVgate Ver..6 allows you to capture movie and still images

from the DV device connected to the i.LINK (IEEE14) jack of

the PC, and also allows you to save the captured movie and

still images to a file.

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connected DV device.

DVgate Ver..6 consists of the following software.

DVgate Motion

Captures movie and converts and saves the captured movie to

an AVI file (DV CODEC).

Can also record the DV CODEC AVI file to the DV device.

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the captured image to an all-purpose graphics data.

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Edits the DV CODEC AVI file created by DVgate Motion and

the still image captured by DVgate Still.

Can convert and save the edited movie/image to DV CODEC

AVI and MPEG1/ MPEG files (1).

(1) Some models cannot convert to MPEG file.

NTSC/PAL Switcher

This is a utility to switch the settings of a PC in order to

match the video format (NTSC or PAL) of the connected device.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Precautions (Common)

[DV devices that can be controlled by DVgate]

This program can control only household DV devices

manufactured by Sony (limited to models sold in the country

where the computer was purchased).

DVgate has been confirmed to work with household DV

devices equipped with an i.LINK connector (including

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December 00.

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If Windows XP is installed on your computer, DVgate cannot be

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[Windows was unable to locate the software for this device]

appears, however, there is no problem in using the DVgate

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A user with administrator privileges needs to carry out

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Each DVgate application needs hardware resource like CPU and

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When playing the movie of the tape or the file using the

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connect the DV device to your computer, the [Digital Video

Device] dialog appears. Please close the dialog by clicking

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select the [Take no action] icon on the [Digital Video Device]

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The length of movie files exceeding 100 minutes may not be

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--------------------------------------------------------------

Precautions (DVgate Motion)

[In case you use Sony Digital8]

Please switch to [IMPORT-Manual (manual capture)] mode if you

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If the tape has unrecorded area in between the IN and OUT points,

you will not be able to capture properly.

Please make sure to set the IN and OUT points without including

unrecorded area between them.

[Capture from a discontinuous time code area]

Please switch to [IMPORT-Manual (manual capture)] mode if you

want to capture from a discontinuous time code area.

[Splice recording from the end of a recorded area]

In the [EXPORT-Auto] mode, if you start recording the movie

from the end of a recorded area on the DV tape, DVgate may not

detect the correct position and may not perform splice recording.

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please refer to the instruction manual of your DV device.

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OUT jack]

For a DV device that has only the DV OUT jack, DVgate Motion

may not be able to scan, mark, or batch capture.

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window by either playback, pause, etc. and then try again.

--------------------------------------------------------------

NTSC/PAL Switcher

The folder where DVgate Motion is installed includes NTSC/PAL

switching tool (DVsigchg.exe).

[NTSC/PAL Switcher Overview]

NTSC/PAL Switcher is a utility to switch the settings of a

PC in order to match the video format (NTSC or PAL) of

the connected device.

General TV video format used in Japan and the US NTSC

General TV video format used in Western Europe PAL

The initial setting of the video format of this software

is matched to the setting of the country of purchase.

[Precautions for use]

Please make sure you use this utility after exiting all

DVgate applications.

You need to restart your computer after switching to the

appropriate video format.

[Limitation]

DVgate has already been verified to work with the DV device

having the video format (NTSC or PAL) applicable to the country

of purchase. It has not been verified to work with the DV device

having the video format applicable to other countries.

[How to use]

Please launch the NTSC/PAL Switcher by double-clicking

DVsigchg.exe in the folder where DVgate Motion is installed.



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Sojourner Truth

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Sojourner Truth was born a slave named Isabella Baumfree sometime in 177 in Ulster county, New York. The exact date of her birth is to this day unknown, but it is believed to have been sometime during the fall. She developed her characteristics of courage and dependability from her mother, Mau Mau Bett, at an early age. Isabella was first owned by a Dutch named Charles, who was happened to be a decent slave owner. At his death, she was separated from her mother and auctioned to another set of plantation owners, the Neelys. Isabella was highly mistreated here as they took their dislike of the Dutch community out on Isabella, who spoke hardly a word of English. She was bought and sold three times within the next twenty-four months, the final purchaser being a man named John Dumont for the incredibly low bargaining price of three hundred dollars.

Dumont needed more slaves for his New York plantation. He always bragged that Isabella was the hardest working slave on the plantation. Seeing this, he forced her to marry a fellow slave known as Tom. Isabella gave birth to five children within the next five years. Two years before the emancipation act of 188, in which all slaves within New York were freed, Dumont promised Isabella that if she were to work extra hard the next year, he would set her free a year early. She did just that; she was the even harder working already hardest working slave on the plantation.

In her speeches, she spoke of the living conditions many slaves were forced to endure, crowded together into cabins with no privacy, overworked, fed scraps in many cases, and clothed raggedy scraps. Her audiences must have felt the shame as Truth recalled the auction block, upon which men and women alike were frequently forced to strip and stand before potential buyers, who would search their bodies for marks of the whip or of wrist or leg irons, the presence of which would indicate the slave had been frequently punished. The slaves would be forced to endure impersonal and degrading inspections of their teeth, muscles, and other body parts, depending on what the buyer was looking for in the purchase. When the time came, though, Dumont broke his promise. Isabella, realizing she had been tricked, escaped with her infant child in her arms in October of 187 to the refuge of a Quaker family.

She became an outspoken advocate of womens rights as well as blacks rights. In 184, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. Everywhere she spoke she made a lasting impression. She was physically strong and over six feet tall and she had a powerful, booming voice.




As a speaker, Sojourner Truth became known for her quick wit and powerful presence. She would never be intimidated. Because of her powerful speaking ability, independent spirit and her six foot frame, she was often accused of being a man. She ended that in Silver Lake, Indiana when she exposed herself to the audience that accused her.

In the 1850s, she wrote a book, which was published by William Lloyd Garrison. She was influenced to write poems and books because of her experiences with racism and slavery. Harriet Beacher Stowe, the author of Uncle Toms Cabin, also wrote about an encounter she had with Ms. Truth and called it “Sojourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl”. Sojourner Truth led a fulfilling life, which brought her to be the icon she has become. In 10, a robot due to explore the surface of mars was named after the African American hero. Just as Truth, the mechanical robot was traveling and in search of truth.

Many honors have been received by this remarkable woman. She did as she believed to be right, and did not care how the others felt about her message. She did everything in her power to bring about change in a nation.. She never lived to see equality between genders or the total desegregation between races. She contributed a lot to the elimination of racism.



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Interpretation of The Praise of Folly

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For our story, the Praise of Folly is most fascinating for its trenchant and central satire on war and warmakers, past and present. Within the whole work this forms a structure of relentlessly ironic social criticism, both destructive and constructive. Erasmus was addressing himself to an audience which, if schooled in the quite usual medieval patterns of thought, customarily regarded war (like the plague) as caused by man¡¦s sin and God¡¦s answering justice, yet at the same time (since St. Augustine) as an action approvable as just and Christian. The accretions of chivalrous romance, moreover, had dressed war in a heroic glamour suitable for one of nobility¡¦s most glorious occupations. In startling contrast, Erasmus presented a Christian-humanist image of war and warmakers as beastly, hellish, corruptive of human society, unjust, and unchristian. War is not treated as an incurable form of human folly; it is not in the nature of things inevitable and necessary; it is corrupted men who make it so. The satire was designed progressively to amuse, surprise, shock, appall, and, finally, prompt pensive men to re-examine time-hallowed medieval values and authorities then¢was necessary¢wto modify and reform them through the right use of reason and the Scriptures.

The Silenus box is a case carved like an ugly Silenus that can be opened to reveal beautiful, precious objects (Erasmus 4, footnote). This box appears in Erasmus The Praise of Folly as a metaphor for the central claim in the novel, which is that that which appears to be Folly (ugly) externally, is wise (precious) within. Erasmus reveals this dichotomy on three levels in the image of the box itself, in his genuine praise of Folly, and in the structure of the novel as a whole.

Erasmus, using the female voice of Folly, introduces his reader to the image of the Silenus box early in the text, thereby allowing his reader to carry the image with her for the rest of her time reading (and see its metaphoric nature when appropriate). Folly makes the introduction, saying, All human affairs... have two aspects quite different from each other. She then goes on to explain that this means, according to Plato, that things that appear at first blush... to be death, will, if you examine [them] more closely, turn out to be life... in brief, you will find everything suddenly reversed if you open the Silenus (4). In more direct terms, something which on its surface seems one way (the bad way), has opposite (good) guts. In The Praise of Folly, the pair of opposites that Erasmus focuses on is that of folly and wisdom.

By including a passage dedicated to the description of the Silenus, Erasmus gives his readers a concrete picture to grasp onto that stands for the novels link between this pair of opposites, which is that wisdom comes under the wrapping of folly. The passage allows the reader to understand this central concept more easily. The concept, in its many manifestations, can be brought back to the same single image the box. Silenus box serves as an illustration (a picture book, if you will) for the complicated Praise of Folly, thereby making the readers task of distinguishing between different narrators, and different textual layers, easier.




Folly, being folly, goes on from her initial description of the box to give the majority of her list backwards (although she begins correctly), claiming that if the list goes in one direction, it must, of course, go in the opposite direction as well (shes a woman -- you cant expect her to be reasonable (8)). To do this, she abruptly inserts the word conversely (4), and continues with a long backward list. Life will turn out to be death; beauty will become ugliness, and so on, she says (4). In this backwards list, good outsides cloak bad insides. She then uses this inverted list as a springboard to celebrate wise appearances (although this is the exact opposite of the central message of the book, which is the celebration of foolish appearances).

She declares that esteemed members of the community are truly members of her (Follys) clan, and that all they have of wisdom is its appearance. Kings and great courtiers... find suitable pretexts within which they can steal from their citizens and live in luxury so that downright injustice at least has some appearance of justice (107-8). Popes, cardinals and bishops also behave artificially. They play their roles with theatrical pomp and ceremonies, but as much as they abide by the superficial demands of their positions, inside they are not genuinely pious. These are just a few examples of generally respected authorities regularly acting on the outside as if they are morally impeccable, while inside, they are morally rotten.

Folly celebrates their false wisdom, saying, To destroy the illusions by exposing them would ruin the whole play of life (4). Folly defends their false grandeur by claiming that people could not be happy otherwise, for lifes play would be ruined. Although this application of the metaphor is an inverted version of the Silenus box, it is interesting as a criticism of esteemed authorities. The reason the Silenus box metaphor is used in a backwards (foolish) way in this section may be Erasmus way of distancing himself from his books criticisms of these powerful people. By having Folly deem them as being wise only externally, Erasmus removes himself from being politically incorrect. If anyone was insulted, he could just point to the text and laugh at them for being insulted by Follys understanding of them.

Finally, at the end of the novel, Erasmus seemingly true voice is temporarily inserted in place of Follys. He applies the Silenus box metaphor properly, and makes a singular genuine praise of Folly (who before had only herself to praise her). He brings his reader back to the original (non-inverted) metaphor, saying that what is ugly (foolish) without is beautiful (wise) within. To do this, he states, Only fools have a license to declare truth without offense (1). To substantiate his extreme claim, he quotes Paul take me for a fool... we are all fools for the sake of Christ, says the wise apostle (17). Likewise, Erasmus appeals to Jeremiahs attribution of wisdom... to God alone, leaving folly as the lot of all men (11). Paul and Jeremiah say that those who think themselves wise are actually fools for allotting themselves an attribute that only God has. Erasmus clearly has a similar message in mind in his statement that only fools have a license to declare truth without offense because he chooses to quote Jeremiah and Paul to substantiate his statement.

Erasmus is praising those who call themselves fools, for they are the ones who exhibit humble modesty under God, thereby declaring truth without offense. Again, the parallel to the Silenus box is easily drawn. The self-professed (self-carved) fool is the ugly exterior, and the wisdom within is the beautiful, precious object (4). This specific point echoes the solidly humanist phrase which Erasmus himself reputedly said Men are not born, but fashioned. Wise men must fashion themselves the faces of fools.

Erasmus true compliment to Folly, that she is the shroud for wisdom, is also a compliment to the novel itself. For the novel, Erasmus covers his naturally reasonable and male (8) writing voice with a humorous and base (11) fictional voice. This character voice is itself Folly -- a woman (silly creatures, but nevertheless amusing and pleasant(8)). Yet, despite the fact that Erasmus gives himself the voice of this Platonic fool, The Praise of Folly holds in its pages much wisdom, including the very wisdom that is designed at convincing the reader of its own high status (that that which is foolish without, is wise within). Erasmus is demonstrating his true wisdom by artificially giving himself the tongue of the fool. In other words, he is exhibiting his wisdom by dressing as a woman to cover his reasonable manliness. In this same literary tradition, Rabelais utilizes this peculiar narrative technique in Gargantua and Pantagruel, where he too hides the wisdom in his work behind the veil of foolish, and even vulgar, language.

Erasmus inclusion of the passage explaining the Selenus box allows it to be a metaphor for the central concept in the novel. Through its presence, Erasmus gives us, his readers, a tool with which to separate the layers of his text. Without it, we might be stranded (after reading) with the inaccurate belief that Erasmus was a babbling hypocrite, with contradictory ideas sprinkled throughout his work. But, I suppose, we could have just attributed that fault to Folly, who is always more than willing to accept such a title



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Attempting to Understand American Culture

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What is American culture? What is its significance? These two questions are extremely difficult to answer, let alone extremely difficult concepts to grasp. In fact, almost every human on this planet will derive different meanings of American culture and it will unquestionably hold different levels of significance to different people. American culture is an oxymoronic phrase because there is no such thing. It is made up of various subcultures from every country and ethnicity in the world. Ishmael Reed even asks, “What’s American about America” (Verberg ). American culture is the fusion of different subcultures which brings about an environment conducive to learning and tolerance. Not only that, but it also provides the basic moral code and guidelines that our society functions by.

Joyce Millet, an author and cultural historian would categorize the “melting pot” theory as antiquated. “America has traditionally been referred to as a ‘melting pot’, welcoming people from many different countries, races, and religions, all hoping to find freedom, new opportunities, and a better way of life. Today, the trend is toward multiculturalism, not assimilation. The old “melting pot” metaphor is giving way to new metaphors such as ‘salad bowl’ and ‘mosaic’, mixtures of various ingredients that keep their individual characteristics. Immigrant populations within the United States are not being blended together in one ‘pot’, but rather they are transforming American society into a truly multicultural mosaic” (Millet http//www.culturalsavvy.com/understanding_american_culture_.htm). Millet goes on to talk about how American culture can only be understood by running through each particular US region in order to understand what that region and the people who live there, contributes to overall cultural understanding. While I agree with some of this concept, I feel that American culture should not be looked at in regards to what each subculture has to offer and in addition, what each region has to offer, but instead as the sum of all these subcultures which invariably give American culture its significance.

One example of the significance of American culture would be the fact that it leads to a productive healthy environment in the realm of education and socialization. Through education (which is a societal standard that Americans have set for all their children) we learn to accept others who may not share the same skin color or facial structure as we do, we learn to be tolerant of different ideas and religions, and we are taught to accept people no matter how different they are. This value for all humans was taught to me in a Californian Elementary school when my third grade teacher read us a book about the people of the world. The book contained those of Asian, African, Indian (sub-continent and American), and Latin descent. After showing us pictures of the various people, the teacher proceeded to tell us that despite the fact that everyone in that book looked different and had different skin colors; it didn’t make them better or worse. They were still people just like us and we were supposed to treat them the way we would like to be treated ourselves. This idea of acceptance continued throughout my school life and carried with me to different continents and countries. For me, this exposure to different ideas brought about a certain amount of perspective and tolerance in my life. As a result of having so many different people, races, religions, and ideas prevalent in our society, our culture teaches us how to integrate, socialize, and accept all these differences in a civil manner.




American culture is also vastly significant due to the fact that it provided a basis for which most, if not all of American society lives their lives by. It provides our society with guidelines for what is acceptable and what will not be tolerated. It provides us with an unwritten morality code which is subject to change. An example would be our justice system. In our culture and society, we are taught that killing is wrong. If one commits a murder they will be removed from society and either sentenced to life imprisonment or sentenced to death. This theory of establishing right from wrong is a direct result of our culture. In other countries like Pakistan for example, in tribal areas, warlords take matters into their own hands and will kill in revenge without resorting to the justice system that is set in place by their respective villages. That is a direct result of their culture dictating their societal rules.

Culture, in conclusion, is learned, not inherited, and is therefore amenable to change. Melville wrote, “We are not a nation, so much as a world” (Verburg ). This statement rings true for America is a world a world of different ideas and of different people. We are the epitomic cross-section of the world and because of that, American culture will remain at the forefront of the world due to its overall acceptance of multiple ideas. Through education we teach what is right and wrong and we allow our children to go forth be accepting or at least open-minded to anything that one does not know and does not fully understand. American culture will never be fully understood nor will it ever be fully listed as being the product of one subculture and another. However, its significance has lived past our ancestors and will continue to live on through our children and our children’s children.

Bengali, 5

Works Cited

Millet, Joyce. “Understanding American Culture From Melting Pot to Salad Bowl.”

Cultural Savvy, 000. 1 October, 00. http//www.culturalsavvy.com/understanding_american_culture_.htm

Rayner, Richard. “What Immigration Crisis?” Making Contact Readings from Home and

Abroad. Ed. Carol J. Verberg. New York Bedford/St. Martins, 17.

Reed, Ishmael. “What’s American about America?” Making Contact Readings from

Home and Abroad. Ed. Carol J. Verberg. New York Bedford/St. Martins, 17.

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American History X

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American History X is a movie about the significance of hate crimes and how to overcome racism. The movie starts in black and white representing a flash back. Derek, who is a neo-nazi, kills two black men after they break into his car. One of them he smashes his face against the curb. Derek gets thrown in jail for three years. Danny, his younger brother, is on the same path as Derek was. Once Derek gets out of jail all he tries to do is turn Danny away from the racism that consumes his life. Danny is given an alternative history assignment in his new history class, American History X, where he is supposed to write about how Derek’s time in prison has changed and influenced his life. Derek goes to a party where all of his former skin-head friends are to be. He talks with the “ring leader” who schooled him on how to be a true skinhead. Derek informs him that he wants out and that he’s changed. The two men get into a fight which causes aggression from the other skinheads against Derek. Derek manages to get away where he and Danny sit and talk. Derek tells Danny what happened to him in jail. He was a part of the skinheads in prison, but never realized that at the same time he was befriending one of his black co-workers. The skinheads notice this and rape Derek in the shower room. This causes Derek to slowly change his ways. He gets help from an outside source and stands his distance from the skinheads. Derek’s story really affected Danny; so much in fact that Derek and Danny take down all of the Nazi paraphernalia in Danny’s room. The next day Danny goes to school with his history assignment in hand. As Danny approaches a stall in the bathroom he turns around to find a black kid whom he had an altercation with the previous day holding a gun in his hand. The kid shot Danny five times killing him. As the movie closes it shows Derek going to Danny and holding him while in the background is Danny reading the end of his paper. Danny closes the paper and the movie with “All hate is bad,” thus ending Danny’s racism and ending the movie.

Please note that this sample paper on American History X is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on American History X, we are here to assist you. Your cheap custom college paper on American History X will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.

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