The Good Child Language Analysis

Improved Essays
A contentious debate has occurred in regards to how problems can be caused by a good child and the fact that there are implications of being the good child. ‘The Dangers of the Good Child’, a didactic opinionated feature article by The School of Life (The School of Life, 03/17) contends that there are dangers to being the ‘good child’. Comparatively, a direct response to this piece, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ contends that perhaps there is a point in being the ‘naughty’ child.

The School of Life initiates their piece by using the anaphora of ‘they’ to generalise the good child and their monotonous righteousness. The visual provided contributes to establishing context by supplying an image of a docile-faced young girl who seemed to be
…show more content…
Other uses of pejorative language are ‘violently’ and the strong adjective ‘catastrophically’ suggesting that the situations some good children are in are atrocious and positions the audience to feel sympathy toward these children. The author utilises the juxtaposition of ‘exaggerated politeness’ to evoke pejorative emotions toward the attributes of the good child. The hyperbole of ‘treat them as the danger they are’ emphasises the severity of the issue. The metaphoric phrase of ‘real thoughts and feelings stay buried,’ furthers the needs to uncover the emotions and reasons the concept of the good child is what it is. Comparatively, the author of the response uses an anecdote to once again establish her experience and credibility. She applies the anaphora of ‘I think about’, to repeatedly wonder of the noises at her previous school and alludes to the fact that they are missed, both the ‘loud laughter’ and the ‘detention-riddled students.’ The alliteration and anaphora evoke positive emotions toward the students of her previous school. The word ‘riddled’ relates back to the analogy of sickness in the School of Life article, as riddled is used often times in the company of a disease. Here, it is the bad or ‘healthy’ child who is labelled as

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The purpose of this assignment is to analyse how a child’s life is socially constructed, in relating to their development into adulthood, addressing particular issues that consider essentialist and deterministic perspective of the transitions faced during adolescences. In brief description essentialist is how one perceives themselves during situations they cannot control, and deterministic is things that can be controlled by prior conditions, such as decision making. Using the following quote which is about a child’s experience back in the 1915 “And according to the law I was damned. I had no money, I was weak, I was ugly, I was unpopular, I had a chronic cough, I was cowardly, I smelt…but a child’s belief in its own short comings is not…

    • 1007 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parenting is not an easy task to master, however, they play an important role in their children’s early years. Every child has parents, which are necessary for a good childhood. As a result, parents should be the best they can be. Being supportive, teaching values, and taking responsibility are the necessary qualities found in a good parent, which are shown throughout Walls’ memoir, Roethke’s poem, and Gibbs’ article. Every good parent should support their child’s goals.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As such, the themes that are projected include The Destruction of Innocence and Goodness and Bestial Behaviour Versus that Governed by Laws and Morality. Paradoxically, Golding shows how a child can weep, “for the end of innocence, the darkness of a man’s heart,” while at the same time symbolise the hope that such a realisation can bring for…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    People all over the world tend to toss their morals aside in order to conform to the influences of society or a higher superior. However, people below the chain of authority, especially the youth, struggle the most in attempt to triumph over these types of situations. Although conformity often helps society function correctly, there becomes a problem when a person’s identity becomes too infatuated within a higher authority that they disregard their own personal morals. So why in a society principled in independence and freewill do people eagerly toss morals aside in order to conform to a superior? It seems as if even though the face of morality does not disappear, individuals still willingly set their beliefs aside in order to please an authority figure.…

    • 2082 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Similar to the Chinese philosophy of the Yin and the Yang, the existence of something has an opposite to it, and without the opposite it would cease to exist. The filthy and gloomy description of the child, “Perhaps [the child] was born defective, or perhaps it has become imbecile through fear, malnutrition, and neglect”, emphasizes the different possible ways that corruption can take over someone; either they are born into it or they are exposed to it as they grow older and learn for themselves…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rex And Rosemary Walls

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An autobiography written by Jeanette Walls, “The Glass Castle” displays many points that the reader should take strongly into consideration. While reading, the reader may wonder whether or not the parenting skills demonstrated were in fact, abusive. One may also wonder just how Jeanette, Lori, Brian, and Maureen were able to be successful in adulthood. Rex and Rosemary Walls were very different and unconventional but successful parents based on the education they gave their children, the personal habits they refused to change, and the lifestyle they kept.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this essay, we will dive in to a series of scenarios and situations that may prove a long- lasting impact on human behavior. To understand the emotion ‘Hate’, and how an innocent baby who is born come to acquire such knowledge. To understand why is it almost socially accepted in some extreme scenario, were we use phrases such as “well nobody is perfect”, and “nobody changes over night” whenever we are forced to take some sort of responsibility openly about our actions, if deemed negative. I will attempt to prove that there’s a connection between what a parent teaches through word of mouth and in action, is manifested through the results of their children in a lot of cases. Effects of Disguised Trauma…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The author uses imagery to describe how Mortenson is feeling and all the hardships he faced on his journey. This quote is significant because it describes what it was like to sleep on a mountain. The author lets the reader know how cold and uncomfortable it was. Mortonson made peace with himself and his failure to honor Christa. His body failed him, not his spirits.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is difficult to understand what virtue truly is and if everyone is born with it and if it develops over time. Plato brings this question to the forefront in Protagoras and Meno. During a particular discussion, Socrates questions Protagoras on whether virtue can truthfully be taught. Protagoras then provides admirable evidence proving that virtue can be educated to all human beings. Protagoras does this by providing a number of examples backing up his beliefs.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Are children naturally bad? In the film The Ransom of Red Chief and Shirley Jackson’s “Charles” both boys differ in the way they misbehave. Andy and Laurie are two very restless boys with huge imaginations. They are using their imaginations to think of traps to get them out of trouble. Since they use a lot of negative behavior, Andy’s parents are mad at him, and Laurie’s teacher punishes him. Even though children might seem naturally bad, there is usually a reason behind their behavior; while Andy is seeking to get attention from his parents and the kidnappers, Laurie uses his imagination to create a character named Charles so he won’t get in trouble by his parents.…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Movie Analysis: Rain Man

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Rain Man is a movie of psychological change; from beginning to end the persona of a self-centered, egotistical, businessman changes to that of a caring man capable of showing love. Charlie Babbit worked as a car dealership owner, in which he put most of his time and energy into. Charlie can be seen as a pretty lonely person, despite having a girlfriend and living an upper-middle class American lifestyle. Charlie 's mother died since he was a child, and his relationship with his father ended on a negative note leaving Charlie feeling even more isolated after his passing. Charlie 's past and present behavior in the movie can be seen as influenced by biosocial development.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Good and Evil An illustrated collection of poems entitled, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, written and illustrated by William Blake shows a variety of perspectives. The innocent and pastoral world for a child pitted against a world of corruption and repression for adults. The same situation or problem is first presented through the perspective of a child and then shown from experience. The poem “The Lamb” is the counterpart for “The Tyger”, which shows two sides to the human soul: a bright side and a dark side or good and evil. The lamb represents all that is good in the world and innocence while the Tyger showcases the opposite, focusing on evil, corruption, and suffering in the world.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fight For Survive American is a mixed state, classified as a result of ethnic reasons, of their skin color, immigration, and wealth gap. This is a real problem, which cannot be avoided. Even the liberation movement in the sixties and seventies had arisen in the last century; no idea has ever been substantive solution. Confrontation continued, war continues, halt the only survival rights. In the movie "Freedom Writers", the students at Wilson High School in Long beach, California, live in such a violent atmosphere.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When individuals develop their sense of self, they must also develop a sense of compassion and morality in order to strive for the betterment of society. In a world with corruption and chaos, to maintain humanity and kindness, individuals might prevent the loss of their childhood innocence. Born with compassion, people tend to act more kind in the years of their youth; however, as individuals age, expectations, judgements, and corruption haunts and creates obstacles in their lives. In Charles Dicken’s 19th century novel, Great Expectations, and J. D. Salinger’s classic literature, The Catcher in the Rye, they both highlights the importance of preserving childhood innocence in order to create a healthy development of individuals. While Dickens…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Child Language Development

    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Language plays an important role in a child’s intellectual, emotional and social development. Language can be both seen and heard. Language is a guide to social reality (Sapir, 1949). For example, body language, sign language and the social convention about how to combine words, express and connect ideas to interact with other people. All language including written, visual and spoken developed from cultural and social contexts and understood in people's social and cultural background (Green, 2006, p.2).…

    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays