Writings by white, male, upper-class individuals dominate the canon of Western History. While such a dominance does not negate their scholarship, the voices of the marginalized—women, the poor and ethnic minorities—are not represented in this limited historical viewpoint. Many mid-20th century historians felt that there was a need to counter this inequality of representation. For example, E.P. Thompson, Clifford Geertz and Natalie Zemon Davis each generated works that revealed the history of a previously marginalized group. Despite their different areas of expertise, the academics ' approaches are essentially compatible, insofar as they exhibit the same ultimate goal—giving a voice to the marginalized—and compensate for each other’s shortcomings.…
Understanding his reader allows him to make his work not only informative, but interesting. As Jackson J. Spielvogel, author of Western Civilization: A Brief History, said of his textbook, “I sought to keep the story in history.” (Spielvogel, xxi) History truly exists as a collection…
He claims that the capitalistic society of the western hemisphere distinguished the role of the author rather than seeing a text as a work of a culture. This deconstructive argument portrays the idea that by assigning a specific author to a text limits the potential meaning of that text. Barthes believes that all text have been written before, and are part of larger cultural text that individual writers pick up and use in different arrangements. Furthermore, the reader (who is also part of all the texts circulating in the metaphysical world of cultural discourse) interacts with the given text in a given moment to generate meaning; therefore, it is wrong to speak of an author as the main source of meaning. Barthes says that writing will perpetuate by the removal of the author hence, “the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author (Barthes 877).”…
Humans main source of communication is through written and spoken language. Through the context of this communication, there is a lot to be learned. Among other things, an author's nationality can affect the content of the writing. This can be seen in Edmund S. Morgan and G.M. Trevelyan’s accounts of The American Revolution. It is important to see how context affects the writing of history because it allows the reader to be actively aware that the account that is given is not the 100% truth.…
My time at St. Cecilia school is never going to be forgotten. St. Cecilia has shaped me to be the person I am today spiritually, academically, and my friendships with other people. The theme of this year was living our strengths through service. I think this means that God has given us all a talent and we have to serve others through it. St. Cecilia gives many opportunities to do so.…
These cultural memories become stable, reliant on the need for critics to enter productions with preconceived notions of what to expect when critiquing revivals of plays that have, by canonization, received mythic status. Yet the first actors who performed the famous roles written by Tennessee Williams did not have to compete with canonized interpretations. The original performances of Laurette Taylor’s Amanda, Marlon Brando’s Stanley, and Burl Ives’s Big Daddy were acts of creation, rather than re-interpretation. Over time, as these performances have become engrained in cultural memory, new performers are forced (by critics, audiences, and scholars alike) to compete with an assumed stability to these original performances, made mythic by their canonization.…
It is 5:57 am on a Wednesday morning and I am dreading the sound of my alarm going off. A sick sensation of guilt over and hate overwhelm me, and the only thought coming to my head is "wow, I really wish time would freeze. " It feels like the longest three minutes of life and, I am in heaven and close my eyes hoping that I never have to get up.…
“Should everybody write?” This is the question and title of Dennis Baron’s essay about the writers of today compared to the writers of the past. He provides examples of the first instances of writing used for communication in presenting the clay tokens that merchants used for tracking inventory. He then discusses popular opinions about writing from historical greats such as Socrates and Mark Twain. Baron provides commentary on both sides of the issue and how the development of new technology has always been the catalyst for change. During the course of the evolution of writing, Baron relates that “authorship” was an honor that was limited to only a select few.…
Janice Koch states “being a teacher requires an emotional and intellectual engagement.” Janice Koch is the author of So You Want to Be a Teacher: Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century that provided a lot of insight and information that is important to know if I wanted to be a teacher in a 21st-century classroom. In Chapter One: Who Are Our Teacher, Koch gave statistics of what a “normal” teacher look like in a classroom. Most teachers are middle ages married white woman and Koch discuss the importance of having diversity in the education field among diversity and gender. If there is not diversity among this professor, minorities and males will believe that only white woman are fitted to be teachers.…
Growing up, I would describe my background being placed in the middle class spectrum. I was born and raised in Miami Beach, Florida. My parents were migrants from Haiti coming from families that were not impoverished but also not well off. My father came here young in the 80s, being able to adjust and learn how to survive and live in this country. Everything that he has and own was built from the ground up.…
This is a summary of “Historicism, History, and the Figurative Imagination” an essay by Hayden White in “Tropics of Discourse Essays in Cultural Criticism”. In this essay, White begins by addressing the difficulties historians may have in reporting history because of the inherent bias or lack of expertise the historian brings in a particular field of study in order to distinguish the significance of the events. A good historian, as stated by White, consistently reminds us that history is always an incomplete record and the events are ever changing as new information is considered.…
III. Professional Biography (two double-spaced pages) A. What factors influenced you to become a teacher? Describe your greatest contributions and accomplishments in education.…
Becoming an educator is one the noblest professions an individual can go into. A teacher can have a powerful impact in a student’s live, both positive and negative. Teaching is one of the few careers that directly affect the future of our nation, and though this may be considered a cliché, the truth of the matter is that you may have a larger impact on children’s lives than some of their parents. You spend hours upon hours with your students, whereas busy or career-driven parents may not have the same opportunities. Becoming an educator is conducive to your home or family life, allows you to see the potential in students, and perhaps most notably, provides the opportunity for you to essentially mold lives within one short calendar year.…
Being a Teacher My boyfriend’s mom and sister are both teachers and I always say to the both of them “how do you do it?” Never in my wildest dreams would I ever be a teacher at least that is what I thought. Then one day I decided I would sit and watch how my daughters Pre-School class worked.…
My mother always said I became a teacher because I loved to talk, but more than that I loved to share. As always, my mother was right. She believed in me, as well as many of the Tyler ISD teachers who taught me and for this I will always be grateful! It is my desire to believe in my students and encourage them to be the best they can be each day!…