The Role Of Teacher in Written Feedback

The Role Of Teacher in Written Feedback Teacher written feedback plays an essential role in a students writing process. It helps students identify their own strengths and weaknesses, which, in case of the latter, will make students know how to go about improving themselves and become effective writers (Penaflorida, 2002, p. 364). According to Ferris (2002), teacher feedback, if addressed effectively, can also contribute to students overall second language acquisition. Important as teacher written feedback is, there have been several studies comprehensively dealing with the issue. Even with those that do, there exists a lack of consensus over such matters as what aspects teacher feedback should focus on, which forms of feedback are preferable to students, etc. In the context of teaching writing in Vietnam, few studies have been conducted on feedback in general and teacher written feedback in particular. The same situation could be seen at the College of Social Sciences and Humanities-Vietnam National University, Hanoi. In reality, neither an investigation into the current feedback giving practice nor students preferences for teacher written feedback has been carried out at the college. It is, therefore, an open question whether or not current teacher written feedback is beneficial to students at the college. All the aforementioned reasons urge the author to carry out the research entitled A study on teacher written feedback on 1st-year students writings at the College of Social Sciences and Humanities-Vietnam National University, Hanoi. This study is an attempt to examine the real situation of teacher written feedback at the CSSH and to propose some suggestions for the betterment of the current practice. The yielded results is hoped to serve as a useful source of reference for those who concern about the subject matter. I.2. Aims of the study This study is carried out with the aims to: investigate the current practice of teacher written feedback on 1st year students writings at the CSSH-VNU propose some recommendations for the betterment of teacher written feedback at the CSSH. I.3. Research questions In order to achieve the abovementioned aims, the study will be conducted to answer two research questions: In what ways is teacher written feedback given to the 1st-year-students writings at the CSSH VNU? What do 1st-year students at CSSH expect from teacher written feedback to make it more effective? I.4. Scope of the study The research will work on the current situation of teacher written feedback on the 1st-year student writings at CSSH-VNU. The subjects selected for this study are the 1st-year students who are studying English at college. Moreover, the research examines only teacher written feedback but not other types of feedback such as teacher-student conference or teacher taped comments, since teacher written feedback is the main type of feedback at the college. Chapter II: Literature Review This chapter, which reviews the overall background concerning teacher written feedback, will serve as the foundations based on which the study is carried out. II.1. Concept of teacher feedback in writing Concerning the matter of teacher feedback (or respond/commentary), there exist a vast number of definitions given by researchers. Keh (1990) considers feedback as any input from a reader to a writer with the effect of providing information to the writer for revision (p. 294). In other words, it is the comments, questions, and suggestions a reader gives a writer with the view to enhancing his/her writing. The concept of feedback given by Joe (2006) is probably one of the most comprehensive one: Feedback is an inseparable and recursive component of both the teachers instruction and the writing process. It represents a sense of audience and purpose in forming the on-going writing process, while establishing a concept of collaborative reader-editor relationship between teacher and student. The feedback from the reader-editor appears as input for further reexamination and revision of the prior written work by providing optimum opportunities to develop and refine ideas, and may take various forms such as conference and interview. (p. 53) This concept is considered the most thorough one that covers almost aspects of teacher feedback, namely, the positions of feedback in writing instruction and writing process, the relation of student-teacher in process writing, the forms of feedback, and the role of feedback in a writing process. Its thought will, therefore, be used thorough this study. II. 2. Role of teacher written feedback As mentioned above, teacher feedback plays an essential role in a writing process. The importance of teacher feedback can be aptly summed by Straub (1996) It is how we receive and respond to student writing that speaks loudest in our teaching (p.246). In the absence of a face to face verbal writing conference, written response is the only way in which teacher can respond to the individual needs of students. It is via the comments on their writing that students can identify their own strengths and weaknesses, which, in the case of the latter, will make the students know how to go about improving themselves and become effective writers (Penaflorida, 2002, p. 346). Therefore, feedback is considered, first of all, a pedagogical tool that helps enhance students writing competence. Moreover, according to Ressor, teacher feedback is believed to provide students with not only the incentive to improve but also the guidance about how to improve (as cited in Vengadasamy, 2002). Feedback, in this sense, adopts another function; that is, stimulating and motivating student to write. II.3. Features of good teacher written feedback What constitutes good teacher written feedback is a complicated issue. There is little consensus among researchers over the matter as in reality, different individuals may prefer different types of feedback. While some people enjoy negative and direct feedback, other may feel discouraged by the same feedback. Therefore, it is normal to see different sets of criteria for good teacher written feedback. According to Coffin et al. (2003, p. 101), three vital elements of a good feedback are positive comment, criticism and suggestion for improvements. The coexistence of positive comment and criticism, according to Ferris Hedgcock (1998), will bring about the best effects (p. 128). While positive comments can motivate writers, negative ones can constructively show them where they have gone wrong and what action they should take in order to improve their paper. A suggestion is also needed as a guideline for students to make revision. Notably, the aforementioned set of criteria only mentions the elements constituting good teacher feedback. Researchers on teacher feedback also list a large number of other criteria, among which is the one given by Leki (1992). According to this researcher, feedback is only good when teachers concentrate on the content along with a limited amount of feedback on grammar, punctuation, and spelling. According to Baechle Lian (1990) and Mastropiery Scruggs (1994) (as cited in Konold Miller, 2004), high-quality feedback should be timely, accurate, constructive, outcome-focused, encouraging and positive. What is more, good feedback must necessarily avoid unknown abbreviations, codes, ambiguous and unobtainable suggestions for improvement. This set of criteria, in comparison with the two sets mentioned above, is more sufficient since it covers nearly all aspects of good feedback, that is, the elements of good teacher written feedback, the tone of teacher feedback (encouraging and positive) as well as the practicality of the feedback (obtainable suggestions). The existence of different ways to define the criteria of good teacher written feedback indicates that there is no standard type of teacher feedback. It is, therefore, necessary that each teaching and learning environment carry out research to find out the types of feedback that suit their students most. II.4. Major issues of teacher feedback on student writing Providing effective feedback to students has been a matter of concern among writing teachers as well as researchers. A great number of questions have been asked: What should teacher comment on?, To which extent should feedback be?, Which types of comment are most effective? and so on. However, it is the fact that researchers have not reached a consensus over the answers to such questions. Within a small scale study, an overview of the literature of the two main issues, namely content and types of teacher written feedback will be discussed in the following part. II.4.1. Content of teacher written feedback Teachers have been faced with a constant question of what to focus on when giving feedback to student writing. Fathman and Whalley (1990, p.178) notes: much of the conflict over teacher response to written work has been whether teacher feedback should focus on form or content of the writing. Content, in their opinion, refers to comments on organization, ideas and amount of detail, while form involves comments on grammar and mechanical errors. Traditionally, teachers were inclined to identifying and correcting all the surface-level errors; i.e., errors on form (Sommers, 1982). Kepner (1991) explains that teacher corrects errors out of the fear that the erroneous structures would become fossilized in the students. However, the mere focus on form correction would have detrimental impact on student writing. That students receive a corrected draft from a teacher with red-ink correction all over the page would only add to their anxiety when dealing with another writing task. Moreover, a large amount of error correction may draw the students attention to form only but not to the important matter of developing the content (Sommers, 1982). This is because when teacher feedback focuses on form (grammar, spelling, etc.), many students will revise their writing by correcting the surface mistakes and will make few or no other changes. The result is that the students rewriting becomes grammar exercises rather than challenges to clarify meaning. In some other research, there seems an agreement that attention must paid to both content and form for the fact grammatical inaccuracies can have negative effect on the overall quality of the student writing (Raimes, 1992, p. 308). In short, what to feedback on remains a complex issue. Though many studies have been carried out on the issue, a consensus over the matter has not been reached. This indicates that further studies are needed in order to find out the answer to the problem. II.4.2. Types of teacher written feedback This part will present some major types of feedback: positive feedback negative feedback, direct feedback indirect feedback, marginal feedback end feedback. These types of feedback are discussed and compared in pair in a way that the differences between them, i.e., the advantages and disadvantages of one type over the other, are highlighted. II.4.2.1. Positive feedback versus a negative feedback In their studies, Fathman Whalley (1990) suggests that positive comments give students motivation to improve their writings. When students are told they are doing right, they feel motivated to write more and to write better. However, only positive comment is not sufficient enough to motivate students to improve their writing. According to Hyland and Hyland (2001), negative comments are more useful for many students who want their problems to be highlighted. Too much negative feedback, however, may adversely affect students writing. As they re-read the writing with red marks all over the page, students may feel discouraged and stop trying to correct the mistakes. All things considered, it is advisable that teachers get a balance between praise and criticism, since the combination of both kinds will bring about the best effects (Ferris Hedgcock, 1998, p. 128). II.4.2.2. Direct versus indirect feedback Direct feedback is teachers explicit written corrections in response to students errors. With direct feedback, students are expected merely to transcribe the teachers suggested corrections into their texts. Indirect feedback, on the other hand, is when the teacher alerts students to error using general comments, but gives students the opportunity to fix errors themselves (Ferris, 2002). In his study, Ferris (2002) shows that indirect feedback is more helpful to student writers in most cases because it leads to greater cognitive engagement, reflection, and guided learning and problem-solving. Since teachers only point out the mistakes (or suggest the way to correct them), students have to figure out the way to correct the mistakes on their own. This, in the long run, helps promote students thinking as well as the ability to self-edit their own writings. Moreover, when having to correct the mistakes by themselves, students normally remember the mistakes better; therefore, they are more likely to be able to avoid them in the future. Beneficial as indirect feedback to students, for mistakes that are too complicated, direct feedback proves better than indirect one because it saves students from discouragement when they could not solve the problems on their own. All things considered, it would be the best way that teachers combine both direct and indirect feedback when they respond to student writings. II.4.2.3. Marginal versus end feedback Marginal feedback is a kind of feedback that is written in the margin or between sentence lines of the students paper. By contrast, end feedback refers to the summary feedback at the end of the paper. According to Ferris and Hedgecock (1998), there is no conclusive evidence that either marginal or end comments are preferable or more effective. In reality, each type of feedback is used with a certain aim. While marginal comments are more suitable to respond to specific sections of the text, end comments are usually saved for more global concerns affecting the entire composition. To sum up, as the above literature indicates, there is no consensus over what constitutes effective feedback. As a result, in order for teachers to make full use of feedback, they need to adjust the types of comments to the certain kinds of students. Chapter III: Methodology This chapter, which introduces the methodology of the study, covers the research approach, the methods of data collection, and the methods of data analysis. III.1. Research approach A combination of both quantitative and qualitative method was utilized in this study so as to achieve the desired aim. Quantitative method realized by means of a questionnaire to students, proved to be appropriate because it was adequate to find objective answers to such questions as How is feedback given to the 1st-year student writings and What do students expect from their teacher written feedback?. Moreover, thanks to the large number of participants in the study, that is, 80 1st-year students, the information acquired is reliable and generalisable (Nunan, 1989, p.4). In this study, qualitative was also needed since one end of the research was to find out how teachers respond to their student writings and why they respond in such ways. Qualitative study is based mainly on three basic data gathering techniques, that is, participant observation, interview and document or artifact analysis. III.2. Methods of data collection III.2.1. Questionnaire The first method aims at collecting statistical data from students to answers two research questions: (1) In what ways is teacher written feedback given to the 1st-year-students writings at the CSSH VNU? and (2) What do 1st-year students at CSSH expect from teachers written feedback to make it more effective? The data gained not only provided the researcher with an overall understanding about the students opinion about current situation of teacher written feedback given but also some pedagogical implications for the practice of giving feedback at CSSH. The questionnaire included two main parts, namely, the current situation of teacher written feedback and students expectations of teacher written feedback. The subjects selected for the study include 80 freshmen who are in the second semester of the academic year 2009-2010 at CSSH-VNU. The questionnaires were distributed to respondents with the researchers presence so that clarification and disambiguation could be made timely. (A copy of the questionnaire can be seen in the Appendix A). The steps of conducting and distributing questionnaire can be illustrated as follows: Studied available documents and chose the most appropriate data Designed questionnaire Piloted questionnaires Revised questionnaires in terms of language as well as instructions so as to make it clear and reader-friendly Distributed questionnaires to 1st-year students at CSSH Gathered findings from respondents, analyzed and interpreted the data. III.2.2. Student writing analysis Analyzing student writings already responded by teachers served two main functions. First, it gave the researcher an in-depth look at how teacher written feedback is given to the 1st-year student writings. In addition, it provided materials for the interviews with the teachers. Three groups of students were randomly selected. From the four groups, 15 newly-commented writing papers were borrowed and analyzed. The steps of analyzing students writings can be illustrated as follows: Borrowed the writing papers from students Read students writing papers with the teachers written feedback Analyzed the teachers comments in terms of feedback content and types. By this way, the distinctive features of a certain teachers style of giving written feedback could be discovered. III.2.3. Semi-structure interviews In this study, semi-structure interviews with the teachers were used with the views to double-checking the information gained in the questionnaire. The situation of teacher written feedback was, therefore, looked into from two different angles, both from teachers and students perspectives. Three teachers working at CSSH were invited to take part in the interviews. This number was reasonable because if it was greater, the qualitative data would be too enormous to manage. The interviews were carried out informally in the teachers native language so as to elicit the most information from the teachers involved. During the interview, audio recorder was utilized. All the data were then transcribed and translated into English for data analysis. (The content of interview questions and Transcription of the interviews can be seen in Appendix B) In short, the combination of qualitative and quantitative method was utilized so as to yield the most information needed. At the same time, the shortcomings that persisted in individual method would be overcome. III.3. Method of data analysis Since collected in both quantitative and qualitative method in this research, the data, therefore, needed to be processed in different ways so as to yield the most accurate results. As for the quantitative approach, the researcher followed the statistical procedure from coding questionnaire data to summarizing and reporting data in a reader-friendly way. As for the qualitative approach, the method of data analysis was to transcribe the recorded interviews and synthesize them. The recorded interviews were first transcribed in their original language and then translated into English. Only English would be used in the discussion of findings for convenience. CHAPTER 4: Discussion of results IV.1. Current situation of teacher written feedback from students perspective How teacher written feedback in writing skill is delivered at CSSH is reflected in the first part of the questionnaire to students. IV.1.1. Frequency of teacher written feedback The first question asked students how many times their teacher responded to each of their writing assignment in written form. As can be seen from Figure 1, nearly one forth of the respondents stated that their teachers gave feedback to their writing twice per one assignment. This means after getting teacher written comments, students were required to revise and hand in the next versions for further feedback and evaluation. This level of frequency was believed to be appropriate, since it could encourage students to revise and to enhance their writing performance. The majority of students (77%), however, received teacher written feedback only once per assignment. Since the teachers did not require students to revise and hand in the writing after they received teacher written feedback, it is likely that few students had enough motivation to revise their paper. This, in turn, might reduce the usefulness of teacher written feedback. IV.1.2. General evaluation of teacher written feedback It is clear from Figure 2 that the majority of students (75%) got fairly detailed feedback, that is, comments and suggestions/corrections to major mistakes. This way of giving feedback is supported by many researchers who claim that teachers should focus on some typical problems at a time (Ur, 1996; Sommer, 1982). The number of students stating that their teacher feedback was very general, e.g., feedback with only some words like excellent, good or bad was 8, accounting for 10% of all students. There was no student receiving NO written comments from their teachers at all, which means no teacher felt into the trap of being non-corrector. These numbers indicate that the practice of giving feedback at CSSH was fairly adequate. IV.1.3. Content of teacher written feedback Figure 3 shows different categories of teacher written feedback from the view of students. Strikingly, there were very few students who NEVER received teacher written feedback on these categories (except for that on format). The levels often accounted for the highest numbers of students, from the lowest 25 students to the highest of 45. These figures indicate that teachers at CSSH have paid attention to both form and content, though the levels of attention may vary from one teacher to another. Noticeably, the percentage of students who RARELY received feedback on ideas, organization of ideas and format was higher than that on grammar, vocabulary and mechanics. For the level ALWAYS, the highest number of students chose grammar, that is, 42 over 80 students and next-coming was expression, 31 over 80 students. This is predictable since mistakes of surface level (grammar, vocabulary and mechanics) are more identifiable than those of organization and ideas (Ur, 1996; Fathman Whalley, 1990). However, that teachers rarely gave feedback on content may, in the long run, have negative impacts on the students because writing is, in the final analysis, about communicating and presenting thoughts. In summary, two major features of teacher written feedback interpreted from this bar chart are: (1) teachers did pay attention to both the form and the content of students writings and (2) teachers were more likely to respond to surface-level mistakes. IV.1.4. Types of teacher written feedback Concerning types of teacher written feedback (Figure 4), the majority of teachers at CSSH used both positive feedback (i.e., praise) and negative one (i.e., criticism) when responding to students writings. The overall number of students who always, or often received teachers positive feedback far outnumbered that of negative one, that is, 91% to 59%. This reality was an indication that teachers at CSSH preferred giving feedback in an encouraging tone to negative one. Regarding marginal and end feedback, there still existed 16% of students who rarely received end feedback and the other 20% who rarely received marginal feedback. Though the numbers were not high, it was still an indication that some teachers still did not pay enough attention to these two must-have feedback. As can be seen from Figure 4, both direct and indirect feedback was used and the levels of frequency were nearly the same. It is inferable that teachers paid equal attention to both types. It can be concluded that teachers at CSSH employed a wide variety of types of feedback to respond to students writings. However, in order to have accurate judgment of the effectiveness of the types used, in-depth interviews with the teachers are needed. This will be discussed in later part of this study. IV.1.1.5. Comprehensibility of teacher written feedback The last question in the first part of the questionnaire asked about the comprehensibility of students of teacher written feedback. The majority of respondents, 90%, answered that generally, they did. However, there were still 10% (8 students) stating that they were not able to understand teacher feedback. The most common reasons for this were teachers too general feedback (6 respondents) and new words/structures in their feedback (6 respondents). Correction codes, which are initially aimed at systematizing and simplifying teacher written feedback, turned out to make it incomprehensible to understand to a number of students (4 respondents). IV.2. Current situation of teacher written feedback from teachers perspective Emphatically, this study aims at finding out how written feedback is delivered from different perspectives, both of teachers and students. This part will present information on firstly, the way teachers give feedback to students (via analyzing student writings with teacher feedback on them) and secondly, teachers reasoning for the way they give feedback to students (via interviews with the teachers). However, in order to make it easy to follow, the information will be discussed according to the frame of the interviews with the presentation of student writings analysis integrated in it. The following section will be discussed in two different categories, namely, aspects of teacher written feedback and types of teacher written feedback. 21The following table compares the two major aspects form content that have been responded by teachers. The dark columns present the number of mistakes identified by the researcher and then double-checked by a native speaker, and the other columns the numbers of mistakes pointed out, suggested or corrected by the teachers. The ratios of mistakes pointed out by teachers to those by the native speaker gives the researcher an overall assessment of the frequency level of teacher written feedback at CSSH. As can be seen from the table, all the teachers at CSSH paid attention to both content and form of student writing papers, though the level of attention may differ. In order to make the information easy to follow, it was then re-illustrated in the form of bar-chart as follows: While Teacher 1 (T1) seemingly put more focus on feedback on form, Teacher 2 (T2) and Teacher 3 (T3) paid fairly equal attention to both the content and form of the writings. The reason for their emphasis on both form and content was they are equally important (T3). In greater details, If I dont correct mistakes on form (like grammar, word choice, etc), students will be likely to repeat the mistakes, even the simple ones, in the future and they are used to the teaching and learning method at High school where a lot of emphasis is put on grammar that If I dont orient them towards the content of a writing paper, they will perhaps stop at language accuracy only (T3). Explaining her way of giving feedback, T1 responded that the possibility of students making mistakes on content was quite small since students normally get suggestions on idea organization either from the teacher or from the course-book within prewriting stage (T1). Noticeably, though T1 acknowledged the importance of content, she did not manage to treat it equal to form. Concerning the treatments of mistakes, it was notable while mistakes on form were usually corrected by teachers right away; those on content just received suggestions for revision from teachers. Reasoning this, T2 answered its difficult to correct the content directly on their papers and I dont want them to think thats the only way (when I give correction) to go about that. In the same line with this were feedbacks on content, as I said earlier, are suggestive only, theres no one correct way of organizing ideas (T3). In short, all the teachers participating in this study were well aware of the importance of content over form, which helped them avoid being mistake-hunters. However, how much teachers focus on either form or content vary. IV.2.2. Types of teacher written feedback Type of teacher written feedback was also a field marking the differences between the teachers participating in the study. In terms of marginal and end feedback, it was notable that while T1 preferred using marginal to end feedback, T2 tended to enjoy the other way round. T1 stated that her in-text comments were enough for students to revise their papers. Furthermore, the teacher normally did not feel content with her student writings: if I gave an overall comment to my students, that comment would be very negative and it may make them feel discouraged. T2, in contrast, used more end feedback as she wanted to comment on students overall performance. According to T2, the focus of the 2nd semester was free writing, which meant more personal feelings and less teacher intervention. Adopting both marginal and end feedback when responding to student writings, T3 explained they serve different purposes. Marginal feedbacks were handy and suitable with minor mistakes; while end feedbacks were given for general comments. As a consequence, the lack of either marginal or end feedback led to incomprehensive feedback. Relating to the use of negative and positive feedback, it was notable that except from T1, the other two teachers frequently resorted to both types of feedback when responding to student writings. According to these teachers, feedback should, apart from helping students aware of the mistakes they make, be able to motivate students. This idea agreed with what Coffin et al. (2003) listed as the features of good teacher written feedback, that is, positive comment, criticism and suggestion for improvement. T1, who seemed not in favor of the ideas, stated it very much depends on the quality of the writing to decide what to include in the feedback. According to T1, teachers should not just praise students so that they feel at ease when receiving feedback because that may do more harm than good: students may feel that Oh, the teacher says that my writing is good, so why should I revise it or they may feel hurt when the feedback is positive while the mark is actually low (T1). This idea, whi ch had some merits in itself, should be taken into consideration. The types of feedback used have, to a certain extent, reflected the tone to teacher written feedback. While T2 and T3 preferred giving feedback in a friendly, encouraging tone, T1 turned to more serious feedback which was, according to the teacher, more beneficial to students. In short, the data achieved from the interviews, which do conform to those from student que

Carrie Chapter Five

She would not break this time. But of course she did break. It took six hours but she broke, weeping and calling Momma to open the door and let her out. The need to urinate was terrible. The Black Man grinned at her with his jackal mouth, and his scarlet eyes knew all the secrets of woman-blood. An hour after Carrie began to call, Momma let her out. Carrie scrabbled madly for the bathroom. It was only now, three hours after that, sitting here with her head bowed over the sewing machine like a penitent, that she remembered the fear in Momma's eyes and she thought she knew the reason why. There had been other times when Momma had kept her in the closet for as long as a day at a stretch-when she stole that forty-nine-cent finger ring from Shuber's Five and Ten, the time she had found that picture of Flash Bobby Pickett under Carrie's pillow – and Carrie had once fainted from the lack of food and the smell of her own waste. And she had never, never spoken back as she had done today. Today she had even said the Eff Word. Yet Momma had let her out almost as soon as she broke. There. The dress was done. She removed her feet from the treadle and held it up to look at it. It was long. And ugly. She hated it. She knew why Momma had let her out. ‘Momma, may I go to bed?' ‘Yes.' Momma did not look up from her doily. She folded the dress over her arm. She looked down at the sewing machine. All at once the treadle depressed itself. The needle began to dip up and down, catching the light in steely flashes. The bobbin whirred and jerked. The sidewheel spun. Momma's head jerked up, her eyes wide. The looped matrix at the edge of her doily, wonderfully intricate yet at the same time as precise and even, suddenly fell in disarray. ‘Only clearing the thread,' Carrie said softly. ‘Go to bed,' Momma said curtly, and the fear was back in her eyes. ‘Yes, (she was afraid i'd knock the closet door right off its hinges) Momma,' (and i think i could i think i could yes i think i could) From The Shadow Exploded (p. 58): Margaret White was born and raised in Motton, a small town which borders Chamberlain and sends its tuition students to Chamberlain's junior and senior high schools. Her parents were fairly well-to-do; they owned a prosperous night spot just outside the Motton town limits called The Jolly Roadhouse. Margaret's father, John Brigham, was killed in a barroom shooting incident in the summer of 1959. Margaret Brigham, who was then almost thirty, began attending fundamentalist prayer meetings. Her mother had become involved with a new man (Harold Alison, whom she later married) and they both wanted Margaret out of the house-she believed her mother, Judith, and Harold Alison were living in sin and made her views known frequently. Judith Brigham expected her daughter to remain a spinster the rest of her life. In the more pungent phraseology of her soon-to-be stepfather, ‘Margaret had a face like the ass end of a gasoline truck and a body to match.' He also referred to her as ‘a little prayin' Jesus.' Margaret refused to leave until 1960, when she met Ralph White at a revival meeting. In September of that year she left the Brigham. residence in Motton and moved to a small flat in Chamberlain Centre. The courtship of Margaret Brigham, and Ralph White terminated in marriage on March 23, 1962. On April 3, 1962, Margaret White was admitted briefly to Westover Doctors Hospital. ‘Nope, she wouldn't tell us what was wrong,' Harold Alison said. ‘The one time we went to see her she told us we were living in adultery even though we were hitched, and we were going to hell. She said God had put an invisible mark on our foreheads, but she could see it. Acted crazy as a bat in a henhouse, she did. Her mom tried to be nice, tried to find out what the matter with her was. She got hysterical and started to rave about an angel with a sword who would walk through the parking lots of roadhouses and cut down the wicked. We left.' Judith Alison, however, had at least an idea of what might have been wrong with her daughter; she thought that Margaret had gone through a miscarriage. If so, the baby was conceived out of wedlock. Confirmation of this would shed an interesting light on the character of Carrie's mother. In a long and rather hysterical letter to her mother dated August 19, 1962, Margaret said that she and Ralph were living sinlessly, without ‘the Curse of Intercourse'. She urged Harold and Judith Alison to close their ‘abode of wickedness' and do likewise. ‘It is,' Margaret declares near the end of her letter, ‘the only [sic] way you & That Man can avoid the Rain of Blood yet to come. Ralph & I, like Mary & Joseph, will neither know or polute [sic] each others flesh. If there is issue, let it be Divine.' Of course, the calendar tells us that Carrie was conceived later that same year †¦ The girls dressed quietly for their Monday morning Period One gym class, with no horseplay or little screaming catcalls, and none of them were very surprised when Miss Desjardin slammed open the locker-room and walked in. Her silver whistle dangling between her small breasts, and if her shorts were the ones she had been wearing on Friday, no trace of Carrie's bloody handprint remained. The girls continued to dress sullenly, not looking at her. ‘Aren't you the bunch to send out for graduation,' Miss Desjardin said softly. ‘When is it? A month? And the spring Ball even less than that. Most of you have your dates and gowns already, I bet. Sue, you'll be going with Tommy Ross. Helen, Roy Evarts. Chris, I imagine you can take your pick. Who's the lucky guy?'. ‘Billy Nolan,' Chris Hargensen said sullenly. ‘Well, isn't he the lucky one?' Desjardin remarked. ‘What are you going to give him for a party favour, Chris, a bloody Kotex? Or how about some used toilet paper? I understand these things seem to be your sack these days.' Chris went red. ‘I'm leaving. I don't have to listen to that.' Desjardin had not been able to get the image of Carrie out of her mind all weekend, Carrie screaming, blubbering, a wet napkin plastered squarely in the middle of her pubic hair-and her own sick, angry reaction. And now, as Chris tried to storm out past her, she reached out and slammed her against a row of dented, olive-coloured lockers beside the inner door. Chris's eyes widened with shocked disbelief. Then a kind of insane rage filled her face. ‘You can't hit us!' she screamed. ‘You'll get canned for this! See if you don't, you bitch!' The other girls winced and sucked breath and stared at the floor. It was getting out of hand. Sue noticed out of the corner of her eye that Fern and Donna Thibodeau were holding hands. ‘I don't really care, Hargensen,' Desjardin said. ‘If you or any of your girls – think I'm wearing my teacher hat right now, you're making a bad mistake. I just want you all to know that you did a shitty thing on Friday. A really shitty thing.' Chris Hargensen was sneering at the floor. The rest of the girls were looking miserably at anything but their gym instructor. Sue found herself looking into the shower stall – the scene of the crime – and jerked her glance elsewhere. None of them had ever heard a teacher call anything shitty before. ‘Did any of you stop to think that Carrie White has feelings? Do any of you ever stop to think? Sue? Fern? Helen? Jessica? Any of you? You think she's ugly. Well, you're all ugly. I saw it on Friday morning.' Chris Hargensen was mumbling about her father being a lawyer. ‘Shutup!' Desjardin yelled in her face. Chris recoiled so suddenly that her head struck the lockers behind her. She began to whine and rub her head. ‘One more remark out of you,' Desjardin said softly, ‘and I'll throw you across the room. Want to find out if I'm telling the truth?' Chris, who had apparently decided she was dealing with a mad-woman, said nothing. Desjardin put her hands on her hips. ‘The office has decided on punishment for you girls. Not my punishment, I'm sorry to say. My idea was three days' suspension and refusal of your prom tickets.' Several girls looked at each other and muttered unhappily. ‘That would have hit you where you live,' Desjardin continued, ‘Unfortunately, Ewen is staffed completely by men in its administration wing. I don't believe they have any real conception of how utterly nasty what you did was. So. One week's detention.' Spontaneous sighs of relief. ‘But. It's to be my detention. In the gym. And I'm going to run you ragged.' ‘I won't come,' Chris said. Her lips had thinned across her teeth. ‘That's up to you, Chris. That's up to all of you. But punishment for skipping detention is going to be three days' suspension and refusal of your prom tickets. Get the picture?' No one said anything. ‘Right. Change up. And think about what I said.' She left. Utter silence for a long and stricken moment. Then Chris Hargensen said with loud, hysterical stridency: ‘She can't get away with it!' She opened a door at random, pulled out a pair of sneakers and hurled them across the room. ‘I'm going to get her! Goddammit! Goddammit! See if I don't! If we all stick together we..' ‘Shut up, Chris,' Sue said, and was shocked to hear a dead, adult lifelessness in her voice. ‘Just shut up.' ‘This isn't over,' Chris Hargensen said, unzipping her skirt with a rough jab and reaching for her fashionably frayed green gym shorts. ‘This isn't over by a long way.' And she was right. From The Shadow Exploded (pp. 60-6 1): In the opinion of this researcher, a great many of the people who have researched the Carrie White matter – either for the scientific journals or for the popular press – have placed a mistaken emphasis on a relatively fruitless search for incidents of telekinesis in the girl's childhood. To strike a rough analogy, this is like spending years researching the early incidents of masturbation in a rapist's childhood. The spectacular incident of the stones serves as a kind of red herring in this respect. Many researchers have adopted the erroneous belief that where there has been one incident, there must be others. To offer another analogy, this is like dispatching a crew of meteor watchers to Crater National Park because a huge asteroid struck there two million years ago. To the best of my knowledge, there are no other recorded instances of TK in Carrie's childhood. If Carrie had not been an only child, we might have at least hearsay reports of dozens of other minor occurrences. In the case of Andrea Kolintz (see Appendix II for a fuller history), we are told that, following a spanking for crawling out on the roof, ‘The medicine cabinet flew open, bottles fell to the floor or seemed to hurl themselves across the bathroom, doors flew open and slammed shut, and at the climax of the manifestation, a 300-pound stereo cabinet tipped over and records flew all over the living room, dive-bombing the occupants and shattering against the walls.' Significantly, this report is from one of Andrea's brothers, as quoted in the September 4, 1955, issue of Life magazine. Life is hardly the most scholarly or unimpeachable source, but there is a great deal of other documentation, and I think that the point of familiar witnesship is served. In the case of Carrie White, the only witness to any possible prologue to the final climactic events was Margaret White, and she, of course is dead. Henry Grayle, principal of Ewen High School, had been expecting him all week, but Chris Hargensen's father didn't show up until Friday-the day after Chris had skipped her detention period with the formidable Miss Desjardin. ‘Yes, Miss Fish?' He spoke formally into the intercom, although he could see the man in the outer office through his window, and certainly knew his face from pictures in the local paper. ‘John Hargensen to see you, Mr Grayle.' ‘Send him in, please.' Goddammit, Fish, do you have to sound so impressed? Grayle was an irrepressible paper-clip-bender, napkin-ripper, corner-folder. For John Hargensen, the town's leading legal light, he was bringing up the heavy ammunition – a whole box of heavy-duty clips in the middle of his desk blotter. Hargensen was a tall, impressive man with a selfconfident way of moving and the kind of sure, mobile features that said this was a man superior at the game of one-step-ahead social interaction. He was wearing a brown Savile Row suit with subtle glints of green and gold running through the weave that put Grayle's local off-the-rack job to shame. His briefcase was thin, real leather, and bound with glittering stainless steel. The smile was faultless and full of many capped teeth – a smile to make the hearts of lady jurors melt like butter in a warm skillet. His grip was major league all the way-firm, warm, long. ‘Mr Grayle, I've wanted to meet you for some time now.' ‘I'm always glad to see interested parents,' Grayle said with a dry smile. ‘That's why we have Parents Open House every October.' ‘Of course.' Hargensen smiled, ‘I imagine you're a busy man, and I have to be in court in forty-five minutes from now. Shall we get down to specifics?' ‘Surely,' Grayle dipped into his box of clips and began to mangle the first one. ‘I suspect you are here concerning the disciplinary action taken against your daughter Christine. You should be informed that school policy on the matter has been set. As a man concerned with the workings of justice yourself, you should realize that bending the rules is hardly possible or-‘ Hargensen waved his hand impatiently. ‘Apparently you're labouring under a misconception, Mr Grayle. I am here because my daughter was manhandled by your gym teacher, Miss Rhoda Desjardin. And verbally abused, I'm afraid. I believe the term your Miss Desjardin used in connection with my daughter was â€Å"shitty.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ Grayle sighed inwardly. ‘Miss Desjardin has been reprimanded.' John Hargensen's smile cooled thirty degrees, ‘I'm afraid a reprimand will not be sufficient. I believe this has been the young, ah, lady's first year in a teaching capacity?' ‘Yes. We have found her to be eminently satisfactory.' ‘Apparently your definition of eminently satisfactory includes throwing students up against lockers and the ability to curse like a sailor?' Grayle fenced: ‘As a lawyer, you must be aware that this state acknowledges the school's title to in loco parentis – along with full responsibility, we succeed to full parental rights during school hours. If you're not familiar, I'd advise you to check Monondock Consolidated School District vs Cranepool or-‘ ‘I'm familiar with the concept,' Hargensen mid. ‘I'm also aware that neither the Cranepool case that you administrators are so fond of quoting or the Frick case cover anything remotely concerned with physical or verbal abuse. There is, however, the case of School District No. 4 vs David. Are you familiar with it?' Grayle was. George Kramer, the assistant principal of the consolidated high school in S.D. 14 was a poker buddy. George wasn't playing much poker any more. He was working for an insurance company after taking it upon himself to cut a student's hair. The school district had ultimately paid seven thousand dollars in damages, or about a thousand bucks a snip. Grayle started on another paper clip. ‘Let's not quote cases at each other, Mr Grayle, were busy men. I don't want a lot of unpleasantness. I don't want a mess. My daughter is at home, and she will stay there Monday and Tuesday. That will complete her threeday suspension. That's all right.' Another dismissive wave of the hand. (catch fido good boy here's a nice bone) ‘Here's what I want,' Hargensen continued. ‘One, prom tickets for my daughter. A girl's senior prom is important to her, and Chris is very distressed. Two, no contract renewal of the Desjardin woman. That's for me. I believe that if I cared to take the School Department to court, I could walk out with both her dismissal and a hefty damage settlement in my pocket. But I don't want to be vindictive.' ‘So court is the alternative if I don't agree to your demands?' ‘I understand that a School Committee hearing would precede that, but only as a formality. But yes, court would be the final result. Nasty for you.' Another paper clip. ‘For physical and verbal abuse, is that correct?' ‘Essentially.' ‘Mr Hargensen, are you aware that your daughter and about ten of her peers threw sanitary napkins at a girl who was having her first menstrual period? A girl who was under the impression that she was bleeding to death?' A faint frown creased Hargensen's features, as if someone had spoken in a distant room. ‘I hardly think such an allegation is at issue. I am speaking of actions following-‘ ‘Never mind,' Grayle said. ‘Never mind what you were speaking of. This girl, Carietta White, was called â€Å"a dumb pudding† and was told to â€Å"plug it up† and was subjected to various obscene gestures. She has not been in school this week at all. Does that sound like physical and verbal abuse to you? It does to me.' ‘I don't intend,' Hargensen said, ‘to sit here and listen to a tissue of half-truths or your standard schoolmaster lecture, Mr Grayle, I know my daughter well enough to-‘ ‘Here,' Grayle reached into the wire IN basket beside the blotter and tossed a sheaf of pink cards across the desk, ‘I doubt very much if you know the daughter represented in these cards half so well as you think you do. If you did, you might realize that it was about time for a trip to the woodshed. It's time you snubbed her close before she does someone a major damage.' ‘You aren't-‘

Hamlet and His Characteristics Essay

The classic Tragic Hero â€Å"A hero is a man who does what he can. † Romain Rolland What is a tragic hero? Are tragic heroes considered to have better qualities, and yet suffer from the many shortcomings of life? I believe that a classic tragic hero is a person that has many excellent qualities for a hero, and yet dies due to the mistakes that he makes. As Romain said, â€Å"A hero is a man who does what he can† and Hamlet is a perfect example on how he had to give up everything to commit to his revenge. This is why I believe Hamlet is the perfect classic tragic hero, because although he did not do anything that was wrong, he still suffered and died because of his characteristics. This is why I believe that the seven soliloquies of Hamlet, show the progression of his characteristics, and show the multiple qualities of a hero, thus making him a perfect example of a classic tragic hero. The first soliloquy in Hamlet (Act I, Scene II), talks about the suffering that Hamlet is going through as he realizes that his father is dead and his mother has married his uncle. But two months dead! — nay, not so much, not two: So excellent a king; that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr;† (I. II. 137-140) Hamlet doesn’t get why his mother married so fast and gets extremely mad about that. He wonders if she even loved his father and this causes his to think about suicide, but back in the Elizabethan era, suicide was looked down upon, which is seen in Act I, Scene II, Line 132-133. â€Å"†¦His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world! † This is the only reason why Hamlet can’t kill himself. Hamlet felt that he was the only one that thought that this marriage was an unnatural and starts to dislikes Claudius. Back in the day, women were not allowed to marry after their husbands died, so when Gertrude marries Claudius, Hamlet feels that something weird was going on. â€Å"Would have mourn’d longer†¦dexterity to incestuous sheets! † (I. II. 151-157) I think that he felt that his mother only married Claudius so that she wasn’t alone at nights and so that she could still remain queen over Denmark. He also doesn’t think Claudius can compare to his dad and a beginning of hatred and disgust rises within Hamlet for both Gertrude and Claudius. The first soliloquy also shows the multiple good qualities that develop Hamlet as the play goes on. â€Å"It is not, nor it cannot come to good; But break my heart, — for I must hold my tongue! †(I. II. 158-159) This is the first main quality that Hamlet, he knows when to speak his mind and only talks about his true self with only people he trusts like Horatio, and yet that might be the reason he was able to kill Claudius in the end, it also the reason why Ophelia and Gertrude died too. Since Ophelia died because she felt that Hamlet didn’t love her the way she did to him. His mother thought that Hamlet was really mad, and tried to help him in many a way, one of them was to drink the cup that would promote Hamlets health but which was actually poisoned. This is how the first soliloquy helps in developing his characteristics while showing his true qualities. The second soliloquy(Act 1, Scene 5) in Hamlet which takes place in Act I, Scene V, which when the ghost of his father tells him that he was murdered, and how he was murdered and, who killed him. He doesn’t believe that his father was murdered by Claudius when he says, â€Å"O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else? And shall I couple hell? O, fie! — Hold, my heart ;†( I. V. 92-93) He never thought that Claudius would commit murder to get the throne of Denmark, and he understands why he and his mother married so fast. â€Å"O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! †(I. V. 105-106) This is the beginning of his hatred towards Claudius, and this is also where he swears to the ghost to kill Claudius. Hamlet also feels confused when this unnatural act of nature happens. He knows that there is a chance that this ghost is either his father or the devil trying to make Hamlet commit a sin. This â€Å"ghost† also sparks a need to connect once again with his father as he continually keeps saying â€Å"Remember thee? † This shows that Hamlet misses his dad a lot, and is willing to do anything to allow King Hamlet rest in peace. This soliloquy furthermore brings out qualities in Hamlet that we have never seen faithfulness and also being honour bound. The perfect in this soliloquy that shows this is, â€Å"So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;  It is ‘Adieu, adieu! emember me. ‘  I have sworn’t. † (I. V. 111-112). Hamlet feels that unless he swears to the ghost, he won’t find the motivation to kill Claudius. This also shows that he was faithful to his father ghost, even though he knew there was a chance it was actually the devil trying to trick him into committing a sin. In the third Soliloquy (Act 2, Sc ene 2), is quite a long soliloquy as he realizes that both his mother and Claudius had sent his two best friends to spy on him, and betraying him. This is also the same soliloquy where he plans and prepares for Claudius’s downfall. This is where the story of Hamlet truly begins and the introduction to Hamlet’s inner feelings. This is the first time Hamlet actually tell the audience what he feels inside, and what he will plan to do in the future. This soliloquy also reveals his inner fear on whether the ghost was the devil, seen in line 585 to 590 in Act II, Scene II- â€Å"†¦ The spirit that I have seen May be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, — As he is very potent with such spirits, — Abuses me to damn me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Hamlet starts to doubt if the ghost was even his father, and if this is the case he needs to get more proof that Claudius killed his father, and then realizes that the actors were his tools to catch Claudius. I think that Hamlet felt that if Claudius had a reaction to the play in a manner that was ‘weird’ it would he knew that the ghost had told the truth. This soliloquy furthermore shows how restless Hamlet is as he wants to complete his vow to the ghost and kill his uncle. This is seen, â€Å"Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words And fall a-cursing like a very drab† (II. II. 571-573). He is angry and impatient that something as easy as killing as a person is so tough. I think that Hamlet, at this point doesn’t want to use words, and instead thinks that actions is the only thing that will help get him to his goals. This is why he uses the actors to re-enact, â€Å"The murder of Gonzago† which was similar to how Claudius killed the King. The one main quality that I found in the soliloquy, and throughout the book, Hamlet, is the fact that he thinks logically and doesn’t try to rush into things too fast. An example in this soliloquy is, â€Å"†¦I’ll have grounds, more relative than this. the play’s the thing, Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king† (II. II. 590-592). He thinks that the devil might be trying to fool him and he needed more proof that his uncle murdered King Hamlet. The fourth soliloquy (Act 3, Scene 1) is the most acknowledged soliloquy to the world, â€Å"To be or not to beâ₠¬ . This is where Hamlet talks about life and death, and although we know Hamlet is thinking about death, he says, â€Å"But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover’d country from whose bourn, No traveler returns, puzzles the will† (III. I. 78-80). This means that he is worried on what happens after he dies, and the fact that â€Å"afterlife† hasn’t been proven, he is scared to kill himself. At this point he starts arguing with himself on what happens after death and talks about the multiple trouble and pains of life. Then he realizes that since there is no proof that life after death exists, he might as well continue with his revenge. I believe that this soliloquy is also hints about whether he should continue with his revenge or not. This â€Å"indecision† within Hamlet is what causes the most amount of problems in the book, Hamlet, and with Hamlet himself. This soliloquy doesn’t particularly show any qualities within Hamlet, but one quality that I saw really made me realize how great Hamlet was, was the fact that no matter how he felt, he didn’t give up or deter from his path of revenge, making him a extremely faithful son to the king. The fifth soliloquy (Act 3, Scene 3) is before the play has its climax, before Hamlet talks to his mother and unknowingly kills Polonius. Hamlet is extremely mad with his mother, and wants to hurt her emotionally. He still thinks that she married Claudius so that her nights wouldn’t be lonely. He was so angry with her that he could have killed her, but he instead says, â€Å"Let me be cruel, not unnatural† (III. III. 379), which meant that he would be rude to her but, not commit a sin by killing her. â€Å"I will speak daggers to her, but use none† (III. III. 380). This meant that he felt that he needed to speak severely for what she did, but not physically hurt her. This soliloquy shows one main characteristic of a hero within Hamlet, which was not to harm women. Hamlet ad every right to physically hurt Gertrude for how she disgraced her gender, but he refrained from raising his hands as he felt as though it would be â€Å"unnatural†. The fact that he didn’t lose control till now, over what Gertrude did, shows how noble he is and how he still follows the rules of his era, even though his mother didn’t. This is my most favorite quality of Hamlet, and b ecause of this, Gertrude drank to his health, which caused her death. The sixth soliloquy is Act III, Scene III, lines 73-96 where Hamlet has a chance to kill his uncle, Claudius. As Hamlet enters the room, he sees Claudius â€Å"praying† and runs forwards to take his revenge. Eager Hamlet has a perfect chance to kill Claudius but then realizes that he would just send Claudius to heaven. â€Å"A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. O, this is hire and salary, not revenge. † (III. III. 76-79) This soliloquy shows the eager and crazy side of Hamlet. After quite some time of planning, Hamlet finally sees an easy and quite way to kill Claudius but then like all other soliloquies, he over thinks about what might happen if he kills Claudius and postpones Claudius’s death. He thinks that he needs to catch and kill Claudius while he is committing a sin so that it guarantees that Claudius will go to hell. This soliloquy also shows the multiple good qualities within Hamlet, mainly, the quality of forgiveness and calculating. This is seen when he says, â€Å"As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays This physic but prolongs thy sickly days. † (III. III95-96). This shows the forgiving nature of Hamlet as Claudius pretends to pray. Hamlet had every right to kill Claudius for his sins. Yet to make sure that Claudius went to hell, he made sure he killed him while Claudius was committing a sin. This is how the sixth soliloquy shows the characteristics and the qualities within Hamlet. The final and the seventh soliloquy is personally my most favorite soliloquy (Act IV, Scene V). This is the scene is where Fortinbras is talking with Hamlet and how steadfast he is on getting â€Å"revenge† on Denmark. He is annoyed when he realizes it takes so long for him to complete a simple plan, and decides to finish his revenge. We also see that he is quite unsure on what might happen, but is still honour bound to his oath, when he says, â€Å"When honour’s at the stake. How stand I, then, That have a father killed, a mother stained†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (IV. V. 56-57) He feels that Claudius deserves to die, even if it meant his own death. When he says, â€Å"To hide the slain? O, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! †(IV. V. 65-66). We see that he is preparing himself for what is about to come and know that he might lose his life too. The main quality of a hero that is seen in this soliloquy is courage and determination. Hamlet knows that he might die, and but he also knows that there is a chance that he will be able to kill Claudius. Hamlet feels that till now he was a coward and he needs to honour his father. He is so faithful to his father that he doesn’t care of the consequences that might occur. This is also the downfall of Hamlet’s as he does die in the end. The final soliloquy finalizes his inner feelings and commitments towards himself and his father and shows multiple qualities of a hero. This is why I believe that the seventh soliloquy is the strongest proof that Hamlet is indeed a tragic hero. Hamlet is quite the enigma as he keeps changing his mind about his commitments, but as the story continues we see that no matter what he faces, he continues to accomplish his duty to his father’s ghost. He is strong, philosophical, courageous, faithful, and quite the over-thinker, but overall has the perfect qualities to be called a tragic hero. In conclusion, I believe that the seven soliloquies of Hamlet, show the progression of his characteristics, and show the multiple qualities of a hero, thus making him a perfect example of a classic tragic hero. Works Cited BrainyQuote. Xplore, n. d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. <http://www. brainyquote. com/quotes/authors/r/romain_rolland. html>. â€Å"Hamlet’s Fifth Soliloquy – Original Text and Summary. † HubPages. N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. <http://hunbbel-meer. hubpages. com/hub/Hamlets-Fifth-Soliloquy-Original-Text-and-Summary>. â€Å"Hamlet’s First Soliloquy (Act 1, Scene 2) – Original Text & Summary. † HubPages. N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Nov.

The Social and Political Attitudes of Brave New World

What if there was a place where you did not have to, or rather, you could not think for yourself? A place where ones happiness was controlled and rationed? How would you adapt with no freedom of thought, speech, or happiness in general? In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, there are many different attitudes portrayed with the purpose to make the reader think of the possible changes in our society and how they could affect its people. Brave New World is an unsettling, loveless and even sinister place. This is because Huxley endows his ideal society with features calculated to alienate his audience. Typically, reading Brave New World elicits the very same disturbing feelings in the reader which the society it depicts has†¦show more content†¦True happiness is a consequence of freedom, not slavery. Another example is how Bernard suffers throughout the book, being caught between both worlds: a life of Soma or a life of free will. Although he has been conditioned to acc ept his servitude, he is constantly longing for freedom. He sees this freedom in the Savage, and envies him for possessing the inner happinessÂâ€" genuine happinessÂâ€" which Bernards society outlaws. Huxley uses Bernard to exemplify this struggle between freedom and slavery. Huxley argues that a genuine, free life requires suffering and pain by creating the perfect scenario: leaving someone to choose how they want to live their life. Become an individual or conform. Men without anguish are men without souls. Huxleys future describes a world without pain and a world without soul. As perfect pleasure-drugs go, Soma under whelms. Its not really a utopian wonder drug at all. Soma does make one high. Yet Soma is more akin to a hangover-fewer tranquillizers or a psychic anaesthetizing like Prozac - than a truly life-transforming elixir. For a start, soma is a very one-dimensional euphoria. It gives rise to only a shallow, un-empathetic and intellectually uninteresting well-being. Appar ently, taking soma does not give Marx the disaffected sleep-learning specialist, more than a cheap thrill. Nor does Soma make him happy with his station in life. John the Savage commits suicide soon afterShow MoreRelatedBrave New World By Aldous Huxley1192 Words   |  5 Pages In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, people in the book show lack of emotion,feelings,interest or concern especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal wishing we had lack of apathy, my prediction is that people will no longer have strong emotions about anything important.They will become apathetic about most issues.We are convinced that one individual doesn’t matter. We can’t really make a difference in anything we believe in. 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