Burgess and Atwood and linguistic communication in dystopian societies Essays

Burgess and Atwood and linguistic communication in dystopian societies Essays Burgess and Atwood and linguistic communication in dystopian societies Essay Burgess and Atwood and linguistic communication in dystopian societies Essay as the State attempts to change Alex’s really ideas and behavior forms to do him conform to their impressions of the right citizen ; a point testified to by the words of Dr. Branom when he says: ’You felt ill this afternoon†¦because you’re acquiring better. When we’re healthy we respond to the presence of the hateful with fright and sickness. You’re going healthy that’s all. You’ll be healthier still this clip tomorrow. [ 6 ] In the dystopian universe ofA Clockwork Orangelangauge, in the signifier of slang, is used as a manner of urgently cleaving to the impression of individualism in the face of the homogenising forces of the State and at the book’s decision it is finally successful as Alex retains both his linguistic communication and his sense of Self. The Handmaid’s Tale – Gender Dystopia Margaret Atwood’s novelThe Handmaid’s Taleoffers us a similar and yet subtly different dystopian vision, one that is based ondirectphysical aggression and suppression. WhereasA Clockwork Orangedepicts a society and a State whose force and development is, at first covert and is so revealed, inThe Handmaid’s Talethe power of Gilead over the organic structures and heads of the adult females is obvious from the book’s really gap: We slept in what had one time been the secondary school. The floor was of stained wood, with chevrons of and circles painted on it, for the games that were once played at that place, the basketballs for the hoops cyberspaces were still in topographic point, though the cyberspaces were gone. [ 7 ] There is no covert State power here, none of the concealed docket ofA Clockwork Orange, this gap scene reminds us of the images of disfranchised and anomic refugees or concentration cantonment captives. The adult females have been stripped of all material worth, ready to be molded into what the patriarchal State desires. Womans are classified and characterised harmonizing to their comparative utility to the male dominated societal order, a point most clearly reflected in the coloring material of their apparels: red for the Handmaids, blue for the Wives, brown for the Aunts etc. The desires of the patriarchate are literally inscribed on the organic structures of the adult females in the signifier of their garb and, through the usage of names ( Offred, Ofglen etc. ) their position non merely as objects but as ownerships is invariably asserted. Womans in are Gilead non merely suppressed and exploited, they are dehumanised and de-individuated. In chapter 20 seven, for case Offred offers us a description of the local town that has had all mention to muliebrity removed: We turn out dorsums to the Wall, caput left. Here there are several empty shopfronts, their glass Windowss scrawled with soap. I try to retrieve what was sold in them, one time. Cosmetics? Jewelery? Most of the shops transporting things for work forces are still unfastened ; its merely the 1s covering in what they call amour propres that have been shut down. [ 8 ] In Gilead, female gender is deemed as either unsafe or worthless, it needs to be either restricted or expunged. Handmaids are used strictly as vass for kids, they are robbed of their gender, non even being allowed to utilize soap or cosmetics. Again, as Nancy Walker ( 1990 ) points out, control in Gilead is closely linked to linguistic communication and its utilizations: InThe Handmaid s Talemerely the opinion category have entree to books, scriptural injunctions are distorted, and even Scrabble is a cloak-and-dagger activity. [ 9 ] The linguistic communication that Atwood utilises for her novel is a unusual mixture of antediluvian Biblical mention and modern-day concatenation, as we have already seen, the naming of the Handmaids reflect their position as ownerships through the evocation of of Fred or of Glen but there are deeper significances: Gilead, for case is found in the Old Testament ( Jeremiah 46: 11 ) , the frocks are called habits’ ( Atwood, 1996: 34 ) and the citizens of Gilead greet each other by stating Praise be ( Atwood, 1996: 29 ) , all are clearly mentions to the alteration of linguistic communication to reflect spiritual indoctrination. The Handmaid’s Tale, as David Sisk ( 1997 ) tells us concerns itself, to a really big extent, with the grade that control over a society’s linguistic communication besides means control over the heads of those within it. It is no accident that Offred’s minute of minor rebellion, in the signifier of the Scrabble game with the Commander, is twinned with an enraptured usage of words, as if their really sound signals some exciting glance of release: We drama two games. Larynx, I spell. Valance. Quince. Zygote. I hold the calendered counters with their smooth borders, finger the letters. The feeling is juicy. This is freedom, an eyeblink of it. Limp. I spell. Gorge. What a luxury [ 10 ] Here we see some of the lingual sense ofA Clockwork Orange, like Alex, Offred finds a sense of freedom in the usage of words that are outside of the proscribed, regulated linguistic communication. However, whereas, in Burgess’ novel the semantic change of linguistic communication comes from the user ( Alex’s slang ) inThe Handmaid’s Taleit comes from the oppressive power of the State: Gilead restricts linguistic communication and so excessively the ideas and responses of those that use it. Decisions As we have seen, the word picture of dystopian societies and the representation of linguistic communication inA Clockwork OrangeandThe Handmaid’s Taleare linked and yet perceptibly different. Ultimately both concern themselves with the extent that control over linguistic communication and look equates to command of lives and fates ; Alex is all the stronger for asseverating his control via nadsat and Offred is all the weaker for releasing hers to the linguistic communication of the Republic of Gilead. Both novels characteristic State force of a sort, Burgess’ through Capitalist brainwashing and behavior alteration and Atwood’s through an open patriarchal subjection of adult females ; both of these rather clearly have a modern-day relevancy, the former to theories of psychological intercession prevalent in the sixtiess and 70s ( see for case Alan Kazdin’s bookBehaviour Modification in Applied Settings( 1975 ) ) and the latter to feminist writers such as Andrea Dworkin and Laura Mulvey’s averments on the jussive mood for censoring in arguments refering erotica and the objectification of adult females in the modern media. In an progressively diverse and technologically based society, nevertheless, the existent relevancy of both of these plants lies in their word picture of the power of linguistic communication to both liberate and subjugate. Each suggests that there is a direct correlativity between the ownership of linguistic communication and the flexing of power, a point made by Robin Tolmach Lakoff in his surveyTalking Power: The Politicss of Language in Our Lifes: Language is powerful ; linguistic communication is power. Language is a change-creating force and therefore to be feared and used, if at all, with great attention, non unlike fire. ( Tolmach Lakoff, 1990: 13 ) Mentions Atwood, M ( 1996 ) ,The Handmaid’s Tale, London: Vintage. ( ISBN 0099740915 ) Burgess, A ( 2000 ) ,A Clockwork Orange, London: Penguin. ( ISBN 0141182601 ) Fiedler, K and Bless, H ( 2001 ) , Social Cognition , published in Hewstone, M and Stroebe, W ( explosive detection systems ) ,Introduction to Social Psychology, London: Blackwell, pp.115-150, ( ISBN063120437 ) Holy Bible( 1991 ) , Oxford: Oxford University Press. ( ISBN: 0195283708 ) Kautksy, K ( 1888 ) , Thomas More and his Utopia , available online at hypertext transfer protocol: //www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1888/more/ [ accessed 14ThursdayDec 2005 ] Kazdin, A ( 1975 ) ,Behaviour Modification in Applied Settings, London: Dorsey Press, ( ISBN 025601681 ) More, T ( 1980 ) ,Utopia, London ; Penguin ( ISBN 0140441654 ) Morrison, B ( 2000 ) ,Introduction, published Burgess, A,A Clockwork Orange, London: Penguin, ( ISBN 0141182601 ) Partridge, E. ( 1933 ) ,Slang: Today and Yesterday, London: Stephen Austin and Sons Sisk, D ( 1997 ) ,Transformations of Language in Modern Dystopias, London: Greenwood Press ( ISBN: 0313304114 ) Sutz, E ( 1957 ) ,The Praise of Wisdom: A Commentary on the Religious and Moral Problems and Background of St Thomas More’s Utopia, Oxford: Oxford University Press ( ISBN: B0000CJXIS ) Tolmach Lakoff, R ( 1990 ) ,Talking Power: The Politicss of Language, London: Basic Books, ( ISBN: 0465083595 ) Walker, N ( 1990 ) ,Feminist Options: Irony and Fantasy in the Contemporary Novel by Women, Mississippi: University of Mississippi ( ISBN: 0878054421 ) Bibliography hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sparknotes.com/lit/clockworkorange/ [ accessed 14ThursdayDecember 2005 ] hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sparknotes.com/lit/handmaid/ [ accessed 14ThursdayDecember 2005 ] 1

Definition and Examples of a Written Summary of Text

Definition and Examples of a Written Summary of Text A summary, also known as an abstract, precis, or synopsis, is a shortened version of a text that highlights its key points. The word summary comes from the Latin, sum. Examples of Summaries A Summary of the Short Story Miss Brill by Katherine MansfieldMiss Brill is the story of an old woman told brilliantly and realistically, balancing thoughts and emotions that sustain her late solitary life amidst all the bustle of modern life. Miss Brill is a regular visitor on Sundays to the Jardins Publiques (the Public Gardens) of a small French suburb where she sits and watches all sorts of people come and go. She listens to the band playing, loves to watch people and guess what keeps them going and enjoys contemplating the world as a great stage upon which actors perform. She finds herself to be another actor among the so many she sees, or at least herself as part of the performance after all....One Sunday Miss Brill puts on her fur and goes to the Public Gardens as usual. The evening ends with her sudden realization that she is old and lonely, a realization brought to her by a conversation she overhears between a boy and a girl presumably lovers, who comment on her unwelcome pr esence in their vicinity. Miss Brill is sad and depressed as she returns home, not stopping by as usual to buy her Sunday delicacy, a slice of honey-cake. She retires to her dark room, puts the fur back into the box and imagines that she has heard something cry. -K. Narayana Chandran. A Summary of Shakespeares HamletOne way of discovering the overall pattern of a piece of writing is to summarize it in your own words. The act of summarizing is much like stating the  plot of a play. For instance, if you were asked to summarize the story of Shakespeares Hamlet, you might say: Its the story of a young prince of Denmark who discovers that his uncle and his mother have killed his father, the former king. He plots to get revenge, but in his obsession with revenge he drives his sweetheart to madness and suicide, kills her innocent father, and in the final scene poisons and is poisoned by her brother in a duel, causes his mothers death, and kills the guilty king, his uncle. This summary contains a number of dramatic elements: a cast of characters (the prince; his uncle, mother, and father; his sweetheart; her father, and so on), a scene (Elsinore Castle in Denmark), instruments (poisons, swords), and actions (discovery, dueling, killing). -Richard E. Young, Alton L. Becker, and Kenneth L. Pike. Steps in Composing a Summary The primary purpose of a summary is to give an accurate, objective representation of what the  work  says. As a general rule, you should not include your own ideas or interpretations. Paul Clee and Violeta Clee Summarizing condenses in your own words the main points in a passage: Reread the passage, jotting down a few keywords.State the main point in your own words and be objective: Dont mix your reactions with the summary.Check your summary against the original, making sure that you use  quotation marks  around any exact phrases that you borrow. -Randall VanderMey, et al. Here...is a general procedure you can use [for composing a summary]: Step 1: Read the text for its main points.Step 2: Reread carefully and make a descriptive outline.Step 3: Write out the texts thesis or main point. . . .Step 4: Identify the texts major divisions or chunks. Each division develops one of the stages needed to make the whole main point. . . .Step 5: Try summarizing each part in one or two sentences.Step 6: Now combine your summaries of the parts into a coherent whole, creating a condensed version of the texts main ideas in your own words. -(John C. Bean, Virginia Chappell, and Alice M. Gillam, Reading Rhetorically. Pearson Education, 2004) Characteristics of a Summary The purpose of a  summary is to give a reader a condensed and objective account of the main ideas and features of a text. Usually, a summary has between one and three paragraphs or one hundred to three hundred words, depending on the length and complexity of the original essay and the intended audience and purpose. Typically, a summary will do the following: Cite the author and title of the text. In some cases, the place of publication or the context for the essay may also be included.Indicate the main ideas of the text. Accurately representing the main ideas (while omitting the less important details) is the major goal of the summary.Use direct quotations of keywords, phrases, or sentences. Quote the text directly for a few key ideas; paraphrase the other important ideas (that is, express the ideas in your own words.)Include author tags. (According to Ehrenreich or as Ehrenreich explains) to remind the reader that you are summarizing the author and the text, not giving your own ideas. . . .Avoid summarizing specific examples or data unless they help illustrate the thesis or main idea of the text.Report the main ideas as objectively as possible...Do not include your reactions; save them for your response. -(Stephen Reid,  The Prentice Hall Guide for Writers, 2003) A Checklist for Evaluating Summaries Good summaries must be fair, balanced, accurate, and complete. This checklist of questions will help you evaluate drafts of a summary: Is the summary economical and precise?Is the summary neutral in its representation of the original authors ideas, omitting the writers own opinions?Does the summary reflect the proportionate coverage given various points in the original text?Are the original authors ideas expressed in the summary writers own words?Does the summary use attributive tags (such as Weston argues) to remind readers whose ideas are being presented?Does the summary quote sparingly (usually only key ideas or phrases that cannot be said precisely except in the original authors own words)?Will the summary stand alone as a unified and coherent piece of writing?Is the original source cited so that readers can locate it? -John C. Bean On the Summary App  Summly Upon hearing, in March of [2013], reports that a 17-year-old schoolboy had sold a piece of software to Yahoo! for $30 million, you might well have entertained a few preconceived notions about what sort of child this must be...The app [that then 15-year-old Nick] DAloisio designed, Summly, compresses long pieces of text into a few representative sentences. When he released an early iteration, tech observers realized that an app that could deliver brief, accurate summaries would be hugely valuable in a world where we read everything - from news stories to corporate reports - on our phones, on the go...There are two ways of doing natural language processing: statistical or semantic, DAloisio explains. A semantic system attempts to figure out the actual meaning of a text and translate it succinctly. A statistical system - the type DAloisio used for Summly - doesnt bother with that; it keeps phrases and sentences intact and figures out how to pick a few that best encapsulate the entir e work. It ranks and classifies each sentence, or phrase, as a candidate for inclusion in the summary. Its very mathematical. It looks at frequencies and distributions, but not at what the words mean. -Seth Stevenson. The Lighter Side of Summaries Here are some...famous works of literature that could easily have been summarized in a few words: Moby-Dick: Dont mess around with large whales, because they symbolize nature and will kill you.A Tale of Two Cities: French people are crazy.Every poem ever written: Poets are extremely sensitive. Think of all the valuable hours we would save if authors got right to the point this way. Wed all have more time for more important activities, such as reading newspaper columns. -Dave Barry. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem. -Douglas Adams. Sources K. Narayana Chandran,  Texts and Their Worlds II. Foundation Books, 2005)Richard E. Young, Alton L. Becker, and Kenneth L. Pike,  Rhetoric: Discovery and Change. Harcourt, 1970Paul Clee and Violeta Clee,  American Dreams, 1999.Randall VanderMey, et al.,  The College Writer, Houghton, 2007Stephen Reid,  The Prentice Hall Guide for Writers, 2003John C. Bean, Virginia Chappell, and Alice M. Gillam  Reading Rhetorically. Pearson Education, 2004Seth Stevenson, How Teen Nick DAloisio Has Changed the Way We Read.  Wall Street Journal Magazine, November 6, 2013Dave Barry,  Bad Habits: A 100% Fact-Free Book. Doubleday, 1985Douglas Adams,  The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Pan Books, 1980