In this essay I will compare the presentation of family in digging

In this essay I will compare the presentation of family in digging with at least one other poem in identity. I have chosen to select Follower. The title of the poem Digging could refer to turning over soil for planting or harvesting, or digging deeper to uncover some sort of treasure. Alternatively the poet could be thinking of digging up the past, or uncovering some secret hidden in the past. The poem is written from the poet’s perspective and there is no doubt that this poem is about a writer for in the opening lines we learn that: ‘Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests...’ The poet is writing in his room which is upstairs and overlooks the garden. His attention is caught by the ‘clean rasping sound’ of a spade digging into the ‘gravelly ground’. The poet looks out and sees his father digging as he has done for twenty years. Heaney describes his father with great admiration for his strength and skill as a farmer. The poet reflects ruefully on the skill that his father and grandfather possessed with a spade. He is slightly in awe of them as he celebrates their skills and he regrets his own inability to wield a spade. The careful, deliberate, way his father cuts into the earth with his spade makes digging for peat sound like a skilled craft: ‘The course boot nestled on the lug, the shaft.’ When the poet describes his father uncovering the potatoes he uses alliteration again in ‘tall tops’ and ‘buried the bridge edge deep’ to capture the sharp, precise sound of the spade entering the soil. When the poet hears the sound of his fathers spade digging he lets us hear it to in the word ‘rasping’, an onomatopoeia, and in the hard alliterative sound of ‘gravelly ground’. In digging the dis... ... him the child: ‘Fell sometimes on the polished sod; sometimes he rode me on his back.’ This conveys to the reader just how close the relationship was between father and son but it also shows how following him was not always easy on the rough ground. Now he is grown up though it is his father who is the follower and he now keeps stumbling and ‘will not go away’ Even though the word ‘love’ is never used in the poem, it is obviously the word that best describes the basis of the relationship existing between Heaney and his father. The poem is very much a personal experience, but it has a much wider significance relating to any kind of hero – worship by a ‘follower’. Now that he is himself an adult, Heaney acknowledges that the father he hero worshipped as a young boy has grown old and needs as much tolerance and patience as he himself once showed his son.

How Is Technology Affecting People Psychologically? Essay

In 1922, a doctor’s kit was the most desired toy in the United States. Almost all toys on the website â€Å"Hot Holiday Toys for 2012† were either electronic or electronic related. These toys range from Furbuddy, an electronic pet that talks, to Nintendo and Wii’ games and gaming systems. What impact is technology having on people? Today, with thousands of video games offered; nearly 1 billion users on Facebook; and the average person checking their phone close to 75 times per day, one can only wonder how this affects people psychologically. This can be seen in how the internet offers amazing information and opportunities that have changed the way people communicate. Internet World Stats website cites that the internet users have grown over 566% since 2000. Ease of access to information and communication is, of course, a big reason to use the internet, but is there more to it? Is the ability to control completely the information one reads and the people one interacts with a part of this draw to the internet? The person who holds the mouse is in control when he or she surfs the web. He or she chooses which sites to go to and which people to interact with. In many ways the user feels safe. If something negative online occurs, one can simply exit the site. On Facebook, if someone posts something the user doesn’t like, the user can block the sender or â€Å"unfriend† the offending person. Unfortunately, this negative online interaction is all too frequent. Cyber bullying is the act of bullying using electronic technology. It has become so serious that laws have been passed to outlaw it; going as far as jail time. Cyber bullying occurs with one out of six children. It can be devastating because it can happen 24 hours per day and every day of the week. The worst part about Cyber bullying is that it can even happen when the victim is alone. Cyberbullying Research Center states, â€Å"There have been many high profile and tragic incidents in the media in recent years which have linked adolescent suicides to experiences with cyber bullying.† The technology used in this type of bullying ranges from cell phones, social media sites, to chat rooms. It has become such a problem that many schools have created programs to discuss the harmful effects it causes. Cyber bullying is an example of the disinhibition effect. Psychologists have created this term meaning when people online loosen up, feel more uninhibited, and express themselves more than they ever would in a face to face conversation. It can be threatening and hurtful as in cyber bullying; or it can be what psychologist call benign disinhibition. This is when a person reveals secret emotions, fears and wishes. The user may share too much about themselves, but overall it is not harmful. This sharing of experiences has been seen as a very positive experience when regarding veterans. Many times soldiers come back from war and have feelings about their experiences that they feel civilians do not understand. Sites and chat rooms have been created to fill this need. As John Suler author of The Psychology of Cyberspace states they don’t have to worry about how others look or sound when they â€Å"say† something. Seeing a frown, a shaking head, a sigh, a bored expression, and many other signs of disapproval or indifference can stop what people are willing to express. Not being able to see expressions of a person’s feelings, leads to one expressing themselves more openly. This has created support for not just veterans, but others who reach out to people â€Å"like them† so they can connect and feel understood. Another group who seek to connect with each other are gamers. Video games have exploded in popularity since 1947. Now over 72 percent of the Americans play video games. Video games have been proven to increase decision-making skills which come in handy in a fast-paced world. They have also been proven to improve men and women’s ability to picture 3D objects states U.S Department of Defense researchers. However, as much they may be helping gamers with thinking skills; violent video games are certainly not helping with violent behavior. A study was done with two groups of college students; group one played a violent video game and group two played a nonviolent video game. The researchers measured how the students felt and how they behaved. Social Psychologist Brad Bushman at Ohio State University showed the groups two violent pictures: one of a man shoving a gun down another man’s throat; another of a man holding a knife to a woman’s throat. â€Å"What we found is for people who were exposed to a lot of violent video games; their brains did not respond to the violent images,† Bushman said. â€Å"They were numb, if you will.† People who play violent video games become numb to the violence they see. Knowing this, one may find it disturbing to know that the top three most sold video games in the US, are all listed by Parenting website in â€Å"The 10 most violent video games to avoid.† list. Does playing violent video games increase violence or just make the user numb to it? That is still to be determined. The positive effects of technology are as endless as imagination. The amazing ability to instantly have knowledge at your fingertips any time of the day or night is one benefit it is hard to imagine being without. Being able to connect with a friend continents away is a wonderful gift that keeps people in touch with each other. But like most things; technology has a negative side like cyber bullying; and the violence in video games open to children a keystroke away. Technology has no doubt changed the world, but the question becomes does the positive outweigh the negative and if so, what should be done about the negative aspects?

Censorship from Obscene Material - 1066 Words

Censorship From Obscene Material Today, in the 1990s, citizens in our society are being bombarded with obscene material from every direction. From the hate lyrics of Guns N Roses to the satanic lyrics of Montley Crue and Marilyn Manson to the sexually explicit graphical content of todays movies, the issue is how much society is going to permit and where we, as a society, should we draw the line. The freedom of speech has always been considered a right, but that doesnt mean that you can shout, Fire! in a crowded movie theater. The real question is whether such material is harmful or dangerous to our society. Many people are asking whether or not we should censor offensive material. They believe that some material is too†¦show more content†¦The critics of this point of view think that private-sector censorship will not be enough. They believe that the entertainment industry will not be able to control itself. Private-sector restrictions do not have the authority of the law, therefore they cannot succes sfully draw the line between what can and cannot be said in public. The third and final possible solution is no censorship at all. While many Americans are troubled by what they feel is offensive speech, and feel that it should be restricted by law, advocates of the third solution disagree. They feel that there is more harm in restricting free speech than by the offensive speech itself. In the bill of rights, the first amendment says, Congress shall make no long abridging the freedom of speech. The first amendment was intended to protect the minorities from the tyranny of the majorities. The advocates of this view feel that the minority has a right to express themselves regardless of the opinion of the majority. Free speech matters because it encourages creativity. Without the freedom of speech, America would probably be dull and drab like a communist country such as the former USSR. For example, the comedy of Andrew Dice Clay, considered offensive by some, shouldnt be censor ed from those who find him humorousShow MoreRelatedStudies in Contemporary Literature: Free Speech1622 Words   |  7 Pages Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined as determined by the government, media outlet, or other controlling bodies (Wikipedia, 1). This can be done by governments and private organizations or by individuals who engage in self-censorship which is the act of censoring or classifying one’s own work like blog, books, films, or other means of expression, out of theRead MoreThe Debate of Censorship766 Words   |  4 Pagesfar does that freedom extend? Does the right to express yourself include the right to observe the expressions of others? According to pro-censorship view holders, it does not. But to those who feel strongly against censorship, the freedom of information, or the â€Å"right to know,† should be an absolute right granted to the American public. Censoring material is the responsibility of the individual, not the institution itself, and certainly not the job of a separate institution. Also, the definitionRead MoreEssay on censorship846 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"Censorship is the act of suppressing publications, movies, television programs, plays, letters, and so on that are considered to be obscene, blasphemous, or politically unacceptable† (MccGwire 4). Censorship should be enforced because it is needed into today’s society. Censorship needs to be used in media, hate speech, and obscene material. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;To begin with, the media has very negative effect on society as a whole. â€Å"The mass media—movies, television, and recordings—needRead MoreThe Case Of Samuel Roth921 Words   |  4 Pages2. Facts of the Case Samuel Roth was prosecuted for violating a federal statute that made it illegal to send, â€Å"obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy,† content in the mail. Roth published the magazine American Aphrodite which had nude photos. David Alberts was prosecuted for publishing photos of naked women. Both men appealed to the Supreme Court and their cases were merged together. 3. Questions of the Case Did the California or Federal Statute violate David Albert and Samuel Roth’s First AmendmentRead More Television Censorship Essay522 Words   |  3 PagesTelevision Censorship Censorship in television is a very debatable topic in today’s media and social realms. Nowadays what is considered appropriate by many may actually be considered explicit or unsuitable by the people in charge. Some may wonder ‘who is deemed so highly that they can decide what is and is not appropriate to watch. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is ‘responsible for administratively enforcing the law that governs what is and is not appropriate. Within this articleRead MoreThe Importance Of Internet Censorship1378 Words   |  6 PagesInternet Censorship The Internet has become a growing source of entertainment and information over the past years. As more and more people become familiar with the Internet, the potential of its contents grows rapidly, at an uncontrollable rate. With something such as the Internet, which contains virtually an infinite amount of space, more is being added than taken away. Therefore with the growing amount of users, the content grows as well. Different people use the Internet for different things withRead MoreThe Censorship Of Radio Censorship1208 Words   |  5 Pagesbecomes threatened through censorship which infringes and hinders artistic expression. Radio stations use censorship to edit explicit music in hopes of preserving adolescent innocence, however; there in no value in radio censorship. The significance of radio censorship is diminished because editing music for radio play is ineffective in blocking the nature of a song, radio stations kill the authenticity of music, and songs lose their integr ity. For example, radio censorship is pointless due to itsRead MoreEssay on America Needs Music Censorship550 Words   |  3 PagesAmerica Needs Music Censorship â€Å"Obscene: so excessive as to be offensive† (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary). This is the way the Webster dictionary defines obscene. How do you? Some say obscene is vulgar; others say the best way to describe obscene is through disgust. No matter how it is thought of, obscene material is everywhere in society. Television is becoming more liberal, magazines are less edited, and music is more abrasive. At some point, the public must put its foot downRead MoreThe Supreme Court Standard of Obscenity Evolution since 1950 1195 Words   |  5 PagesThere has been a lot of debate on the legal understandings of term obscene and its usage. Constitutionally, the term is used to define certain behaviors or expressions in motion pictures, art or literature. The law tries to look at the effects that obscenity would have on the morals of the people or on the minds of those that see the material. It also considered the effect some publications would have on the hands tha t they might fall in. There has been an evolution of the whole idea over the yearsRead MoreEssay about Censorship943 Words   |  4 Pages Censorship The freedom to read is essential to the democratic way of life. But today, that freedom is under attack. Private groups and public authorities everywhere are working to remove both books and periodicals from sale, to exclude certain books from public schools, to censor and silence magazines and newspapers, and to limit quot;controversialquot; books and periodicals to the general public. The suppression of reading materials is suppression of creative thought. Books and periodicals