Ethnocentrism is a situation whereby a group has a belief that their culture is more superior as well as desirable in comparison to other cultures. In Avatar, the humans have an assumption that they have dominance and are superior to the Na’vi tribe. The humans express their dominance by an attack and destruction of the Na’vi tribe’s home tree. The humans are of the opinion that they should educate the Na’vi tribe in the human ways since they consider their ways to be better.
As a western civilization we are guilty of making other cultures seem strange and unrelatable by describing their culture in an exuberant way. However, Miner does an excellent job at executing the description of the “Nacirema” as foreign individuals with him being a American himself. This essay is told from an
In the above quote, it corresponds to one of the five keys of transcendentalism, specifically “the goodness of humans,” because McCandless cared about Westerberg enough to tell him how he felt about him as a friend and fellow human being. Although Into the Wild was written in the 1980s, the book has many transcendentalist ideas that were established
Explaining that a group of “ about 350 million people” (14) are worried for their lives surely is enough to invoke sympathy within the reader. He also includes a quote from Robert Clinton, which reads, “the involuntary exploitation of our annexation… or the involuntary expansion” (14). By including this quote, Echo-Hawk catches the reader’s eye because the idea “involuntary exploitation” on behalf of the European settlers is an absurd idea because expansion was obviously voluntary, which leads the reader to sympathize with the Natives rather than a group that lies in a way to justify its actions. He also uses the pathos appeal when he talks about “white man’s burden” (16) and when he describes how Spaniards were doing their noble duty of colonizing, but spoke Spanish while telling the Natives that they were
Her desire to only interact with the culture for a story to tell others shows the lack of interest the general public has in understanding communities they are not a part of. This contributes to the formation of negative stereotypes, as people do not take the time to see if stereotypes are accurate, instead allowing derogatory stereotypes define entire
Stereotypes in media have been around since the earliest cartoons were drawn. The media gives supposedly identifying traits with images of the stingy Jewish man, the single Hispanic woman cleaning homes to raise her three children, and the “butch” lesbian falling for the beautiful blonde who just happens to glance at her every day in the hallway. These portrayals make up general knowledge about minorities for a lot of people, but their accuracy is questionable at best. While production companies have been making strides towards the better, insufficient representation in the media tends to portray minorities as their negative stereotypes rather than as people.
Spirited Away is an anime film by Hayao Miyazaki which tells the story of Chihiro, a young girl who enters an abandoned amusement park with her parents wherein spirits spend their time to replenish themselves and relax after being out in the world of humans. It is entertaining and insightful of Japanese culture and gender stereotypes. Miyazaki’s depiction of Chihiro’s growth, gender stereotypes and capitalism and Shintoism all make the film educational and inspiring to the audience. In the opening scene of the film we first see our protagonist, Chihiro, and her parents inside the car driving to their new home as Chihiro laid down on the car’s seat looking lifeless.
Jason Reynolds uses metaphors in his speeches to connect with the audience, appealing to their emotions. He uses metaphors like "Those of us from raging waters and crashing waves, beached, but trying desperately to breathe" and "There are those of us whose wings have been clipped. ". These metaphors connect with the audience members who have had hardships and struggles throughout their lives. In this case, he is comparing humans to a bird with clipped wings or to someone drowning. He explains while also showing how he knows what it is like to struggle, now establishing credibility.
In the second paragraph the quote explains how it is hard for Jonas to speak because he has to think of the right words to say, because in a utopian society you can only use certain languages. In the third paragraph, the quote states how a utopian society turned into a dystopian society in a matter of minutes. Just think how different it will be in the future. Imagine if the world gets so bad that we have to live in a utopian society.
Reynolds compares humans to birds in this sense, stating how when humans are told to spread their wings and fly, it is often not a simple thing to do. Many individuals go through things that knock them down, making it feel like it’s impossible to get up. Through getting his audience to go into deep thought, he exemplifies his main message of how people can symbolize birds, and when these birds are able to soar
This is already the first example of foreign settlement and colonization as humans landed on Pandora and immediately claimed land as it were their own property, not thinking about the indigenous Navii. Main character Jake Sully visits a Navii school
Primarily, Jason Reynolds criticizes the concept and notion that everyone possesses the same ability for flight, the same ability to achieve greatness: “To spread my wings and change the world without ever addressing the fact that not all of us have wings. There are those of us whose wings have been clipped”(Reynolds 7:32). Jason Reynolds vividly appeals to the emotions of the audience of the immense symbolism and parallelism within his statements about wings. Repeatedly, Reynolds reinforces the wings as a sign and symbol of opportunity for those who have them, but for those whose “wings have been clipped”, they are stuck, unable to fly in the air, appealing to the audiences’ emotions to reflect on the differences of people and what they had had to allow them to graduate. Such symbolism and metaphor used masterfully by Jason Reynolds provides a further appeal to emotions through poignant and deeply meaningful words not conveyed through direct
He explains to the tribes using historical facts about how the white men came into their existence. They came to their tribes and after being nursed back to health, the white man wanted some land. That wasn’t enough for them. Now they want a whole hunting ground. He is using this imagery to get his audience to understand that the white men are greedy.
Nonetheless, it is evident that they were one of the most peaceful people who were wise, and focused on being in harmony with nature and the world. The Iroquois creation story verifies that the Indians are not uncivilized or savages. Rather, it emphasizes the countless similarities they share with different cultures and how their ideas are not different to that of the rest of the world. The Natives have had a magnanimous impact on shaping Americans into who and what they are. They have taught them many precious lessons as well as values that allowed them to expand and build the vast country that stands erect today.
They were often disregarded in society, and were believed to be corrupt, unwise, uncivil, etc. However, their history shows a generous amount of similarities in which they share with other cultures, which points out that they are not what they are generally understood to be. The creation story begins with a pregnant virgin woman, which draws similarity to the universally acknowledged story of Virgin Mary. This similarity shines light on how ideas of creation are universal. Natives are not an exception.
