American Literature

 We live our lives as stories  or as narratives as literary scholars prefer to say. The fictional stories that become part of our cultural fabric and social mythology both reflect our lives the plots of novels and storied lives of fictional characters influence our lives and resemble them too. We have much to learn from closer study of literary narratives. Stories edify us. (Rodden, 2008, p. 149  150).

A justification of literary studies depends in the final analysis of illustrating the relevance of literature of thinking and living in modernity.  Alexandrov 2007, p. 97 asserted that at least in the English speaking world, a widespread, and perhaps dominant, view today, is that literature is a social construct or a readers projection and thus a mystification  in the sense that of being a signifier attached to phenomena that do not deserve the exclusivity that the signifiers genealogy bestow.  Several criticisms and agreement supports the assertion. For instance, as Alexandrov 2007, p. 97 noted E.D. Hirsch Jr. claim that it is a mistake to assume that poetry is a special substance whose essential attributes can be found throughout all those texts that we call poetry.  And further citing Eagleton (p.97) who insisted that there is no essence of literature whatsoever and that literature is constituted by value judgments that are historically variable and that have a close relation to social ideologies. However Jonathan Culler (p.98) postulated that the essence of literature is to have no essence, to be protean, indefinable to encompass whatever might be situated outside it.  Finally, it is Raymond Williams who concluded that the category of literature is so deeply compromised that it has to be challenged in toto (Fekette, cited in Alexandrov 2007, p. 97-98).

Garber 2003 cited in Taggart 2006 p. 206 charted the rise and fall of literary study which around in the 1950s accordingly had occupied the comfortable middle ground of the humanities, and then in its heyday collaborated with anthropology, history, and continental philosophy to investigate language in action(literature). Garber defended literary studies from the encroachment from natural science on one front and empirical history on the other.  She holds that the field of literary studies retains its unique value so long as it stays true its main function scrutinizing literariness.

Garber held further on the domain and value of literary studies. She substitutes human nature for literature as the appropriate object domain of literary studies. According to her literature has a place in taking up in influential evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilsons On Human Nature (1978) and Sociology (1980) and aims to reclaim human nature for humanities.  Accordingly it has been said that since humanistic knowledge has for the most part been discounted in modernity, art is often reduced to mere form or ornamentation.  On tracking Wilsons occasional citations of James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, William Shakespeare and Sappho, among others, Garber noted that art merely expresses the truth of biology in a pithy, condensed form and need not be interpreted. 

On the other hand the allure of historical correctness is that history grounds and tells the truth about literature and it forecloses our asking literary questions. Garbers literary qualm with literary historicism is that it presumes a crude mimeses and is unable to answer fundamental question such as why we read and teach literature in the first place.  History is within literature (one of Garbers examples is the clock striking in Shakespeares Julius Caesar) in the sense that text presents the relation between the present and the past and the current preoccupation driving that juxtaposition or reinterpretation. And the literary within history in that anachronism foregrounds themes, structures, and form rather than chronology.  As Gerber argued further that literary scholarship is an endless search and re-search to fill in all the gaps and to have a complete picture of a work in its historical context, literary criticism can a be a creative enterprise that follow the associative thinking, the fits and starts of a text which shocks us into an awareness that something about literature exceeds rational, scientific, and historical determinations (Garber 2003, cited in Taggart 2006 p. 209).

    In Farrels Why Does Literature Matter cited in Taggart 2006, p. 210 he claimed that literature does much than explore language and power because it affords wide moral experiences of various proportion of literary space such as phenomenology and metaphysics, experiences not available in the market place, and does it so in an exceptional manner.

    Another compelling issue on real world benefit on the study of literature as whole is literatures role in psychological and social phenomenon. In the social aspects of literature Schram and Steen, 2001 p. 1 contended that there is self-evident relation between literature and other arts. The empirical study of literature is concerned with the central questions of literature as a cultural practice interpretation and evaluation of individuals, description of groups of texts (e.g. authors, genres, periods, histories, languages, countries, cultures), often from a comparative perspective,  and theory formation, that is, formulation of generalizations across (groups of) texts irrespective of the individual cases. One example is a focus on text or its relation to context, such as the biography of the writer, the cultural conditions for production and reception, and so on. Further, David Miall explored the idea that literature has survival function for humans as biological organisms and uses the perspective of evolutionary psychology to construct his argument (Schram and Steen, 2001 p.1-3).

    Moreover in literary reading there is  distinction between the construction of meaning  which takes place in all language use  as oppose to the creation of meaning, which may be restricted to more imaginative forms of reading. Psycho-analysts claim that function of literature is to celebrate hidden fantasies, either attack is on theoretical grounds or methodological grounds, the effect would be to engender further critical discussion between psycho-analysis and the empirical study of literature. A related classic theory of the function of literature, referring to another psychological effect of literary reception is one of catharsis. It is not just the readers of literature who participate in a more general culture, but the writer of literary texts is embedded in such a context too (Schram and Steen, 2001 p.7-11).

    Literature is the expression of beauty or the manifestation of ideology, intrinsically rewarding or extrinsically interesting, the medium through which cultural and national tradition is transmitted or patently subversive of tradition (Taggart, 2006, p. 207). In rhetorical reading, there is intellectual pleasure of thinking through and with literature and the political potential to change the world (Garber 2003 cited in Taggart 2006, p. 206). Berube 1988 cited in Taggart 2006 p. 208 said institutionalized literary study is an academic subject and as a profession, simply will not exist very much longer if it does not demarcate, for its potential clients its domain and procedures. Literary theories offer novel and persuasive account of signification (Culler 1985 cited in Taggart 2006, p. 205) and young students need to ask not only what the text means, but as well how it means (Brooks 1994 cited in Taggart 2006, p. 205).

    Farrels most interesting premise as Taggart, 2006, p. 213 highlighted is that the rich experiences had exclusively and exceptionally in some literary, indeed in literary works, are valuable for the sake of living well. Farrel envisioned some works as providing exercises in establishing richer psychological and ethical subjectivity. As Taggart emphasizes, it is not just that we see characters going through kinds of ethical decision-making we become aware more reflectively of our patterns of identification and investment, of the ways in which we set ourselves in relation to and ethical world.  Further, Farrels realism which does not stress the mimetic relation of the word to world, here concerns not just seeing but actively becoming aware of the similarity of one mental state  t he characters  the readers. In this case, realism means that the rich way we experience things in literature is the way we could experience things in the world literature is a means to the moral end of the self unfolding in all its richness within the world and across a life (Farrel 2004, cited in Taggart, 2006, p. 213).

Reading is important for people of all ages. Children who do not get a good start in reading may never learn how to embrace the written word. Comics and Graphic Novels can be good ways to kick start the love of reading for children of all ages. Skills in interpreting literature as well as understanding the new types of media in todays society. Teachers who can embrace this new type of media will have an advantage in helping their students embrace the world of literacy.

 Comic Book and Graphic Novels Boost Childrens Literacy

The History of the Book
The history of the book is not only about books per se broadly speaking, it concerns the creation, dissemination, and reception of script and print, including newspapers, periodicals, and ephemera. Book historians study the social, cultural, and economic history of authorship the history of the book trade, copyright, censorship, and underground publishing the publishing histories of particular literary works, authors, editors, imprints, and literary agents the spread of literacy and book distribution canon formation and the politics of literary criticism libraries, reading habits, and reader response.

At an early age, children should learn to read for knowledge and enjoyment. In this paper I will discuss how graphic novels or comics are the 21st Century reading resource that will support critical thinking skills in childrens literature. 

The History of the Comic Book
The origins of sequential art date back to prehistoric man over 20,000 years ago.  From Paleolithic Cave Paintings, to Egyptian Hieroglyphs, to Superman  the X-Men.
(www.comic-art.com, 1992-2006)

Comics, while always meant to entertain, started out with a deeper meaning.
In 1754, Benjamin Franklin created the first editorial cartoon published in an American newspaper. Franklins cartoon was an illustration of a snake with a severed head and had the printed words Join, or Die. The cartoon was intended to goad the different colonies into joining what was to become the United States.
In the early 19th century, they began to develop into the stories we know today.

In 1827, Switzerlands HYPERLINK httplambiek.netartiststtopffer.htm t _blankRudolph Toffler created a comic strip and continued on to publish seven graphic novels. In 1837, The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck was published by Rudolphe Tpffer and it is considered the earliest known comic book. In 1842, The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck became the first comic book published in the United States. Obadiah Oldbuck was a forty page book. Each page had several picture panels with accompanying text underneath. The 1895 Yellow Kid created by HYPERLINK httpwww.comic-art.combios-1outcalt1.htm t _blankRichard Outcault has often been cited as being the first comic strip. The reason being is that Richard Outcault was the first artist to use the balloon an outlined space on the page where what the characters spoke was written. However, comic strips and comic books were published before Yellow Kid debuted in the New York City newspaper The World. (Mary Bellis, 2009)

But even from those small first books, comics had a long way to go to reach the fantastic stories of space and heroes that we now love and cherish.

The next major development would coincide with a new interest of Americans in the twentieth century. After the industrial age, came the scientific age. In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a science fiction novel that appeared in the All Story magazine entitled Under the Moons of Mars. Later published as the Princess of Mars the story gave birth to scores of other stories of the fantastic and by 1927 a magazine arose to revolutionize American literature, called Amazing Stories. Burroughs also created another character in 1912 that is another one of our mythical twentieth century figures - Tarzan.

Amazing Stories Magazine from its inception proved to be a popular success. In the February 1928 issue appeared a story called Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Phillip Nowlan. One reader, John Flint Dille, a comic strip syndicator liked the story so much he bought the rights and hired an artist named Richard Calkins to illustrate a comic strip. And so the next major development of the comic strip had taken place.  Today, the comic book is also called the graphic novel. (www.comic-art.com, 1992-2006)

The Graphic Novel is the new book. They tell as much of a complex story as a traditional print book, but in a more colorful way. This color is only one of the qualities that draws todays youth to pick up a graphic novel.

Comic Books Inspire Children to Read
Comic book characters have personal qualities that inspire children to read. The graphic novel or comic book now offers English teachers the opportunity to engage all students in a medium that expands beyond the traditional borders of literacy.  The graphic novel, a longer and more artful version of the comic book bound as a real book, is increasingly popular, available and meaningful.  Library media specialists have been in the forefront advocating graphic novels. Educators have also urged the use of comics as an alternative, appealing way for students to analyze literacy conventions, character development, dialogue, satire, and language structures as well as develop writing and research skills.

Graphic Novels or Comics in the Classroom
For the past few years, a growing chorus of educators has been singing the praises of manga, (the Japanese word for comics) graphic novels, and comics.  Integrating graphic content into curricula is not a new education trend, nor is it a passing fad.  Educators throughout the country are using graphic content to challenge and engage students.  They are convinced that comic books will boost childrens literature, and are helpful for engaging students in authentic writing. (Edu1)

First, the graphic novel is helpful in promoting the goals of traditional literacy. Increasingly, scholars and teachers realize that in a media-dominated society, the reading and writing of print is no longer sufficient.  Todays young people also have to read films, TV shows, magazines, and Web sites.  For example, to read and interpret graphic novels, students have to pay attention to the usual literary elements of character, plot, and dialogue. They also have to consider visual elements such as color, shading, panel layout, perspective, and even the lettering style. 

Todays young people need the knowledge and skills to interpret all these types of media, and comics and graphic novels can help them gain that skill base. However, there are obstacles to jump, specifically associated with public school regulations and parent feedback.  Teachers have to use wise and convincing approaches to convince their school boards that graphic novels or comic books are essential to stimulating childrens reading.  Not all graphic novels are appropriate and even some of the best have profanity or sexual content.  Censorship remains a problem around the country and many educators too, are loath to encounter any controversy in the classroom.

Although graphic novels are not included in the state national test, in the non academic world, they are increasing in number, quality, variety, and availability.  They offer a new kind of text for the classroom and they demand new reading abilities.  They tend to appeal to diverse students, including reluctant readers, and they offer both great stories and informational topics.  For students who no longer deal with pure word texts in their daily lives, multiple types of literacy are a necessity.  Schools must prepare young people to think critically with and about all kinds of texts. One commenter on Rebecca Bloods website stated the opinion that

Thankfully some people still believe that great works of art will inspire children and young people and thus make them better adults. The impoverishment of Americas social and political landscape is clearly due to the absence of students undiluted exposure to great works created by great minds. There is a straight line between mediocrity of content in education and the erosion of democratic principles and ethical values in our nation. (Blood, 2006)

Reading Matters
These days, Im thrilled at the vast assortment of tools available for people who want to connect onlinefrom blogs to Facebook and Twitter, to the many social book cataloging sites, and beyond. Readers have resources nobody could have imagined nine years ago, and its a joy to see books being talked about in every corner of the Internet.  As an educator and college student, I acknowledge reading as a cognitive, social and cultural activity.  In the classroom, I work with students to develop presentation and writing skills that are applicable to the real world of reading research. Primary in-class activities include seminar-style discussions of common texts, presentations of jigsaw readings and focus projects, and examination of reading-related artifacts.

Programs span the country to show the importance of reading for children. 
In other nations the The Maya Angelou Milestone Library Project (MLA) was built in this authors honor and to establish a living legacy that combines the enemies of the 200th anniversary of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and 2008, the year of reading to help children lift themselves out of poverty.  In 2008 the MLA planned and established three sustainable built environment, solar-powered milestone community childrens libraries with a nature reserve in South Africa, Ghana, Trinidad, and Tobago in the name of literacy icon, Dr. Maya Angelo.  The children will learn about ecology, climate change and how to look after their own environment. (The Maya Angelou Libraries) 

Organize to Prevent Readicide
How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It.
HYPERLINK httpwww.stenhouse.com0780.aspRead-i-cide n The systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools.

Reading is dying in our schools. Educators are familiar with many of the factors that have contributed to the decline -- poverty, second-language issues, and the ever-expanding choices of electronic entertainment. In this provocative new book, Kelly Gallagher suggests, however, that it is time to recognize a new and significant contributor to the death of reading our schools. Readicide provides teachers, literacy coaches, and administrators with specific steps to reverse the downward spiral in reading -- steps that will help prevent the loss of another generation of readers. (Stenhouse Publishers, 2009)

Gallagher speaks in later chapters about over-teaching, something I was definitely guilty of. When I first started teaching, I would assign students packets of reading comprehension questions with each chapter. Instead of getting my students excited about reading, this over-teaching of the novels had the opposite effect.So I did something about it. I implemented IRP, Independent Reading Projects, into the curriculum 3 years ago. Students are given have 2 of them per year one that is almost totally open-ended and one that is genre specific. They have to submit their reading selection for review, and Ive banned some YA series (No Gossip Girl or Cirque du Freak). More significantly, I let them read in class. Each year Im blown away by the delight in the students eyes when I tell them that every Friday we are going to simply read a book of their choosing in class. With the extensive after-school schedules of most of my students, setting aside 45 minutes to sit quietly and read a good book rarely, if ever, happens.

Im lucky because, as a teacher in an independent school, we dont teach to the test. I get to pick the novels that I want to teach, teach them in whatever order I choose, and drop books when I feel like it. This year Im going to add a unit on graphic novels to try and trick some of my more reluctant male students into becoming readers. Well see if it works.

In conclusion, comics have been read by adults and children for thousands of years. In my opinion, comic books have serious educational value.  My local library has been stocking graphic novels for some time and has used them as a tool for getting youth interested in reading. They tend to be a great introductory window to the written word.  Reading is reading no matter what form it takes. As an educator, based on my experience in the classroom, graphic novels are appropriate only as an addition to stimulate students interest in reading.  Reading early can help children become life-long readers. It is possible that a lot of the kids and teens think of books they read in class as boring. That feeling could turn them off from reading as adults. Giving them choices to read healthy traditional or graphic novels, may help them enjoy books more.

J. Maarten Troosts Lost on Planet China is generally a travel narrative. However, this travel narrative is also a mix of various themes or issues about China including culture, politics, business, globalization, travel tips, and so on. From the culture of the material and non-material culture of the Chinese people, the history of the Chinese people, to the place of China and the countrys role in shaping international trade and relations, Troost has managed to create a humorous, thus entertaining, and enlightening narrative that informs readers about China mixed with the authors views and perspectives about his travels.

The Rhetorical Situation
    J. Maarten Troost, who has authored two other books about his travels, has chosen to emphasize the developments in China from its chaotic past to the countrys now modernized society. This idea or theme is palpable in Troosts initial discussion of post-war China when Mao Zedong, as the allotted leader, established the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 (1).  It was, according to Troost, Maos ruling as chief of the PRC, from which the early stages of Chinas modern society erupted. Thus, the purpose of Troost was to inform the general audience of how Chinas modern society was established.

    Troost emphasized how Chinese society, in general, viewed the Mao government in terms of how the leaders programs and actions have significantly influenced current conditions and situations in the country. To prove these ideas, Troost made use of empirical evidences, citing that majority of the Chinese people favored the actions taken by Mao during his rule of the PRC (Troost, 1). On one hand, the responses of China were positive, but this eventually changed when the people realized the impact or influences of the Chairmans radical actions to revolutionize Chinese society. The presence of factual and empirical information in the narrative prove Troosts reliability as a resource person for information on modern China, not only as one who has traveled in numerous places in the country, but also as an author who has read or conducted research on the country he wrote about. Troosts knowledge and proficiency of modern China raises the reliability and validity of the text to readers as a valuable source of information for further study and analysis.
Despite the seriousness of the issues initially discussed by Troost, the author has managed to inject humorous and entertaining points through derisive or sarcastic comments. Throughout Troosts travel narrative, there is a constant shift between purposes of informing and entertaining the audience. An example would be Troosts personal views on Maos plan for agriculture in the country. Since superpowers were supposed to be agriculturally productive, Mao joined in the export trade for grains. Troost then continued by saying To achieve this, Mao ordered the death of every sparrow in China. Sparrows ate grain seeds thus they had to die (Troost, 3). The above statement is just an example of how Troost attempted to mix fact and witty remarks in order to provide an informative, yet entertaining, piece of travel narrative for readers who have taken interest in studying modern China.

The Rhetorical Appeal
    If we are to base judgments and analysis of the text on Aristotles concept of rhetorical appeal, one may conclude that Troost was able to triangulate the travel narrative to appeal to the audiences by fulfilling ethos, logos, and pathos. As previously discussed, Troosts authority in writing a travel narrative is not only influenced by his personal travels around the country, as proven by numerous accounts or descriptions of the places he has been, but also of the authors personal knowledge about the past and present conditions of Chinese society. Furthermore, Troosts knowledge and experiences of modern China has also influenced his perspectives of the future role of China in the modern world as well. Overall, Troosts personal experiences and knowledge about China developed the ethos, or the authors credibility in writing such an ideally informative and comprehensive travel narrative.

    Troosts knowledge and experiences of China have consequently assisted the writer in raising the reliability and validity of the travel narrative by establishing facts through supporting evidences, specifically in Troosts brief discussion of the history of China during the rule of Mao. Several references were made about Maos own remarks during post-war China, empirical evidences from various sources about the opinions and perspectives of the Chinese people on Maos ruling, and specific information referenced from other books on the various events that unfolded due to the programs and policies implemented by Mao. These aspects of Troosts travel narrative have established the logos, or the reliability and validity of the narrative, due to the existence of factual evidences, supporting information, and arguments.

    Apart from the necessity of establishing ethos and logos in an effective rhetoric, Troost was also able to appeal to pathos by infusing his humorous thoughts on factual information. As previously discussed, Troost has managed to simultaneously utilize fact and humor to discuss the Chinese history chronologically and relay his personal experiences during his travels in China. In fact, Troosts discussion of his travels was vividly rich not only with details of the places he has been but also of the feelings or emotions that the author felt during those times. From fear and animosity of walking in Tiananmen Square (Troost, 7) to the authors amazement of how Beijing has been modernized throughout the years (Troost, 2), Troost has utilized his emotions and detailed descriptions as tools in connecting to the readers.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is perhaps one of the greatest novel created in modern literature. It is an intense story which tackles the relationship of mothers and daughters divided by the old and the new. The story revolves around four Chinese women who took their dreams to America in order to leave their old ways in China. As they reach the land of milk and honey, they try to raise their daughters with the mixture of strength of the traditional Chinese way and the liberties introduced by the Western culture. Miscommunication is expected between mother and daughter for having two different backgrounds but in the end, it is the relationship between them that will endure as they pass upon their daughters all that they too have learned from their own mothers.
    The movie adaptation of Amy Tans novel provided the creative emotions instilled in the story. It showed sorrow and hope in a simplified way that still touches the hearts of the audiences. Though the book was not completely followed, the more linear view of the screenplay concentrated on each mother and daughter one from the other. As we know in the book the division of chapters was based on time and character. The same was not strictly followed in the movie but the adaptation did help well in simplifying and focusing on the different themes of the book. The movie kept its purpose and clearly depicted proper areas like the miscommunication between mother and daughter, the lessons they wish to impart and the hope and aspirations every mother wishes for their child. The cinematography provided a proper image of different areas, places and times. It provided visually the old days in China and the new life created in America. Watching the movie made it more realistic though less imaginative.
    As first observed the movie did not follow the flow provided in the novel, the first division is supposed to revolve on the story of the mothers Suyuan Woo, Ann Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong and Ying Ying St. Clair. But the movie rather placed the story in a way that each mother and daughters story interacted with each other. The first part of the movie revolved on Suyuan and her persuasion to her daughter June to be a piano prodigy. The next story enters regarding Lindo Jong and her old days in China being set by a matchmaker since the age of two and how she cleverly escaped her husband. In the book the second chapter was on the story of Ann Meis Scar  (Tan, 42) and not Lindo Jongs story. Also it will be noticed that the movie did not show the story of Ying Ying and the moon lady (Tan, 67) rather it skipped straight to the story when she met her bad womanizing husband and how she killed her son. It is also good to note that in the book Ying Ying only conceived a child, which she had for abortion in revenge against her bad husband, but in the movie what was shown was how she killed her son by drowning him on the tub.
    Again it can be noticed in the movie that the different divisions of the book are placed into one linear story, example of this is the story of mother and daughter Ann Mei and Rose Hsu. My favorite part of the movie was the story of Ann Mei Hsus mother being disowned by her grandmother for being a fourth concubine of a rich old man (Tan, 44). She was brainwashed by her family to hate her mother but once her grandmother was so sick and almost dying, her mother returned in order to give the greatest sacrifice any daughter cam make. She cut a part of her flesh and placed it in a soup to make her mother well. But my most favorite scene in this part was when Ann Meis mother sacrificed herself for her. She killed herself in order to give strength to Ann Mei. The part when Ann Mei shouted so loud and released her voice in her mothers funeral was so empowering (Tan, 240), it showed how much stronger she has becomed and how she removed all the oppressions that the other wives of the rich old man has given to her mother. The story could not be depicted any better in film as it was made. See this part of the book (Tan,42) is in a separate chapter, but in the movie this is soon followed by Rose Hsu Jordans story of losing her own voice to her husband and how she has regained it from the story that her mother told her (Tan, 185). Also I cant seem to avoid but notice that the movie did not include the tragedy of the Hsus in losing a son Bing and how Ann Mei lost her faith in God.
    The cutting of so much part of the book is understandable as in any movie adaptation of any novel, the story is made shorter and focus on the more interesting parts of the book with a hope of not destroying its themes. It is quite hard to fit a full novel in a two-hour film and expound on every part without confusing the audiences. The only important part is that the screenplay is adapted with justice to the story and with permission from the author. Even if the movie were not the exact replica of the book, I would say that it still created that sullen effect of capturing the viewers hearts and understanding the tragedy and happiness created by the characters relationships and differences. It is not hard to even add The Joy Luck Club as one of your favorite movies as it affects your way of thinking and makes you reflect more about our relationship to our own mothers. The actors were quite good and fascinating. Tamlyn Tomita portrayed the arrogant Waverly very well and I might say that even though Russell Wong played a small role as Ying-Yings bad husband, he indeed played a good part of being a womanizing alpha man.
    In all the movie was indeed really good and the magnificent story of Amy Tans Joy Luck Club could have never been captured in film any better than it did.

    Fanny Ferns A Law More Nice Than Just tells about the self-serving and oftentimes weird nature of some of our laws. It could just be considered as a small case of weird clothing laws, wherein women at those times were not allowed to wear mens apparel. However, it could also be viewed in a much different light men who made such laws somehow made them in their favor. Gender bias was a commonplace at those times that it wouldnt really be a shock to encounter such laws forbidding women to wear mens clothes. The message of this article may be perceived differently by different people. Gender and age would be an important factor to consider when looking at the readers reaction to and perception of the story.
    It was only during this decade that women were truly considered as mens equals in every aspect of the society government, work, and family. Before, it was a common notion that women are inferior to men, and because of this, men are the ones who often called the shots in our society. In this story, the author Fanny Fern is hindered by the law to go out wearing her husbands clothing. This situation is the result of several days of rain, and her lack of physical activities like walking. She doesnt like to go out in skirts and other ladies apparel, because it would just be uncomfortable in such weather. For me, just having a law such as this is a sign that society is putting women in a box. It may be weird for some and funny for others, but as modern women like me would see it, it is somehow insulting and degrading. We shouldnt be told what to wear and what not to wear. I should be free to wear whatever I want, whatever I am comfortable with. As Fanny Fern would put it, any woman who likes, may stay at home during a three weeks rain, till her skin looks like parchment, and her eyes like those of a dead fish, or she may go out and get a consumption dragging around wet petticoats I wont  I positively declare I wont. I completely agree with Fanny Ferns resolve to go out and wear her husbands clothes, because society shouldnt be biased with anyone, with any gender, and everyone should be allowed to wear whatever they want.
    My closest male friend and neighbor had a different reaction after reading the article. His initial reaction was that Fanny Fern was just being silly when she really went out wearing her husbands clothing. According to him, this isnt really a serious matter, since everyone had their own clothes. Males have their pants, while females have their skirts. Fanny shouldnt insist on wearing one because it wasnt really made to fit a womans body. Also, men at that time never insisted on wearing womens clothing, so it is just fair if women never insisted on wearing mens clothes. He finds Fanny Ferns character delightful and funny, mostly because of her donning male clothing. My friend didnt consider Fannys seriousness in wearing such clothes instead he found her funny because she even paraded it outside their house.
    From what I observed, I think my friend never really thought deep enough about gender issues presented in this story. He was more about the clothes and the practical aspect of assigning mens clothes and womens clothes. He dwelled on the idea that men never desired wearing womens clothes, so it is just if women never really bothered wearing mens clothes. He was not open to the idea that males may have desired wearing mens clothes because of comfort and they wouldnt have to worry about getting bottom of their skirts wet. Surely, men would not and can not wear womens clothing because most of them had smaller bodies than males. There is no sense of comfort in any way if they ever wanted to wear womens clothes.
    A different reaction was also given by my friends mother, who is in her early sixties. She strongly agrees with Fanny Fern, because she shares the same experience as her. According to her, there is a great deal of difference in the society between the present and some 30 years ago. She said that there werent really much choice of clothes for women at that time. Their generic clothing is the skirt, and wearing pants would really be radical Also, the pants at those times were made only for males, unlike now that there are even more pants for females. According to her, gender was really an issue at that time, and women are expected to behave just like what the society dictates. If you dont follow this and act differently, you would be looked at and frowned upon by different people. This prohibition to wear pants is just a light issue of the society at that time. Indeed, there were a lot of other case of gender discrimination and bias which make cases like this as unassuming and would just deserve a laugh. It was only recently that we became conscious of things that concern gender, which is why its only now that we notice such outrageous laws even though they existed for quite some time already. I learned from his mother that this isnt really a big issue if were gunning for gender bias and discrimination. We are able to notice it only now because it is the only thing that we could associate to gender bias. Before, there are a lot of things that really put women at a clear disadvantage.
This article is aimed to promote awareness regarding unfair, gender-biased laws that we have today. The message of this article may be perceived differently by different people so it is really important to consider several factors that could affect a readers perception of and reaction to the story. Gender and age were the main factors that affect the perception and reaction to this matter.

The struggles by the government to convince the public to accept a strong but centralized form of government led to the publishing of federalist essays. The interpretation of the American constitution is mainly based on the provisions of the federalist papers. Written in the late eighteenth century, the papers are mainly a philosophical expression of the ideas and implication of the American constitution. The sole aim the federalist papers were not only to realize ratification but more so to form the bases for the future interpretations and thus understanding of the constitution. It is to be noted clearly that our current American constitution is the same as that which was proposed during the writing of this federalist essays. This is why the knowledge of these essays is quite crucial in our understanding of the constitution (DeKoster, 12). It is owing to the integrity and wisdom found in these papers that many have praised and honored their writers terming them as true patriots of the American nation. It is by this great works that James Madison, one of the writers of the essays has been given credit for being the father of the American constitution. In fact, it is a common claim that none of the modern writers have ever given such a deep understanding of the constitution as found in the federalist papers.
This essay is a discussion of the federalist papers and their implication in the process of interpreting the American constitution. The author also talks about the authors of the federalist papers and the roles they played both in the making and understanding of the American constitution.
First is a discussion of the authors of the federalist essays. The writing of the federalist has been termed to have been a secretive work by the writers. It has however been evidently claimed that such works were done by three different authors namely Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. It has also been established that some of the articles were the collaboration works of Madison and Hamilton (Cooke, Jacob, 14). Alexander Hamilton is claimed to have written 51 articles among the 85 articles making him the major contributor to the federalist philosophy.  Historical information has shown that Hamilton was a major proponent for the actualization of a national constitutional reform in the American nation. This is evidently supported by the fact that he was a representative during the constitutional conventions meetings of 1780s. He was later in 1789 appointed as a security to the treasury, the first kind of this nature in the history of the America (Wootten, 15).
Madison on the other side was a respected member of the House of Representatives in America and later a secretary of the state. He personally wrote 29 of the federalist essay. It is to be recognized here that Madison later became the fourth president of the United States of America. It is most probably owing to his great political influence in the implementation of the new constitution that he has commonly been referred to as the father of the American constitution. John Jay, who wrote 5 articles of the federalist, was formerly the secretary of foreign affairs before he was elevated to become the first ever chief justices of the America government in 1789 (Yale Law Journal, 2009). It is however to be noted that he later in 1795 resigned to become the governor of the New York state. It is to be noted that this entire writers were secretaries. This could be the reason for their greatly influential writing works.  They were also strong and influential members in the American government, a factor which could have led to great appreciation of their philosophical work ( HYPERLINK httpwww.constitution.orgfedfedera00.htm httpwww.constitution.orgfedfedera00.htm).
Second is a critical analysis of some important aspects of the federalist papers. It is evidently clear that the federalist papers were written as a tool for pursing for the acceptance of the new proposed constitution for the independent American nation. It is owing to this reason that all the essays are driven to explain how such a new constitution could be effectively interpreted to meet the common good expectations of the nation (Hall, 547). The papers clearly identifies that the acceptance of the new constitution will be a great step towards the acceptance of the existence of the union which is highly respective of the components which form it. The federalist papers also question the usefulness of having a government that is not centralized for the purposes of improving its unified coordination particularly on matters of national importance. It has also be evident from the federalist papers the intent of having a constitution is to realize a harmonious coexistence of the different individuals who form the nation society.
The aspect of protecting not only the constitution but also the political wisdom of the American nation is another aspect defined in the federalist that has received much appreciation in the American nation. The actual reason behind having a law is to ensure that it protects the concerned members from the ill-intents of others in the society. It is found in the federalist that the greatest achievement of any good government is the ability to control andor combat any form of violence among its members (Millican, 15). It is also clearly established that the resolution of such violations in the society should not at any time break the principles that define them, the constitution. These philosophical expressions are greatly reflective of the fact that the constitution is the most important element of any nation. It should thus always act as a guide to the daily involvements of the government. This is why acts of violations of constitutional provisions are regarded as a crime against the nation. It is due to this that the federalist papers are seen as a great resource for protecting our constitutional and political involvements (Hamilton, Jay, 26).
The federalist papers are reflective of the need to be concerned about other nations and their ways of governance. It is for the protection of the constitutional provision for our nations sovereignty and the aspect of the government as the sole provider of security to its citizens that a nation should fight another nation. Such is the provision of the constitution which protects Americans acts of war intervention in other nations. It is evidently clear from statistical information that America has always quoted either threats to its citizens security or poor governance in governments as the reasons behind such intervention (Wootteon, 29). By acting in such a manner, they uphold and respect the rights of humanity as provided for in the constitution. Another aspect which is quite clear in the federalist essay on security is they emphasis on the union as a collection of individuals whose rights and position in the governance structures should be given the utmost respect. It is the people who make nation not the nation which make the people.
It should also be noted that it was by the understanding of these federalist philosophies that the American nation went on with its mission of expanding its territorial base across the globe. This is first evident in its earlier acquisition of new states like Hawaii among other. Most of the member states of the United States of America became member through the constitutional understanding of the expansion as a physical act (Quinn, 123). It is also here to be noted that the aspect of expansion has been clearly evident in modern tactics employed by the American nation to dictate the behavior of other nations. Being the only superpower nation in the globe, the American virtually controls by use of its unbounded economic and military powers dictate the activities of other nations (Hall, 553). This is first seen in the use of economic sanctions against other governments which in their own setting have proved to be either enemies of the human society and its dignity or enemies of political and economic interests of the American nation.
The federalist papers are also clear on the aspect of understanding the aspect of liberty as protected for by the constitutional provisions. It clearly defines that human rights are evidently and sufficiently protected under liberty. This been identified as one of the most important philosophical wisdom by the author (DeKoster, 37). It should be noted here that during the 18th and 19th centuries, the blacks in the American community were highly discriminated. With the superiority mentality that marked the nation, calling for the formulation of a bill of rights into the new constitution could have worsened the discriminative acts against the minority communities in the American society. It was also highly probable that a compromise could not be easily realized thus risking the possibility of ever having a new constitution (Hall, 549). It is also claimed that the provisions on the constitution for respecting human rights are enough owing to the fact that each and every convicted individual should never be denied his or her right to defend himself.
The federalist papers are also clear that the new constitution should be a call for the democratization of the American nation. It is by their emphasis on the respect for the parts of the union that democracy is seen to be evidently provided for in the constitution. It is the holding of office particularly in the political arm of the government that should be dictated by the citizens of the nation. The question of having an executive one man led government is also clearly claimed. It is by the acts of democratic elections that such an executive leader of the nation could bear significance to the citizens (Hamilton, Jay, 51). The man should be should have the necessary wisdom and character for defining sustainable and fair government. This is what makes a government useful to the citizens in terms of security. Such a figure should have the authority to influence other nations both by word or military as well as economic ways. The papers are highly instrumental in recognizing that it is only a centralized form of government that will ensure sustainable respect for the human community. Still evident from the federalist papers is the fact that without a centralized form of governance equitable distribution of resource could never be realized in a nation. It is thus clear from the claims provided for a centralized government by the federalist paper that the constitution under all its provisions should ensure a just and fair action towards any member of the society (Quinn, 130).
The federalist papers in the quest for realizing justice from the law courts clearly acknowledges that the judiciary should be structured in different ranks all of which should be working in close respect for the other. It is such a philosophical understanding of the system of justice which could be thanked for the current system of justice in our nation. It is possible to appeal a case on a different court whose ranking is higher than the previous (Millican, 134). It is also by the view of tenure in the judiciary that later legislation fixed the term of stay in office by judges as well as considerations for their support provisions and immunity in their judgment decisions. Such terms are subject to cancellations in the event of misconduct by the judges, an act which is governed by the set provisions of the security of tenure for the judges. All these define the fact that the holding of any public office should have a specific term as well as regulating rule which govern the agreement. This is the practice in all sector of the American government ranging from formal employment to the political.

Another element found in the federalist papers is that of power devolution among the different arms of the government. It is by devolution of power among the arms of the government that checks and balance are put on each arm to mitigate any possibilities of discriminative use of power. It is by this that the federalist papers are seen to justify the need for having a government.  The government should have highly levels in the actions of its different arms. It is based on this that the executive, judiciary and the legislative arms of the government have different and independent though closely dependent roles to play in the whole functioning of the government (Cooke, Jacob, 42). The legislative arm for example legislate laws which are subject to signing by the executive arm of the government. Such signing will be driven by the executives wisdom on the implications of the law on the people of the nation. it is however to be noted here that the law as signed by the executive must be interpreted by the judicial arm to ascertain the best way to employ it in executing justice in the society. The judiciary can fail to use the law or evidently give a different meaning for its actual application in the legal justice systems (Quinn, 135).
In conclusion, it has been clearly established that the federalist papers are indeed a landmarks in the legal understanding and interpretation of our constitution. It is due to the philosophical wisdom provided by the authors of these papers that our nations claim to protect its constitution. It is also clear from the nature of our current government structures, laws and policies that the federalist act as a significant guide to the governance of the nation. Thus, honor and respect should be given to these three wise many of our community who evidently defined the American nation their acts of philosophical writings on the constitution.

This paper draws on linguistics and sociolinguistics in an effort to accomplish three broad goals. The first is to help illuminate the nature and scope of gender itself the second is to highlight the various theoretical approaches (past and present) which search for differences between male and female speech patterns, and the third aim is to evaluate these theories on what light they have shed on the ongoing interplay between language and gender. Early researchers, in an effort to put forward their claim on gender differences have drawn attention to marked differences in interruption, use of tag questions and directives. These three patterns featured prominently in findings and so, will also be included in the discussion.

 The concept of gender is broader than the restrictive notions of being assigned one of the biological labels 2male2 or 2female2. Socially, we have been trained to think that everyone fits neatly into one of these two categories. We also have the tendency to equate gender with sex and even using both concepts interchangeably at times. The fact is, there is a fundamental difference between one2s sex and one2s gender. Sex is defined by many researchers as a binary and biological distinction between male and female. On the other hand, the gender of a person is said to be socially determined. As such, gender entails how a person behaves socially, and encompasses attitudes and expectations in relation to being male and female. Many researchers agree that gender and sex are indeed two different constructs. Wodak (1997) sees gender and gendered identities as social, individual and also variable. Johnson and Meinhoff (1997) point out that the widely held view of men and women as binary opposites needs to be seen in a much broader way in linguistic thinking. Whatever the views, gender differences have sparked heated debates starting from as far back as the 19202s. The fact is, wherever there are males and females, communication (written or spoken) is bound to happen. In addition, there is no doubt that there will be interplay (consciously or unconsciously) between both genders.

Man talk or woman talk

 There is an age-old assertion that men and women use language in different ways, for different reasons and for different things. This assertion is widely accepted as valid in most societies and presumably offers a reason why men and women tend to communicate differently. According to Butler (1990), gender is socially and culturally constructed through everyday discourse. It is not all about ones biological makeup as male or female but gender also entails 2doing2 or performing our gender. This he says entails choosing from among norms of language suitable and intelligible for performing gender. Butler implies that gender is learnt. This implication ties in with the assumption that the identities of both male and female are constructed by and within the society. Language is also socially constructed. As the major tool for communication, language conforms to the language standards of society. People are who they are and communicate the way they do because of societal and cultural norms. Cameron (1998) adds that people activate power whenever they produce meaning. In short, gender encompasses how language is used by males and females and considers ways in which people use language to express ideas about each other.

 Another point is that how we say things about males and females reflects the ideology of our society. People2s language use captures the biases and stereotypes prevalent in our society. These biases and stereotypes are later passed down to children. Children learn attitudes and values, assumptions and expectations from parents and they also pick up other values in the communication act while interacting with each gender. Still, this and many other competing schools of thought do not account for the differences in male and female speech patterns.

 Researchers continue to search for an explanation into the differences between male and female speech patterns. Given the popular currency of thought at the time, a significant fact worth noting is the many and varied theories that were born out of such competing perspectives on language and gender. Many researchers have put forward possible explanations as to why these differences exist many of these explanations have further 2muddied2 the water, providing contradictory findings which reflect the polarized views at the time. Three such past theorizations are based on the female deficit approach, the cultural difference approach and the dominance approach.


The (female) deficit approach

 The framework for the deficit approach can be traced back to the 19202s when the popular linguist Otto Jespersen proposes that the speech patterns of women differs from that of men. This he claims is as a result of marked differences in biological make up. He classified women2s speech as 2deficient2 when compared to that of men. His work later inspired Robin Lakoff (1975) who tenders a list of speech acts that typifies women speech. Her work should be viewed against the backdrop of the militant feminist movement at the time. The feminist movement has greatly influenced early developments in studies pertaining to language and gender. This movement was highly political in nature and focused on empowering women in a male dominated society.

 Lakeoff agrees with Jespersen on the premise that women2s speech is different from that of men. In a bid to prove her point, she proffers a list of features that are prominent in women2s speech. The list includes the use of polite forms such as euphemism, avoidance of swear words, use of tag questions such as 2don2t you2 haven2t we2 emphatic stress and evasive devices such as 2sort of2 2I think2 2I would be very grateful2 among others. Lakoff also claims that women2s speech is characterized by modification in grammar and pronunciation, all of which render women2s language powerless, trivial and tentative. As such, women are disqualified from occupying positions of power and authority. Here, she sees language as a tool of oppression.

 Although Lakoff2s assertions have contributed much to the debate on language and gender, her findings have done little to change the biases and stereotypes of her time. As a matter of fact, her findings as well as Jespersen2s were deeply rooted in the ideologies of their time. Lakoff2s findings have courted much scrutiny and her work was heavily criticized and challenged. Bergvall, Bing and Freed (1996) label Lakoff2s suggestions as 2a list of alleged female linguistic offences.2 Talbot (1998) points out that empirical study have backed up a few of her speculations including women2s tendency to use tag questions. Later research was conducted in an effort to verify Lakoff2s claims. Some research focused on women2s excessive use of tag questions. The findings turned up mixed results. O2Barr  Atkins (1980) continued further work on women2s language to ascertain whether female speech is powerless. They made use of Lakoff2s list of features applying it in American courtroom settings to both males and females. They added to the debate by proposing that women2s language is 2powerless language2 a term he also applies to those of inferior status. Crosby and Nyquist (1977) conducted further research which included use of tag questions. Their findings show that women use more tag questions than men. Dubois and Crouch (1975) challenged the prevailing stereotypes by positing that men use tag questions too, sometimes more often than women. The many conflicting views surrounding the deficit approach have not presented any clear-cut evidence to prove that women2s speech patterns are different from that of men.

 The methods used in data collection were also questionable. According to Coates (1998), early researchers in gender differences focused much on mixed talk. What they show however, is that gender language patterns are not as straightforward as assumed. Wolfram  Schilling- Estes (1998) point out that Lakoff 2relied on literary texts, casual observation, and reflections on her own linguistic usages rather than on large bodies of empirical evidence in forming her generalizations.2 What the researches show however, is that gender language patterns are not as straightforward as is assumed. Overtime, the deficit approach became outdated and researchers courted a newer perspective, the (cultural) difference approach.

The Difference approach

 Unhappy with the findings of the deficit approach, researchers turned to other ways of explaining the differences in male and female speech patterns. The difference theory sees female speech as being 2different but equal2. It looks at men and women as belonging to two different social groups. The approach is based on Maltz and Borker2s work (1982) which argues that cultural differences are formed in childhood when boys and girls interact within their same sex groups. Boys are oriented in same-sex groups where there is a hierarchical relationship. In such groups, power and proving oneself oftentimes through words is of utmost importance. Hence boys tend to develop language patterns that are competitive rather than cooperative in nature. Their speech is said to be more aggressive and dominant and usually less polite. Girls on the other hand are trained to be cooperative, interactional and polite in their speech patterns. This can be seen in the games they play which involve low levels of aggression or conflicts and encourage intimacy and friendship. It is within these groups that communicative competence is learned. This is in accordance with Butler2s (1970) views that gender is socially constructed.

According to the difference perspective, differences in orientation are made more evident within mixed sex conversation. It is assumed therefore that in mixed sex groups, typical features of male and female speech patterns will occur. Males will interrupt, take longer turns and females will be more polite and cooperative in conversation with men. Zimmerman and West (1975) conducted their research in same sex and cross sex conversation and came up with the following findings women ask more questions than men, women are compared to children in that they cannot be taken seriously and their verbal and non-verbal behaviours are questionable, men tend to interrupt more in cross sex conversations while females have the tendency to be more silent. Zimmerman postulates that this shows that women can be treated as children. Their turn in conversations with men can be easily forfeited. In their research, Zimmerman and West point out that interruption is usually done by the dominant party. Again, there is a mixed reaction to the above-mentioned findings. Talbot (1998) did not wholly agree with the findings of West and Zimmerman. She reports that there is nothing significant about interruptions in same sex conversations but that there are more interruptions in mixed sex groups, most is done by men. Further work was done by Murray  Covelli (1998) and Beattie (1993) using more sophisticated psychological approach. Their findings showed that women also interrupt men and vice-versa. In terms of men interrupting women, Talbot points out women try to avoid interrupting men2s turns, deferring them instead.

 Talbot sees their methods for collecting data as questionable and 2crude2. She hastens to point out that the data Zimmerman and West collected were not available to ascertain credibility. This, she says, can cause their findings to be discredited. The approach offers little by way of accounting for differences in male and female speech patterns. Like the deficit approach, this new approach is now outdated as it also focuses on the binary distinctions between both genders and upholds the dichotomy between men and women language.


The dominance approach

 There are overlaps between the difference and the dominance theories. The dominance theory is centred on the belief that men and women2s language use is as a result of social dominance and the positions they occupy within society. Men are seen as occupying superior positions to women. Men have therefore developed dominant modes of expressing themselves in any society. The position is that if women want to be understood by men, they will have to act and speak like men. Again, male speech patterns are seen as the norm and female speech as deficit. Another implication of the dominance framework is that since society is patriarchal in nature women are oppressed within a system that empowers only males. This dominance is demonstrated in conversation between males and females. Goodwin2s (1992) work in investigating girl2s play offers interesting insights on how boys and girls interact in same sex groups. Her aim was to find out how girls2 directives and social organization change in different activities. She observed children accomplishing tasks while playing. Her findings support the assertions that men and women are from two different social groups. In organizing tasks, girls tend to be more cooperative and considerate in their utterances. They are more democratic in organization. Their interaction was free of rude comments, coercion and insults and all worked together to achieve a common goal. A rare occurrence in girls2 speech is the use of directives. Girls tend to use more cooperative and inclusive language such as 2Let us go2 2why don2t we2. Goodwin notes that girls employ different ways of getting things done. If a directive is issued, it is often accompanied by an explanation as to why it is to be carried out. This contrasts markedly with the behaviour of boys in their groups. Boys employ a 2top down2 approach in their group. The more knowledgeable male asserts his dominance and this is often reflected in the issuance of directives. Others in his group complied by carrying out orders. If the dominant male is challenged, more aggressive measures such as insults and expulsion will be used to maintain the hierarchy. This has great implications as to what happens in cross sex conversation. It is assumed that men will no doubt enact their competitiveness in setting the trend for conversation and women will be cooperative using supportive questions and back channel utterances. Coates (1998) posits that these findings along with others are hardly conclusive. She points out that the few studies done overtly suggest that poor communication in cross sex groups are as a result of how boys and girls are socialized.

 All three views emphasize a simple male-female dichotomy. According to Freed (1996) they all downplay the power relations that underlie the different interactional styles into which boys and girls are socialized. They also emphasize male and female opposition, cater to the unchallenged ideologies of the time and disregard linguistic and social reality. Most look at spoken discourse and not the written. They look at all utterances as indicative of gender instead of pinpointing salient stretches of gendered discourse. They were more quantitative in nature and their methods for collecting and storing data was subjected to scrutiny. Another point to note is that much earlier work was conducted from a feminist perspective and emancipatory in aim (Christie 2000). As such, they were limited in scope. Researchers over the years have been moving away from all three approaches to concentrate more fully on how gender as a social construct affects language use.


The dynamic approach and Communities of practice

 Researchers today are more concerned with how males and females are constructed through language. Their view of gender as active and interactive has put a slightly different spin on the issue of how language differences between genders are viewed. According to the dynamic approach, gender is something we do in our everyday activities, including linguistics acts. Language plays a major role in 2doing2 gender. The dynamic approach has ties to post structuralism which suggests the notion of performativity (Butler 1990). Males and females use language patterns and styles typical of their own gender group. It is through these speech acts that gendered identities are formed.

The communities of practice theory looks at individuals as a part of a group or groups. Specifically, they are interested in how gender identities are formed and replicated through participation in different communities of practice. In such communities, there is a chance to see the different ways in which language, identity and social context interact and how meaning is constructed in these diverse socio-cultural domains. This is in keeping with Butler2s view that gender is a social construct. Hence, studying male and female language patterns can be viewed in real contexts, in real situations and with real people. Mullany (2007) has provided valuable insights in public discourse in workplaces. In her study, she reports that male and female managers utilize a range of speech styles that were once associated with feminity. This goes against past approaches that argue that speech acts in the workplace usually reflects male domination.

The new research paradigms differ from the old essentialist paradigms in that they take on a more multidisciplinary approach. This approach is based on the premise that we all belong to communities of practices (Cofps). When males and females come together in a cause, perform a task or share in a mutual endeavour- ways of doing things, ways of talking, beliefs, values, power relations, in short, practices will emerge, (Eckert  McConnell-Ginet, 1992). In such social settings, gender identities will be defined, redefined and contested as participants assume roles within these communities. These approaches are more concerned with intra-gender and cross-gender interaction. They emphasize context as an integral part of gender-based language patterns. They give special consideration to the interaction of gender with other social categories including age, ethnicity, religion and class. Meaning is constructed within local contexts or settings such as the home, the workplace, a club etc. They challenge polarized stances of society regarding deficit, dominance and difference offering the proposition that because of the constant interplay of competing discourses speakers will constantly vary. The communities of practice approach and the dynamic approach make use of new theoretical and methodical ways of indentifying the range of discourses at play in the various contexts. They are more qualitative then quantitative in scope and hence are more descriptive. As such, they are geared towards moving away from overgeneralization and concocted accounts that once typify the analysis of data in the past. Both approaches look at gender not in binary terms but in a celebratory way. Last, they embrace other methodological approaches such as Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis as integral in examining language and discourse.

Unanswered questions

 There are two problem areas on which both past and current theories have not fully agreed nor have offered a plausible explanation the first is, what really constitutes gender and how does one know what part of an utterance should be lifted from a string of discourse and be labelled a 2female pattern2 or 2male pattern2. What if gender does not play an integral role in a piece of text or an utterance There are still many unanswered questions because gender still features prominently in all theories as plausible explanations for human behaviours.

 In concluding, there have been advances in analyzing male and female speech patterns. The results of past approaches have proven to be quite fruitful and though outdated, have added more fire to the ongoing debate on gender issues in the public arena. We have come a long way from the simplistic deficit perspective to perspectives that take a more interdisciplinary approach. It is hoped that as old approaches continue to inform new and emerging approaches, there will be a difference in the way we as human beings look at language use in general.

While some political analysts of the period and historians since have argued that Roosevelts pull away from the lawful isolationism following World War I was a matter of political maneuvering that directly resulted in the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent loss of American lives, still others view it as having been a necessity for the security of the world. In his essay, Charles Callan Tansell embraces the isolationist view point that the actions of Roosevelt not only led to the American involvement, but was orchestrated in such a way as to guarantee it. On the other side of the coin, historian Robert Divine viewed Roosevelts actions as a response to the international upheaval created by the spread of Nazism and the Japanese and though America did eventually join the war it was out of necessity and not the personal desire of Roosevelt and his administration. Though Tansell makes a compelling argument, illustrating an almost covert manipulation of American resources to assist the British against the Nazis, from providing destroyers to the British Navy and engaging in sea skirmishes with German U-boats, his facts are too narrow and complimentary to his own point of view to be taken as the only components (9). Noting that Roosevelts support of the British led to the view of America as a non-neutral participant in the offensive against Germany, Tansell makes a leap of reason that pushes this material and ideological support into the realm of provocation and out of reality. He truly pushes his reasoning into the notion of conspiracy when, while not outright stating it is the truth, he implies that Roosevelts administration and the militarys slow-reaction to intelligence that could have prevented the bombing of Pearl Harbor were purposely negligent (12). As Divine explains, there is little, aside from facts taken out of context, to support such a view. Instead, initially weary of a conflict with either Germany or Japan, American leaders sought to remain at a distance from an offensive against the warring countries. When diplomacy failed and the situation began to spread far beyond the original boundaries of Europe and Asia, American leaders could no longer ignore the worldwide threat of leaving such powers unchecked.

Essay 2 Trumans Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb by Samuel J. Walker
    Samuel J. Walkers middle ground take on Trumans decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki presents the validity behind both the revisionist and traditionalist views of what would become the catalyst in the campaign against the Japanese. While noting the effectiveness of the bombs in forcing the Japanese government to surrender to the Allies, he does support the revisionist sentiment that while the bombs may have been effective they were not as necessary as presented at the time. However, this was based not on necessarily in the manipulation of the facts by officials at the time but rather a genuine belief in the high cost of a continued campaign. Several points, both traditionalist and revisionist in nature, support Walkers interpretation of the event. A need, first and foremost, to end the war was the primary reasoning behind the decision. The other benefits including justification of the large expense of the bomb gaining the diplomatic edge against the Soviet Union the lack of reasons not drop the bombs and lastly, though largely unspoken, a hatred of the Japanese. In viewing the circumstances surrounding the use of the bombs, such as the eventual price tag and the growing negative views of the Japanese due to the war, he shows how a single decision can have many determining factors and beneficial or negative effects. As he explains, the bomb was necessary to end the war at the earliest possible moment  the bomb was probably not necessary to end the war within a fairly short amount of time without an invasion (56). His essay really shows that there is simply no black and white in this debate, but a broad spectrum of gray to support both sides.

Walt Whitmans poetry, from the very start to the finish, of Leaves of Grass, was known for its empathetic tone. The Sleepers, very much a part of the first edition of the book, turned out to be an extremely important poem in the edition. In a style thats simple, yet lyrical in its beauty, Whitman puts together disparate images and makes them come together for the reader, in what one can easily call a dream of a poem. The piece displays a poet that has evolved tremendously in his writing, and is still considered an absolute masterpiece.

At first glance, it would seem like Whitman rambles on about sleepers, exposing vulnerabilities and carefully hidden sides. On closely examining the nuances of the poem, we see that Whitman lends himself to several readings and interpretations. He oscillates from sleep to awakening, from the self to the many roles he makes the self portray, from innocence to sexual perversion of sorts, from clean images to sordid, Freudian undertones. All this magic, Whitman manages to pack into The Sleepers. The paper that follows will study the eight distinct parts of the poem that Whitman divides The Sleepers into, consider the most important image that is evident in each part and the primary idea that accompanies it.
In the first part of the poem, Whitman begins almost in a self-introductory mode as he describes to the reader what he is doing. The immediate image that is conjured is one of an apparition, that is making its way, swiftly and calmly through multiple places and people, as if simultaneously. Sometimes wrecked by curiosity, wrecked, confused, gazing, stopping, and sometimes just gripped by a certain disdain, this apparition seems to look on with certain awe or the lack of it at some points corpses, murderers, lovers, all sleep. Whitman, simply by listing the several roles in this first part, uses sleep extremely effectively as the ultimate leveller of people, class, creed and gender.
And yet, he does so without detracting from the extreme diversity of each of those roles and the way in which they lie beside each other. The reader is then immediately moved from a state of passive watching, to active participation. From just watching from a distance to pass my hands soothingly, pierce darkness, actively taking on the dreams of the dreamers he sees, ever-laughing , and playing mindgames with the journeymen. And then again, he reintroduces his theme of equality by stepping into multiple roles with the one costume he possesses sleep He slips into clean roles, grimy roles and finally ends with a sexually explosive role, all the while maintaining that sleep pervades all.
In the third part of the poem, Whitman makes a shocking transition. From siding with the old, almost empathetically, he moves into a section that openly mocks the arrogance of youth. Whitman begins by commenting on the sheer beauty and perfection of the swimmer, his admirable qualities of courage and persistence as he moves his white body in gripping charm  only to come to a sudden, brutal end. The harshness of his death, is vividly portrayed to the reader  head foremost on the rocks. Whitman literally dashes the youths head into a rock, in sadistic pleasure, only to mockingly later ask the waves why they crushed the prime of youth The poet reduces all that gigantic strength to nothing, in one dash. Making the gigantic swimmer turn into drops of blood, scattered into the expanse of the ocean, circling now, gone in an instant, out of sight.
In the next section of Whitmans poem, he addresses a nightmare that everyone has had to deal with  death. In this section, he chooses death in a shipwreck, and describes to the reader the utter helplessness that he is prone to bear if one were to conjure up images of crashing to death at sea. The inability to save oneself, to run away from the scene of the crime, to swim to the shore  the impossibilities of these actions are hard-hitting in this section of the poem and Whitman is a silent, morbid spectator  watching as the icy wind blows against perhaps a heart that shows the lack of warmth, the howls that pierce his ears but make no difference to him, and all he does his wring his fingers, and rush to the surf, to get wet To get a better view And through the dream of complete death that surrounds him Whitman chooses to stay alive, burrowing through corpses, piling them neatly in a manner that is almost robotic, and dealing with the guilt that accompanies such dreams  the guilt of being alive, while the world around him has died.
Keeping close to the boundaries of death, in the section that follows, Whitman heads into the blood-stained fields of war. He seems to describe the haunting nightmares of a soldier who has been prone to the utter injustice and pointlessness of war. All colour is drained from the cheeks, all emotion is turned into copious weeping, and for as long as the eye will stretch, he sees slaughter, and the faces of parents confiding in him about the death and the merciless killing of their sons. Once again, Whitman seems to allow the image of the survivor guilt to surface. Men all around him killed in war, but he continues to live.  At the tavern, the return of soldiers, the return of peace, is cause for celebration. But to the war-worn man, all the rejoicing boils down to nothing. The sounds refuse to jingle in his ears, the kisses refuse to make an impression, all he can seem to do is cry over all that has been lost, and bid farewell to a cause he once believed in. Except, even in his dream, he knows the farewell cannot right the wrong or undo the damage and slaughter caused.
In the sixth part of the poem, Whitmans sleeper moves into a story  a dream that has a beginning and an unending, haunting finish. Whitman describes the longing for beauty, the long last arrival of beauty, the sheer admiration and awestruck look of wonder at its appearance, its sudden disappearance and the longing that follows. Was the young girl who waited for a never-returning waif, the symbol of all dreams that are wrapped in hopelessness Whitman suggests to the reader that these dreams may be fed by mirages that appear out of nowhere and quickly disappear into nowhere. What purpose do they serve In the same section, Whitman tackles the very fount of hopelessness itself  that of Lucifer. Whitman comments on the abject oppression he can cause, the terror, the destruction , the captivity, the defiling acts that follow, and the derisive laughter as one watches the disappearance of the hopeless dream that never belonged.
In the last section of his poem, Whitman begins to delve not into incidents, but into feelings and intangible emotions. He begins with amour, jealousy, over and seasons. He talks of the joy of returning to the known and the familiar  of the sailor who finds his way back home, the unharmed fugitive and feelings of childhood. It seems like Whitman is digging into his past to dredge up emotions that are evocative of turning moments in his memory. Even through these emotions, he reiterates that nationality or creed or caste or gender, none of it play a role in an emotion as basic as returning home, dreams of returning home, to where the heart is, are common across people and places. And Whitman uses these lines to begin the setting to the end of his poem.
Ending the way he began, Whitman draws out the commonality that sleep bestows upon all of mankind, stating in words that cannot get clearer, I swear they are averaged now, one is no better than the other, night and sleep have likened them and restored them. Drifting into the intangible again, Whitman comments on the beauty of everything that Is dim, and the beauty of everything in the dim. He draws parallels from the most extreme circumstances, and finds a way to link the two the rotting skull and the newly born child, the black and the white, the father and the son,  the teacher and the student, the boy and the man, the paralyzed and the supple, and so on. 
Whitman, in his inimitable style, wraps up in a way that only he can. He picks the very theme he has focused to stretch to its limit, and pays his obeisance to it, giving it its due, staying in its beauty, dwelling in the solace it offers, seeking shelter from the richness of day and flowing from night to night, from dream to dream, some his, some others. In conclusion, Whitmans strongest image comes through of the night and dreams when he compares it as if to his mother, giving the night the right to produce life itself, making it the fount of everything there is, and acknowledging its power to create and nurture life in every form of existence.
The masterpiece that Whitman left can be fathomed in a million ways, but at the heart of this poem lies the theme of sleep and dreams, and the leveller that these two can be, the bond that they inadvertently form with all of mankind and the commonality that it introduces in all of us, irrespective of whether we choose to notice it or not. It is interesting to note that while he calls it the Sleepers, and focuses on the plural, what he chooses to do is to also zone in on the large individual that all of mankind really is.

TELL ALL THE TRUTH EMILY DICKINSON
Emily Dickinson spins a superb truth in her own poem on truth. With more than eighteen hundred poems written, of which less than a dozen were published, each of Emily Dickinsons poems were windows into her introverted soul, to say the least. And while she may have gone down in history as an introvert, she was an introvert with the deepest of insights into the human soul, its traditions and behaviours, its methods and ways.
And so it is with this poem as well.  One glance at the title, it seems like Dickinson is all set to write a preachy poem on how one should insist on telling the truth no matter what the circumstance or the audience. Tell all the truth Tell it always, to all you meet. But therein lies the most surprising part of this poem for me. The fact that the poem is titled tell all the truth, and in truth, all its saying is, tell anything but the truth. The irony of this poem lies in the fact that anything that is even a degree away from the truth, by default becomes a lie. And when Emily Dickinson makes her suggestion in the poem, to tell the truth a certain way, all shes really saying at the end of it, is telling her reader to lie.
The ease with which she justifies her claim to serve untruths is fascinating to take note of. In her first line, she gives truth a character, a posture of its own, a light-like quality, so to speak. And she insists that we tilt that character a little, we dont allow it to stand straight or be erect or shine directly into ones eye. Instead she urges the reader to look at truth from an angle, from a direction that is slant, to tilt ones head perhaps, for the human heart was never meant for head on collisions with truth.
Dickinson makes truth telling a game, and the art of telling it, a success or a failure. So she condones the art of going round in circles, beating around the bush, telling anything but the truth, for the success of telling the truth, lies in being able to steer clear of telling it, just by going around in circles. The poet offers us her reasons why this would be the most preferred method  simply because of our infirmities, our deep-rooted weaknesses that while outwardly claiming to want the truth, are in reality not ready for it, and may even be repulsed by it, its purity, its brightness and the shock and surprise that one would have to grapple with when met with faced in all its glory.
Dickinson likens truth to the way one would shield a child away from lightning. At first, the child would have to be taught about the phenomenon kindly, and bit by bit, allowed to watch it, eased into its brilliance, and then be able to watch it completely from a distance, never up front, or they would be blinded. And Dickinson says, so it is with truth, explanations ought to be gently dropped on the human soul, truth must be mildly told or it would just lead to blindness
In this poem, the aspect that most surprises me, is the fact that Emily Dickinson, talks about untruths and lies and white lies and mans tolerance for it, the prevalent existence of lies, while all the while, supposedly telling us to tell the truth Thats the surprise that took me by surprise.

EMILY DICKINSON I DWELL IN POSSIBILITY
Given that Emily Dickinson was a woman poet of her times, known to live life as a recluse, this poem in the context and setting that she must have written it in, lends itself to so many beautiful interpretations. The poem is no doubt an absolute work of art, simple in structure, limitless in meaning.
What I find most surprising about this poem, once again, is the absolute irony in the title of it. Dickinson begins by telling her story of living life as a thorough romantic, a dreamer, a creative, wandering soul, and that is her chosen path of possibility, that she prefers to tread. While she begins by talking about how she picks possibility over prose, the irony of the poem lies in the fact that there are limitless impossibilities in her chosen way of possibility
The poet describes her world to us, giving us a window into her home that is little by no stretch of imagination. For if the house she lives in is called possibility, then like she says, her windows are infinite in number and her doors are far superior than those of any other house on earth, or on realms beyond.
In place of rooms, she chooses cedars, towering trees of the strongest wood, fresh and clean and uplifting in nature, impenetrable, strong as you will it to be, indestructible by the human eye. For a roof she chooses for herself the vast expanse of sky, the gambrels of a blue starry stretch that no man or woman has seen the ends of. Is that a possibility No, surprisingly, thats the impossibility element that she tweaks into her lines, without actually saying the very word
Its a house fairer than prose, which could very well indicate the structured nature of prose or non-poetic writing  not so lyrical, staid in meaning and not prone to multiple definitions. Dickinson could be mocking the laws of her times as she condones possibility which could mean the magic of her poetry in this case, over the technical chasteness of prose.
Visitors in this house, she insists are simply the fairest of all the visitors that houses the world over will receive. Why Because stepping into a world of possibilities or impossibilities, makes one as much of a dreamer and hopeful romantic that Emily Dickinson portrays herself as in this poem. And it is only those who dare to dream the impossible possibilities that will dare to set foot into her house of non-prose, with the sky as the roof, and cedars as chambers.
Her preferred occupation she says is simply to do this spread narrow hands, that in a world of prose will not be able to grasp too much. But thats not the world that Emily lives in. In her world of possibility, her narrow hands can grasp paradise, and she gathers it and stows it away in her home set against the sky.
Another aspect of this poem that surprises me no end, is the fact that, although Dickinson was known to write a lot about death and leaving and the like, in this piece, she takes the optimistic, life-is-full-of-an-impossible-number-of-opportunities-route. The poem could be interpreted in feminist undertones, given the age she wrote in and what was expected of women definitely not fancy, flighty dreams and lines such as these. It could also go to mean an ode to death and heaven itself, considering she is gathering paradise.

EMILY DICKINSON I HEARD A FLY BUZZ WHEN I DIE

This is her forte Emily Dickinson, when she writes about death, as she has in so many of her poems, is truly in her morbid, melancholic, yet accepting element. Although she wrote extensively on the themes of death and dying, Dickinson never portrayed the theme as one she feared or hated. Instead she looked at it as something she had come to terms with, and often put herself in the role of the dying person or the dead.

She does just that, in this poem. She has died, and is probably hovering on earth in her spirit form, making her last mental notes to take away before she leaves earth altogether. She observes everything thats going on around her, the stillness except for the fly, everyone around her who had cried themselves dry, awaiting the king which could be a reference to God who would take her spirit out of the earth, or reference to a funeral service in a church or in a house of worship. She states matter of fact-ly, that her worldly possessions are taken care of, her keepsakes have been bequeathed, everything of her that she has left on this earth has been assigned to someone, her legacy left behind. And just as she is about to wipe her slate clean and move on, she is stopped in her tracks by the common fly. Otherwise considered a pesky creature, of no use to anyone, and generally annoying in nature  Dickinson chooses to use this creature to be her last point of contact before she sees the light, (perhaps heaven or God). And in those last moments, she is able to appreciate the beauty of Gods creation, it its blue, stumbling buzz, it its sky-like blue appearance, and draw succour from its clumsy journey around her, reminding her of her own journey into the next realm.

And again, Dickinson has managed to surprise me  by using the common fly as a work of creation and art that even a spirit, on its way out of the world, should pause and notice its beauty. She could have chosen to pass it off as an annoyance, especially since it was almost her last millisecond one earth. Yet the poet, chooses to teach us that even something as simple and inconsequential as the fly, has its part to play in our lives, its role in the bigger picture and not one little creature of the Kings creation is something that will go in vain.

While this is one way of looking at it, another way of considering the fly, is as a symbol of heaven itself. Given that the fly is described as blue, much like the sky where the heavens are attributed to, the fly serves as a reminder of the poets destination, or where she is headed. In that sense, this could be the image that Dickinson tries to convey through this poem.