Individual and Society Essay Question (1 Viewer)

eyetalian

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Despite already having finished it and not being able to change it, i was curious how on earth everyone else attempted this question,

i mean in retrospect it says freedom is important to two binary opposites the individual and society (without capitals as the module) yet intimdation is crucial.

the majority of ppl in my class focused on the individual aspiring to freedom yet pressured to confrom through society's intimidation.

Where as i personally read it as freedom yeah that means inidividaul its at the heart of the individual , while intimidation is crucial. i saw it as the individual's utilisation of intimidation to pressure society to modernise, to transform and change.


are we both right?
anyone have something different or original or are both theories wrong?

the question was ridiculous beacuse freedom is at the heart oft eh concept yet intimidation on the part of the individual isnt important at all - yet we couldnt argue this due to the question being "the extent" to which ......


thoughts?
 

mallie89

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I think both are viable interpretations, but I think its about how well you argue it.

I took it as the paradoxical nature of the relationship between the individual and society - while they're always striving for freedom, and the society wants them to have a semblance of freedom, the society has to keep them intimidated to prevent it from falling into anarchy

So I took it the way most people in your class did.. so you took it as the opposite? interesting.. which texts did you use, if you don't mind me asking?

I don't actually agree that the question was ridiculous.. all I did was define intimidation as societal conventions and the fear of ostracism of the individual, and show how that was done in each of my texts - the extent to which the fear/intimidation worked upon the individual in each text

I suppose it all comes down to how well you argued your point. My essay (prepared) seemed to just fit with the question, with minimal alterations, so that was good.

I honestly thought this question would be a great deal harder (also, I wonder if we ought to be discussing this in the I&S thread?)
 

eyetalian

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I did for the essay

Pride and Prejudice by Langton
A Dolls House by Ibsen
Vanity Fair by Thackeray
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Wollstonecraft
Origin of the Species by Darwin

I showed how Nora intimidated society through her tarantella dance and slamming the door, how Elizabeth intimidated social convention through rejecting Mr. Collins proposal and when Catherine follows her home. and with Vanity Fair, Becky Sharp intimidates society through Miss Pinkerton's dictionary in the opening scene.

I used Wollstonecraft as both an individual and author and I used Darwin to show how intimidation was difficult for some individuals as they were corrupted by their inherited makeup.

what texts did you use?
 

mallie89

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I used
Pride and Prejudice
A Dolls House
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

To show that at the beginning of the century the fear of consequences of searching for freedom were too high for the individuals to properly seek it, while as a result of the shift towards greater freedom, the latter texts' protagonists were able to gain freedom (ADH and Tess)
 

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