Recent orders
Hottentot Venus by Barbara Chase-Ribound book review
Name:
Instructor:
Course:
Date:
Hottentot Venus by Barbara Chase-Ribound book review
The novel Hottentot Venus by Barbara Chase-Ribound is an incredible book that has won several critical praises though its ability of bringing to light hidden truths. Racism and sexism in the hearts of the European imperialism cannot be well discussed without paying attention to the physical difference of ordinary persons. The author uses a real female to discusses his arguments and build his themes. Sarah Baartman the novel’s protagonist was born in South Africa in the year 1789 and at the age of twenty she was taken to London by an English surgeon who had promised to assist her become famous. Instead she was forced to parade naked before a rude British crowd for an exhibition. She faced cruelty and torture which even resulted to detaining by British abolitionists. After a short period Baartman find herself in the midst of another humiliating event when she is sold to a French circus in 1814 by her keeper who was also supposedly her husband. After her sale she was moved to Paris to participate in an exotic animal circus. It is at this point she is also forced to assist in a sideshow sensation and she becomes known as “Hottentot Venus”. According to the story, medical experts and top scientists felt that her prominent buttocks were a perfect example of the primitive evolution. In this saga that ranges from Capetown, London to Paris and back to Africa the author condemns the certain aspects of evocation since they act as icons of scientific racism, brutality, ugliness, exploitation and sexism.
The book is opened by a brief explanation of how the name Hottentot Venus came to be. The name came from the Portuguese after they discovered KhoeKhoe nation located in South African eastern coast. The Portuguese found the Dutch community in this nation and nicknamed then “the Hottento” which means stutterer in Dutch because they felt language consisted of so many unrelated sounds. The book further continues to the first chapter which begins which Sarah birthday which was on January 1816. It at this same day that it is disclosed that Sarah is suffering a serious fever and chest problem. Though her illness seems serious she still has to continue looking strong under the leadership to the white. Later chapters then begin to portray the various unfair treatment and discriminations that Sarah is facing in the hands of white leadership. Even though Sarah is ill and lost both of her parents in the hands of the white or the British rule, she still has to face many more challenges. She is sold to a white master by her aunt who at the time acted as her guardian and is nick named Saartjie. She is also betrayed by her supposedly husband by selling her to the Heinrich. The author uses several life situations though his protagonist Sarah to show how race and sexism is wide spread and common cause of many problems today.
In making an overall review of Hemings work in this book we can strongly say that the themes of racism and sexism are widely discussed. The author uses a real character specifically a female middle aged woman Sarah who is later referred to as Saartjie to show how these two themes are wide spread in almost all societies. Sarah is seen to move from one society to the other and facing related problems. Back in her home she is forced to undergo certain strict traditions just because she is a woman and had to get married. In her family house her aunt constantly looks as a source of wealth just because she is female and thus supposed to act as a source of wealth. The author goes further to portray that there are differences in how racism and sexism is practiced by using slavery and blue collar jobs practiced in developed areas such as London and Paris. But in all cases the end results of these acts are similar since they are end up abusing human rights, affects personal extreme and besides degrades the value of human life.
However, the author can improve on this great literature book to a credible academic reference when discussing these two themes; racism and sexism by focusing on a specific line of racism. For instance, the author can select scientific racism which includes illiteracy in education and technology or focus on feminism. The benefit of this recommendation is to ensure the author researchers and provides more important and accurate data on the narrow topic.
Work Cited
Chase-Ribound, Barbara Hottentot Venus New York, Doubleday, 2003
(Covered the first short story)
(Covered the first short story)
The Dew Breaker contains a collection of nine different but interconnected stories. The first entry, the book of the dead, the narrator is a young woman called Ka who is from Haiti but lives in New York. She is forced to travel to Florida with her father on a mission of selling a sculpture to a popular Haitian television personality called Gabrielle Fonteneau. She wakes up and learns that her father is missing together with the sculptor, after she spent the night at a hotel room. She talks to the police who question her. Her father reappears finally as the sun sets in the horizon but he does not have the sculpture.
He instead he transports Ka to a lake where he throws the sculpture into the water, something that annoys her daughter who could not get the reason why he did this. He tells her daughter that he did that because he felt that he was not worth being immortalized as art. He then tells her that the stories she heard about him being imprisoned are all not true but he was in fact employed to torture and kill those who were prisoners, but she asks her to believe that she is regretful of his actions. When they return to the hotel, she calls her mother demanding an explanation of how she was able to live with her father. Her mother responds by saying that he changed upon meeting her, meaning she saved his life. They meet for lunch with Gabrielle the next day and her father lies about his Haitian home so as not to be identified. That experienced seems as one of the hardest emotional turmoil as she tries to understand what she learnt
Adolescence through the Lens of A Feature Film
HDev312 Spring 2022Dr. FeltonPaper Assignment: Film AnalysisDue: In Forum Group’s Paper Forum by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, May 1st
Adolescence through the Lens of A Feature Film
This assignment asks you to analyze a feature film about adolescence by applying concepts, dynamics, processes, and issues addressed in our course readings. You’ll draw primarily on readings from Week Six on through the semester. For example: topics pertaining to adolescents’ family, peers and friendships, romantic relationships, sexual identity, the role of smartphones and social media in adolescents’ everyday lives, school as a context for development, work and career aspirations and possibilities, problems such as drug abuse or mental illness, or challenges such as unplanned early pregnancy (among other concerns). You may also draw on readings from the first part of the semester on the teenage brain, risk-taking and adolescent cognition and on pubertal timing.
[Note: An alternate option for selecting a novel or a non-fiction memoir is listed at the end of these guidelines.]
Select ONE of the Following Films:
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Bend it Like Beckham (2002)
Love and Basketball (2000)
Our Song (2001)
Real Women Have Curves (2002)Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Eighth Grade (2018)
Juno (2007)Quinceañera (2006)
Love, Concord (2012)
The Spectacular Now (2013)
The Wood (1999)
Dope (2015)
ATL (2006)The Kings of Summer (2013)
Lean on Me (1989)
Coach Carter (2005)
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
The Hate You Give (2018)
Mean Girls (2004)
Love, Simon (2018)
Mosquita & Mari (2012)
The Perks of being a Wallflower (2012)
All of these films are widely available and each reflect many of the themes addressed in our text’s readings.
Your task is to identify concepts, ideas, and insights we’ve been addressing and to apply them to the central character(s) and experiences depicted in the film. Your paper is NOT meant to be an exhaustive survey of all of the concepts depicted; rather, your task is to select 6 concepts, processes and/or dynamics and explore them in depth by focusing in on specific instances in the film. Use the specific examples from the film to explain how the experiences depicted are consistent or inconsistent with the research presented in our readings. For example, if you select Juno, you might address the following concepts, dynamics, and issues: the social support offered by peers, adolescents’ increasing levels of autonomy in the family system, or challenges, risks, and protective factors related to an early unplanned pregnancy.
When citing the text or other course materials verbatim (directly) or when paraphrasing (indirectly), be sure to identify the relevant page number(s). Use in-text citation.
Tips on developing your paper:
Availability of Films: at independent and chain video stores; through Netflix, iTunes, and other online sources; through your local library.
Having a good grasp of the film means that you will need to watch it more than once. You’ll also want to take notes. Remember, your primary purpose in viewing the film is for analysis, not entertainment (although an appreciation for the film will support your engagement). You’ll want to view the film critically, considering how the film depicts themes and concepts discussed in the readings and viewing material addressed from Week Six on. Strategies for Note-taking: Some students prefer to take notes during their first viewing of the film (when the story and characters are fresh and unfamiliar). Others choose to make notes after their first viewing, and then re-view the film and make more detailed notes. Whatever strategy you choose, you will need to view the film more than once, and you may view portions of it multiple times. You’ll also want to jot down relevant bits of verbatim dialogue and descriptions of events that you’ll incorporate in your writing.
Provide an introductory paragraph that BRIEFLY summarizes the arc of the film (4-5 sentences max), and then tell readers of your paper why it’s a particularly useful film for addressing specific dynamics, processes and challenges that adolescents face. Make sure to identify the 6 concepts or processes that you’ll be focusing on for your paper.
Your paper must be thoughtfully developed. Focus your analysis on one or two central characters. Also, be sure to refer to the characters by name (not by the name of the actor playing the role). If you aren’t sure of characters’ names, you can find them on imdb.com (Internet Movie Database), or by rolling the film credits at the end of the film.
Remember, you’re not being asked to review the film or write up your reactions to the film. Your task is to examine how the film illuminates and helps us to understand the various phenomena that we are studying.
Papers will be posted in your Forum Group’s Paper Forum.
Alternate Assignment Option:
Some of you may prefer to skip the added screen time needed for this assignment. If that’s the case, you may select a novel or a non-fiction book or memoir that focuses on the adolescent experience through the lens of a specific teen. This may also be a way for you to focus in greater depth on particular issues facing adolescents. For example, you might want to address autism or neurodiversity, homelessness, activism, a highly creative adolescent, or drug addiction. Please email me directly with the title of the text that you plan to use.
[Note: For either option (the film or a book about an adolescent): If you find that our course materials are insufficient in addressing the themes (dynamics, processes, issues) that you want to examine, you may certainly opt to bring in outside sources. However, outside sources are not required.]