...Deaf and Hearing Loss Most students with hearing loss experience delayed performance in academic achievement. The earlier hearing loss occurs in a student’s life, the more serious the effects are on the student’s development. Different types of hearing loss affect students’ ability to hear in various ways. The first type is Conductive, which affects the loudness of sounds heard. This type can be reduced or eliminated through medical treatment and special education is not always necessary for these students. A second type of hearing loss is Sensor Neural, which affects loudness, sounds and clarity a student hears. Since this hearing loss is permanent and cannot be repaired, early identification and intervention is a must in these cases. The last type of hearing loss is Mixed Hearing, which combines the characteristics of the previous two types. Hearing loss can cause delay in development of receptive and expressive communication skills, resulting in learning problems and reduced academic achievement. Communication difficulties can also lead to limited social skills and poor self-confidence. Students with hearing loss have difficulty with all areas of achievement, especially reading and math. The involvement of parents and schools can be a strong impact on the students’ level of achievement. Language development is the basic requirement for success, as most students will experience a language delay and may require interpreters or assistants for communication...
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...“Barbie Doll” is a narrative poem written by Marge Piercy, it was first published in 1973, in To Be of Use. The elements that Marge Piercy uses are theme, imagery and symbolism. Piercy provides four short stanzas to inform readers of how society and culture puts pressure on young girls. In this poem, a young girl’s life flashes before her eyes as she tries to live up to society standards. The tone of this poem is depressing and sad. In this poem Marge Piercy uses a theme, symbols, and a plot to describe the ideal girl. The theme of this poem is that society is not accepting of people who do not represent the ideal woman. In “Barbie Doll”, the young girl is teased about her nose and legs. The girl was advised to play cool, charming, eat right and exercise. She tried all these things but in the end she still wasn’t successful at pleasing her classmates. In the end, trying to please her classmates resulted in her cutting off her nose and legs, which lead to death. In today’s society as girls grow into young women, they are told to look a certain way. The ideal look usually involves being skinny, make-up, long hair, and a beautiful smile. Within that context, “Barbie Doll” emerges as terse commentary about society’s stereotypical expectations for females, and what happens if the authentic self is bypassed (Deutsch 373). Piercy uses great imagery to show the girls experiences with great detail. “and presented dolls that did pee-pee/ and miniature GE stoves and irons/ and wee lipsticks...
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...The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, discusses how people think that beauty is the most important thing. As a child grows up, society brainwashes them into thinking that looks are more important than anything else. Every little girl has had a Barbie doll, and that Barbie is always beautiful with an hour glass figure and this is where it all starts. When a child becomes a teenager, their body starts to change and develop into ways that society may not improve of. Then when adulthood is reached, some spend a lot of money to change their appearance just to feel excepted. Sometimes they make it off of the operation table, sometimes they don’t. The Barbie doll has become the ideal way that girls are supposed to look like when they get older. The title is not about just a toy, it’s more about an image of perfection. In the first stanza of the poem, Piercy gives an example of metonymy by illustrating that “This girlchild was born as usual/ and presented dolls that did pee-pee”( Doherty 1 ). She lets the readers know that the child is being compared to a doll. This also describes that the child was given small toys that seemed like real life. The toys gave her the wrong image of what life really is. In the last two lines of the first stanza, Piercy states “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said/ you have a great big nose and fat legs.” In that line of the poem, the child is turning into a teenager and she doesn’t like the ways she looks. Other kids make fun of her because...
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...off her nose and her legs/ and offered them up.” This quote from “Barbie Doll”, by Marge Piercy, refers to a young girl who wishes to change her character and her appearance in order to live up to society’s expectations. In fact, instead of being complimented or admired for whom she truly is, people would rather criticize and condemn her for whom she isn’t. As a result of endlessly trying to alter her portrait, the “girlchild” eventually “wore herself out”. This poem suggests that unrealistic societal demands are destructive for a woman’s self-esteem and well-being. When comparing oneself to an idealistic notion of female beauty and behaviour, one can only expect to feel demoralized, discouraged and devalued. Indeed, "Barbie Doll," the title of the poem, symbolizes society’s view of a perfect woman; the way society expects every woman to be. In fact, by using “Barbie Doll” as the title to her poem, Marge Piercy wants the reader to compare and contrast the adolescent’s appearance to that of a Barbie doll. Stereotypically, Mattel’s Barbie dolls have tall, thin yet curvy bodies, with symmetrical, perfect facial features, blonde hair and blue eyes. This, in turn, leads to the protagonist’s void of self-confidence. Additionally, living up to such standards - all the while being a housewife who must clean the house, raise the children and please her husband - is very demanding on the female gender. Moreover, the doll is symbolic of the ways that women themselves have been plasticized...
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...According to Claire Bates, 15 million people get plastic surgery every year just to fit in and look nice, such as liposuction, facelift, cheek enhancement. Marge Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll,” talks about a little girl that grew up with confidence until puberty hit her and her classmates made fun of her. She tried as much as she could to make them like her, but she ended up dead in a casket. The theme of the poem is that the people around you will judge you, but in the end, all that matters is that you accept yourself for what you’ve become. Piercy’s use of figurative language and the shifts portrays the theme of the poem. Marge Piercy elaborates the theme by using figurative language. She uses simile to help point out the meaning of the...
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...people will do anything to feel accepted. In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll”, the use of imagery and metaphor help create the theme that society’s pressure on young girls (and boys) to be perfect can lead to extreme endings. “Barbie Doll” begins with a young, ordinary “girlchild” (Line 1) innocently playing with her Barbie doll. The girl grows to be of puberty age, at a time when a girl’s emotions are very fragile, and is the subject of criticism from one of her peers. She states, “You have a great big nose and fat legs” (line 6). The girlchild is described as being a normal girl. “She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back…” (Line 7-8) but the ridicule has a profound impact on the young girl. “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.” (Line 11) shows how the girl thinks everyone perceives her. Piercy uses imagery in lines 12 through 14 to describe how the girl lets this pressure of society’s opinion begin to change her self-image. “She was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.” Exhorted and wheedle are synonyms for influenced or persuasion as stated. The young girl is being persuaded by her peers to think that she needs to change her looks and how she acts. She begins to diet and exercise in hopes of achieving that perfect Barbie doll figure. She acts coy and smiles to appear charming and ladylike. She charades her true self to her peers in hopes of being accepted. Piercy has begun to establish the burden that the...
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...LITR 301 February 18, 2014 Girl Compared to a Barbie Doll Women were considered the subordinate gender that was expected to have this stay at home homemaker attitude. They were supposed to powder their noses and look pretty. Women are discriminated against in society. Women have stereotypical gender roles they are supposed to uphold. As suggested in the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy the Barbie doll is the idealized image of a woman and is considered to have long legs, perfect skin, small waist and a slender figure. The Barbie doll speaks for itself. It says that women should be domestic workers and maintain a feminine outer appearance. These type of values affect young girls because they are taught early that this is what a woman should look and act like. The Barbie doll has a lot of appeal and popularity for the past several years so it is difficult to alter the ideas of womanhood suggested by this doll. These ideas to be like and do as a Barbie doll cannot be overthrown because it has already been deeply planted in our society. In contrast, the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid suggests that women are condemned to patriarchy because of socially constructed gender stereotypes. She criticizes the idealized patriarchal norms and pressures which overshadows the lives of women. Young girls are exposed to the pressures and expectations of how they should live. They are also brainwashed in believing that their role as a women is to become a domestic homemaker and that...
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...The poem by Marge Piercy “Barbie Doll” is very different from the poem by Lucille Clifton “homage to my hips.” The authors of these poems have very different viewpoints and attitudes in expressing their story on the similar subject. Both poems present the aspect of women rejection of society’s expectations concerning the physical appearance. The poem by Lucille Clifton speaks in the first person and brings confidence and high self-esteem outlook while the poem by Marge Piercy speaks in the third person and brings self-doubt and insecurity attitude in women’s appearance. The speaker in poem “homage to my hips” by Lucille Clifton is speaking in the first person about her personal appearance. She is “celebrating a part of her body that has traditionally...
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...One of the primary concerns of feminism is, and has been for a while, not only gender inequality in social and political terms, but also the way both sexes are viewed by the society. People’s mentality is a source of stereotypes, gender stereotypes in particular. Marge Piercy, a poet and a feminist, considers these stereotypes a serious issue, which is inevitably reflected in her creativity, particularly the four poems under analysis – “Barbie Doll”, “What Are Big Girls Made Of?”, “Rape Poem” and “The Friend”. The poems “Barbie Doll” and “What Are Big Girls Made Of?” concentrate on the topic of sexualization of women and young girls. The issue that worries the author most is the way the society treats females: they are perceived as mere commodities,...
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...In the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, she illustrates the effect that society has on the expectations of women. This expectation is that women, like the girl described in the poem, should be perfect. She should know how to cook and clean, but most importantly she should be attractive according to the impossible stereotypes of womanly beauty. Many women in today’s society are being compared to the unrealistic physical looks and life of the Barbie doll. Through the past many years, the Barbie doll has gone from a popular toy to a role model for actual women in today’s society. The extremes to which women take the Barbie doll as a role model are implicit in this poem. The opening line of the poem says, “This girlchild was born as usual,” which suggests that as soon as a female child is born, society expects her to learn the role she will play once she hits puberty. Therefore, showing the readers why little girls are given dolls at a young age to illustrate how they should act and appear according to society. Once girls learn the roles they will soon have to play in their own lives, “the magic of puberty,” hits and girls immediately begin applying these ideals to their own lives. As if the attempt of girls trying to conform to the Barbie doll image isn’t enough, they also have other people in society telling them that they’re not perfect. “You have a great big nose and fat legs,” says a classmate to the girl. This type of pressure from peers and society can slowly but surely...
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...poem “Barbie Doll” The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy seems to be a strange poem. When I first read it, I thought that is a poem for children, but the ending of the poem is weird. Then I read it again many times. I remembered that one time, when I was in my art class. We were talking about the image of the Barbie Doll and the American culture. The body shape of the Barbie Doll was changing over time to meet the standard which depends on the culture and society at the specific time. This poem is about a little girl, who is perfectly normal about physical. As many other little girls, she plays with doll, and household toys. She is healthy and intelligent. But people don’t think she’s beautiful when they look at her. Everyone only see that she has a great big nose and fat legs. She is advised to be on diet and exercise. But then she is exhausted and dies. She cuts of her nose, her legs and offers them. Lying in the casket with the fake putty nose, the nightie, and pain, people now start seeing her as a beautiful girl. The little girl is a normal girl just like the others. The “doll that did pee-pee,” the “GE stoves and irons” are common toys for little girls (Line 2-3). The toys show them how should they expect their body to be and the role of them in the society. The “wee lipsticks” is a toy which is faked from the domestic accessory of adult (4). The idea of the “wee lipsticks” seems to be guiding the little girl to pay attention to their outside looks. The Barbie doll...
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...“Barbie” Society has placed immense pressure on girls and women of all ages. The definition of Beauty has been altered over the years and the expectation of what beauty looks like is now sickly represented by a materialistic object, a Barbie Doll. Although not every individual conforms to expecting this modern representation of beauty, society as a whole has placed pressure on girls and women to strive to look this way. The consequences of not having this appearance are often brutal. Girls are deemed as ugly, unpopular, and are frequently disrespected by their peers or most often by men. Contemporary poet Marge Piercy published a narrative poem titled “Barbie Doll.” The Four stanzas provide the reader with a brief tale of a nameless “girlchild” (1) whose life, markedly influenced by others’ opinions, comes to a sad and premature end. Piercy captures the stereotypes and pressure on girls’ lives and the effects it has on them. She creates this overall effect with her use of characterization throughout the poem. “This girlchild was born as usual,” the poem begins (1). As a child she is given ostensibly appropriate gifts that expose her to feminism. She receives miniature home appliances, dolls, and makeup. The expectation is set at a very early age for her to later conform to society’s view of a doll playing pretty girl. Later, “in the magic of puberty,” (1) a schoolmate comments unflatteringly on her appearance, noting her “great big nose and fat legs” (1). From the second stanza...
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...Guerline Donisvitch “Introduction to Literature” Ann Rasmussen April 23, 2009 Barbie Doll The poem begins in a fairy-tale vein, the archaic term “girl-child” being used to underscore the mythic quality of the story. The dolls, stove, iron and lipstick are all traditional play things for young girls, but they are also markers of an identity in the making, the things that young girls grow to identify with their own social roles. The doll presents an idealized image of the body, and stove and irons tell them what kind of work is expected of them as adults. The lipstick perhaps is the most sexualized cosmetic for women, signals to young girls that they will be valued for their physical appearance. The “magic of puberty” introduces the theme of growth. It is a magical time because the body changes rapidly. She also refers to the pain that comes with puberty. When girls are growing older they are really cruel to each other. The “girl child” is told she has “a great big nose and fat legs” even though she is smart, healthy and strong. The girl was made to feel guilty for who she was, for her intelligence and abilities, and also for not being slim and “beautiful.” She apologized to everyone for not being the person they wanted her to be, but all they could see was her body and how it did not match their idea of what a woman should look like. They tried to help her be more of an idealized woman by suggesting how to compensate for her unfeminine qualities. “girl-child”...
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...May 17, 2010 English 10 H The Individual in The Society The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of the word individuality is: total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others. The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, play The Crucible by Arthur Miller and the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy all have underlying themes of the society influencing a character’s individuality. In each text, each character struggles with the difficulty of the society’s impact on their lives. Through each text we see the struggles and stress “the society” puts upon people. In “Barbie Doll,” the main character struggles with her self image, whereas in Catcher, Holden struggles with the society’s pressure to become materialistic. In The Crucible, every character is under the microscope and pressured to stay in order and not to step out of perfection. If they do not do as told or what is thought to be the correct way to act they will be accused of witchcraft even if innocent. The society has such a large impact on each and every one of these characters, that without a doubt each character has been influenced one way or another. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden faces the pressure of the society alone and struggles with the ability of keeping his individuality from slipping out of his grips. The society in this novel brings upon the pressure of having everything, even if it means really having nothing at all. Holden feels he cannot be himself in the society surrounding...
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...“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula LeGuin share many similarities and differences on how society destroys a person physically, emotionally, and mentally. Both the poem and the essay show how society’s expectations can be hurtful to someone. For example, Piercy states, “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (line 11) and “Doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said. Consummation at last” (lines 24-25). This explains how society made the expectation of the way the girl should look and at the end when there was nothing they could do for her they found her perfect. In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” it states, “It looks about six, but actually is nearly ten. It is feeble-minded. Perhaps it was born...
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