Free Essay

Marxist Readind

In: English and Literature

Submitted By Boudhayan
Words 3380
Pages 14
“W. Labov: Case Study Martha’s Vineyard and New York”
Sprachwissenschaft Englisch Hausarbeit “Sociolinguistics“ Maria Juchem 2003

List of Contents
1. Introduction

2. Labov’s motivation for studying Sociolinguistics

3. Labov’s observations in Martha’s Vineyard 3.1 Geographical and historical basics of Labov’s studies 3.2 Repetition of the studies in 1961 by Labov 3.3 Labov’s explanation of the observations

4. Labov’s studies in New York 4.1 The Social Stratification of (r) in New York Department Stores 4.1.1 Preliminary Überlegungen 4.1.2 The experiment 4.1.3 The results of the department store study 4.2 Study of Lower East Side 4.2.1 The MFY Survey 4.2.2 The ALS (American Language Survey)

5. The meaning of Labov’s studies for modern sociolinguistics
6. Conclusion

1. Topic and Introduction

The topic of this term paper are “Labov’s studies in New York and Martha’s Vineyard”. Labov’s observations in Martha’s Vineyard served Labov as a model for his Master’s essay and his observations in New York as a model for his dissertation. The second chapter will give a survey of William Labov’s motivation for studying sociolinguistics. Chapter 3 is about his observations in Martha’s Vineyard. After that I’ll give a detailed description of his studies in New York (chapter 4) divided up into the two parts: First, the social stratification of (r) in New York City Department Stores (4.1) and second The Lower East Side (4.2). These studies are Labov’s most famous works and two of his early publications. With his studies he created the base for a modern way of analysing language without using tape-recorded interviews (see also chapter 5 of this term paper, the meaning of Labov’s studies for modern sociolinguistics). Finally a conclusion will be given in chapter 6.

2. Labov’s motivation for studying Sociolinguistics William Labov was born on December the 4th 1927 in Rutherford, New Jersey. He is know as the founding father of sociolinguistics. Labov first came in contact with the subject of sociolinguistics during his time at the Columbia University, from which he graduated with his Master’s Essay concerning his studies in Martha’s Vineyard. There he met Uriel Weinreich, one of his linguistics teachers. Weinreich tried to establish new ideas of the subject how to collect data for empirical studies. Labov identified with the idea of the antihomogeneity of linguistics. He took part in Weinreich’s lectures and seminars about syntax, semantics, dialectology and historical linguistics. Labov was fascinated of Weinreichs resistance to authorities of linguistics, such as Ferdinand de Saussure and Leonard Bloomfield. Three years after his Master’s Essay, Labov wrote his dissertation about his studies in New York City. As a reaction to Noam Chomsky’s way of studying linguistics, he developed his ideas of a spontanous and anonymous observation of linguistic behaviour of people of different regions, ages and social classes.

3. Labov’s observations in Martha’s Vineyard Labov’s studies in Martha’s Vineyard are characterised by a first effort to study the distribution of (r) in its social context. While studying that case, Labov remarked a change in the realisation of the (ay) and (aw) diphthongs and focused on their centralisation process from 1933 to 1961.

3.1 Geographical and historical conditions of Labov’s studies Martha’s Vineyard is to be found close to the cost of New England where early settlers coming from Europe landed. The population of Martha’s Vineyard can be divided into three main groups: English Yankee settlers, aboriginal Indians and recent Portuguese settlers. Martha’s Vineyard is a contrasting island because on the one side there is a congested area at the down-island where the population of the main town lives of tourism during the summer months, while on the other side there are mostly farmers and fishermen at the up-island. As a base of his studies Labov used some data from the Linguistic Atlas of New England (1933). There it was mentioned that

in that period the island speech was characterised by mild centralisation of the (ay) diphthong in words such as wife, night, right, I and little to no centralisation of the (aw) diphthong in house, out, about, month

(Whelpton. p 46)

3.2 Repetition of the studies in 1961 by Labov About 30 years later Labov returned to Martha’s Vineyard to restart the studies which he had found in the Linguistic Atlas of New England and interviewed about 70 people. There he developed his idea of anonymous interviews by asking people questions like “When we speak of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, what does right mean? ... Is it in writing? ... If a man is successful at a job he doesn't like, would you still say he was a successful man?” (Trippel 1997) so that they would use some of the words containing the (ay) or (aw) diphthong in their answers. In 1961 he discovered several changes. One of them was that the centralisation in the quadrilateral of (ay) variable had spread to the (aw) variable. In a more concrete way this means that in Martha’s Vineyard the (ay) turns out to be realized as [ ] and [ ] while (aw) is realized as [ ] and [ ]. One of the results was that the centralisation most often happened by people around the age 30 to 60. Labov also noticed that especially fishermen living in the up-island regions centralised the two diphthongs. But here was not only a difference between groups of different ages and occupation but also between the different ethnic groups. As a result of Labov’s observations it turned out that “the English Yankees and Indian inhabitants were more likely to use centralization than the Portuguese” (Trippel 1997).

3.3 Labov’s explanation of the observations Labov concluded that the centralisation of the (ay) and (aw) diphthongs was marked by the social attitudes of the interviewed people and closely linked to the fact that in this time many people left the mainland and went to the down-island because of the economic pressure in their hometowns. The Yankees would therefore change their speech by emphasising the (ay) and (aw) diphthongs to keep distance to the mainland immigrants who didn’t centralise the diphthongs at all. That explains why the centralisation first came up in the up-islands where most of the native Yankees lived as fishermen and from there spread to the Indian

population which was a link between up-island and down-island. This means that the new arrived Portuguese settlers who lived mainly in the towns at down-islands, attended to centralise the (ay) and (aw) diphthongs a lot later than the other two groups. The centralisation itself therefore spread from the up-island to the down-island. A further observation led to the result that people who wanted to leave the island soon and go to the mainland didn’t centralise the diphthongs as much as people who wanted to stay in Martha’s Vineyard like most people from the up-island. Labov marked this by an either positive or negative attitude towards Martha’s Vineyard and the wish to accommodate the individual’s language to the to the language of the speech community with which he/she identifies or plans to belong to. Persons 40 19 6 Positive Neutral Negative (ay) (aw) 63 62 32 42 09 08 (Labov 1972:39) All the observations Labov made in Martha’s Vineyard gave him the idea that speech is always linked to social attitudes and linguistic change of several groups of society. As shown in the next chapter, he extended his studies in New York City by studying the social stratification of (r) and the speech community of the Lower East Side.

4. Labov’s studies in New York The two studies chosen in this term paper (The Social Stratification of (r) in New York City and the study of the Lower East Side) are exemplary for Labov’s whole work. They are two of his early studies and influenced the following. Also today Labov’s studies in New York City are seen as “a reaction to the formal generative school of Noam Chomsky, which idealised away from society, located linguistic competence in the individual, and defined linguistic knowledge in terms of rule systems which defined formal structural properties” (Whelpton. p 40)

4.1 The Social Stratification of (r) in New York Department Stores 1966 the study of the social stratification of (r) in three new York department stores was Labov’s breakthrough on the field of sociolinguistics. It was followed by a series of other studies in New York (see also 4.2) and is Labov’s best known work today. It’s known as a reformatory way of studying sociolinguistic variables.

4.1.1 Preliminary considerations Before Labov started his studies in New York department stores, he formulated his main hypothesis: “if any two subgroups of New York City speakers are ranked in a scale of social stratification, then they will be ranked in the same order by their differential use of (r)” (Labov 1972:44).

This hypothesis was based on several exploratory interviews. Concerning the department store studies, Labov specialized his hypothesis: “salespeople in the highest ranked store will have the highest values of (r); those in the middle ranked store will have intermediate values of (r); and those in the lowest ranked store will show the lowest values”. (Labov 1966:65) Labov’s aim was to see if these two hypothesis were provable or not. Therefore he decided to do his studies in three New York department stores which could be easily differentiated by their different social status and social stratification of their clients. The three department stores Labov chosed are: Highest-ranking: Saks Fifth Avenue at 50th St. and 5th Ave., near the center of the high fashion shopping district, along with other high-prestige stores such as Bonwit Teller, Henri Bendel, Lord and Taylor Middle-ranking: Macy’s Herald Square, 34th St. and Sixth Ave., near the garment district, along with Gimbles and Saks-34th St., other middle-range stores in price and prestige. Lowest-ranking: S. Klein Union Square, 14th St. and Broadway, not far from the Lower East Side. (Labov 1972:46) Labov didn’t illustrate the different social ranking only by the aid of the location of the department stores but also with the different height of the prices. He compared the prices for women’s coats which confirmed the store-ranking mentiones above. Also the number of pages of advertissing in the New York Times which is comparable to the German Kölner Stadtanzeiger and the Daily News which is more like Bild and Express, that means more often read by lower-income employees. The results: No. of pages of advertising October 24-27, 1962 NY Times Saks Macy’s S. Klein 2 6 ¼ Daily News 0 15 10

(Labov 1972:46)

While Saks only makes a few advertisements in the New York Times, Macy’s tries to reach as many readers of different social classes as possible and S. Klein tries intensified to address the advertisements to the group of lower income people and renounces completely of advertising in the new York Times. Also important for Labov was the relation of space and amount of products. After having observed the department stores he came to the conclusion that Saks is the most spacious, especially on the upper floors, with the least amount of goods displayed. Many of the floors are carpeted, and on some of them, a receptionist is stationed to greet the customers. Kleins, at the other extreme, is a maze of annexes, sloping concrete floors, low ceilings; it has the maximum amount of goods displayed at the least possible expense. (Labov 1972:47)

4.1.2 The experiment After this preliminary considerations Labov started his experiment by questioning the employees of the different department stores. The method he used is that the interviewer (Labov himself, dressed in middle-class style and r-pronouncing) should approach the questioned employee and ask for a department with the expected answer : “fourth floor”. He would then repeat the question once more to get the answer “fourth floor” once more but in a more emphatic style. After having got the answer Labov turned away and made some short notes concerning a) the following independent variables the store floor within the store sex age (estimated units of five years) occupation (floorwalker, sales, cashier, stockboy) race foreign or regional accent, if any and b) the following dependent variable (use of (r) in four occurences): casual: fourth floor emphatic: fourth floor (Labov 1972:49f.)

The results Labov got were based on 264 interviews; 68 in Saks, 125 in Macy’s and 71 in Kleins. The interviewing time was about 6.5 hours. In the following chapter the general results will be shown; specific details such as results divided up into age and race will be left out.

4.1.3 The results of the department store study The general results are shown in the following diagram casual speech emphatic speech

(Labov 1972:52) The results shown in the diagram above seem to verify Labov’s hypothesis because the employees of the highest ranking store (Saks) use the postvocalic (r) most frequently and most emphasized when they repeating the answer “fourth floor”. Macy’s employees tend to

emphasize the postvocalic (r) especially at the word end but not necessarily inside the word. The number of values is lower than in Saks but higher than in Kleins. It’s striking that Kleins is the only department store where the number of values rises almost linear. From the diagram people might tend to consider Labov’s hypothesis as verified but regarding the percentage, Kleins increases from 5 to 18 percent which means the values are trebled while Saks and Macy’s only reach the double values. (according to Labov 1972:52)

4.2 Study of Lower East Side
(preliminary remark: the following paragraphs of 4.2 are based on Labov 1966 chapters 3 and 4)

The survey of the Lower East Side is the most important investigation of the stratification of language of New York City. The Lower East side doesn’t represent the upper portions of the city’s social structure, but it has a good section of the larger groups: middle class, working class and lower class New Yorkers. In a close neighbourhood are the main ethnic groups represented: Italians, Jews, Irish, Germans, Ukrainians, Poles, Negroes and Puerto Ricans, for which the Lower Eastside is a port of entry for immigrant groups. Another newcomers move in from other parts of Manhattan and there is a continuous stream in moving out or upwards in a higher social class. Citizens who remain for a long time are often marked by either a strong sense of local tradition, or total inertia. This is the right population to test the proposition that the native New York City pattern of speech can absorb a bulk of foreign influence without being seriously transformed itself.

4.2.1 The MFY Survey Labov started his interviews in the summer of 1962. Basic for his study of the social stratification of language was a comprehensive survey of the area made by faculty members of the New York School of Social Work of Columbia University. It had been conducted the year before as a preliminary to the Mobilization for Youth Program as an assault on the problem of juvenile delinquency (MFY Survey). The linguistic survey by Labov was called the American Language Survey (ALS). First 40 interviewers for the MFY Survey spent many months in the exact determination of the number of dwelling units, vacant or occupied, in each building, yielding a serial listing of 33,932 units in which informants might be found. For a stratified random sampling procedure the list was divided into 250 equal intervals of 133 units, and 5 households were randomly selected for each interval, yielding a sample of 1,250 household. The result of the MFY Survey shows that this area is depressed as far as the education, incomes and occupations of its residents are concerned. Compared to the United States as a whole, the Lower east side is at the lower end of each of these scales.

4.2.2 The ALS (American Language Survey) Based on the MFY Survey Labov took 122 ALS interviews by visiting the people and 33 interviews (so-called television interviews) were carried out by phone. It was the only way to get information of people who refused to have a talk with the interviewer. Interviewed were only native speakers (born in the USA) and informants who had been born in a foreign country but had come to the lower East Side before they were 8 years old.

The interviewer asked for words which give an accurate view of the treatment of the variables: (r) in four, (eh) in bad, (oh) in off, the (in) thirteen and (dh) in brother. The results are shown in the following six diagrams taken from Labov 1966:222

The figures show the social stratification of the variables and their use according to different styles of speaking (A to D). The class stratification of (r) has already been discussed in chapter 4.1. Figures 2, 4 and 5 also show a fine class defined separation of the variables. But in figures 3 and 6 the diagrams have a cross-over pattern, also called “apparent deviation” (Labov 1966:227). Labov tried to arrange the data in different social classes to avoid the problem. For example he didn’t divide the lower class and working class up into 0-2 and 3-5 units but in 0-1 and 2-5. This case shows the problem of studying sociolinguistics. How can

social classes be defined clearly and in how far is the interpretation of results depended from the observer? Studying sociolinguistics always includes keeping these questions in mind.

5. The meaning of Labov’s studies for modern sociolinguistics The meaning of Labov’s studies is, as already indicated in the previous chapters, said to be reformatory concerning sociolinguistics. Labov was the first who didn’t separate language from its social context: He declared his personal aim as “to avoid the inevitable obscurity of texts, the self-consciousness of formal elicitations, and the self-deception of introspection” (Labov 1972:xiii). His studies are not only known as a reaction to Noam Chomsky’s way of studying linguistics but also to the way Ferdinand de Saussure chose. Saussure said that “structural systems of the present and historical changes of the past have to be studied in isolation” (Saussure 1949:124) For Labov it was clear that linguistics couldn’t be separated of its usual context. Therefore his studies contain lots of information of people of different social classes, ages, origins and so on. He emphasizes that Chomsky’s “famous…competenceperformance distinction made in such grammars must be either reformulated, weakened or abandoned” (Wardhaugh 2002:187). As described in the Lower East Side study Labov also indicated the problems of analysing sociolinguistic data. Still today there are no strict guidelines how to treat linguistic data. That means that Labov’s studies can be seen as a beginning of a still continuing process of linguistic analysis. Labov’s way of studying sociolinguistics became so popular that his studies were repeated once more about twenty years after his study of the Lower Eats Side.

6. Conclusion In this term paper three of Labov’s studies have been described under many different aspects. One central point was Labov’s new way of gathering linguistic data by rapid anonymous and spontaneous interviews. A second important point was the discovery that (r) as a linguistic variable gives a detailed stratification of social classes. Finally the question of objectivity of linguistics analysis and interpretation was raised. Labov’s case studies do not only give linguistic data, they also show different ways and new methods of studying linguistics. Labov’s work in New York and Martha’s Vineyard is still very popular today and has influenced sociolinguistic studies for more than 50 years of linguistic analysis. That’s why William Labov is known as the founding-father of sociolinguistics.

Literaturverzeichnis
Labov, William. The Social Stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. 1966 Labov, William. Sociolinguistic Patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1972 Wardhaugh, Ronald. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell. 42002 Trippel, Thorsten. http://coral.lili.uni-bielefeld.de/~ttrippel/labov/node5.html ff. 1997. Whelpton, Matthew. http://www.hi.is/~whelpton/Files/socio_quant.pdf

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Feminist Theories

...Marxist feminist Michelle Barrett (1980) argues that the role ideology plays in convincing women that unpaid domestic labour is fulfilling is important. Barrett discusses the ideology of ‘familism’ the notion that female fulfillment lies in the family. For Marxist feminists, the cause of female oppression is rooted in capitalism. They argue that although individual men benefit from women’s subordination, the main beneficiary is capitalism. Women are an unpaid labour force, as unpaid housewives, and have been used in WW1 as a reserve army of labour. This oppression is believed to be maintained by the role women adopt within the capitalist’s system as the unpaid homemaker in the family. Women are conceived that this unpaid role is natural and normal, through the ideology of ‘familism’ that promotes female fulfillment as achieved through motherhood intimacy and sexual satisfaction. Marxist feminists believe that in order to end female subordination, we must overthrow capitalism as well as the ideology of familism. This would free the sexes from restrictive family roles and ensure that domestic labour was shared equally. Strengths of Marxist feminists include the fact that they have demonstrated the power of structural factors, such as capitalism and ideology in constructing an explanation for women’s subordination. However, Marxist feminists have been criticised for failing to explain women’s subordination in non-capitalist societies. Marxist feminism also places insufficient emphasis...

Words: 2441 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Capitalism

...Capitalism acts to constrain the forces of production. The notion of free and competitive market penalizes inefficiency and redistributes the surplus to the more efficient enterprises. Adam Smith’s idea of invisible hand promotes rivalries. Therefore the majority of petty owners is pushed out of the market and forced to sell labor power. The surplus value is derived from exploiting these workers. The rate of exploitation is surplus value divided by the labor value. Laborers produce a use value but get paid only for their labor value. The left-over surplus value becomes profit for the capitalist. This wealth can be use for investment, mechanization, research development, management and etc. Industrial enterprises spend money on capital and labor to produce a product. Rate of profit is calculated from surplus value divided by capital and labor cost. Therefore the rate has an inverse relationship with labor and capital cost. As they fall, rate of profit rise. The average cost is total spent divided by output. By mechanizing, it allows companies to produce more resulting in cheaper price per unit For example, say three companies produce the same amount of goods using identical labor and capital cost structure. When one company mechanizes, it can produce more goods by only increasing capital and not labor cost. It can also produce more merchandise with same amount of capital and labor. These two scenarios are both forms of increase efficiency. They also are forms of labor exploitation...

Words: 880 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

None

...Latricia Proctor "Professional (General) - Personality" Test Results Organization Organization is the tendency to establish and maintain a specific structure in goals, behaviors, and the home or work environment. Professional Fit: People high in Organization tend to be suited for jobs that require self-discipline, tidiness, or careful planning of activities and schedules. Potential Risk: People high in Organization can miss potential opportunities if they are too rigid in their pursuit of specific goals and behaviors, and may be perceived by others as lacking in creativity or innovation. Preference for Pressure Preference for Pressure is the tendency to thrive in stressful environments and situations. Professional Fit: People high in Preference for Pressure tend to be suited for jobs that involve constant demands or urgent deadlines. Potential Risk: People high in Preference for Pressure can lose motivation, become bored, or have difficulty focusing in low-pressure environments or situations. Precision Precision is the tendency to be careful and attentive to small details. Professional Fit: People high in Precision tend to be suited for jobs that require work to be completed very delicately, accurately, and with few errors. Potential Risk: People high in Precision can sometimes have difficulty being productive in fast-paced environments, and may be inefficient at tasks that benefit from certain shortcuts or can allow for minor errors. Page 1 Intuitive Thinking ...

Words: 1192 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

U1 A2

...Cody Unit 1 Assignment 2 I was also surprised with my high creativity score. I have never considered myself very creative. I always assume I can’t come up with something from scratch; I need something to build onto. The more I think of it though I always seem to get required things done even if I don’t have much experience or knowledge of the subject. It is my drive I am assuming that enables me to achieve my requirements. My lack of full self-confidence came as a surprise with a score of eighty-five indicating considerable stress when my expectations aren’t met. I have a tendency to put off many things that would advance my career and bring me feelings of success but I have a hard time believing that because going back to school for my Bachelor’s was a choice I made for the simple fact to advance my career. Maybe up until this point in my life I may have had those tendencies thinking my previous two positions were where I should be but not at my full potential. The assessment also showed that I dawdle on some projects or tasks and tend to be over attentive to details on other tasks. I assume that is just my way of knowing my priorities. Scoring in the middle doesn’t seem too bad to me even though I have room to improve I am not at the bottom recognizing that I do take the time to negotiate and listen to all views. I will argue my case to show the merits of my position but I try to avoid arguments to do...

Words: 275 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

How in Your View Can Individuals Best Learn to Manage Their Money?

...Trying to manage money and financial expenses are one of the most difficult personal management an independent individual can have. Individuals try to manage their money in different ways, some of them work and some are not. In this essay, two given possible solutions for this issue will be addressed. One way to control the financial income is by saving some of it and invest it. Individuals can, for example, open a saving account in the bank in which they can specify the percentage of the money transfer from the main account to the saving one on monthly basis, and they can buy shares. This way they will try to adapt themselves on the remaining salary they have and can spend it as they like without worrying about being broken in the end of each month. There is one take on this way which is that there might be some occasions where someone needs to spend the whole salary or more in a month, and it will be difficult to do so if the whole saved money are in the shares. Another way for managing money is by eliminating the purchasing as much as possible. Adults need to look after their real needs and the luxurious things. For example, instead of shopping every time, they can make a list of all their needs and buy them at once every month. By shopping less, they will tend to avoid the struggle between buying or not buying that will most likely end up buying unnecessary things. To conclude, controlling money and budget is not an easy task, yet it's very crucial to everyone's...

Words: 285 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

One Step at a Time

...One Step At A Time Haven’t you ever noticed how things were so much easier when we were in kindergarten? You could go up to someone, share their chocolate milk, and immediately become best friends. When you were angry, you could just scream and stomp your foot but try and do that now and you’re sure to get some stares. If you liked that little girl or boy you sat next to, and they offer to share their crayons, you are in heaven. If you are angry at someone, you could threaten not to be their friend, and they’d immediately say sorry. There was no “start thinking about your future” thing either. You didn't get grounded or have your phone taken away from you, you just got a minute in the bad kid chair and that was it. Back then, life wasn't looming over you like a hawk. As we grow older, the pressure just builds up on us. We are expected to do the best we can to accomplish a lot of things like having high grades in school and being a dean’s lister when we reach college, and when we graduate, we are expected to land a good job immediately. And because of these, we tend to rush things and do them all at the same time. Maybe that’s why old people are so worn down. People always try to make something out of everything. They ask questions such as “Why does the sky have to be blue because of gases in the atmosphere?” and “why can't it simply be blue?” Then there are times that we ask the question “Why can’t be things be easier for just a little while?” It's true that we do need...

Words: 491 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Where Was Your Food Grown

...Case 4: Where was your food grown? 1- Do you believe that it is a positive or negative for multinational companies that many customers might perceive their products to be foreign in certain markets? Ethnocentric consumers believe that buying foreign products hurts the domestic economy and national employment. Consumer ethnocentrism implies the normative belief that purchasing domestic products is more beneficial than purchasing foreign goods so it is believed to have a negative effect on customers’ repurchase intent to foreign products, although that may vary within cultures and between different country-of-origin products. Particularly, consumers who hold strong ethnocentric beliefs are more likely to evaluate foreign products negatively than are those who do not hold such beliefs. Those who believe that it is wrong to buy foreign goods also tend to perceive those goods as lower in quality than domestic goods; ethnocentric consumers prefer domestic goods not only because of economic or moral beliefs, but also because they believe that their own country produces the best products. Researchers believed that consumers with ethnocentric tendencies have a tendency to evaluate domestic products favorably, often unreasonably so, compared to imported products. 2- Over 60% of the population of Malaysia are Muslin consumers. Most domestic food products have the JAKIM logo printed on the packaging, which certifies that it is safe to be consumed by Muslims. This may be a key reason...

Words: 414 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Conflict Rarely Leaves One Unscathed

...Conflict rarely leaves one unscathed Scars, fear, loss of hope and faith. These are all outcomes of the difficulty that lies within a conflict. The precise definition of conflict refers to arguments and disputes which in many cases escalates into becoming a threat to an individual’s life, family or country. It has a major impact on an individual’s life as conflict barely leaves one unscathed. The after effect of conflict leaves some individuals to be scarred for a short period of time and some for life. The key factors of encountering conflict will be focused on the consequences and impacts of conflicts encountered by individuals. They include, the adversities faced by individuals and surroundings due to the circumstances of certain conflicts, the change within oneself that is discovered through conflict, and the drastic aftermath attached. Conflict is a part of life which is better resolved, as it may influence others, who are no involved, to face difficulties due to the circumstances that come along. Some conflicts can occur based simply on our perspectives and judgments on sensitive issues. We as individuals need to learn to accept things the way they are. This idea is demonstrated in an American film, ‘Remember the Titans’, directed by Boaz Yakin, which proves how our perspective on certain things can create dilemmas. The film demonstrates the impact of sensitive issues related to conflict, such as racism. The clashes that occur as impact of racism between individuals is...

Words: 936 - Pages: 4