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... s ones; which might relate to the experiences described in the novel. Cultural differences (on the Canadian side) were for example: -The French community in Canada which is a minority -The language barrier as a result -The unequal school system for native French and English speakers The only problem, which could be recognised at their school was a formation of two groups: the skaters and the farmers which were practically at war. (Page 6, site 2) The German students came up with thoughts of discrimination of foreigners or non-Germans as the main problem in the German society relating to the novel. After both cultures had identified the presence of these disadvantages in their respective societies, they started to interact and to interview one another about the influence of these issues. Towards the end they got more detailed and precise in their analysis of the problems in society and had discussions of how the people might be affected by it.
A good example of this development is the case of the Turkish-origin student, Than, who is German, and who was recounting from his own experiences. They were really interested in his experiences and he was willing to give useful information to provoke discussion. There are also some evident differences in discussing the novel and writing about the readers emotions, between the two countries. The length of the comments was one aspect, the Canadians wrote about twice as much about the different activities than the Germans did.
They also stated a more precise and emotional interpretation in general, the Germans just kept to the analysis of the story, mostly without a marked opinion on their observations The Canadians really admired Amy's courage and were often quite critical of Adam, the Germans, considered whether Amy could do her rebellion in real life. It can be said that the comments of the Germans were more conservative in general, the Canadians tried to think of more radical ways of how to get out of such a calamity. Their suggestions were more open minded in general. 2. 8 Comparison between the speech given in 1903 by Jack London and the theme of the novel The speech 'The Scab', which was given in 1903 by Jack London before the 'Oakland Socialist Party Local' has impressive similarities to the novel 'The War Between the Classes'. It concerns the social classes in society and the problems which are created by it, which could be easily compared to the problems we might face at the moment. It is a description of the working class individuals whose jobs are endangered by 'the scab', or scabs in general. They society is divided into the labour and the capitalist group which also include a number of scabs each.
The scab is a person who cheats on his 'work fellows' by just working harder and longer hours for the same or less money than his colleagues. By doing this he is infiltrating the system and the union which protects the common worker. The employees have to fight for keeping their social standard though. It is to say that the speech was written in times when a certain income was needed as an essential for surviving, which is the only major difference to present times. London is proving his statements with examples and income calculations. The reason that the speech is held before the 'Oakland Socialist Party' is another indication that they want to demolish the unfair class system in favour to form a big union where the people are equipped with equal rights and duties.
The fact that the normal worker looks upon him as an enemy and tries to kill the man who is trying to kill him (The Scab: Passage 3) can be related to the novel, where the oranges try to find out who cheated on them by planning the revolt. The example that a striker kills a scab and has no sense of wrong doing is a clear indication that he wants to stay in his position and can not accept someone endangering that will (Passage 4. 1). Furthermore it is said that it is not the nature of things to give most for least, rather to give least for most (Passage 10). In the novel it is also the fact that the upper class wants to stay in their position because it is the most comfortable one to be in. The quote: .".. , battle royal is waged by the ambitious individuals" can be referred to the fear of the upper class that too many people want to achieve their standard. To fight against these trends, they invented a special police force, the G 4 's, which have the duty to calm the lower class people down by just oppression them wherever possible.
They even change the laws to gain an advantage. Jack London describes exactly the same situation in the following quotations: (passage 16), (passage 18). But the labours are not helpless in every way, they still have the two great weapons against the capitalists: the strike and the boycott (passage 13), (passage 17). That is also the final and successive way the 'Oranges' use for fighting against the 'Blues' in the novel.
They form an union which is powerful enough to gain enough respect to convince the majority of students. But even the upper class might be forced to most for least at some stage to keep their standard which is described in passage 22. The 'Blues', in the novel, always have to care about their actions so that they do not get into danger of being demoted themselves. Even the scabs have to be prepared to go scabbing again in case they would lose their position (passage 24), which can also be compared to the story because even the promoted students are not on the safe side yet. The sexual discrimination is also briefly announced in the speech (passage 34), as it is in the 'Colour Game'. The speech shows that these characteristics of a society have been important ever since, in the way it is set up. 3. 1 Personal opinion on the experiment I think it was a good choice to base the novel on an authentic experiment- 'The Colour Game', because the feelings and emotions the students had during the game were quite well shown in the novel.
The whole atmosphere was successfully transmitted through the research of Gloria Miklowitz into this fictional novel. As she said that she sat in class, interviewed students and examined their workbooks (Miklowitz, 1985: p. 6), she had the chance to get a realistic impression about the personal feelings of the students who were involved in the game. With this data and results in general she had the opportunity to write a fictional book, which interprets the characters, very authentically. The colour game itself is a helpful experience for the teenagers, which can be held at school.
It is an exercise with the purpose of making the students more aware of prejudices, sexist, or racist issues which can be described as intolerance in general. Because they are all participants of the experiment, they are all affected by it. According to the purposeful selection of colour for each participant, it is more or less guaranteed that they all will have to face a new challenge. With normal social position being reversed; for the former lower class it is a gain of power. For the former upper class it is a substantial loss of power and influence. That shock will (intentionally) create students who are more aware about their present situation and they will start to observe the whole system in a more balanced and fairer way.
I think, it can be said that the student's awareness of the present system is brought to them by the progress of the game and in many cases they will be more aware than they have ever been before in their life of the faults and unfairness of society. Also the fact that it covers different aspects of the present model of modern society is very good and makes it very authentic. Ray Otero tries to build a society as close to reality as possible, which definitely cannot be done in four weeks, so he employs compression, and exaggerates in some points to get the best result. He also supervises them during the time and reacts to waywardness to keep the project on the intended course.
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Research essay sample on Upper Class Jack London
