Wage Labor and Capitalism (Analysis 4)

The very moving and universal issue of immigrants being paid less than what they should be getting is illustrated in the documentary called “Made in La.” In this documentary, we see how immigrants are being forced to work in factories where they are exposed physically and mentally. These individuals don’t know how to speak English, therefore they are stuck working for factories that pay them cents for an item capitalists sell for $15 (surplus value). They are given no breaks for water or food and if they decide to complain they are fired, hence left with no other alternatives in which they are able to support their families and children. Karl Marx writes in explicate detail how Wage labor and Capital go hand in hand in his work titled “Wage Labor and Capital.” Marx defines wage labor as “the sum of money paid by the capitalists for a particular labor time or for a particular output of labor” (Marx 659).


However, in reality and in the core lies the mere fact that these people sell to the capitalist their labor power. The exchange value that is taking place is not considered to be an equal exchange, therefore considered cheap labor and a way in which the higher class takes advantage of the lower class.



The film named “The Devil Wears Prada” starring Anne Hathaway (Andy Sachs) and Meryl Streep (Miranda Priestly) brings into light the parallel issues of exposing workers in the fashion industry. However, this film as opposed to the documentary, glamorizes those who lack the means of production, hence are subject to it. The movie is about a magazine editor who has created her own fashion magazine empire by using those lower in class. The very first words that she utters to the new co-assistant that she has hired is “So, you don’t read runway? And before today, you have never heard of me?”This depicts how this particular industry, just like America as a whole, has its own language. A language that you are expected to know well in order to be considered anything but an instrument to the bourgeoisie production relation. Meryl’s character continues by saying “You have no style, no sense of fashion.” This is a translucent mirror to how Capitalism works. They sit you down, they observe your appearance, the color of your skin and judge you accordingly. As the movie progresses, we see the character of Anne Hathaway transform herself into a fashion inspired “individual” by allowing the ruling material force of society dominate the ruling intellectual force- which is meant to be a personal choice/force. Essentially we reach the idea that what we produce and how we produce it identifies us as people. In a country where Capitalism is so dominating, individualism has been lost and perished.
In conclusion, the Capitalism is nothing without the labor worker. If there is no worker there is no product. If there is no product there is no surplus value/ even exchange. When there is none of the things that Capitalism is primarily founded on, there are no people buying the products. All the precautions employers take with keeping their workers healthy goes back to square one- their economic status.

Works Cited
Marx, Karl. "Wage Labor and Capital." Literary Theory: An Anthology. Second Ed. Julie Rivkin & Michael Ryan, MA: Blackwell Publisihing Ltd. 2004. 659-664. Print.

Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Group Presentation)

My group presentation was on Sigmund Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle. We as a group sought to target Freud’s theory on compulsions and the pleasure we receive from them and the treatments that he came up with to put a stop to these compulsions. To simplify the theories by Freud, we used daily habits of biting nails, lips, moving arms and legs, touching facial parts, playing with hair to exemplify whether or not these habits bring forth pleasure or if they originate from past experiences. All four of us had to come up with questions that reflect those that Freud would ask our classmates if he were to be treating their habits- simpler versions of compulsions. Most of the questions that I came up with consisted of quotes from the book and followed with asking if they find that fact to be true about their habits. We decided we could pretend to be Freud for a day and diagnose the class. Another way I contributed was by making our power point slides. I asked my group members to send me the key points they wanted to discuss. The portion I focused on in Beyond the Pleasure Principle was the notion of transference neurosis. In this I described how and where it originated from and what it actually was. I mentioned how transference neurosis was originally an art interpreting. Because this technique did not solve the therapeutic problem, retracing from our memory to indicate where our resistances came from became the newest approach. It was a therapeutic treatment and the focus of it was to make the unconscious transgress in to our conscious mind. The only way in which to do this, according to Freud, was for the patient to re-experience/repeat the repressed material (that was forgotten) and to make it a part of the present as opposed to the past. Once the patient starts to remember, the analyst has to make sure this transference becomes a permanent part of the memory. Overall, the classes response to our presentation was a positive one and the experience I took from it was, to sum it up, very educational and highly enjoyable.

Can Someone Please Tell Me What Structuralism Is?

The term “structure” as we know it is a term that provokes the idea of order. Structuralism in the field of linguistics is based upon the realization that if human actions/productions have a meaning, there MUST be an underlying system of distinctions and conventions which makes this meaning possible. Semiology is a science that studies the life of signs within society. What constitutes signs? What governs them? Essentially, structuralism and semiology are inseparable from one another. Sings- the basic element of the language system- brings into light the two sides that create it: the signified and the signifier. The signifier is what one hears or sees (picture); signified is the mental image of the word (“tree”). This supports the theory that the words in our language are sound-images.

Works Cited
Saussure, Ferdinand."Course in General Linguistics." Literary Theory: An Anthology. Second Ed. Julie Rivkin & Michael Ryan, MA: Blackwell Publisihing Ltd. 2004. 59-71. Print.

Russian Formalists or American New Criticism… Which do you prefer?

Russian Formalism and American New Criticism are both ways in which one is able to look at a literary work, but in very different ways. Prior to the formalist movements in the late twentieth century, Russian formalism and American New Criticism was the study of literature that was concerned with everything about literature except language, from the historical context of a literary work to the biography of its author. The Russian Formalists were interested both in describing the general characteristics of literary language and in analyzing the specific devices or modes of operation for such language. Their most famous claim was that literary language consists of an act of defamiliarization. The Russian Formalist movement focuses more on the qualities of narrative/poetic language (literary devices) therefore, makes the approach a scientific and rational one. For literature to be literature it must constantly defamiliarize the familiar, and the only way to do that is through the use of devices.

However, the American new Criticism is anti-scientific and interested in the non-rational dimension of art. Two very well known terms are a part of a new critical legacy- intentional fallacy and the affective fallacy. According to the intentional fallacy, meaning resides in the verbal design of a literary work, not in statements regarding his/her intention that the author might make. According to the affective fallacy- the subjective effects or emotional reactions a work provokes in readers are irrelevant to the study of the verbal object itself, since its objective structure alone contains the meaning of the work. This approach informed the study of literature with a concern for traditional religious and aesthetic values of a kind being displaced by science.

Taking into account each approach and what their focuses are within literary texts and applying that to modern life, it is safe to say that critics in this day and time use the American New Criticism more than the Russian Formalist approach. We tend to be more captivated by the universal truth rather than the brilliance of technique in a work. Everything we see and breath is entertainment. One can say that this massive industry and the ideas that come along with it is a way in which to become more utopian- like. If we no longer take notice of the structure of things what else is there really that’s valuable? Are you not utterly disgusted of the constant defamiliarization of the same mass product in different forms? I know I am…

Works Cited

Rivkin, Julie and Ryan, Michael. "Introduction: Formalist." Literary Theory: An Anthology. Second Ed. Julie Rivkin & Michael Ryan, MA: Blackwell Publisihing Ltd. 2004. 3-6. Print.

Characters Defamiliarized to Mirror our Government (Analysis 2)

The Lion King is known to be one of the best, if not the best, animated Disney film that has ever been produced. Although the story is intended for children, the theme of injustice and oppression among social classes/ranks (rich/poor; strong/weak) is very relevant to the government that we have had, ever since governments came into coexistence. In this picture, I see Simba and his loved ones on the left and on the right we find the hyenas and Scar (Simba’s uncle) who surround Simba with their evil smirks and laughter’s. They clearly represent hatred, vice, power, lies, and wealth/power. If you look at only the left side of this picture and imagine yourself with your loved ones, it can be considered a “sublime” moment and connecting it to the right side of the picture, we see the hyenas and the uncle wanting to deprive them of the moment that goes beyond any sense in their body. This picture makes the familiar, which is the typical civilian and the evil of government, into unfamiliar characters but still bringing into light the idea of conquering evil and landing on top. This is a representation of hope, liberty, justice and most importantly, unity. As Saussure writes, “language may be analyzed as a formal system of differential elements, apart from the messy dialects of real time production and comprehension” (Saussure 59). Although the intentions of those who created this film may not be of societal class, according to Saussure, the picture can be analyzed by looking into the differential elements (good and evil) and by taking out what is only evident about the image. The concept of Semiology plays a major role and is where the signs in society are acknowledged and studied by asking questions like “What constitutes them?” and “What governs them?” (Saussure 60). Speculating this picture even further is to take notice of the cliff in which Simba and his kin stand in (green grass) and how Scar and the hyenas lay below them in dirt. This is to say that although “others” many times are scrutinized, those with evil intentions will always remain below those who are pure and loving.

Works Cited

Saussure, Ferdinand. "Course in General Linguistics." Literary Theory: An Anthology. Second Ed. Julie Rivkin & Michael Ryan, MA: Blackwell Publisihing Ltd. 2004. 59-71. Print.

Imitation at its Grandest (Analysis 1)

Since imitative artists represent men in action, and men who are necessarily either of good or bad character (for as all people differ in their moral nature according to the degree of their goodness and badness), these men should be represented either as better than we are, or worse, or as the same kind of people as ourselves (Aristotle 59).
In Plato’s Republic, the main idea in which he stresses is his powerful perspective on poets and why they should be banned from the society they live in. Plato, through his protagonist Socrates, brings forth the reasons to why he believes this to be so crucial for people to understand and therefore, the concept lies in three simplistic explanations:
1.They pretend to know everything, but they do not.
2.The things that they deal with cannot be known: they are images far removed from what is new.
3.The images that poets portray do not imitate the good parts of the soul.

In conclusion, poetry deceives us into sympathizing with those who grieve excessively, who lust inappropriately and with those who laugh at base things. Through poetry we are able to feel suppressed feelings, we are able to connect with the author and formulate the excessive language needed to self identify.

For instance, how do we know who we are and where we come from? How can we self identify ourselves and characterize ourselves if we don’t have the language (vocabulary) to do so?

This is the function of poetry in conjunction with every piece of commendable literature. It allows us to reach deep within ourselves and find a common ground with the author. However, people like Plato or his character Socrates want to sustain a civilized government and know exactly well that people cannot ever sustain a utopian- like government because knowledge is admired and always will be. There is even a mention of changing the stories of the gods and the heroes so that people are not rebellious and out of order. They know this fact better than anyone and this is why Socrates regrets banishing the poets.
Alongside Plato was a philosopher named Aristotle, who described poetry as mimetic (imitative), in that it creates a representation of objects and events in the world. It reveals universal truths and how much more universally truthful can you get in this time of day when speaking about the media and the deconstructive impact it has on regular individuals like you and I ? Check out Pinks music video called “Stupid Girls”…








The clip in Aristotle terms is mimetic because it represents a world that exists by revealing all the universal truths that embody our media and eventually demolish from ground up all moral and civilized behavior. The beginning of the clip shows a little girl who has the devil telling her to portray and imitate what she sees in the media and the angel telling her to ignore it all and to just play with her toys. The concept of good and evil that I quoted in the very beginning is all over why Socrates is banning the poets. It is very interesting to find Pink demonstrating that “we learn our earliest lessons by imitation” (Aristotle 60). Because our media plays such a massive role in our lives, imitating these real life issues and shedding light on the shallowness behind it gives the truth the attention it needs to alert people of what/ who they are mirroring and whether it is what they intended to be. Many times the only reality surveillance camera is imitation…It is what we as people are most drawn to.
[It is important to remember that just because a song is sung as opposed to only being read, its beginning is a poem which progresses into a song by inputting the right melody and rhythm. Living during the 21st century many people have a difficult time connecting the two types of art].

Works Cited
Murray, Penelope and Dorsch, T.S. Classical Literary Criticism. London, England, 2000Pg 59-60.

What do you look for when analyzing a text?

The answer to this question is one with plenty of responses, which makes the topic a very controversial one when broken down. My response to this question lies in the historical, cultural, economical (class/rank) social, religious and political background of the author. That has always been my way to get a deeper understanding of a text and the intentions of authors. Understanding the person who wrote it, the time in which he/she wrote their work, the circumstances they had to deal with when growing up and the involvement they had with certain issues during their time can all contribute to understanding the authors work from a more personal standpoint. In my opinion, you cannot separate the author form the work. The two are solitary and have to be considered so if it’s considered to touch a readers heart. If it connects to a reader then it must somehow be an issue taken from a real life situation. The situation does not have to be one with the author’s involvement, but instead any living, breathing human beings. It is definitely rational that the author doesn’t draw directly from their own personal lives. Doing research on a writer and basing their work on their persona are two very different perspectives that can many times become perplexed. The two are not to be thought of the same because the focus should always remain the art because art is beautiful, original and everlasting…
Ignorance is Strength