Side 2 - Skrf. eksamen, 3g - QUEENIE!

Må man godt poste hele sin stil herinde? Altså den er jo ikke bedømt endnu og sådan, og hvis de finder ud af det, kan det vel spille ind.. Eller hvad? Jeg kunne da godt lige tænke mig at få en lille vurdering af den :)

#20 Nej, jeg har det installeret på min bærbar. Ellers ville det jo være eksamenssnyd.

#21
Det kan jeg ikke se noget problem i. Jeg kunne også godt bruge et lille prej om hvor min stil befinder sig henne på skalaen.

B
Through time western imperialistic mentality has oppressed alternative ways of living this has happened through colonisation. In this context the British Empire has had the leading role, controlling enormous parts of the third world, discharging the different colonies for their natural resources and used the profits for their own benefit to gain power. The consequences of this imperialistic foreign politics manifest itself in the modern world where poverty is a growing issue along with hunger, which comes as a natural result of poverty. The inequality that exists in the modern world seems irretrievable, and this fact has driven many people from the third world to seek citizenship in western countries, hoping to create a better future for them selves and their families. Unfortunately western people have a tendency to perceive them selves as being more intelligent than people from other races, and in spite of the treatment western society has exposed the third world to, we act according to our ignorant instincts which consists of racist behaviour.

In the short story “Queenie”, we are presented to the main character Queenie Buxton, who also functions as the narrator. We soon learn that Queenie contains a slightly naive and ignorant nature “I’d thought I’d been to Africa (…) Early Bird, our teacher (…) informed me that Africa was a country”(l. 1-4), this quotation shows the reader, not only the ignorant nature of the narrator Queenie, but also the teacher’s ignorance, considering Africa being a continent, as well known fact.
We also experience Queenie as being adventurous “I cried because I wanted to see more countries” (l. 74-75), in contrast to her mother who is rarely interested in the cultures of the different countries, “Mother was not interested in the different woods of Burma or the biggame trophies of Malaya” (l. 48-49). Queenie’s open-mindedness and need for knowledge is oppressed by the mother’s ignorant nature, “No one could tell me what the dots were for (…) Mother said I shouldn’t in case the dots meant they were ill – in case they were contagious” (l. 69-71).

The fact that the father is a butcher and his passion for machines “Father then went off to find modern machinery”(l. 88), symbolizes the destructive nature that is ingrained in western society and mentality. Where as the Africans’ live in harmony with nature, although western society has tried to destroy this harmony.

Freud believed that it is in our childhood that we are shaped, and it is the norms and mentality of the society that determines how your personality develops. One of the themes is the parents’ role in children’s personal development, in this short story this theme is expressed through the mother’s behaviour, because she is corrupting Queenie’s easily impressionable mind.
The most essential theme is race relations and how ignorance can develop into racism and thereby destruct the harmony that should exist between the races. The story shows that we as children does not distinguish between races, it is not until it is indoctrinated to distinguish between the races we become aware of our different colours.

In the ending the father says “you’ve got the whole world at your feet”(l.136-137). This refers to the exhibit having the hole world represented in different stalls, but in the figurative sense it means that Queenie can has got the possibility to do exactly what she wants with no reservations, in contrast to African refugees who does not have the same possibilities because they are constantly met with ignorance and prejudice believes such as the ones Graham represents “They’re not civilised”(l.91)
The ending also shows that we as children can go in any direction we are easily impressionable; we can become good and understanding people with respect for everyone no matter race and no matter gender. Unfortunately it is not always in our power to decide how we turn out to be.

To make the world function we have to be more tolerant and avoid teaching our children to distinguish between races, that way we only create a society of hate and inequality, and it is inevitable that we eventually will destroy our selves, if our mentality is not changed for the better.


C
“In order to obtain citizenship in Denmark it is compulsory to pass a language and culture test.”
In a short essay discuss wether this is justified.

In order to discuss this issue, you have to distinguish between the clients for citizenship. I think it is essentially wrong to make this kind of legislation; it should not be academic qualifications that determines whether a client is appropriate to get access to the same rights as a native Dane. Each application should be treated individually, and each client’s motivation for their application should be taken in consideration.
It would be ethically wrong to refuse refugees access to our country and deny them an opportunity to obtain Danish citizenship, it should be a human right to live and work anywhere you please if this possibility is not available in your home country. After all it is our selves who have created the gab between our cultures; therefore it is our duty to help and reduce the gab between our cultures, this is not done through malicious legislations and restrictions preventing refugees to create a decent life for them selves and their families. They will eventually adapt to our society and learn our language, we can not expect them to learn our language instantly and definitely not if we keep them isolated in concrete houses where the only contact with the Danish society is when the police comes to visit.
We live in an individualistic society where the main goal for the common citizen is self-realization and therefore we try to preserve the exclusiveness which is connected with living in Denmark. We can not comprehend that people come here for various reasons, and not only to obtain the exclusiveness we

Queenie

B – Write an essay
There are several themes in this prologue. We are dealing with humane themes as class differences and ignorance in different ways. There are many social conditions in the story; the relationship between the rich farmers, the workers and the oppressed class. The parents and their daughter belong to the first group, Emily and Graham belong to the workers group and the black people from around the world belong to the oppressed class. The paradox is between the two first groups and the oppressed group and it is mainly caused by ignorance and superciliousness among the white people. This leads us to the more existentialistic theme which of course is the relationship between black and white people – racial prejudice. Because the story seems to include the whole world (it says in line 137 that Queenie has the whole world at her feet) it is not only the relationship between blacks and whites but the whole “us and them” complex.

“Queenie” is a story told in first person – by Queenie. This is important because she is a young girl with no prejudices who is telling the story. Her age is not mentioned but we know that she is not ready to take care of herself yet. She is not a stupid girl, but when it comes to knowledge about the whole wide world, she is a bit ignorant. In the beginning of the story there is an episode that tells us about it; actually she thought she had been to Africa, but the teacher corrects her and tells her that it was only an amusement park. In fact the teacher is a bit ignorant too because she thinks that Africa is a country – it is a continent. We are in 1920 or something – just a couple of years after the Great War (l. 15) so I don’t know how much the reader could expect of an 8-10-year-old girl to know about the world. Queenie finds the Empire Exhibition trip very exciting. In line 19-20 she says that the Stephenson’s Rocket “must be as big as the whole world”. This shows that she is very excited and has some huge expectations. She meets human kinds that she’d never seen before; Indian women with red dots in the forehead and a big black man. These encounters are the most important passages in the story.

As I wrote it is important for the story that Queenie has no racial prejudices. It shows how her parents and Emily and Graham are trying to change her mind about strangers. She actually wanted to know more about the Indian women with the dots in the forehead, but she is told by her mother to stay away because they could be contagious (l. 68-71). In line 95-126 Queenie meets the black man whom she actually finds interesting and a bit strange. She ponders on why he has brown lips because they should be pink like everyone else’s. Graham makes fun of him because he does not know that the black man is able to speak English. Graham tells her to kiss him, but instead the black man says in English that they should shake hands instead. This is like a punch in Graham’s face. When shaking hands with him, she realizes that he is like any other guy, but again people around her tries to change her mind. First of all: Graham does not want to wee in the toilets. He does not want to take orders from a black guy, and he wants to keep his pride. Therefore he wees behind some bins. Also her father tries to change her minds: He tells her that it is absolutely not normal for a black guy to speak English, and he would have been a chief in his own country because of his abilities. Also it is the white man’s “fault” that the black people are able to speak English nowadays.

Queenie is the daughter of a butcher family who owns a farm. They have several persons working for them. The parents are called Mother and Father because the story is seen from Queenie’s point of view – that is what every kid would call the parents. It is clearly the parents who are in charge and this is where one of the other themes expresses: the class difference between Mother and Father and the farm staff. Emily and Graham don’t have much to say. The parents decide where to go in the park. The mother tells Emily to watch her mouth when Emily is calling Queenie names (l. 75). The father gives instructions twice which tell us that he does not have very much confidence in Graham (l. 76). He prefers to call Graham Jim because he finds Graham a bit too fancy (l. 32).

The end of the story is symbolic and ambiguous. The fathers wise words to Queenie are: “See here, Queenie. Look around. You’ve got the whole world at your feet, lass.” (. 136-137). It could mean that white people are on top of the world and rulers of the world, but it could also be an advice to Queenie to utilize her life in the best ways and try to approach some goals in life. There is so much to learn and so much to knowledge to seek in the world. Queenie knows that she would never forget this moment. Maybe because of her experiences that day that made very big impressions on her. I think she realizes how big the world is and how lucky she is to be a part of the highest class in the world.

The story shows in a way how we all are getting in touch with the different races and how people when we are kids are influencing us and trying to change our opinions. If there was no one to tell Queenie that the women with the dots in their foreheads are dangerous, Queenie will live her life with no prejudices. Maybe she would invent her own prejudices but she would probably shoot them down. The story shows that she is very curious about the strange people.

C – 2
“In order to obtain citizenship in Denmark it is compulsory to pass a language and culture test.” Is this fair? I think it is a very good question. It is a discussed subject in the Danish media. The quote sounds much like the Danish party, Dansk Folkeparti (DF). They’re actually up with a bill which sounds much like this. I support it in a way, but not fully. I remember that an old law says that you have to live in Denmark for seven years to obtain citizenship in Denmark. This is very long time, but it does not always motivate immigrants and fugitives to learn very much about the Danish culture which I find a bit aggravating. I think it is very important to understand the Danish language if you want to be a Danish citizen. The statistics shows that it is not all Danish people who is able to pass the test – are they going to be dismissed? What about immigrants who have been in Denmark for 20 or 30 years? Are they going to pass the test to keep on living in Denmark?

I think the rules should be fair to anyone and if a big part of the Danish population is not able to pass this language test, it is clearly a bad idea. A culture test is a good idea for the integration and the motivation to “become more Danish”. Immigrants are not going to be dismissed if they don’t pass the test – they can still live in Denmark but just not as Danish citizens. Another thing is the ghetto problems we are dealing with in Denmark. If people are crowding in ghettos they are not able to learn about the culture and they will probably speak their mother language with their own kinds. Lots of the media are talking about immigrants as problems, but the problem is not them, it is the differences between us and them. This difference has to be minimized and the only way to do this is to spread the immigrants and dissolve the ghetto areas and teach them about our culture. Nevertheless I don’t find the bill discriminating like many people in Denmark does. I think we have to revise how to do deal with this many times before making further laws.

Translation
A British economist has written a book in which he refuses traditional theories.
He claims that happiness, the gross national product and the competitiveness in an even lower extent should be the overriding principle of economic politics. He supports his own theory: in spite of the fact that the western countries are doing at least twice as good as 50 years ago, they aren’t more content. On of the occasions leading to this is that wealth is judged more relative than absolute. (The joy reduces if the wage increase of an associate is higher than your own.)
A reasonable paid job which rooms pride, challenges and independence, contains the wages in itself and creates effective and happy colleagues.

Hvad har folk fået af karakterer i den her? Så vidt jeg kan høre på mine medstuderende er der givet temmelig dårlige karakterer.

Jeg fik et dejligt 10-tal (havde også fået 10 i års). Så er egentlig ganske tilfreds med det :)

Jeg fik 9, så det er sgu fint nok

Fik 8, og fik 10 i årskarakter, så er lidt skuffet.