Winter Break HW

1. According to a well-known children's rhyme, 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.' Do you agree or disagree with this? Give reasons.

I disagree with the statement of ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me’ because there are plenty of people out there who are hurt by words. If someone that I really like tells me that they hate me and that they’re never going to talk to me again, I would be very hurt. When we were all little kids, we were all made fun of with names, whether it be “fatty” or “ugly.” As kids, those words hurt us deeply, and it left a scar. When I was a little kid, my friends made fun of my crooked teeth. As a response to this, I went to go get braces, because I, too, believed that my teeth were the ugliest set of teeth ever. This is also the same for adults. When girls get called ugly, they want to do whatever they can with their money and power to beautify themselves. They hate being called ugly, because it hurts their feelings, and they feel as if they are going to be unloved for being ugly. In response to this, girls go to plastic surgeons to fix their faces to make them prettier. Words may seem like just words, but they have a powerful impact on our society. With one word, the king has the ability to kill or save one’s life. With one word, the president of the United States has the ability to make a change that will change America forever. Just like this, words have a very strong effect on people of all ages and races. I honestly think that the children’s rhyme should be rewritten to ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words cut deeper into the heart.’

2. Find out something about the political correctness (PC) movement, which seeks to use language to change attitudes to the oppressed of disadvantaged. What arguments are there in favour of political correctness and what arguments are there against it?

Political Correctness is attempting to make broad changes in society. This usually requires one to be very careful of word choices, avoiding any word that may offend one of the parties in any way. These sensitive issues are usually ones that deal with things like illegal immigrants, homosexuality, and abortion. The pro about PC is that it does not offend anyone, since that is what its main function is to say things without offending people. However, the con to Political Correctness is that because it does not offend anyone, it becomes a situation that is not really considered a big deal, since it has no sensitivity.