Social Commentary
By: Lauren Harries
Social Commentary
Define:
Commentary on social issues or society.
Evaluate:
Social commentary is important because it highlights the issues or problems that we experience. It causes one to look at and focus on issues and to think about them which hopefully leads to the resolution and solutions to these problems. Social commentary draws attention to these concerns and lets people know that they are important. As one reads in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, their social standards during that time period were important and became an issue throughout the story. Mark Twain highlights this in his book bringing it to your attention.
Types:
- Public Speaking
- Fiction
- Non-fiction
- Media, television, and film
- Visual
- Music
Huckleberry Finn Example
One example of social commentary from Huckleberry Finn is the theme of education. In the book, the Widow has Huck attend school despite the fact that he hates it. She tells him repeatedly that he needs to go and eventually Huck was able to say, "I hated the school [at first], but by and by I got so I could stand it." (Page 15) Huck's Pap tells him that he hates the fact that he is educated and tries to be better than his old man and other people. The reader sees how Huck looks up to Tom Sawyer believing that street smarts are just as important as being book smart. While Huck does not enjoy school, he does enjoy that fact that he is smarter than some of the people that he meets out in the world. Mark Twain shows, through this the fact, that while it is tradition for a young boy to be educated, it is not always one's favorite thing. Through Huck, Twain shows that to be better adapted to survive on you own in the world, one needs both book and street smarts.
Current Day Example
A current day example of social commentary is technology. People are so engrossed into their tablets, phones and computers today, that people do not have many face to face conversations. People rarely call each other anymore. Now, people text each other, because it is easier to say things and communicate this way. Everything is on your device from friends, to education, school and games. During school hours, many students are not paying attention as they are distracted due to their devices. As a generation, we are so used to having devices in our hands, we no longer function well without them. Right now, as a society, we are too reliant and dependent on our devices. We continue to lose life skills, the ability to communicate and are becoming less social in person and more social online.
Personal Example
I chose the subject of pollution, because it is a prominent issue in today's society. Many people decide to just drop their trash without thought, when in fact, it actually does. Pollution contributes to a much bigger picture threatening the safety of our environment. I decided to portray this social commentary in a visual Wordle, because it is colorful and gets the individuals attention. In Wordle, I am able to represent pollution using a multitude of words that represents the different types of pollution and their effect on the environment. It is filled with a mix of prevention words and words that represent what it causes. Overall, pollution is a problem that we all share. People need to be less careless and remember that even though it seems like so much work the trash cans and recycling bins that are there for a reason and we all must use them to keep the world clean for our future.