Modern Times: Machines v/s Men… Where is the Real Progress?

In general aspects, Modern Times is an interesting movie about the epoch of progress, social movements, technology and modernity. It is also an analogy between men and machines. Charles Chaplin, as the main character, works in a factory where he is forced to work hardly and in poor conditions. In fact, he is treated and manipulated like a machine. He does not have time to relax and even to eat, because factory’s productions take a relevant place in those times. In other words, his life is involved into tedious production routines that make him feel extremely stressful. As the story progress, Charles looses his job and is taken to jail. Finally, this man meets a poor young lady whom he falls in love. Sharing time together, they start a new life, thinking of in some possibilities to get a better quality of life. Regarding to this, the film shows us the expectations of them to get material things as a way to face their poverty, which is one of the major negative consequences of progress and modernity.

The most interesting about Charles Chaplin’s film is that he tries to represent the complex reality of society in those times, under an ironic but at the same time humoristic perspective. Through his film, we can identify relevant facts which are part of modernity. To illustrate, we can mention the machine’s invention that comes to take the place of that men used to, making human’s life easier, but at the same time men become a machine more like a person. Unfortunately, men’s happiness is focus on progress and this fact is deeply involved in Chaplin’s film. In the same way, there are many others facts which the director has developed very well, such as: the strong and difficult worker’s conditions, poverty, hope in progress and technological advances. Even though it is a silent film , we can pay more attention to details. We can appreciate Charles Chaplin’s talent using his body language, to communicate us his message. For all these reason that I have mentioned before, I totally recommend this film. We can realize about the powerful influence that modernity had had through time and how this has seriously affected our life in terms of progress as human beings. Moreover, I strongly believe that Modern Times film helps us to think about the role that we have in the world. As a result, I wonder if would we like to change our life system or would we like to live as human-machines like we have been doing for a long time? So, what is the real progress?

How important is the relationship of language and culture?

The aim of this essay is to introduce you about the relationship between Language and culture, and how these both issues are related to or influence education. But what do we understand by language? How important is language in our life?

In general aspects, language is a way of expression belonged to members of any culture. It includes behaviour, interaction, point of views, signs, values, feelings. Claire Kramsch has mentioned that “language express and embodies cultural reality”. This is particularly important if we want to understand that language plays an important role in any culture. In fact, language is so powerful, meaningful and important, because is closely related to the construction of our identity as society.We give the world a meaning through language, in a sense that the world is a reproduction of our beliefs, dreams, needs and values. Because we give the world a meaning, at the same time every human being is mainly responsible to participate or not in it.

For this, culture as the second aim, takes importance to the language, but what do we understand by culture? Culture can be defined as a construction process of an identity that represents a group of people that belong to a specific place or community. Culture is not an isolated or empty concept. It is full of meaning because has been building by men. While we are alive culture will be too. As subjects within or inside a society, we are the main responsible to create a specific culture and of course our own identity. Through language we give the world a meaning and order about what is more important to us. For this reason, language and culture need each other. We cannot understand language without culture because “Language plays a major role in the perpetuation of culture, particularly in its printed form”, as the author pointed out.

In the same way, education is completely involved within a culture, with a common or not so common language among people. However, what do we teach when we teach? Do we teach culture or we build it in a context? In terms of Education, as future teachers, we are essential subjects in the hard process of building and after a fashion transforming society. But I wonder; when we teach, we teach in an isolated context, with people whom do not have background? As every society includes a particular culture, it is include also different people. Likewise, the places where we have born or lived shape us and have an enormous influence in what we are, believe our language, etc.

As a result, I personally think that, as future teachers, we cannot deny this with our future students, because they are going to have diverse ways of thinking, seeing and behaving. Therefore, their needs, values and languages are going to be different. Each student is a world by itself and while we teach, we have to face different contexts where we obviously meet different people who are history but culture too. In this way, when we teach our students, we also teach culture through certain values, principles, customs beliefs, codes, ideas or common expression which all of these have to be meaningful for them because giving the world a meaning is the only way to build, transform and have a better life.

To conclude, in relation what I have mentioned before, I would say that if we would like to make a big change in education, we should keep in mind that every time when we teach we can not impose a “culture” because it is already build. “Each student is a world by itself” as I already mentioned before. We cannot impose a way of thinking or believing and even feeling. It would be an imposition that does not have any relation what teaching supposed to be or mean. In summary, each of us is unique. Then, we, as educators, have to create an atmosphere where our students feel comfortable to share their experiences and enrich their spirits through a meaningful language. Being critical about what we want to change of our culture and having a dialogue among educators and students is crucial to transform society, in terms that through language we build human relationships which should be based on love and respect that are universal values which have been lost in this Chilean culture nowadays.

More than an Economic and Technological Revolution

The Industrial Revolution made big and significant changes in man’s life. Particularly, this period of the history, represents the beginning of a new and strong era, which still have a big impact in our daily life. “Production, machines and materialistic progress", are the main issue of this period. Throughout this period, social classes were created and there were more poor people than rich people. In fact, this brought inequality and poverty. Because of the enormous impact that this fact provoked in society, unfortunately, many people or “minorities” belonged to the periphery had to move on to the city to survive, because city was the maximum representation of modernity, hope progress and a possibility to arise economically. This fact provoked that many people such as miners, women and children were exploited and manipulated to work in hard conditions. As a consequence of this, they lived in extreme poverty and abandon conditions.

Nevertheless, thanks to members of parliament and organized workers, there were big social transformations during this period, which provoked education, labour and slavery reforms. Regarding to this, I wonder: What types of benefits provoked this milestone? I strongly believe that The Industrial Revolution, as well as it brought a new conception of progress; also it immensely provoked a human impoverishment. Since this period, man’s life is focused on production, doing of man, a kind of “human-machine” focused in the obtaining of material richness. In this sense, man passed to be, a human being into a machine of production, where spiritual impoverishment is much more astonishing as the all gold of the world.

Elizabeth I “The Heretical Virgin”

Elizabeth I Film is a clear interpretation of a historical event, which narrates the struggle of power among Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth I of England in the early 18th Century. In fact, the whole movie is a religious war, where the main issue is to preserve faith as tool of power and control. The Conservatism Protestant has taken for Spain, like a political threat and the whole film is about how Spain tries to exile the Queen Elizabeth I whom is the maximum example of power.

Marie Stuart, who was Queen of Scotland and Elizabeth I cousin, fervently wants to be the new queen of England. This situation generates a strained relationship among them. Because of her desire of being a queen, Spain manipulates Marie Stuart as a political strategy to attack or overthrow England. In other words, Philip II of Spain recognize in Marie Stuart’s faith, the protection to the Catholic integrity.

On the other hand, the tense relationship among Philip II and Elizabeth I generates a territorial threat and ethical climate. For this reason, Elizabeth as a clever and sometimes dictatorial woman, takes a difficult but right decision, and decides to fight against Phillip II of Spain. Clearly, this fact lets us know her strong personality in those times.

Finally, we can appreciate Elizabeth that adopts a virginal image, hieratic and sacred as the only way to preserve power. Probably, this is the most interesting of the Film, because Elizabeth I, as the Queen of England, postponed her human passions in pursuit of cohesion to the English people. Through the auto- imposition of a virginal image, Elizabeth I replaces, from her woman's role, the absence of the feminine catholic divinity, that gets lost in the Protestant morality. In other words, she tries to replace the virgin Marie absent, in the transition to Lutheran faith.

The Resurgence of English 1200-1400

The resurgence of English is the most important and remarkable event which still have an important and enormous influence in this modern age. Reading the text I have realized how powerful and influential could be a country in terms of its culture and language among other countries. During that epoch England and France were the biggest powerful countries and both had a turbulent relationship. However, the onset of the hundred years of war was an important issue that brings to England a sense of identity. This big issue makes declines French as the most common language spoken in those times and English started to increase as the language of power. Many French words had an impact on English because 10.000 of its words were entered to be part of English as well. Nowadays, English is the most common and popular language spoken around the world. For this reason I think how powerful could be just one success in the history of any country. In a certain way, an event from the past can enormously change the perspective, the culture, and the language of the world as is in this case English like the Universal language.

Stonehenge

Regarding to C. Hibbert article, I would say Stonehenge was and still is quite interesting and important part of England history. Particularly, it is because we can realize how some civilizations or specific groups of people can disappear but, they are still alive through time. Clearly, Stonehenge is a representation of it. Thanks to this magic ruins; nowadays we are able to access to this culture which calls the attention of many people around the world, including myself.

Regarding to Stonehenge’s mystery, it has been claimed by experts and archaeologists that this was a place of healing where people used to go there to obtain recovery because of its medicinal properties, transforming this place as a temple. This is particularly interesting to me. Reading the article, I could not stop to think in how wonderful could be the relationship among human beings and nature and also how as humans we build our life within it. Stonehenge is a clear demonstration of it because we realized the important role of the man in the construction of the history in terms of his beliefs.

Thanks to the text, I travelled through time. I imagined people from that ancient time doing those sorts of rituals to invoke the power of nature as a special energy belonged to the Universe. I feel as though it is a love demonstration of Cosmos to them. It remains me that the relation we have with nature, encourages us to find a place in the history that we have been building for long centuries. For this, Stonehenge is important to me. Probably, these ruins has a secret meaning related to our spiritual essence as human beings that we have not been able to discover yet or probably, it invites us to know more about our past to understand how we should understand nature.

Ways of Seeing by Paulina Valdés

In general aspects the text written by John Berger is an analogy between art and the way that we see or perceive art in terms of past and present time. One of the aims that the author mentions is “the way we see things are affected by what we know or what we believe”. It means that there is a relation between things and ourselves and when we do this, it includes consciousness of the world. Thus, our past and present are involved. When we see a picture it has to be meaningful to us. We usually try to find something of our past which can have a connection with our present life. Relating this to the particular way we perceive art, it has enormously changed through the time. In ancient times, paintings were unique and just few people or elites had access to appreciate it. Paintings also were in specific places like chapel or churches.

Nevertheless, nowadays there are a lot of people who have the opportunity to appreciate an art work. It has been possibly by the invention of the camera. Thanks to the camera, the way that men saw changed. The author mentions: “the visible came to mean something different to them”. Now, with the camera we can see and be seen. Moreover, the invention of the camera changed the perception that men used to see paintings. Men could make reproductions of original paintings, changing or destroying the uniqueness of its images and at the same time its meanings. As a result, its meanings are going to be several because since here, everyone is going to be able to look at any picture in a different place and also with a different cost. Pictures, paintings or visual art reproductions have become available, valueless and free for everyone.

To conclude, I would like to refer about the importance to be aware of our past and present. Our past is important because it helps us to be conscious about what we are. In other words, we are our past because we build our life as social and historical human beings. The past forces us to realize if we have been or not active subjects in the construction of our own life. For this reason if we are aware of our past it is going to help us to face the present with a big responsibility. In terms of education is the same. As a future teacher I think that it is important to look at our past because we are going to be more conscious about our mistakes. Besides, we could realize if we have been able to be responsible in making changes to have a better progress. We can not forget that we are free to choose if we want to participate or not in the construction for a better society and education is the main issue to do it because as a future teacher it is in our hands to make a change.