The Influence Of Hallyu To Image Of Korea As A Tourist Destination And Dissertation

The Influence Of Hallyu To Image Of Korea As A Tourist Destination And Asian Tourists' Decision-Making - Dissertation Example The Korean Gross Domestic Product (GDP), has been appreciably enhanced due in large part to the interest exhibited by other Asian countries of the region in the quality and content of Korean presentations. The bourgeoning industries (television, movie and tourism), have combined to create a groundswell of opportunities for business, and countless opportunities for employment in all sectors. The positive affects extend far beyond the monetary and quality lf life gains. It also opens up for public scrutiny and consumption, the entire Korean culture. Television viewers and tourist, who are in most instances one in the same, are becoming keenly familiar with Korean people. The Korean Ministry of Tourism has taken a lead role in promoting and improving its country’s image in the world market. Additionally the national government has aggressively taken on projects, involving physical development, and international promotion, which promote and showcase Korean culture; Hallyuwood is a giant bold step, which is planned to be a massive (1,000,000 square meter) project with a multi-theme economic approach. There are questions and some debate whether the hallyu wave warrants such a massive outlay of public funds. The debate calls to the prudent mind that hallyu has all the trimmings of a fad, which as they customarily do, if it is only a novel occurrence the public interest will dissipate before the investors can turn the corner. The only project in Asia, which will rival this undertaking, will be Disneyland â€Å"Japan.†Consequently, it will be the only host-nationally owned theme complex in Asia.

Corporal punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corporal punishment - Essay Example Although corporal punishment’s aim is to impose discipline, parents, guardians and the like must carefully re-consider its effects on the child’s emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. In effect, corporal punishment is not an option in disciplining a child, but is basically a threat towards the child’s overall development. By definition, corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain, intended to correct behavior or to punish (Wikipedia, 2006). Various efforts in support of this corporal punishment attest that such form of discipline must be considered as the pains an individual suffer early in life is translated into feelings of emotional wholeness. Children who underwent corporal punishment strive harder to reach greater goals in life. Proponents of this concept emphasize that fact that it is the most effective form of discipline, particularly for uncontrollable and unmanageable children. Delinquent children are uncontrollable simply because they think their parents do not care about whatever they do. At times, they think their actions are admissible due to their parents’ lack of interest. On the extreme side, their parents do dissuade them against harm’s way, but in effect these types of children are still unthreatened by their parents’ disciplining ways. As the end justifies the means, corporal punishment becomes the only viable solution to delinquent children or to those children who have uncontrollable behavior. Furthermore, it is the easiest way to impose and manage discipline. In addition, parents’ use of harder forms of physical punishment may have less impact on a child, as opposed to the use of emotional violence. There are children who view corporal punishment as a way to feel the love and respect of their parents. By means of spanking, children are able to perceive that their parents still care for them; hence they still spend time and attention through the discipline they impose. If

Film Remakes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Film Remakes - Essay Example Film remaking is both an elastic concept and complex situation especially because the interrelated roles and practices of the industry, critics, and audiences both enable and limit it, thus, to try and understand film remakes, it has been broken down into three major tiers. The first tier deals with remaking as industrial category (Verevis 2006, p.3), which entails issues such as production, including commerce and authors; the second tier is remaking as textual category, and it deals with the genre, plots, and structures. The third and final tier is that of remaking as critical category, which investigates issues of reception, including audiences and institutions; the film remake emerges as a case of repetition, a function of the cinematic discursive fields that is maintained by specific practices in history. For instance, some of the historical practices that actively maintain the concept of film remakes include but are not limited to things such as copyright law and authorship, can on formation and media literacy, in addition to film criticism and reviewing. In that case, the concept of film remaking is a common feature in the history of cinema and it entails a number of technological, textual, and cultural practices; however, film remake has since then been maintained as a separate phenomenon, yet connected. This paper seeks to address some of the crucial pertinent issues surrounding the concept of remaking, while trying to explore a broad theoretical approach that provides both an understanding of the concept of cinematic remaking, and individual film remakes in the contemporary times. Introduction For many years, the cinema has been repeating and replaying its own narratives and genres from the beginnings of time yet film remaking has hardly received any critical attention worth noticing especially because most of the pertinent questions surrounding this concept remain unexplored in film studies. For instance, some of the questions that have seldom been ask ed in film studies concern what film remaking really is, which films that are remakes of other films, how film remaking differs from other types of repetition such a quotation allusion, and adaptation, in addition to, the relationship between remakes and other commercial forms such as sequels, cycles, and series. Apart from these, other pertinent questions that need to be explored in film studies regarding film remakes concern how film remaking differs from the cinema’s more general ability to repeat and replay the same film as many times as possible through re-issue and redistribution. Additionally, film studies might also want to consider the interesting question of how film remaking differs from the way every film is remade- dispersed and transformed- in its varied contexts and reviewing; these and much more are some of the crucial questions that are hardly asked and answered in film studies. There exists several accounts of cinematic remaking, and most of them have provid ed different versions of definitions of film remakes, as new versions of existing films, and as films that to some substantial degree strike as being related to either one or several previous movies. Film remaking is not just about the simplistic cultural knowledge of the existence of, and nature of film remakes because when understood alongside the much broader concept of intertextuality, it can refer to the never-ending and fluid possibilities given forth by the discursive practices of a film culture. Ideally, the remake is distinguished not by the fact of its being a repetition, but by the fact of its being a typical institutional form of the structure of repetition†¦the citationality or iterability, that exists in and for every film† (Verevis 2006, p.1). Just like in the case of the

Georgia Recreation and Park Association Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Georgia Recreation and Park Association - Essay Example These members are drawn from public enterprises, private businesses, academia, etc. Not only do they strive to provide recreation opportunities but also participate in fundraising and technical assistance activities.Bill McNair is the President of GRPA. The Presidentship is shared by Danny Jones and James Dodson. Other prominent members of the top brass include Michael Coleman, Jimmy Gisi, and Steve Card. They are supported by a group of trustees and District Commissioners, who in turn administer other local representatives.The members and Board of Trustees make a combined effort to fulfill GRPA's fundamental purpose, which is "promoting healthy lifestyles through the utilization of park facilities and recreation services for the well being of each citizen individually and the community as a whole, ensuring that park and recreation services are available, and providing organized, supervised activity as a means of prevention for a number of circumstances (disease, stress, etc.) includ ing the prevention of juvenile delinquency." Another function of GRPA is to lobby in Congress to pass new legislation that recognizes the therapeutic value of recreation.   The lobby also interacts with policymakers to allow substantial budgets to support recreation programs and services.   They also work with other non-profits within the state to "continue and/or initiate recreation programs and functions with health and wellness objectives and positive outcomes".   The GRPA also coordinates with the National Recreation and Park Association and lends a helping hand by sponsoring "special events which demonstrate or reinforce recreation, health and wellness relationships."

Importance of Education Essay Example for Free

Importance of Education Essay The Importance of Education: What is the right way to educate? Our society has forgotten that the reason schools exist is to create minds not careers. Education plays a critical role in the development of our humanity. What is the appropriate approach to educate our students in order for them to succeed? Motivation is their key to success quite simply. A teacher humiliating a student in front of their classmates can lead to a negative impact in the student’s lifetime such as: becoming unsocial and causing them a mental discomfort in which in turn could lead to something far more sinister. In the article The Differences Between us: French and American Classrooms mentions a French film The Class, in which a teacher makes fun of his students after they respond incorrectly to a question. â€Å"When they too fail, he in turn ridicules them. Later, losing his temper at two students, he labels them what roughly translates as bitches† (Gillard). This teacher is unaware of the impact his remarks may have on the students being insulted. The students are being emotionally and verbally abused. The first five minutes on her first day she was mortified to tears by a teacher outraged that she had rushed in after the bell while her peers waited beside their desks† (Gillard). Some of the various effects emotional abuse may cause are bringing the students’ self-esteem level down, making them insecure, and therefore developing severe depression. Statistics show that last year’s students have been victims of verbal abuse. â€Å"36. 5 % of youth grades nine through twelve have attempted suicide. 20. % of those attempts resulted in medical care† (compassionpower. com). In the United States we believe in equality among all students. Providing accommodations for those with learning disabilities, this subject is clearly what differentiates the U. S education system from that of other countries. â€Å"Educators rolled their eyes when I asked about in-class accommodations for learning disabilities and individualized education plans† (Gillard). When other countries compare their students to those of the U.  S they should keep in mind they are competing against those with learning disabilities as well. â€Å"I was present for the dictation, given in a first grade class that had three little boys in a state of collapse† (Gillard). Education in France and other nations start children so early in their development and harsh education plan that at such an early stage they to become insecure. The U. S knows there is a need in reforming education. They already have reforms taking place such as the five pillars mentioned by President Obama. Investing in early childhood initiatives like Head Start; encouraging better standards and assessments, by focusing on testing itineraries that better fit our kids and the world they live in; recruiting, preparing, and rewarding outstanding teachers, by giving incentives for a new generation of teachers and for new levels of excellence from all of our teachers. Promoting innovation and excellence in America’s schools by supporting charter schools, reforming the school calendar and the structure of the school day. Providing every American with a quality higher educationwhether its college or technical training (whitehouse. gov). â€Å"Statistics show the percentage of high school dropouts among 16-24 year olds declined from 11. 8 percent in 1998 to 8. 1 percent in 2009† (afterschoolstars. org). Being sociable is fundamental in a career furthermore, in opening greater job opportunities. After school activities have been proven to help reduce the use of drugs, smoking, drinking and engaging in sexual activity. Last but not least, activities help decrease the chances of been overweight. The school ran from 8am to 5pm with a two hour long gaps scattered throughout the schedule. This structure precluded school-wide socializing as well as sponsored afternoon sports or drama activities† (Gillard). The French education plan is misleading their students from their road to success, by engaging them in being unsociable. Countries such as France are already verbally abusing children and making them have issues such as been unsociable that preventing them from taking part of after school activities is just crossing the line. In the book Me Talk Pretty One Day David an American student is studying French in France. He came into class confident in the several words he had learned, until he heard his teacher’s remarks to his classmate’s answers. â€Å"More to the point, how often is one asked and then publicly ridiculed for his answer? † (Sedaris). This French teacher now has not only scared them away but limited the chance of them asking questions in regards to the subject been studied. Asking questions helps a student understand the subject at a greater extend. â€Å"Our daughter described the terror she felt and er peers showed when making presentations in a philosophy class, stuttering in the face of the teachers frequent interruptions of â€Å" unimpressive,† or, â€Å"really? † (Gillard). Making these comments the students learn to feel unconfident in their work and themselves. Other countries should definitely consider reforming the way their teachers educate their students. â€Å"A positive learning climate in a school for young children is a composite of many things. It is an attitude that respects children. It is a place where children receive guidance and encouragement from the responsible adults around them. It is an environment where children can experiment and try out new ideas without fear of failure. It is an atmosphere that builds children self-confidence so that they dare to take risks. It is an environment that nurtures the love of learning,† (quotes. dictionary. com). Teachers should only bring in positive feedback to their students and point out their mistakes to show them where they went wrong. Our society is under so much pressure to succeed. Students need to realize it is ok to be wrong, practice makes perfect. Teachers in other countries need to become more educated to be aware that they are emotionally and verbally scarring students. The U. S equality among students is a subject that should be mimicked by other countries. As our population increases more and more students are becoming victims of this unprofessional â€Å"teachers†. These countries need to stop competing for top scores and focus on the way teachers are applying education to students. The consequences can be life changing. Education should be considered a sacred privilege that all children must have to excel.

Stereotyping Muslim Women in TV and Film

Stereotyping Muslim Women in TV and Film Countless stereotypes and misrepresentation about Arab Muslim women have been dominating the Western media. It all started with the theory of Clash of Civilization that was written by Samuel P. Huntington in 1997. In his theory, Huntington stressed that Islam has visible conflicting vision and action to the Western ideas of liberty and democracy, and that Islam is the main enemy to the West. In other words, Islam and Arabs has different ideologies than the west has. And that the ideologies the west have about democracy and liberty conflict about the Islam understanding of the democracy and liberation. This was the start of the stereotyping of Arabs in general. The problem of stereotyping of Arabs in general has been on the increase since the incident of 9/11. Arabs have been subjected to discrimination and violence since 9/11, a Muslim girl for example that works in a rental car company was simply fired because she was told that she cannot wear her veil, also a hotel employee stated that he was cursed many times and that people called him Taliban and Osama. After September 9/11 attack on the USA, the stereotyping began at its fullest load, that the Islam and Arabs are terrorists, cruel, robbers, heartless, religious fanatics, brutal murderers, and abusers of women. It resulted in the start of o the portrayal of Arab women that they are abused by men, and that they are sex object, belly dancers and gold diggers, and that they have no self esteem, and they are beaten by men and they are only do what men wishes and want without having any opinion about it. Following 9/11, the world started attack Islam and they accused Islam of being a religion of terrorism, however, among those attackers there were many who wanted to know the truth about that religion in order to know whether it is really a religion of terrorism or not. The media exaggerated in reporting the incident of 9/11 which resulted in making a lot of people believe that Arabs and Muslims are terrorists. Also Hollywood is a big part of exaggerating this issue. Cinema Producers and Film Makers keep on making movies that stereotype Arabs as terrorists and killers. They also stereotype them with the five Bs, which are Billionaires, Bombers, Belly dancers, Bedouins, and Barbarians. Jack shaheen in his movie Reel Bad Arabs showed that the western movies are obsessed with portraying of Arab women in their movies, but they portray them from their point of views. They didnt change anything during years of portrayals. Jack Shaheen said that the portray of Arab women mostly as slave girls, a woman wearing a transparent veil that shows her body, and that they are belly dancers and barbarian gold diggers that they are able to do anything in the sake of their well being, Shaheen in his this part about the portray of Arab women as gypsies and gold diggers is right and I agree with him that is mostly the case in western movies that portray Arab women. Moreover, in the Disney movie remake of around the world in 80 days, they represent that Arnold Schwarzenegger an Arab Sheikh, that have more than 100 wives slaves just for sex, which shows that the Arab men are not satisfied by one woman only and they want lot of everything even the wives, and this part also talk about El shariaa that the man has the right to marry 4 wives. Which the West refuses its concept from the first place, but they dont even understand the Law of Islam to talk about this issue or to misrepresent it in this way. But although they portrayed Arab women in different images the gold digger, the sex slave, mischievous, but after the attacks of September 11 the image of terrorists is the dominate image in the mind and the movies of the West. The TV influences the people in a tremendous way; it affects their attitudes and behavior, and affects their minds and believes. The media personnel take advantage of this point that the western people are ignorant about anything that relates to Arabs and they just know them from movies and TV shows, and they mostly are in the image of terrorist so they take of this point and represent Arabs and Arab women without studying them or understanding them and they stereotype them as the way they want the people to think of them. They succeed in this point that most of the Westerns when they come to think about Arabs or Arab women, the first thing that comes to their minds is Arabs being terrorists ,barbarians, cruel, robbers, monsters, beater of women, take women as slaves, women are just for their own pleasure. Everyone knows from western media and western image what image Arab women have in general, images that started by the orientalists about Arab Harim, Arab dancing, Arab women set as objects in the Arab world locked in doors, having no function in public affairs, Muslim women being inferior to men. These are the concepts in western media, in western films and in western cartoons, unfortunately. Most Arabs are submissive to being stereotyped by western media, but for Arab women the problem is particularly sensitive. It seems that the Western media is obsessed by the way a Muslim woman dresses; the veil in particular. Most of the Arab Muslim women are portrayed as fat, shapeless women in their loose dress and ugly veiled shape; they even do them as a caricature in some magazines and programs. In fact, the concept of veiled woman is always perceived in the west as shes having a life, shes always seen as a victim, poor, isolated creature politically, culturally and she is so isolated. According to Gwinn (1997), he said that the veiled woman is always reflected by the western to be the most popular way of representing the problem of Islam. In fact, Longtime ago pre Islam veils were customs among Greeks, Romans and Jews, but when Islam started and the Muslim women took the veils as a way to cover their hair as God said, the West started to identify the veiled women as the Muslim terrorist one. The veil that the Muslim women wear is seen as a symbol of threatening and alien status as mentioned by Posetty (2008) in his article. Images of Islamic dress are increasingly used in the Western media as a symbol of extremism. As a result, Muslims all over Europe and the West in general, are suffering from the consequences of such associations. The main problem as Ahmed (1992) pointed out in his article, has been that the act of veiling among Muslim women is associated with the lack of traditionalism and backwardness that does not fit into the modern society and among Western women. This reflects the theory of Orientalism that was stated by Said 1978, which asserts that the East and its inhabitants are considered backward, barbaric and outsiders to Western society. As mentioned by Edward Said in this Orientalist framework, the Muslim Arab women have always been thought as others; they are always considered as different from the Western women and the Western culture. The Western imaginary, Othered portrayed women as sexual objects, weak, and that they are marginalized in their own society. The Orientalism focused on Arabic, history, and philosophy, but failed to truly convey the lives and feelings of Muslims, their voices remained mute. Muslims, as portrayed in western media, illustrate two Orientalist assumptions that arouse concern and fear in Western societies. The fisrt as mentiond by Posetty (2008), Muslim women are oppressed and in need of liberation and the second is that Muslim men are a violent force that creates a threat to Western society. In an agreement with Mishra (2007), who has been studying the misrepresentation constructed by the Western media about the Muslim Arab women since the 9/11 incident. She has examined the articles published by The New York Times and other newspapers and magazines after the 9/11 incident, particularly, between September 11, 2001 and September 11, 2003. Through her study she found that issues such as rape, torture, and patriarchal oppression were all topics that related to Muslim women in non-Western countries. Additionally, the discussion of women in Islam tends to be centered around the burqu, hijab, or as it is called in the Western societies as the veil. Muslims women living abroad are facing a bigger problem than just a misunderstanding or negative image, unfortunately they are facing a huge discrimination between them and the westernized women. The Arab Muslim immigrant women are facing gender-based media representations as well. As stated by Morin (2009), the immigrant Muslim Arab women are subjected to cultural misconceptions and the recent political conflicts that have spoiled Arab-Western relations. These misconceptions that are created by the Western media make it hard for those women to live abroad without being discriminated and thought as others. In the West, clearly, negative Arab images rooted in history are providing a base for the stereotyping of Arab women in the media. In addition to the misconception about the veil, words such as the circumcision, polygamy, the sharia (Islamic) law, the harem, forced marriages, etc, are just a few issues that are associated with the Arab Muslim women, which resulted in fitting women into the absolute, homogenous oppressed Muslim woman category. News on Muslim women is dominated by the culturalist presentation and interpretation of Islam. In fact, the discrimination of these women, which attracts media attention, tends to be explained almost exclusively according to theories on Islamic culture. For example, when referring to the rights of Muslim women, the news discourse tends to focus on symbolic and religious issues such as the veil or Islam, and they tend to avoid more important issues that are related to the equality of these women, such as rights to education or public freedoms. These visions are removed from reality because they fail to take into account bond of millions of women to their Islamic identity. The Western newspaper articles mainly present Muslims women in three ways: as passive women, as victims and as veiled women. They are portrayed as observers rather than as active participants in their community. Their role as victims is reflected through the publishing of news stories describing conflicts such as the Afghan or Algerian conflicts in which women are clearly victims. Muslim-Arab women have increasingly been on the face covers of magazines and front pages of newspapers since 9/11 and all the events that followed; among the major topics covered were the war in Afghanistan, the U.S.-led Iraqi invasion, as well as the elections in both countries. For example, on the covers of National Geographic and various other magazines, veiled women demonstrate the western urge to discover what lies underneath the veil. Since the invasion of Afghanistan, the Western media began to focus on the unveiling of women as a sign of their liberation, which we totally disagree with. Images of women removing the veil serve as justification to many individuals for the war. Time Magazine published an article in December 2001 that told the story of 200 women who gathered together to remove their veils together in a post-Taliban Afghanistan. (Macdonald, 2003). As stated by Ayish (2010), news media has made it a point to document the lives of millions of women that are in need of saving from an oppressive religion. The news media, specifically The New York Times and Time Magazine, have employed divisive methods founded in Orientalist assumptions that provide justification for Western intervention in the Middle East. And as stated by Mishra (2007), the media portrayals of Muslim men and women in The New York Times reinforced the need for Western intervention in Muslim societies and communities, to whether help liberate Muslim women or to keep Muslim men under surveillance as they are considered as a threat and violence. In advertising, they are being misrepresented as well. The Western advertisement also used the Arab Muslim women in their advertisement and they didnt want to risk by changing the image that the west already have for the Arab Muslim women, so they used the stereotyped and typical image of the veiled woman harem, the mysterious veiled woman that is under the control of an oppressive man, to appeal to their customers of the west. They didnt want to risk changing the image in an advertisement and that this image is strong in the mind of the Western people, and they might lose money or even customers and they might accuse them with treason because they put the Arabs in a good image. They use the veil of the Muslim Arab women as a sex symbol to sell for sex. They think when they put a woman in a veil they will get the consumers to buy the product. And when they do, they will buy the mystery behind the veil. The Westerns are usually buying a false and imaginary image of the Others which are the Arab or Arab women. The continuous and repetitive of these images in the different types of media will make these images real in the mind of the Western people, and this will enlarge the gap between the East and the West The oppressed veiled Muslim woman in the ads may also be connected to the escalating intolerance and disputes surrounding Muslim women and the veil in the Western world. Media people should be careful with what they put in the different types of media so as not to spread false and imaginary images or believes about another culture or other people traditions, and make them in the worst image that could be, and make them by these images increase the hatred between countries and increase hate crimes and wars. Media people should see the sensitivity in the materials they publish, and consider these images will hurt or damage someone or not, they should study the Arab and study their traditions and their believes Shariaa before talking falsely about it in different ways and different types of media. Western fascination with the veiling of Muslim women as a symbol of oppression is often contradictory to reality. The west are portraying Arab women in this way because they inherited this stereotyping, and they didnt try to do research or study of Arabs and Arab women to see if they are right about what they are showing in their movies or what they are writing. They just took what they have watched in the movies and read in papers, and they started to portray or actually kept on the same way of this negative portrayal and stereotyping of Arab women, without the right knowledge about the Arab culture, religion, and mostly people. Conclusion In the West, Arab women are often portrayed through stereotypical representations and discourses in which they have no voice. The Western popular imagination, nurtured by a media which commonly lacks sensitivity to complex realities, is quick to associate Arab women with oppression and subordination. Arab women are limited to a debate between tradition and modernity in which they are alternatively perceived as model of a mythical cultural authenticity, of a drift towards extremism or of radical modernization. Therefore, they find themselves at the heart of the ambiguous relations between the Eastern and Western worlds, which was analyzed by Edward SaÃÆ'Â ¯d. They are, however, essential actors in the development of the Arab region, and it is indispensable that their position at the heart of all contemporary social, political, economic and cultural matters be recognized in both the East and West. Basically the media is the main reason of enlarging the gap between the West and the East, it keeps on pressing and pressing on the west and filling their minds with pictures, movies, and news against Muslims and Islam that arent true. Since September 11 until now Hollywood keeps on making movies about Arabs and Muslims portraying them as terrorists and killers who attack innocent people without any reason, while they dont make any movies about Israeli. The mass media not only exclude modern Islamist women but also, in general, the socially and culturally diverse communities of Muslim women living in either the Arab world or in Western world. These women are not only housewives, mothers and Muslims as portrayed by the media, but also students, researchers, entrepreneurs, domestic workers, artists, politicians, volunteers, activists, etc. In this respect, it is also not accidental that the media do not report on the evolution of pro human rights movements (including womens rights and freedoms movements) that exist in some Arab countries, such as Egypt and Morocco. Misconceptions by the media have resulted in misunderstanding Arab women. As Gwinn (1997) stated, ideas about the Muslim world have managed to deform much of our understandings toward Muslim women. Words such as the veil, the harem, female circumcision, etc. have managed to give an impression to some of the images associated with the oppressed Muslim woman. The problem now is how to convey knowledge to public opinion so that they know truly whats going on in the Middle East. Unfortunately theyre trying to build on peoples ignorance, or on peoples busy time as nobody has the time to read a lot. It is time to build on information or on knowledge that the Arabs are descendents of great civilization, Arab women have the right to live like any other woman in the world with their children and to have their childrens future away from humiliation, away from occupation. The western media is the one who damaged the image of the Muslims specially the veiled women, so they must take step and start to do campaigns, movies, or documentaries to correct the image of the Arab Muslim woman and start to treat her normally or even correct the negative images.

Frederick Douglas :: Essays Papers

Frederick Douglas Frederick Douglass, a slave in America until the age of 20, wrote three of the most highly regarded autobiographies of the 19th century, yet he only began learning to read and write when he turned 12 years old. After an early life of hardship and pain, Douglass escaped to the North to write three autobiographies, spaced decades apart, about his life as a slave and a freeman. The institution of slavery scarred him so deeply that he decided to dedicate his powers of speech and prose to fighting it. Douglass wrote three biographies about his life as a politician, slave, and abolitionist. However, the historical value of these works does not remain as important as the quality of the works themselves. Frederick Douglass’ writing deserves recognition in the canon of great American authors, because his work meets the chosen criteria for inclusion in a collection of important literature. Douglass influenced many famous abolitionists with his literary works, and this impact, coupled with his desire to write an expose about oppression in America, makes him a winning candidate. Although his published works, mostly autobiographies, received much acclaim from abolitionists, this paper explores the quality of Douglass’s work from a literary standpoint. This paper also details the events shaping Douglass’s impressive life and writing career. By examining the prestigious â€Å"life and times† of this black author, the reader will recognize the widespread influence of Douglass’s writing on other antislavery writers, politics, and hence, the public. In a look at his first and greatest work, Narrative of the Life, the following paper will demonstrate why Frederick Douglass deserves a place in the hall of great American writers. To fully appreciate the impact of Douglass’s autobiographies, we must examine violent period in which he lived. Douglass, born in 1818, grew up as a slave on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation in eastern Maryland. At the time, abolitionist movements started gaining speed as popular parties in the North. In the North, pro-slavery white mobs attacked black communities in retaliation for their efforts. By the time Douglass escaped from slavery, in 1838, tensions ran high among abolitionists and slaveowners. Slaves published accounts of their harrowing escapes, and their lives in slavery, mainly with the help of ghostwriters. Although abolitionists called for the total elimination of slavery in the South, racial segregation still occurred all over the United States. Blacks, freemen especially, found the task of finding a decent job overwhelming.