Functionalism & New right policy

Functionalism & New right policy:
Functionalist thinking has influenced new right political thinking which is strictly conservative, anti-feminist & stresses the importance of the Nuclear family & the dangers of family diversity.

Fletcher (1966) highlights how the family is 'helped out' by the state so that it can perform it's functions more effectively.

New right politics have taken this a step further & argue that families should be self-reliant & require minimum 'outside'/ 'state' help. The nuclear family is ideally set up to be 'Self-sufficient'.

Murray = newright = anti- policy
"fathers abandon their families as the state will provide for them."
"Council housing promotes teenage pregnancy & undermines marriage."
Benefits encourage lone-parents who in turn promote deviance & a welfare dependant underclass.

New Labour:

Despite the fact that New right politics is heavily  Conservative, New Labour has also tended to favour the 'Traditional' nuclear family (although they are more accepting of diversity)

One of the major differences between new labour and new right is that new labour believe that state intervention and aid actually helps families out (particularly low income families rather than encourages 'Dependency'

New labour policies include:

• The new deal for lone parents 2001
• the adoption reform act 2002
• national minimum wage act 1998
• family tax credits (means tested)

Femininism

policies are based on the assumption that the normal type of family is nuclear headed by males who perform the instrumental role meaning that women should be  economically dependant on them & must care for children.

Patriarchial policies will encourage marriage & the gendered division of labour. Tax and benefit policies assume that men are the main breadwinner making it difficult for wives to claim benefits in their own right.

policies that seem to benefit women often actually benefit men more e.g Maternity leave child benefit being paid to women.

Feminist arguments on gender biased family policy can be used when considering equality with families.

Drew 1995 gender Regimes:

Drew argues that family policies help to promote gender regimes that can prevent or reinforce gender inequality in the family.

The setting Off

OBJ: To demonstrate our understanding of AO2 through responses to unseen poems.

Example of a 5 mark AO1 question:

1) Poets often deploy auditory devices for effect. Comment on the use and effect of sound devices in the poem (The Send Off)
Firstly, the poet has injected a euphonic sound in the opening which conveys a feeling of excitement and great expectation of those going to war. Also, the poem ends with cacophonous sounds ('silent') which is juxtaposed with the implicit triumph of "great bells". The effect is to convey an anti-climatic feeling. Furthermore, the sibilant sounds "like wrongs hushed up" has been used to inject a moribund and conspiratorial tone in the poem. The poet has also made use of alliterated oxymoron ("grimly gay") which highlights the sense of hope, overthrown by discordance. Finally, the poet deploys elongated assonant vowels "drums and yells" to compound the negative mood at the end of the poem.

Example of a 5 mark AO2 question:

1) Poets often make use of imagery. Using two examples from the poem, explore the use of imagery. (The Send Off)
Owen has illuminated the repercussions of the people going to war. "May creep back, silent, to still village wells Up half-known roads." Firstly, the imagery used creates a very clandestine feeling through the use of sibilance. furthermore, the use of medial caesura compounds the idea of "silence" which creates an eerie mood and implies the desertion throughout the village. The poet has included interesting conspiratorial imagery."Signals nodded, and a lamp Winked to the guard. So secretly, like wrongs hushed up they went. they where not ours." The use of the personification creates a sinister and doleful mood, suggesting the soldiers' oblivion. The lamp may be perceived as a symbol, metaphorically alluding to hope and salvation. Also, the juxtaposition between the 'guard' and the departing soldiers also foreshadows the idea of death in the poem.

Example of a 10 mark AO1 and AO2 question:


1) Poets wish us to consider a number of important themes. using your knowledge of poetry, discuss what you think are the important themes in the poem, and comment on the ways these are developed.
Owen includes themes such as war and it's inevitable lead to the deaths of all the young men that have participated. This theme is developed throughout the poem by starting off as the the soldiers "Sang their way" This could of been deployed in order to distract the men from the terrors of what will come and give them a sense of community and family with each other, while encouraging them to bond and trust each other. It moves on to say that the men had faces that were grimly gay. This suggests that the men were excited by the concept of war and felt like they were doing the right thing for their country. however the word 'grimly' reflects the reluctance of the soldiers and the knowledge that they might die. the poet has included imagery to show the fatal nature of war "Their breasts were stuck all white with wreath and spray as men's are, dead." the state of the men's bodies could refer to the hopelessness of their future efforts as the poet foreshadows their demise.

Owen introduces the idea that war is exploitative in this poem. Perhaps he is showing us that young men are being cajoled into going into war.

Postmodernism

• Giddens
• Family now involves greater choice and equality due to:
• contraception allows for intimacy rather than reproduction as a reason for the relationship.
• changing role and opportunities for women
• Families now define their relationships themselves - It is individual and works for them.
• He calls this 'Pure relationships' based on love and happiness and not tradition or sense of duty.
• Relationships become a part of 'self discovery'
• However more choice leads to greater instability.

• Beck
• We live in a 'risk society'. Tradition is less influential due to choice.
• We became more aware of risk as we calculate them when we are making our choices.
• The patriarchal family has now been replaced by the negotiated family - we calculate the risk before we enter the relationship to ensure that we from it what we want.
• The negotiated family is more equal than the nuclear family but less stable as individuals are free to leave when they no longer get from it what they want.

• Stacey (1998)
• Greater choice in relationships has benefited women as it has freed them from patriarchy, allowing them to shape the relationship to suit their needs.
• Women have been the main instigators of change within the family creating new ones to suit their needs.
• One new structure is 'the divorced extended family' - contact with divorced partner and their new partners and kids etc.
• Such families illustrate the diverse nature of postmodern families.
• 'The Family' as a single concept no longer makes sense.

• Weeks (2000)
• There is growing acceptance of diversity especially amongst the under 35s
•  However, family patterns are still quite traditional but diversity is common. New right are fighting a loosing battle to retain the nuclear family.

A wish - Analysis

OBJ: To explore how the poet use language and form to create meaning and ideas.

Analysis of 'A Wish' by Samuel Rogers:

IT is a form of pastoral poetry and it has a naturalistic theme. The poem includes a regular rhyming scheme, the effect of this is that it gives a child like feel, it prolongs and expands the happiness felt. The rhyming couplets are a metaphor for the parental roles which are complementary of each other.

'The Swallow oft beneath my thatch'  The swallow is symbolism of love and care/ affection towards a loved one. The 'thatch' being the roof of his house. This part means that love is living under his roof, alternatively, the swallow is a tattoo  used to mark the start of a sailor's journey, two swallows means the end. The poem only states a single Swallow, which could mean the journey has only just started.

'The Village Church among the trees...' Religion is a intimate part of their life together.

'A bee-hive's hum shall soothe my ear..' Busy working in order to provide for the family

'Twitter/ Soothe my ear' Euphonious sounds create a home as a place of tranquillity.

'Each fragrent flower that drinks the dew' Alliteration and personification represents rejuvenation and new life.

The Wife A-Lost

SINCE I noo mwore do zee your feäce,
Up steärs or down below,
I'll zit me in the lwonesome pleäce,
Where flat-bough'd beech do grow;
Below the beeches' bough, my love,
Where you did never come,
An' I don't look to meet ye now,
As I do look at hwome.

Since you noo mwore be at my zide,
In walks in zummer het,
I'll goo alwone where mist do ride,
Droo trees a-drippèn wet;
Below the raïn-wet bough, my love,
Where you did never come,
An' I don't grieve to miss ye now,
As I do grieve at hwome.

Since now bezide my dinner-bwoard
Your vaïce do never sound,
I'll eat the bit I can avword
A-vield upon the ground;
Below the darksome bough, my love,
Where you did never dine,
An' I don't grieve to miss ye now,
As I at hwome do pine.

Since I do miss your vaïce an' feäce
In prayer at eventide,
I'll pray wi' woone sad vaïce vor greäce
To goo where you do bide;
Above the tree an' bough, my love,
Where you be gone avore,
An' be a-waïtèn vor me now,
To come vor evermwore.

By William Barnes