Good Essay On A Comparison Between Two Articles

Today, identity is an important element of the society such that people use various mechanisms of classifying others. People live in a cosmopolitan society where some differences are inherent and inevitable. They can be perceived from the outlook, and it is the responsibility of all individuals in the society to recognize the need for co-existence by learning to appreciate the differences among people. Due to the increase in the heterogeneity of the societies of the world, it is inevitable for individuals to develop the need for acceptance and a sense of belonging to people who share common characteristics with them. In the article, “To Watch the Faces of the Poor": Life Magazine and the Mythology of Rural Poverty in the Great Depression” by Charles Cunningham, he examines the desire of the middle-class people in the society to be the founders of an ideal society, opposed to the racial segregation that was rampant in the society. The author examines the effects of racial segregation and the role it played in shaping the attitudes of the members of the society towards one another. On the other hand, Tom Delph-Janiurek uses hos article “Sounding Gender(ed): Vocal Performances in English University Teaching Spaces” to examine the identity of individuals based on their gender. The author discusses the difference in the voices of males and females, which create a clear distinction and classify people into two distinct groups. Nevertheless, both articles define a particular order of identifying people, which has an effect on the perception they receive from the public and the people around them.
The article by Charles Cunningham centers on one of the most contemporary issues in both ancient and modern society. Race has been the subject of intriguing debate and litigation all over the world. In fact, it was a reason for the perception that some societies and people of certain ancestry are more superior to others. The author uses the “Life Magazine” to present two conflicting racial groups, which have an inevitable battle for supremacy. The article is set in a period where the groups are experiencing an economic depression, and people are experiencing difficult times in terms of their finances. There is no immunity to the financial hardship in the country. The objective of the magazine was to ensure the middle class always held the perception of an acceptable group within the society (Cunningham 208). They did not want to be identified and perceived as victims of the depression, which would have made them be labeled as white trash. The magazine was to portray them as an acceptable and admirable group that only faced the challenges associated with the geographical conditions of the country. The attribute of the middle-class in America is a good example of the personification adopted by an individual as they seek acceptance due to a sense of belonging. They are willing to disregard the importance of other people, whom they want to establish and recognize as a minority group in the same society.
In order to achieve and maximize the identity of the middle class as the most important group in the society, the magazine is willing to degrade the status of the black people. It refers to them as a group that is below the bar of justice. As such, the article implies that the rest of the society is willing to discriminate the black people because they perceive them to be at the lowest level in the society’s social standing. The society was so discriminatory and strict about the issue of identity, based on race such that people preferred to be deemed as poor and not black (Cunningham 210). In fact, some of the white people who could not meet the standards and economic class associated with being white were regarded a part of the black fraternity. The article brings out the social corruption in a society that believes in the aspect of dominance and inferiority complex. People belittle each other to ensure that they maintain the status quo of the social order, which is inappropriate because every person has an equally important role in the society they live. In fact, the magazine creates a scenario where people prefer to be classified among a particular group even if it implies the denunciation of their original and true social groupings.
Tom Delph-Janiurek’s article also talks about identity although it uses a different perceptive. The authors focus on the ability of the human voice to be used a tool for identification and creation of clear distinctions between two groups in the society. He refers to this as vocal performance in his article “Sounding Gender(ed): Vocal Performances in English University Teaching Spaces”. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the objective of the voice as a means of communication and to illustrate the manner in which the variations occur based on geographical factors. The author argues that voices are important in the performance of gender-based role, which is important in the conception held by the public regarding a particular individual (Delph-Janiurek 267). They enable the society to identify a person as being exclusively male or female. Unlike the previous article, the individuals do not have to struggle to be identified with a particular group in the society. The characteristics and are distinct and clear such that the person cannot deny the fact that they are either male or female. The evidence is precise as given by the voice and the society has no other mechanism of alternative stratification. Specific characteristics enable such clear identification. For instance, a feminine voice is associated with seeking emotional support through adjustment of the pitch.
The two articles are similar in the sense that they talk about identity in the society. People derive certain labels based on the attributes that they possess. In the first article, Cunningham discusses identify based on the skin color of the people and their economic status at a time when the economic conditions are harsh. Individuals are social beings, and they must seek acceptance among the people who share similar attributes with them. In both articles, it is important to note that certain characteristics are inherent, and they make individuals natural members of a particular group regardless of their efforts to change and belong to another perceived to be ideal.
According to the authors, it is the desire of all individuals to be associated with a particular group and feel accepted. Interactions and personal ambitions may lead to the emergence of some groups perceived to the ideal, hence making all members of the society identity with that group. In fact, the search for identity can derail members of the society from accepting and appreciating the inevitable differences they have with others.

Works Cited

Cunningham, Charles. “‘To Watch the Faces of the Poor’: Life Magazine and the Mythology of Rural Poverty in the Great Depression” (pp. 200–212)
Delph-Janiurek, Tom. “Sounding Gender(ed): Vocal Performances in English University Teaching Spaces” (pp. 258–280)