TU || Flax Golden Tales || Four Levels of Interpretation Lesson 19

Level: B.A/ B.B.S || Lesson 19 TV Can Be A Good Parent (Ariel Gore, USA 1970)

Words Meaning

Federal = provincial

Wage = salary

Pediatric = healing children

Boob = woman’s breast

Cognitive = related to knowledge

Pooh = pool

Warped = get twisted

Assumption = pre suppositions

Fairy tales = stories of fairies

Stereotype = photocopied

Executive = official

Innocuous = harmless

Malarkey = in sincere talk

Profile = record

Sting = thread

Commune = to show emotion

Provoke = cause

Monitored = lead

Summary

Ariel Gore expresses her personal feeling in the essay and sees something positive sides of T.V. She says that TV can be good parents for the children whose mother has to work going out side from their home. She remembered that federal government stopped welfare to the poor women in America and forced them to take training with giving little amount of money. But that money was not sufficient to run the house because apartment rent was so expensive. She also opposes American Academy of Pediatric (AAP) which suggests parents  not to allow their children to watch T.V. until 21 years of their age. AAP states that kids under the age of 21 should not watch and says that T.V. is a bad box which makes children mind dull.

The writer expresses her bad condition of the past as well. She was a young mother in welfare and she also went to college. In her absence, T.V. was the parents for her daughter. The serial, cartoon, and its actors like Barney and dinosaurs were her daughter’s good parents. In the eyes of AAP, she had done injustice for her daughter because she had allowed her daughter to watch TV from her daughter’s child hood. She to some extend, accepts the negative side of its, so she says that the parents should not give permission to their kids to watch T.V. every moments and such activities of the children should be discouraged but the concept of AAP that TV makes children’s mind dull, she does not accept. She also mentions T.V. executives claim to support her ideas. They say that all T.V. programs are not unsuitable to be watched by the kids. Some programs really benefit for the children and give them entertainment. For example “Tele Tubbies” program can really can benefit to babies and toddlers. Likewise, another program Nick Jr is also very famous among the children. The manager Nickelodeon New York channel says that T.V. stations don’t any complain in A.A.P. policy but some programs are very much fruitful to the children.

She says that A.A.P. policy is acceptable to middle class woman because they do not have any force to work outside and stay all the time at home but that policy is very much oppressive for poor working woman who has to work going outside from home. At last, the writer says that in T.V. more and more educational program should be shown and end cultural war. The government should give salary for those women who stay at home. She requests the government to offer (provide) $175 to run her home and commune artists to share parenting responsibilities. Only then, she welcoming AAP policy, will destroy the T.V. But until then, the T.V. programs like. “The Brandy Bunch” is her special friends.

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Four Levels of Interpretation

1. Literal Comprehension

For Ariel Gore’s daughter, T.V. became a good parent when federal government had stopped giving welfare and set her into training. Her small daughter had to stay alone home in her absence. That time T.V. played vital role to amuse her. In fact, she is against AAP policy which states that for under age of 21, parents should discourage them (their kids) for watching T.V. because it makes their mind dull. Although its policy seems to be accepted by middle class women ho could stay at home and only look after their kids. But for her, that policy has become oppressive because she needs to work out side keeping alone her daughter at home. She also states that all T.V. programs are not harmful, some of them are really benefit for the kids. She sees the some programs like Nick JR has really benefited to preschool children.

Finally, she keeps a condition to throw the T.V. She says that if the government gives her living wage jobs and a commune artist to share parenting responsibilities, then she will throw her T.V. Otherwise, she always praises the kids oriented program like “The Brandy Bunch” which has become her kid favorite program.

2. Interpretation

It tells us the importance of T.V. for working class women and for their kids; it play the role of substitute mother. Like the writer, many mothers are compelled to work outside for sustaining. At that time, at home nobody is there to care for their kids. Though Ariel Gore loved her daughter too much but to feel her and to run her house, she had to work. Specially, T.V. is highly praised in industrialized country where in each time, money plays the crucial role. So to sustain, they have to work out side form morning to evening. That’s why, lower class mothers see the importance of T.V.  Similarly, many working class women may say that T.V. doesn’t only show the nude, vulgar and violent scene. Many T.V. programs like “Nick Jr” are very helpful to develop kids’ cognitive power.

3. Critical Thinking

There are several things in which we can raise many questions. The little of the essay “T.V. can be a Good Parents” itself is contradictory in the sense that TV and parents are different things. So, can TV take the place of parents? Similarly, AAP does not see any benefit of TV so, are not any benefits of watching it? Does TV only show violent and sexual scent? Does not it show good programs to develop child cognitive skill? At last of the essay, she asks the living wage job to throw TV, so, is it good to give such a job for housewife?

4. Assimilation

After reading this essay, I remembered my childhood stage which I was greatly fascinated by TV watching. My parents were extremely poor, so they had to work going outside from out home. I also had younger sister. That time, I was just 5 years old and my sister was just three years old. We often felt bored when we had to stay alone at home. So, we requested our parents to by second hand TV but our parents told us that they had not money. One day, in Dashain festival, my father bought a lottery ticket and told us that if you had a good lick, you could get TV on lottery. Then we anxiously waited the day of opening of lottery. Finally, it was opened at Dashami and luckily we won 14” black and white TV. Now, that happiness I cannot express in words. Anyway, the God fulfilled our dream. Then we took it in our home and our mother worshipped the TV as a good and we kept it into book rack because we did not have money to buy TV rack. After that, we never felt loneliness in the absence of our parents. Though, I can not compare TV with my parents, nevertheless TV had played the great role in my childhood time.

Possible questions

1. Ariel Gore, a defender of TV, nevertheless cited research by the American Academy of Pediatrics that parents do their children “an injustice every time” they let them watch TV why, in your opinion, does Dr. Christakis ignore this kind or research?
2. Summarize the essay in one paragraph.

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