WTCS-VALUES-ATTITUDES

values and attitudes §

• values and attitudes are embedded in texts (visual, written and multimodal texts)
• values are what individuals or groups think are important and hold to be worth (e.g. justice, honesty, education)
• dominant values are those values that are widely shared among a group, community, or culture in a particular context.
• attitudes are the positions held or responses an individual or group make, as a result of their values. (For example, when honesty and justice are valued, then an attitude towards stealing might be that anyone who steals should be sent to prison)

consider kyas situation: §

• grew up in the marshlands of north carolina.
• abandoned at the age of 10 to fend for herself with nothing but a ragged shack and an old boat.
• devalued and treated cruelly by others because of where she grew up.
• no formal education, ‘educated’ by the marsh.

• what are her values? §

  • self reliance
  • independence
  • natural environment
    • important to her and its like a companion to her.
  • love/romance
    • chase andrews & tate
  • creativity
  • survival
  • family
    • love for her mum and siblings, her devastation when they leave, and the happiness when she reunites with her sibling.
  • safety

• scenes §

  • little kya lost in marsh
    • her fascination with nature, the value of natural environment is developed, her joy of seeing animals and valuing connection with nature.
    • valuing exploring nature, but we realise that she has no choice to view nature as family, as a result that she does not have a family to go back to at home.
  • gift of a feather
    • value of self reliance: kya is scared of companionship, but also wishes to attain it. She is afraid of companionship because she is scared her companions will abandon her, but she values love and learning.
    • she does not like formal education, but she likes learning new things.
  • i won’t
    • she values independence.
    • she values justice.
    • her attitude towards being independent is she doesn’t want to beg for her independence
  • tate doesn’t come back.
    • she values love and companionship, and when tate doesn’t come back her values of relationships and companionships has been tarnished.
  • i will never live in fear.
    • her value of independence and freedom is threatened and her attitude towards men who takes away females independence (like her father and chase) is a critical/suspicious attitude, as her circumstances in childhood has shaped an attitude towards these men, in which she understands the men wants the “last punch”

  • the values and attitudes of the townspeople §

    • they hate me
      • the townspeople has a negative attitude towards kya, as the townspeople have a critical attitude to those who doesn’t conform to standardised society and formal education, the townspeople develops ostracisation and a negative attitude developed through values of societal norms.
    • kya’s first and last day of school.
      • the children’s response to kya and their prejudice against kya at school symbolise their parents attitude towards those who do not conform to society as those who don’t deserve a formal education and better themselves.
      • it also shows that there are some people who treat kya well.