I should have known that the intentions of the white men were
not entirely true...They arrived in Umofia with their silly religion and like fools we allowed them to
stay. We underestimated them and that was the first step leading towards our
ultimate demise. How we were unable to see their true agenda is still unknown
to me. They were smart and their moves were strategic. By converting people to
their faith they were able to effectively tear us in two. We no longer faced
them as a unified front and this made opposing them that much harder. It is
much easier to fight an enemy unknown to you however, when the enemy begins to
be the familiar faces of our brothers there's no point in fighting as we have
already lost the most important battle. Perhaps if we had fought back harder in
the early stages they might have withdrew from our land and left our people
alone. Okonkwo was a fool in the end but he was right in his recognition of the white men as a true threat to our way of
life. Oh how easily they stripped us of our power and bent us into submission
through their promises of religion and education for our sons and daughters.
What we didn't realize was that this education they were offering was simply to
shape and form us into mere cogs in the machine of colonization, giving us jobs
which only served them and their causes. Things fell apart in Umofia and we
only realized this when it was too late and our fate became inevitable.
Monday, 11 May 2015
Saturday, 9 May 2015
Discuss the significance of social status in Things
Fall Apart, and comment on its contribution to characterization.
The novel Things Fall
Apart offers an exclusive insight into the world and lives of the Igbo
people which highlights the values and significant aspects of their culture.
One of the main aspects which is emphasized in the story is social status and
the role it has within their society. Throughout the story there is a constant
reminder of social status and we see how this becomes relevant when looking at
how this aspect of the culture plays a large role in shaping the character of
Okonkwo. Social status is usually representative of the amount of titles a man
has taken in his lifetime. A man must be very successful in order to take many
titles and therefore these individuals are highly respected in the community.
Contrasting with this, a man who has taken very few or no titles is considered
very lazy and unsuccessful. Another name for a man who has taken no titles in
his lifetime is agbala which is a word
meaning "woman". In the Igbo society, the amount of titles a man
possesses influences how the other members of the clan treat him and the amount
of influence he holds in matters involving the clan such as whether to go to
war or not.
Okonkwo's ambition to be respected and recognized by his
clansmen is driven by his fear of not wanting to end up as a failure like his
father who claimed no titles within his lifetime. He is strongly aware his
social status and that of those around him and this affects his actions. One
example of his awareness of status is during a meeting when a man begins to
speak but is quickly silenced by Okonkwo who makes it very clear that since the
man has no titles, he does not have a say in the conversation. As stated before
Okonkwo is driven by his ambition and it is very clear that he takes great
pride in his status among the clan members. This obsession with his social
status and power ultimately contributed to his demise. After Okonkwo's gun
explodes and he's forced into exile for seven years his main focus is still on
his social status. As punishment for his crimes, the clan must burn down Okonkwo's
property and kill his livestock in order to appease the earth goddess. This
sets Okonkwo back many years and prevents him from gaining the highest title in
the clan as he will have to rebuild his entire life and gain back the respect
of the clan. During the seven years he's continually making plans for his
return in order to once regain his place among the clan. When he finally does
make his return he's disappointed to discover that it does not quite have the
impact he hoped. He rejoins the clan but does not hold the same status and
respect that he once had. In order to regain the status he lost he tries to
show his dominance and masculinity however this only leads to the clan losing
even more respect for him as they no longer agree with his overly-aggressive
attitude and way of life. At the end of the book Okonkwo kills the messenger
but soon realizes that his clansmen no longer agree with him and do not view
his actions as wise and this lowering of social status and respect brings him
to the realization of his downfall. In conclusion, Okonkwo's obsession with
social status along with his fear of ending up like his title-less father drives
him to be overly-ambitious and aggressive and plays a key role in shaping his
character and actions.
Sunday, 26 April 2015
As the main character of Things
Fall Apart, Okonkwo has a key role in developing not only the plot but also
the themes of the story. The themes of change vs. tradition and fate vs. free
will are mainly based around Okonkwo and the audience sees them play out over
the course of the story. In the beginning of the story, all of Okonkwo's
success is attributed to his will. He takes credit for all of his good fortune
and says that it is a result of his own hard work and cannot simply be
attributed to good luck. However, as things begin to fall apart around Okonkwo he
no longer takes responsibility for what is happening to him. It was originally
stated that "Okonkwo said yes very strongly; so his chi agreed." however we later see a reversal of this when
Achebe says "Here was a man whose chi
said nay despite his own affirmation.".
As mentioned previously, the novel is strongly centered around the theme of change vs. tradition. Okonkwo is a true symbol of tradition that refuses to bend to change despite the immense pressure he is put under. Okonkwo refuses to adapt to his changing environment and is strongly against any form of change to his current lifestyle.While this idea of conserving traditional practices is good, Okonkwo fails to realize that change is inevitable and this eventually leads to his downfall within the novel.
As mentioned previously, the novel is strongly centered around the theme of change vs. tradition. Okonkwo is a true symbol of tradition that refuses to bend to change despite the immense pressure he is put under. Okonkwo refuses to adapt to his changing environment and is strongly against any form of change to his current lifestyle.While this idea of conserving traditional practices is good, Okonkwo fails to realize that change is inevitable and this eventually leads to his downfall within the novel.
Achebe wrote Things
Fall Apart in order to give the world a more accurate portrayal of Africa
that they had not yet seen. However, he made the choice to not present the Igbo
culture as a utopia and rightly so. While he wanted to portray the culture in a
better light than it had been previously, he also wanted to show that the Igbo
culture has its flaws as well. If he presented Okonkwo as an unbelievable man
with absolutely no flaws then that would make the rest of his story less
believable as well. By establishing Okonkwo as a tragic hero he makes the
statement that while the Igbo culture is no utopia, it still has its values and
should be respected.
In Things Fall Apart,
Okonkwo's purpose is to drive the plot and themes that are present within the
novel. He shows how tradition is often reluctant to accept change and that in
the end tradition often loses. Overall, Okonkwo is a representation of any
native who was resistant to the oppressive colonization in Africa.
Thursday, 16 April 2015
The other day, we had an in-class discussion on an interview
with Chinua Achebe. I think the part of the discussion that I found most
interesting was when we talked about the representation of Africa in the media.
Achebe was inspired to write Things Fall
Apart after reading all the western authors' portrayal of Africa and the
many African cultures. Achebe believes that these authors portrayed Africa this
way in order to justify the slave trade as some people were beginning to
question the practice. However, we discussed that this negative portrayal of
Africa might not have been completely on purpose. Instead we brought up the
idea that these authors simply lacked an understanding of the African cultures
and people and therefore could not see the true complexity. This may have lead
to them simplifying things that they could not fully understand and in turn
lead to their highly simplistic and negative portrayal of Africa. I found this
part of the discussion interesting because in the interview Achebe was strongly
opinionated on the matter that this portrayal of Africa was simply aimed to
justify the slave trade so it was intriguing to explore a different way of
seeing things that was not included in the interview.
Friday, 10 April 2015
The text I am analyzing is Barack Obama's key note address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention which can be found here:
This
text can be identified as a political speech as it contains many typical
features of a speech such as persuasion, rhetorical devices, and an extensive
use of ethos, pathos, and logos. These distinct features along with fact that
it's directly addressing an audience means that this text can indeed by
identified as a political speech.
Without clear
context, the target audience of this text can be found by looking at clues
within the text to give us an idea of who this speech is aimed at. The line
" And fellow Americans, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, I say to you
tonight: We have more work to do" gives us many hints as to the audience. The
author is directly addressing Americans but goes on to identify different
political parties which leads us to the assumption that this is most likely
directed to voters in America. Also, in the line " let me express my deepest
gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention" we see that the
author is addressing a political convention of some sort. Taking into
consideration the audience, the purpose of this speech is mainly to persuade
the audience to vote for a certain presidential candidate. This can clearly be
seen towards the end of the speech when the author says "I have no doubt
that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine,
the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as
President, and John Edwards will be sworn in as Vice President, and this
country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a
brighter day will come.". This
shows that the author is trying to persuade the audience to vote for John Kerry
and John Edwards by convincing them that these candidates are the better than
other candidates.
The
author begins by telling the history of his family and how he came to be in the
position of authority that he resides in now. They go on to talk about America
and it is clear that they hold it in very high esteem however they then point
out the struggles that some Americans are facing at the time. The author then
introduces the political candidate that he is trying to convince the audience
to vote for and he goes on to discuss John Kerry's values and beliefs as a
presidential candidate. At the end of the speech the author urges the audience
to vote for John Kerry in the presidential elections. The main idea of this
speech is that the people of America should vote for John Kerry because he is a
patriotic man who knows what is best for his country and will also do whatever
he can to help the people of America. The author has "no doubt that...the people will rise up...and John Kerry will be
sworn in as President." and believes that "this country will
reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day
will come.".
The tone
of this speech is informative, instructional, and hopeful. The author uses many
stories and instances to inform the audience of the reasons why they should
vote for John Kerry and also the problems facing America. The tone is slightly instructional
when he tells the audience that they should go and vote for Kerry and Edwards. However,
his tone is also hopeful as he expresses his hope that the people of America will
answer this call to action. The author creates a mood of unification in the speech.
He removes any barriers such a race or political party in order to unify the
audience and address them together as one people. This is clearly seen when the
author states that "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America --
there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White
America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of
America.". In these two sentences he creates a potent mood of unification
among the audience and the people of America.
Seeing
as this text is a political speech, the author utilizes many rhetorical devices
in order to make the speech effective. Pathos is used to help the author
connect with the audience. To achieve this the author tells stories of people
he has met such as "the father that I met who was losing his job and
choking back the tears, wondering how he would pay 4500 dollars a month for the
drugs his son needs without the health benefits that he counted on". This
statement and others like it appeal to the emotions of the audience. The author
also uses ethos when he discusses the core American beliefs, values, and ideals
and attempts to establish John Kerry as the embodiment of these beliefs. There
are also many examples of anaphora within the text such as the repetition of
"John Kerry believes in". This repetition is used to emphasize the beliefs of the candidate and point out the main ideas. The
author's use of symploce in order to connect and identify with the audience is
seen when he says " if you feel the same energy that I do, if you feel the
same urgency that I do, if you feel the same passion that I do, if you feel the
same hopefulness that I do". Metaphor is used to effectively sum up the
author's hope for America when he says "out of this long political darkness a
brighter day will come". This extensive use of rhetorical devices helps
create emphasis on certain key ideas within the speech and also works to
further persuade the audience of what the author is saying.
In
conclusion, this text is a speech due to its heavy use of rhetorical devices and
the fact that it's trying to persuade the audience to do or believe something.
This target audience of this speech is clearly American voters and it calls
them to take action and vote for a certain political candidate. The author's
utilization of rhetorical devices along with the persuasive nature of the text
creates a strong a well-focused speech.
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Find the audio here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIU1hmKa_pc
Act 5 Scene 1 (Lines 1-32)
Enter PROSPERO in his magic robes, and
ARIEL.
PROSPERO
1 Now
does my project gather to a head:
2 My
charms crack not; my spirits obey; and time
3 Goes
upright with his carriage. How's the day?
ARIEL
4 On
the sixth hour; at which time, my lord,
5 You
said our work should cease.
PROSPERO
5 I
did say so,
6 When
first I raised the tempest. Say, my spirit,
7 How
fares the king and's followers?
ARIEL
7 Confined
together
8 In
the same fashion as you gave in charge,
9 Just
as you left them; all prisoners, sir,
10 In
the line-grove which weather-fends your cell;
11 They
cannot budge till your release. The king,
12 His
brother and yours, abide all three distracted
13 And
the remainder mourning over them,
14 Brimful
of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
15 Him
that you term'd, sir, 'The good old lord Gonzalo;'
16 His
tears run down his beard, like winter's drops
17 From
eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works 'em
18 That
if you now beheld them, your affections
19 Would
become tender.
PROSPERO
19 Dost
thou think so, spirit?
ARIEL
20 Mine
would, sir, were I human.
PROSPERO
20 And
mine shall.
21 Hast
thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
22 Of
their afflictions, and shall not myself,
23 One
of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
24 Passion
as they, be kindlier moved than thou art?
25 Though
with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick,
26 Yet
with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury
27 Do
I take part: the rarer action is
28 In
virtue than in vengeance: they being penitent,
29 The
sole drift of my purpose doth extend
30 Not
a frown further. Go release them, Ariel:
31 My
charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore,
32 And
they shall be themselves.
ARIEL
32 I'll
fetch them, sir.
Exit.
Sunday, 1 February 2015
How to Tame a Wild Tongue
"So if you want
to really hurt me, talk badly about my language"
This quote from How
to Tame a Wild Tongue offers valuable insight into how the author views her
language. The author goes on to elaborate on just how close her language and
identity are linked. She says that she can not take pride in herself when she can not
also take pride in her language and this is due to the fact that in her life
when she is surrounded by so many linguistic influences, her language really is
a key part of her identity and who she is. Previously the author felt ashamed
of her language and its seemingly illegitimate nature however she comes to
realize firstly that if she cant accept her language then she cant accept
herself but also she realizes that she needs to accept herself before others
will accept her and her language. I found this concept quite interesting as it discusses a sense of self-empowerment through language. By accepting her language the author in turn empowers herself which shows the link between language and power on a more personal and smaller scale than what we have previously looked at.
Woman Warrior
What I found most
interesting in this excerpt was the stark contrast that the author presents
when she describes the two different schools that the children attend. In the
English school the Chinese girls were always silent except for when they had to
speak. However, after English school is finished the scene drastically changes
as they switch to the Chinese school. The girls who were silent in the American
school became quite vocal when placed in familiar surroundings. The sense of
order belonging to the American school gives way to the slightly chaotic world
of the Chinese school. This contrast serves to show the power can shift based on the context. In the American school, the Chinese girls are the outsiders who are often excluded due to their quite nature. However, when it comes time for Chinese school these girls are no longer outsiders but instead are placed in an environment in which they feel a sense of belonging. This is an example of the link between language, power, and context.
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