Paper #2 Question

1.       Show how and to what effect Achebe makes use of myth, legend or other stories and tales.

Achebe uses several of different stories whether be myth, legend or tales to make sense of different situations and be able to engage the readers into developing more knowledge on the traditional ways of the Igbo people. The Igbo communities rely on such ways which are presented orally to continue being passed down generations and because things were not written in those times it was made sure they were continuously practiced and passed on. Proverbs were a main way of expressing different situations such as:” "Proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.” Palm-oil is a very important item in Umuofian society, and is used to cook and is also used as a fuel source. Eating the words simply is a poetic way of saying to take them in, or to gain knowledge. It means that proverbs are an essentially words of wisdom. Unoka, Okonkwos dad was quite known for using words and playing with them to get what he wanted and use of proverbs. Once when Okoye approached Unoka to ask him to repay him, Unoka said: “Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under the.”  Implying that he will pay his biggest debts first and then moving on to the smaller ones. He was known for using words to his advantage and therefore convinces people to pay him more money even after him not repaying them.

Achebe also manages to use these devices to interest and inform the audience of the ways the Igbo people makes decisions such as when Ikemefuna was walking with the men on the day of his killing, he sang a song and if he ended the song on his right foot it would mean that his mom is alive and well and if he ended the song on his left foot it would mean that his mum is either dead or suffering from an illness. This shows us how the Igbo people demonstrate these rituals to determine things in different situations. Achebe uses this as a way to engage with the readers and inform them about the traditions that happen which further enhances the realism of the culture and makes it more believable and further contributes to the theme of the plot of the novel.

In the 11^th Chapter, Ezinma is talking to her mom when a story is told about a greedy, cunning tortoise. All of the birds have been invited to a feast in the sky and Tortoise persuades the birds to lend him feathers to make wings so that he can attend the feast as well. As they travel to the feast, Tortoise also persuades them to take new names for the feast according to custom. He tells the birds that his name will be “All of you.” When they arrive, Tortoise asks his hosts for whom the feast is prepared. They reply, “For all of you.” Tortoise proceeds to eat and drink the best parts of the food and wine. The birds, angry and disgruntled at receiving only scraps, take back the feathers that they had given to Tortoise so that he is unable to fly home. Tortoise persuades Parrot to deliver a message to his wife: he wants her to cover their compound with their soft things so that he may jump from the sky without danger. Maliciously, Parrot tells Tortoise’s wife to bring out all of the hard things. When Tortoise jumps, his shell breaks into pieces on impact. A medicine man puts it together again, which is why Tortoise’s shell is not smooth.

From this story we see that the oral tradition of storytelling in Igbo culture is a means for teaching history and customs, for passing on legends and beliefs, and for explaining the natural as well as the supernatural worlds. The tradition is particularly well-illustrated in the long story about Tortoise and his shell. The story explains why a tortoise shell is not smooth, but it also reveals the proverb, "a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself" — another indication that Okonkwo is bringing misfortune upon himself.

Another way of looking at this story would be seen as linguistic imperialism as the tortoise forced them to call them a specific name and then as a form of oppression the birds had used their communication to talk to the tortoise’s wife 

MEMOIR

Umuofia. My clan, my tribe, my home. So much changed has happen right under our noses yet we were too blind to notice that we soon were no longer the rulers of our own land. The white people were very sneaky when they came along with their strange and abnormal beliefs and customs.  When my good friend and also one of the greatest men in Umuofia, Oknokwo was exiled, I knew that things were slowly starting to change, the seven years that he missed was the introduction of the arrivals of the colonists. They has slowly taken our people into their side and manipulated their minds into believing that Christianity was the right way and that our well-shaped and vigorous culture and superstitions were erroneous and disapproved by them. The settlers had even gone as far as killing of the village of Abame and attempted to convert the rest and imposing their power upon all the different lands.

The white people have done many things in which they had disrespected us and our traditions and way of life.  The first reverend sent to our land was Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown was actually respected by the clan because he trod softly on our faith and had even made friends with some of the great men of the clan and would frequently visit us in the villages. But with the coming of the new reverend, Mr. Smith, things were bound to change. Mr. Smith thought about nothing but numbers. Yet before that let me talk about Enoch. Enoch was one of the white missionaries who was the son of the priest of the snake. Enoch had murdered an egwugwu by unmasking him during the annual ceremony to honor the earth deity which caused a horrible conflict between us. This led us to burn down Enoch’s compound and then burning down the church. This act led 6 of us to the court and then unknowingly being imprisoned by the white missionaries (who had also beat us with sticks) who only accepted to release us if our village would pay a fine of two hundred and fifty bags of cowries. From this point on we knew that they were the enemies. It wasn’t a joke anymore; the white men had more power than we had anticipated, they were a smart bunch and we had foolishly accepted their stay. They had taken many of our people and our culture society was starting to break down and the falcon could no longer hear the falconer and that’s when I knew things changed. Things had fallen apart. 

PAPER 2

3- Discuss the significance of social status in Things Fall Apart, and comment on its contribution to characterization.

Social status plays a remarkable role in Things Fall Apart. In the Igbo culture it is seen how they determine how much a man should be respected depending on their successes. These successes rely on various things such as how big a man’s barn is and how many crops he is able to produce, how many wives he has and children. A wealthy man in Okonkwo’s village, Nwakibie was known for having three huge barns, nine wives and thirty children. He was known for having taken the highest a man could get in Umuofia. So titles are gained by men through their successes in their life. Okonkwo’s dad, Unoka, had never earned any titles in his lifetime, he was the laughingstock of Umoufia and no one had any respect for him because he was considered a man of lower social status. Looking at the protagonists, Okonkwo has known to for winning the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams and had married three wives. He had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars and such a thing was revered in the Igbo society. A proverb used in Umofia is: “If a child washed his hands he could eat with kings” and Okonkwo had this privilege. This helped develop Okonkwo’s character in regards for him aiming higher and trying to become even more and better than he is but therefore this lead to him having a bigger ego and develop a harsher more violent and brutal persona and later led to his downfall as he was eagerly trying to oppose his father’s ways as he was considered of a low social status.

Another notable character who shows social status is Ezeudu; he was the oldest man in the village who had been a great and fearless warrior in his time, who had earned titles and was now accorded great respect in all the clan. When he died, due to him being of such high social status and great power he was to be buried after dark with only a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony. It is seen how a man with titles was placed significantly higher in the social structure of Umuofia. This can be compared to Unoka and his time of death which was his fated doom. He suffered from swelling which made the Earth Goddess angry and therefore he wasn’t allowed to die in the house and had to be carried to the Evil Forest and left there to die and wasn’t given any type of burial.

Another perspective of social status is one between men and women. It is seen in the book that women don’t hold up power but instead are used as a statement for men’s statuses. Crime and accidents that happen are categorized into female and male crimes. If a man commits a severe and planed crime then it is considered a male crime whereas when a man commits a crime that isn’t severe and was accidental such as Okonkwo had committed during Ezeudu’s funeral where he accidentally killed Ezeudu’s 16 year old son, is considered a female crime which again displays the inferiority women hold against men in the Igbo society and what some role they play in having a social status.  

In conclusion, social status is defined by a man’s wealth which is defined through his success of things such as barns, wives and especially titles which leads a man to be respected by his fellow clansmen and village. They’re given their deserved respect by their achievements. The more achievements and wealth a man has the higher his social status is in his society therefore gaining him more respect. Therefore we see the significance social status plays in Things Fall Apart and how the interact with characters.

OKONKWO'S CHARACTER

A tragic hero is one that is defined as a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to their own destruction. Common characteristic traits defined by Aristotle usually consist of a flaw or error of judgment (hamartia), a reversal of fortune brought through due to the hero error of judgment (peripeteia), the discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero’s own actions (anagnorisis), excessive pride (hubris) and lastly the character’s fate must be greater than deserved. It can be seen that Okonkwo- the protagonist- follows many of these traits.

Yet from this essay a hero is defined as person not made in isolation but they’re rather a product of the social matrix with in which they operate. The person's determination to pursue his individual interest concomitantly with that of the society is a constant source of dynamic tensions because his obligations to his society can become an impediment to his individual quest for fame and reputation. This is very relatable to Okonkow which makes us question why Achebe would choose a tragic hero as the protagonist. Using Okonkwo as a tragic hero is a brilliant way to portray not only Okonkows downfall but rather the downfall of the whole society. One of the most important proverbs in the novel is: ““As the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the others” which means that the downfall of one person could be the downfall for everyone else which in this case was the protagonist as well as the tragic hero. By making Okonkwo a tragic hero, Achebe tries to illustrate a message that the Westerners are causing them much trouble and even though it is very frowned upon to take your own life in the Igbo culture- they would still rather that than having to follow the British as Obierika says: “That man (Okonkwo) was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself and now he will be buried like a dog…” therefore using Okonkwo as a tragic hero truly emphasizes on the true struggle of the Igbo society as a whole and not just Okonkwo alone.

One of the themes that take place throughout the novel is the struggle of change, tradition and culture which in the Igbo society holds great value. Using Okonkwo we see this theme develop due to the fact that he resists the new cultural, religious and political change within Umuofia because he doesn’t consider them manly which leads to develop him as a character and the theme itself. Okonkwo also resists such things because of his strong fear to lose societal status. His wisdom on self-worth is dependent on the traditional standard which by his society judges him.
Another theme that Achebe promotes through Okonkwo is destiny/fate. Due to Okonkwo’s hard and inflexible ways, he seemed destined for self-destruction. Throughout the novel is it seen through the character development how certain tragical events were building up against Okonkwo. Again by using the protagonist as the tragic hero we see how the novel falls on them and implies the same for the Igbo society.  

CHINUA ACHEBE- IN CLASS SHARED INQUIRY DISCUSSION

The most meaningful takeaway from last lesson's discussion relating to the cultural or literary context of Achebe's work was how in my group we had different ideas and suggestions to what we thought Achebe meant during his interview. an interesting topic we had discussed in our group was how social media and how it portrays the African society and at one point in the interview Achebe says: "If you see a good house in Lagos, Nigeria, it doesn't quite fit the picture you have in your head, because you're looking for the slum-- that is what the world expects journalists covering a city in Africa to come back with" 

Looking at the cultural context of Achebe's worked, we discussed how we view culture and how it is a natural way of life and how in Achebe's place, culture plays a very big role and how a lot of it was lot of it was lost an we discussed what culture means to us as individuals and how in many cases even if not colonized, culture can't always be contained and kept and there's always be a part that will be lost yet in Achebe's case it was a much bigger loss. 

PAPER ONE- POLITICAL SPEECH

WINSTON CHURCHILL- IRON CURTAIN (THE SINEWS OF PEACE)

The text I will be analyzing is a speech by Winston Churchill named Iron Curtain. Churchill had been defeated for the re-elections as prime minister in 1945 yet presented his speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri on March 5, 1946. Through the constant use of pronoun and close relation with the audience we can identify that it is a speech.

The speech was presented in England dedicated to the people of England and present during that speech was American president Harry Truman which worked for Churchill’s advantage as he was praising the American to pursue his aim. Churchill’s primary purpose for this speech is to argue and persuade the people for a much closer and tighter relationship between the United States and Great Britain in working together to provide a more organized and well policing postwar world. Previous to this speech, U.S and U.K. were worried about their own post- war economies and situations and were very pleased with the role that the Soviet Union played in ending the Second World War yet it was after Churchill’s speech that changed the views towards the Communist speech which was his aim. In his speech, Churchill was also trying to warn against the policies of the Soviet Union.

Churchill’s speech revolved around post war troubles that were occurring within his country. This speech was held after world war two and at that time most of the eastern European countries stayed under Stalin’s grip:
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow. Athens alone -- Greece with its immortal glories -- is free to decide its future at an election under British, American and French observation. The Russian-dominated Polish Government has been encouraged to make enormous and wrongful inroads upon Germany, and mass expulsions of millions of Germans on a scale grievous and undreamed-of are now taking place. The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to pre-eminence and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control”
Churchill discusses how Stalin has full control of these countries and refuses to stand down from them. Unlike most people that were trying to get over the war, Churchill steps up and made clear that the Russians have taken away their land and keeping it to themselves which Is therefore creating a division between the communists and capitalists- east and west. He then named this division using the phrase “iron curtain” hence the name of the speech.

The tone of the speech is very serious and opinionated. The language, diction and vocab and tone are sincere, therefore used to motivate and inspire the people and persuade the Americans to work alongside the British. Through his aim and purpose one sees the affect it has on his tone. “What is needed is a settlement, and the longer this is delayed, the more difficult it will be and the greater our dangers will become.” He talks about the dangers that the country will face if they delay. Using words such as “delay” and “danger” further emphasize the seriousness of the situation which portrays a serious mode. As well as that in the audience it can be seen how the audience pays intensive attention to the speech.

At the fairly beginning of Churchill’s speech with promising and giving the people hope and repeats it:” It is my duty however, for I am sure you would wish me to state the facts as I see them to you, to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe.” By using this, he is able to engage with the audience quicker because they imply that his motives are pure and altruistic. Throughout his speech, Churchill communicates with the audience confidently along with setting them high goals by saying things such as: “We must, and I believe we shall, prove ourselves equal to this severe requirement.” The name itself of Churchill’s speech is a metaphors- “Iron Curtain” which he used in his speech to imply that it is what is separating the east from the west. The speech is also known as “The Sinews of Peace” sinew meaning a strong muscle, therefore indicating that only strength can lead to peace. “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” This sentence shows his main metaphor of the Iron Curtain alongside a vivid emotional imagery that surfaces the images the division between the east and the west. A lot of imagery and metaphors are used throughout the speech such as “two giant marauders, war and tyranny” and “A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied victory” all of the imagery used enhances the visual experience, it helps represents experiences or history through language. Throughout the speech, Churchill constantly uses pronouns to engage with the audience and the people of his country: “we should all be proved again unteachable” and “We British have also our twenty years…” and “but we should be most unwise not to face them squarely while time remains.” From time to time, Churchill plugs in rhetorical questions such as: “why cannot they work together at the common task as friends and partners? Why can they not share their tools and thus increase each other's working powers?” he uses these rhetorical questions as a way to persuade and subtly influence his audience. He uses it to emphasize his point and to get the audience the think about the points being made.

The speech is structure so that he starts talking about his motives and his selfless priorities to the country. He then sets high expectations, challenging his listeners with big goals and giving them hope through his confident way of communicating with the audience.

Practice IOC

PRACTICE IOC

https://soundcloud.com/ghadeersalih/ioc-practice