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

WOMAN WARRIOR

The most meaningful takeaway to me has been from Woman Warrior. The text is of a young Chinese girl who faces the challenge to speak English when starting school in America. The extract from the novel shows the clear relationship between the concept of language and power. In this reading, we come to see that language is power. As the young girl first joins the American school, she is shy and develops insecurity due to the language and culture barrier. To start off with culture plays quite a significant role, in the Chinese culture it is frowned upon for a female to speak boldly and assertively. Yet on the other hand in the American culture, they believe in the individuals’ rights and freedom of speech. This caused a clash for the young girl as she knew that in order for her to be accepted and have power she must alter some of her cultural ways leading to hybridity in a way where she balance both the American and Chinese culture in her future.

The girl continuously refers to the Americans as “ghosts” in a manner that they should be feared or not trusted. Yet she refers to the black student in her class as Black Ghosts, she admired them due to the fact that they laughed the loudest and talked to her as if she was as talkative as them. This sort of linguistic approach towards the Chinese girl made her feel less of an outsider and making her feel bad every time she didn't speak. Also the young girl refers to them as the Negro students/ black ghosts show that her intention is innocent and in no way trying to discriminate them.

When the girls would attend the Chinese school they wouldn't have the same problem of silence, they would be loud and yell all together yet when asked by the new teacher to speak aloud, her voice would waver and stutter like when they are in the American school. 

The young girl knows that language is the power which will create her personal identity and as she grows up she sees silence and the lack of speech and language represents weakness which led to her hatred for the “silent girl” and  fears that the girl's public image implies her own unpopularity. One day when the girls are alone, she decides to confront the silent girl and tries to make her talk, resulting her to use violence however the girl still refuses to speak. At the end the young Chinese girl ends up crying along with the silent girl, realizing that she is trying to deal with similar fears. Her inability to make the silent girl speak, forces her to come to terms with her own fears associated with language and personal identity and could have made her realize the fact that the girl wont retreat and speak, that she has power and isn’t letting culture and the language of a more dominant class and society get to her, though she would be viewed as being part of a subaltern society.

Linguistic Imperialism

Linguistic Imperialism in Education 

Linguistic imperialism is the concept that a dominant language is being passed through and transferred to other people. In this case, English is now the second most spoken language for first speakers and is the most widely spoken language in the world with up to at least 1.8 billion people speaking it and is the most widely taught foreign language. Therefore we can see how English takes an important dominant role in the world from things like pop culture, education to economic power which are all aspects of the dominant culture that are passed alongside the language.

This puts some communities who don’t speak English at all in a disadvantage and has an impact on them and thereby prohibits them from fully contributing to the rest of the world. This is where education comes in. A majority of people want to be able to get into a very high standard and adequate university in the world and be able to receive the optimum and ideal education yet nowadays to be accepted into such prestige higher education, you require the full and foremost fluency in the English language which is to proven through a test if English isn't a first language for people and the top of universities are found in English speaking countries and universities do reject students who don’t show the required English needed to enter the university. English is seen as the undisputed global language. Countries across the globe feel the need to empower their citizens through education by using the English language. Books and journals and all worldwide education tools are in English but that in fact is a self-accomplishing prognostication that helps continue develop the dominance of the English language.

English can be seen as a barrier, when it cuts off certain communities from fulfilling their dreams and pursuing their educational desires. Nowadays to take all these literary English exams to get into universities, students require paying fees; therefore again prohibiting poorer communities from being able to gain a higher education even if their levels are incredible. Naturally parents want to be able to send off their kids to get a good education and therefore a good job which again naturally requires higher education to be studied at western universities that require English exams.
When we live by this idea that English is a main requirement to get into those universities, we’re limiting our focus and cutting off potential geniuses or scientist, lawyers or doctors who could have had a major impact on the world because what they know in their own language is knowledge that the world could require in the future.

Although the idea of having English as such a dominant role playing language in the world seems like an ideal concept but what we don’t realize that it slowly causes less languages to exist and lets people mainly focus on their English which has a major impact on communities. This is evidence of linguistic imperialism in the Anglophone world but the impacts that go along with it are greater than people would know or expect them to be and can have an increasing impact in the world to come. 

Paper 1 Text 2

This Text 2 extract is a very informative article; it starts off by clearly stating numerical facts in a small introductory paragraph keeping it short, bold and simple to attract the audiences’ attention. It has good qualities of an article and is well structured and organized into different subheadings, keeping the readers informed at all times and up to pace. Throughout the whole article there is constant use of logos through the appliance of statistics and data.

The article was written by Oxfam, an international confederation grounded from 17 organizations working in about 94 countries worldwide to find solutions to poverty and what it considers as injustice around the world. The purpose for this article was to inform and educate and to a subtle extend persuasive. It aims this article at people who are interested in topic such destitution and the lack to help the needy in a poorer state. The way the aim to inform is by their continuous display of figures of lives of people which to some extent is using pathos because it plays with ones emotions which links with their way of persuading, therefore making people feel guilty and having the need to donate and help those who are in need of it.

All in all this text is about the food crises in Sahel, the situation there and what Oxfam is doing to help in this situation. It keeps its information detailed and to the point focusing on its main message of the crisis happening in Sahel. They’re trying to convey a clear message and idea about what is happening and what they are doing to help through their persuasive techniques.

The tone of the article starts of quite serious through the title: “Food Crisis in Sahel” the use of the word crisis makes it sound like a serious topic therefore attracting readers quicker. It further continues with a quote: “The humanitarian response must tackle the underlying causes of crisis like this to prevent them recurring.” The tone continuous to sound serious using words such as “tackle” and “prevent” making people realize how important and serious the issue is. Their persistent use of high figures and statistics also increases the serious tone making people realize how serious it is. This leads to a quite worrying and sad/depressing mood. As the article continues to talk about how Oxfam helps its sets a more encouraging tone saying: “Oxfam is gearing up its work to address immediately the needs of the most vulnerable people. We’re working to help communities increase their resilience to the coming crisis; we are getting ready to provide food assistance.”  Their use of words such as “immediately” and “working to help” sets a reassuring mood.

Logos is a very commonly used technique throughout the article, their steady use of data/ statistics as it is a very applicable and convenient way to grab the attention of audiences’  because they rely on numbers and always see them as the truth. This is a very effective method of technique as well as their use of pathos as they interact with the audience and inform them of the humanitarian response that is needed to approach such a crisis. The statistical information presented about the people who will most likely not be able to eat which has an emotion appeal and making an appeal to the audience's sympathies and imagination. An appeal to pathos causes an audience not just to respond through emotion but to identify with the writer's point of view and be able to feel similar to the way the author would. As well as logos and pathos, there is of course the use of ethos, through the character of the author and the credibility and trustworthiness of the organization Oxfam; they are able to persuade the audience much more and in a very efficient manner because they are more likely to believe such a credible organization which is known due to its helpfulness.

The article is very flowing and starts off with a single image of the people of Sahel. It then continues with the title of the article, below it a quote, in a bigger font to grab the attention of the audience. From then on the article is buildup of short paragraphs, being straight to the point and keeping serious and simple for the readers to keep reading. The article contains subheadings to pinpoint certain aspects especially the on what “What Oxfam is doing” as it is the author of this article. On top of the image you can see that the article of “Food Crisis in Sahel” is put under the heading of emergencies once again implying how serious the situation is.