The text 1 is an advertisement released in the 1920's in the United States of America that directly addresses the first class individuals with the purpose of persuading them to believe that the cruise that the company releasing the advertisement offers is the best of the best in what concerns travelling around the Caribbean. In order to do this, images are used to portray high class individuals that might appeal to others that see this advertisement, feeling attracted to the advertisement graphic, and therefore paying attention. On the other hand text 2 is an article that approaches an ownership conflict regarding the possession of land in the Caribbean. On the one side the local people claim that the territory was theirs since decades ago, while businessmen claim that the land was legally bought long ago, and should be used for construction. In contrast with text 1 this article's purpose is to inform more than persuade, although there is an intention behind the use of literary imageries, that have as intention promote an ideology that could bias the view of the audience. Even though these text might address different audiences, and have different purposes, the theme of power is addressed in both texts. In the first text, being a period of time in the US in which the black population could not have as many rights as the white population, the white high class individuals are portrayed as the part of the population that is able to access to the privilege of a traveling in a cruise, while in the second text,through the use of imageries, it is visible how the businessmen are portrayed as a group in society that has power and influence, to obtain land, being allowed to carry out certain methods that are not the most orthodox.


Looking at the context of these two texts, they have been published or released in 1920, and 2007, which are different periods of time in which different values, or morals were present in the individuals of society. Text 1, being an advertisement released in 1920 in the US, it is addressing the high social class of the 1920's directly, as it is indicated right bellow the tittle of the advertisement. The high class at that time experienced an inequality regarding power in society between the white population, and the black population of the US. Besides of this, this period of time the period of time in which text 1 was published was a period in which the US experienced an economic boom, or boost that allowed many citizens to afford a costly vacation easily, while also was a period of time in which colonization of territories by powerful countries was a common, and actual thing. On the other hand, text 2 was published in 2007 in a magazine article directed to high class entrepreneurs, and business man. This period of time contrasts with the 1920's since it is a period of time more recent in which high class individuals have different values. High class individuals in this period of time could not access to this class as easily as in the 1920's, therefore in order to be part of this social class, the value of benefits and opportunities to make profit are ranked as a priority for this high class individuals.



Both of these texts are targeting a specific audience, there are similarities between these audiences, although there is evidence in this texts that point out the varied differences. Text 1, being an advertisement or high class people, conveys the message that ordinary individuals of society can not access the service being advertised since it is considered the best among the best cruisers that exist. First off, the advertisement directly addresses high class individuals right bellow the tittle where it says " Only first class Passengers Carried". Besides of this the graphic that is used to portray the situation in which a passenger is enjoying the travelling in the cruiser has individuals with a type of clothing that only high class individuals of society could afford. Finally, one of the high class women portrayed in the graphic is holding a book, which in some way is sending the message that the individuals on board of this cruise should be only educated, and cultivated. On the other hand, text 2 even though it is targeting social class individuals coming from a high class individuals, the specific targeted audience is entrepreneurs, and business man that are interested in the business of infrastructure development. One of the facts that serves as evidence is that this text was published in the a business section called "Business Monday". Besides of this, since the article discuses a delicate situation in which investors try to take land from a Caribbean island, this information should be most relevant to investors from the US that might have chances to get involved in the situation, or might simply have interest in knowing about the event, since it is completely related to business and development.


In what concerns purpose of the texts they show different purposes, although in the process in which the message reaches the audience, the use of persuasive language is used in both texts. In text 1, the purpose is clearly to convince, or persuade the audience of the high standard quality of the cruise. In order to do this, an arrogant tone is used when comparing the quality of the cruise advertised to the services that other companies might offer when it says "Much cooler than in Summer Resorts further North".Furthermore in order to portray the quality of the cruise the advertisement describes the cruise as " The coolest Ships Afloat". Finally the use of a graphic portraying high class individuals that seem to enjoy the atmosphere of the cruise also adds evidence to this statement. On the other hand, text 2 has as purpose to inform the audience of the situation in which the business men and the local people of the Caribbean islands are right now.

The content of these texts is completely different, although the persuasive techniques used in both of em create interest in the audience. First of all as we look at the first text it is possible to identify that the theme of power is present since the high class is portrayed as the unique class that can access this privilege. The content of this text can be broken down into three body paragraphs, a title, and two visuals. In the first paragraph of the text 1 the advertisement explains the locations where the cruise travels, while also comparing the price of the cruiser to the price of a normal vacation, considering that the individuals on board are used to spend a certain amount of money on vacations. Besides of this in the second paragrah it is recognizable how the tone of the advertisement, as already mentioned, starts to use persuasive techniques again comparing this cruise to a standard vacation. Finally, in the last paragraph the advertisement keeps using factual information to persuade the audience of the quality of the cruise. Nonetheless the content of text 2 is very different, although the theme of power is also present, as we see how again there is use of factual information to describe the privileges of a certain group of people of society. First of the article uses an example of the life of a local person that lives in an Caribbean island, that wants to defend the argument that the land that now American investors want to use belongs to the local people who has been working on it for decades. Throughout the text, the author uses testimonies of local people that want to defend their right to live in the island in order to not face eviction.Finally, there is also information that points out that the situation becomes harder day by day for the local people, since they have to face entrepreneurs that want this land to build infrastructure, and use it as economic benefit. In summary, it is recognizable that the text shows how the power of these entrepreneurs can take land for economic purposes in an unfair way, therefore showing how the theme of power is implied. It is possible to interpret this looking at evidence taken from the last paragraph of the text which says , " Developers and speculators will use any means necessary to get the land from the people.


In conclusion these two texts portray power held by high class of society as common theme. This idea is supported by the use of imagery, graphics, and testimonies, that show how social class individuals are able to enjoy several pleasures that not every individual is able to access.

HL Paper 1 Introduction

The text 1 is an advertisement released in the 1920's in the United States of America that directly addresses the first class individuals with the purpose of persuading them to believe that the cruise that the company releasing the advertisement offers is the best of the best in what concerns travelling around the Caribbean. In order to do this, images are used to portray high class individuals that might appeal to others that see this advertisement, feeling attracted to the advertisement graphic, and therefore paying attention. On the other hand text 2 is an article that approaches an ownership conflict regarding the possession of land in the Caribbean. On the one side the local people claim that the territory was theirs since decades ago, while businessmen claim that the land was legally bought long ago, and should be used for construction. In contrast with text 1 this article's purpose is to inform more than persuade, although there is an intention behind the use of literary imageries, that have as intention promote an ideology that could bias the view of the audience. Even though these text might address different audiences, and have different purposes, the theme of power is addressed in both texts. In the first text, being a period of time in the US in which the black population could not have as many rights as the white population, the white high class individuals are portrayed as the part of the population that is able to access to the privilege of a traveling in a cruise, while in the second text,through the use of imageries, it is visible how the businessmen are portrayed as a group in society that has power and influence, to obtain land, being allowed to carry out certain methods that are not the most orthodox.

Propaganda 4 Corner Reflection

Deception is just as bad as telling an outright lie.

From my point of view, this statement is pretty true, and portrays and accurate definition of lie according to several ethic views, and also according to a religious perspective. Therefore, I strongly agree with this statement since I believe that even if the outcome of deception is positive and has proper, and good intentions, it has to be considered a lie that does not show the reality that is out there.

As an example, the propaganda of the 2003 war clearly shows an example of deception used to portray a situation that is actually fabricated by Hollywood film experts, and media corporations. As the second British secretary of war pointed out, the use of a specific situation that is portrayed as an amazing heroic achievement of the American army, only portrays the image that the war is being a success for the American camp. This new was manipulated as the doctors attending the rescued American soldier pointed out,  so that the American population received a complete opposite message that portrayed a different situation than the actual situation in the war.

It is reasonable that a country obviously wants to also inform of the achievements of the army in a war, but there a different intention when an event is manipulated an made look more important and heroic than it actually was, in order to portray an image that is not real to the population of your country. The soldier that was injured and kept in the hospital of Iraq received a good attention and treatment that was not being included in the new report, while also many unnecessary maneuvers were carried out by the American government just for the media in order to obtain a good piece of film that could portray this illusion.

Finally many British war historians argue that the actual situation of the American army in the Iraq war of 2003 was completely opposite to what they were portraying in their Tv news, also adding that several strategic events had been a complete failure. Therefore as conclusion I believe that the truth has to be provided no matter what the situation is in a war, having the people believing in a false illusion is a double edged sword that will definitely affect trust on media.

Biased Article Analysis

Article
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/05/catalan-people-spanish-government-catalonia-independence-election-madrid



On 27th September Catalonia's voters determined the political future of the country. As it has been estimated 77.4% of the voters decided to vote political countries that are in favor of the independence of Catalonia from the Spanish government. At this point in time, the majority of the Catalonian parliament seats are believed to be occupied by independents, being 75, out of 135 seats, while the unionists make up the remaining seats.

These elections therefore become the first way in which Catalonian citizens were able to express their support on the idea of Independence, since by law the process was very long due to the fact that the Spanish constitution does not allow such referendums to take place. Such process is proved to be supported by the citizens, who constantly, and pacifically showed support to this belief of independence, during the period of time of four years. On the other hand, many of the Catalonia citizens are against the independence, proof of this is the number of citizens that did not take this referendum seriously, who did not even bother to go to vote against it.


After the support of the public was displayed, several political parties in favor of the independence of Catalonia, such as CDC centre, and ERC, decided to unify since the aim of all of them  is believe to be similar according to their political aims. Although there are confrontations for sure, even though many of the parties have displayed the desire of supporting the independence of Catalonia. Besides of this, not only politicians but also member of the establishment, such as university teachers in political science have shown their varied opinions. From this group, there have been several figures who have supported the unity in the belief of the independence, and helped to keep the opinion of the civilians the same, during protests, and marchs.

The history of the Catalonian parliament has shown the presence of a self government since 1359, and the presence of a dialect, that could be considered a language. This facts point out that in the history of the Catalonian culture, there has always been a feeling of separation, due to language, different political beliefs, causing Spansh Civil war. Although it is of vital importance to have in mind that other regions of Spain have dialects as well, being in the same situation as Catalonia, which shows that there must be an equal consideration for all the regions of the country.

Sylvia Plath IOC

https://soundcloud.com/ssein/sylvia-plath-ioc

Passion Passage IOC

https://soundcloud.com/ssein/munro-ioc-passion-passage

Munro IOC

https://soundcloud.com/ssein/simon-sein-munro-ioc

"This is water" Analysis

Essentially, this text is an essay called  "This is Water" written by David Forster Wallace. Throughout the text, the author develops the idea that self perception of life, and perception of our surroundings is a crucial fact in our day to day life, that can affect our personality, and attitude. The main point of David Foster's essay, is the empathy towards the people surrounding us. As we grow up, we get involved in never ending routines that make us feel like everyday is the exact same day, in which nothing new, or surprising happens to us. Besides of this, as David Foster explains, when we  submerge in these routines, the mentality that we all have is that we are the center of the universe, forgetting that we live in a world in which there are people around who have the same, if not even worse problems than we have, therefore people's feelings, and thoughts are not being communicated to us when we are submerged in this routine.

Besides of this, the author shows a focus in explaining how important the knowledge or intellect is when it comes to adjusting our default-settings. Through the knowledge obtained, and though learning to have a mentality tat seeks to learn how to think, we are "conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience"as David explains.

One of the example used by David to show how this daily perspective of life, or lack of empathy works in our day to day life is the example of a man that has to go to the grocery shop at the very last moment of the day after working, having to queue for a long time, complaining about the people that are in the same situation as him. Once the situation is being described the author shows that in the next moment the person starts to realize that maybe the people that are queuing just like him, may have the same problems as him, or may have to face daily situations that are harder than his routine, therefore showing the importance of empathizing with the people around us, who sometimes we do not care about.

This essay makes us reflect about our day to day lives , therefore transmitting us moral values, such as the empathy that in some cases we lack, not considering the individuals around us, only being aware of our situation, and problems. Trough the use of characters, and life experiences of others, values can be expressed and messages can be transmitted to the audience, therefore making use of literature, to teach or to transmit a lesson, that applies to a wide range of individuals.

Munro Literature Reflection

What is the purpose and benefit of the study of literature?

When we compare literature a popular fiction, there are several differences that do make a huge difference. First of all, in literature, there is put more emphasis on the personality, attitudes, feeling, and emotions of the characters, describing at any moment the shifts in the personalities of the characters when it comes to different situations that the characters are facing. For that matter, from my point of view, the purpose of literature is to make the audience, or reader get involved with the character at a whole different level.

Since Alice Munro's stories present this situations in which unexpected occurrences happen to the main characters of her stories, the reaction of the characters invites us to empathize with them, being able to experience how it would be to be in that same situation. Therefore, my opinion is that reading literature gives us experience that can be applied to our lives, and allows us to be in situations in which we have not been before, only through reading a book. 

What is women's literature, and what is the value of studying it?

Woman's literature is literature written by women, and literature that has a thematic related to the  role that the female gender has had in society. Besides of this, in many cases a contrast between the male, and female gender is shown in this type of literature, so that the message can be transmitted clearly, and to the point.

Why were the themes and values of Munro's realism so significant during the 1950s to the 1980s? 

The impact of Munro's literature in those times was the fact that she was one of the first female authors that depicted the realism of the situation of the female gender in society. Her stories portrayed in a clear way how women have to struggle daily in situations in which society benefits men more than women, just because of the gender. Besides of this. the impact that her stories had, was huge since having this style in which there is put so much focus on the characters, the readers empathized more with the situations of female protagonists, that had to face these struggles.

Although she does not identify as a feminist author how has Munro's work contributed to gender equality?

As previously discussed, then portrayal of the struggle that female protagonists had to face in her stories, created the opportunity for the readers to put themselves in the skin of these protagonists, having to face situations in which being a women would not benefit them to achieve something. Overall, her work was a huge inspiration for the feminist groups,

What do you enjoy most about the content of Munro's work and what impact has it had on you?

From my point of view, the way in which she shifts the attitudes of the characters, and the way in which she develops the personalities, putting so much depth has made an impact on me, specially in the case of Clara, in runaway. Besides of that, the emphasize that is put as well on describing the setting, and making the setting play a role in the whole story, that is linked to the big picture of the theme, is what I liked the most as well. 

Music Anthology Role play

In this analysis I will analyze the song " Teenagers" written by " My Chemical Romance". The thematic of the lyrics of its songs is mainly focused on political controversy, and memories of life experiences.

First off the singer of this song, Gerard Way, embodies the voice of a resented teenager towards the attitude of the government, or the adults. It is clear that he plays the role of a person that is warning the youth of the way in which it is being manipulated, while at the same time he is giving advice about what to do against this manipulation.

The main theme of this song is therefore manipulation that "they" is enforcing to the teenagers. When Gerard says " They" we can discern that he is referring to the author of the manipulation, which in the mean time the targeted audience of the song, or the audience that has to understand the message of this song is the teenager.

                                     If we take a look at the chorus of the song:



                        " They said that teenagers scare the living shit out of me
                                the could care less as long as someone'll bleed
                               so darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose
                                    maybe they'll leave you alone but not me."


What is clear just by looking at the chorus is that when Gerard says they, he is referring to a group of people that is oppressing his targeted audience, therefore, that is the reason why in the third line of the chorus he is giving advice to the audience about what to do against this oppressor.

Looking at the three main strophes that make up the song, it is possible to recognize three sub themes in which this idea of manipulation is further expressed, along with other ideas that relate to it. In the first strophe:


                                   " They're gonna clean up your looks
                                     With all the lies in the books
                                       To make a citizen out of you
                                        Because the sleep with  gun
                                    And keep an eye on you son
                                So they can watch all the things you so."


There are several times in which "they " is used again. In this strophe the main idea is the fact that Gerard wants to transmit to his audience, the teenagers, that somebody is deceiving them, and controlling them, in order to make them be the class of people that they want to be. Furthermore, in this verse the word citizen makes the difference, since the idea that the oppressors what to shape the characteristics of the audience, being the teenagers, in some way is a proof that shows that the oppressor is the government. Besides of that, in the first two verses, the singer uses an assonance, as a rhetorical device, to slow the tempo of those first two verses, putting emphasis on them, therefore giving those first two verses a higher value, or importance.



                                 "Because the drugs never work
                                   They're gonna give you a smirk
                                  Cause they got methods for keeping you clean
                                They're gonna reap up your head,
                                 Your aspirations and shreds
                                 Another cog in the murder machine.


In the second strophe there are important literary features and details that play an important role in adding importance to the main theme, the manipulation. First off in this strophe the singer uses two metaphors. In the second verse, when the singer says " They're gonna give you a smirk", he is not literally meaning it, but instead he is meaning that the government,or oppressor over the teenager, is going to play the role of a friendly and inoffensive organization in order to act as a double edged sword, since a smirk portrays the idea of a fake intention. Secondly, there is a use of connotation when Gerard says, " They are gonna reap up your head", again it is not the literally action what matters here, but the idea that the government is gonna implant a way of thinking into the minds of the youth, in order to make them forget about their dreams and make them become the kind of citizen they want. Finally in the last verse there is use of metaphor as well, with the intention to portray the idea that  manipulation the minds of the teenagers, and controlling them is just a part of the big puzzle, that the government is carrying out to take advantage of the citizens in order to only benefit itself.


                           "The boys and girls in the clique
                              The awful names that they stick
                             You're not gonna fit in much, kid
                             But if you are troubled and hurt,
                           What you got under your shirt
                             Will make them pay for the things they did"

In this last strophe the main idea being expressed by the singer is the fact that at one point the teenagers can take action over this situation, and make a difference. In order to portray this idea, the singer uses Imagery, to make the audience either think about the resented feelings of a broken heart, after being deceived, and manipulated, or also think about the strength that the teenagers have to make something happen, motivating them in either way to do something about this manipulation. This last idea is expressed in the last verse, " Will make them pay for the things they did".



All in all, in this song the main theme is the manipulation. The singer, and author of the song portrays the idea that the government manipulates the youth, or the teenagers, not allowing them to dream, and manipulating their minds through school, in order to create a specific sample of individual. As it has been discussed, the use of metaphors, connotation, and assonance helps the author to depict the message. Finally, as secondary message of the song, the author uses Imagery to express the idea that it is possible to do something about this manipulation, encouraging the teenagers to look to what they have inside of them.

Summer Blog #MyTravel

Once my vacation is Spain finished my mindset of vacation was over. The idea of forgetting about scholar duty could not stay in my mind longer, since I was back at home. When I thought that my vacation was over, and that I had to go back to the scholar mindset, my parents told me that we were going on vacation to Romania to visit some family, and to end up the summer in the best way possible spending quality time with the family.

When my parents told me the new I was shocked since I had not been there for seven years, therefore my first though was that it would be pretty different than the way in which I remembered it. The idea was to visit the family and spend two weeks gathering with old friends who live far away from us, but my main motivation for the trip was to see how the city in which I was born had changed.

When we landed in Timisoara, Romania, the climatic conditions were drastically different to Abu Dhabi's climatic conditions. The air was fresh, and some humidity made up an amazing atmosphere in which, taking a walk, and hiking were activities that could be done placidly. Most of the city showed many old buildings with historical meaning, although some places were not well preserved as some of them were half rebuild and half restructured. On the other hand the city was full of vegetation, and parks, that give the city a contrast, between the urban side, and the natural side.

Finally, one of the small but important details that I could notice in this city, is how open is the attitude of the people of Romania to learn languages from outside to make the foreigners feel more comfortable, when visiting their country. This fact surprised me in some way, since it is a quality that not all the countries have. Comparing this attitude to the attitude of the Spanish citizens, and services, they are totally opposite, having an attitude of arrogance if the foreigner does not know their language. 

Summer Blog post #My vacation

When I hear the word vacation, most of the time, the first image that crosses my mind, is the image of travelling around the world, and going to places where I have never been before, or places away from home. On the other hand, my parents' image of vacation is simply rest at home for endless days till the vacation is over. Being loyal to my philosophy of vacation, this summer I decided to go to Spain on vacation to see my friends from there, and to be in a different atmosphere for a short period of time.

First off, it was my first time travelling alone, without my parents, having to take all the flights at the right time by myself. At first I thought that it would be pretty confusing and stressful, but once I understood the way in which it is necessary to proceed when taking a flight, I realized that it was not a big deal. After I landed in Spain, my first thought was that nothing changed, everything stayed the same for a  2 year period of time. Not only the physical place, buildings, houses, landscape, but also my perception of the Spanish lifestyle, and my relationship with friends and family. In some way I felt like I never left that place, since after the first two days, being around the people I did not see for years did not feel like a new thing, it felt more like a thing that I kept doing for those two years that I left the country.

Visiting Spain has helped me to realize that I have an opportunity to choose where to study, while most of my friends do not. This fact has opened my eyes, encouraging me to put even more effort at school since not so much people around me has this opportunity. Overall my travel has given me a breath of fresh air, allowing me not to worry about the next scholar year.

How to write about Spanish people

How to write about Spanish people.

Always talk about their laziness and lack of professionalism. If possible include that they are always late at work, in the case that they get a job. Do not forget about the fact that all they eat is tortilla, paella, and jamon Serrano(Serrano ham), and about the fact that the only sport that they like is football. It is of vital importance, to mention that Spain is one of the countries that works less during the day, taking several rests during the workday, putting so much emphasis on the Spanish “siesta”, which is the rest taken in all the country between the 14:00 hours to the 17:00 hours to eat and take a nap. Besides of that, an important part to mention that could not be forgotten, is to include that three out of four words that they say are insults, being the language in which insults are used the most.  

In what concerns tradition, all the Spanish people are guilty of killing bulls without mercy, without exception, even if they have never been to a bullfight, you should include them as guilty individuals that are in favor of killing bulls, as a way of entertainment. Mentioning how corrupted the Spanish government is, is also a good point that might show an important characteristic of the country.

In the case that you want to write about the general attitude of the Spanish people, do not forget to include their passive interest towards culture, only caring about football, and relaxing, and do not forget about their lack of manners, that makes them easily recognizable when they travel to foreign countries.

Besides of that, when talking about how each Spanish person acts with another, always include that they have to know everything that happens in their lives, and in the case that something is going good in the life of one, the other will always be jealous, and undervalue his achievements, instead of being happy of the achievements of the other. Never forget to include how bad the Spanish people drive. Make sure that you include that every Spanish driver has obtained his driving license in a raffle.

Lastly, always include that there is no Spanish individual that is able to talk in a different language than Spanish properly, either because of poor pronunciation or lack of grammar that makes their skills to communicate in a different language pretty embarrassing.

Paper 2 Analysis

Paper 2 Analysis

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

First off, Things Fall Apart is a novel in which Chinua Achebe shows how much the Igbo people from Nigeria value their religion, and customs. In order to do this, Achebe portrays the life of a Nigerian individual called Okonkowo who lives in a tribe called Umoufia, and who is part of the Igbo culture. Throughout the novel Achebe shows that the religion, along with the social status, is the most important thing in the Igbo society. In order to show this, Achebe portrays many traditions and customs that the Igbo people practice, through Okonkowo’s story.

It is noticeable during the story, that Achebe wants to emphasize on the idea that the orality of the Igbo culture plays a major role in what concerns transmitting the customs, religion, and believes of the culture. In the period of time in which the story Things Fall Apart is developed the Igbo culture did not have any knowledge of writing or reading, therefore all the Igbo knowledge, customs, religion, and believes were passed to the next generations through the use of orality. The three ways in which the Igbo culture was passed from parents to children were spiritual songs, folktales, and poems. Since the orality is such an important part of the culture, Achebe includes examples of spiritual songs, folktales, and poems in the novel, portraying the impact that they have in the life of the different characters, to show its importance.

First of all, the traditional songs of the Igbo people were present always in their daily life. The songs are mainly based on a main voice singing, accompanied with a chorus that sometimes interacted in the song repeating a phrase that the main voice sang. The main instrument type used by the Igbo people were the percussion instruments. The Igbo people believed that the spiritual songs made a difference in their lives, therefore having the power to change a situation. One of the songs that Chinua Achebe includes in the novel, is the song that Ikemefuna, the child that the tribe had left to the main character of the play Okokowo, sings when walking towards his execution without knowing about it. Since Ikemefuna thought that he was going back to his original tribe, he was concerned of not having known anything about the health status of his mother in the period of time in which Okonkowo took care of him, therefore in order to decide whether or not his mother was alive, or dead, Ikemefuna decided that depending on the foot on which the song that he would sing ended, his mother would be dead or alive. This is a situation in which Achebe portrays the idead that the Igbo people believed that these songs had an impact in their lives.   

Second of all, Achebe also shows that the folktales have an important role in the orality of the Igbo culture. As Achebe shows in the novel, folktales are popular stories of the Igbo culture that are transmitted from generations to generations to transmit certain values that should be applied in life. Achebe includes an example of folktale of the Igbo culture, when he shows how one of Okonkowo’s wife, Ekwefi, tells a story to her daughter Ezinma. In the story that Ekwefi tells Ezinma, a tortoise is invited to a feast in which only birds are invited. The tortoise seizing the opportunity, deceives all the birds, and ends up eating all the food of the feast. Eventually, this display of greed turns against the tortoise, producing his shell breaking in pieces when landing on earth. This story was transmitted to Ezinma to understand that taking greed decisions to benefit only herself could possibly end up in a tragedy for her, therefore the value is transmitted to Ezinma through the folktale.

Finally, Achebe includes poems, or Igbo proverbs in the story, that show how the Igbo people decide to take decisions on their lives depending on what these proverbs say. An example of proverb used by Achebe in the story is “When a man says yes, his chi also says yes.” This proverb shows the Igbo believe that the personal God of each individual, the chi, will most of the time coincide with the decision of the individual itself. This proverbs transmitted from generation to generation in the Igbo culture show how the experience and believes of the Igbo ancestors are passed to the new generations through proverbs, that might help this generations in the future, when taking an important decision.

All in all Achebe’s use of folktales, proverbs, and songs, shows how important was the orality for the Igbo culture to transmit their believes, religions, and customs to the new generations.

Memoir as the character Obierika

I still remember how things were before the missionaries came. Everybody was committed to the religion of our father, and nobody would question the reality of our beliefs. As I said to Okonkowo when I visited him at Mbanta, we first spoke about this albino that for first time appeared in Abame, but I did not pass to much time until Okonkowo got shocked. Okonkowo told me that the people that killed the albino were fools, and that that is what caused the extermination of the whole clan. All I knew was that nothing related to those albinos was going to make any good to our tribe.

After these missionaries came here, I knew that the harmony in our tribe was already broken. Some of us first were curious about the origin of these missionaries, and about what they wanted to do here, and this albinos were really clever so that they knew how to manage this curiosity in their favor. Their leader, never behaved violently, and on the other hand, always showed a kind and peaceful attitude, using it as a way to attract our brothers to his faith. Lastly, he was able to influence our brothers and sisters, and make them convert to his religion, completely falling us apart. Now that there is ideological separation in our own homes, there is nothing that we can do to restore the peace, and the unity in our tribe. Many of our brothers, sons, and wives have turned against us, preferring to listen and serve, a religion that is not our parent’s religion. 

Paper 2 Analysis

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

First of all, Things Fall Apart is a novel in which Chinua Achebe addresses the people that have a misconception of Africa, and the Africans to transmit the idea that the people from Africa are individuals with values, customs, and spiritual believes instead of animals that behave like savages, as the European authors described the Africans when the first missionary journeys were carried out by missionaries from England. Throughout the text Chinua Achebe portrays the life of an African individual, originally from Nigeria, called Okonkowo who experiences how the ideology of the missionaries being different to the ideology that his tribe has break the harmony in his tribe and separating  it.

In the novel, Chinua Achebe describes the importance of religion, and social status, in the Igbo culture, which is Okonkowo’s culture. Chinua Achebe explains in the novel through the use of Okonkowo, that the social status is one of the most important things in the Igbo culture. Achebe shows that social status is not determined by family, or name, but by individual achievements. To portray this, Achebe shows that Unoka, Okonkowo’s father, was a lazy man without any titles, and a man with many debts that never had success in cultivating yam seeds, only having an unproductive land. On the other hand, Okonkowo was a very hard working individual since a pretty early age, who had been a successful worker of the land that ended up possessing many yam crops obtaining a complete different status than his father’s. Besides of that, Okonkowo becomes known in all the tribes for becoming the best wrestler of Umoufia after defeating the cat. To achieve all of this success, Okonkowo uses his father as a bad example of individual, to push himself to the success.

In the Igbo culture, all the individuals that died without any achievements, or titles, were not buried, but carried to a forest called the forest of the evil, were they were left there. As Okonkowo did not want to face the same fate as his father, he develops a harsh and rude attitude that allows him to work hard, and obtain titles. Even though his rude and harsh attitude helps him to achieve a high social status, it also contributes to problems that he has to face that end up turning his bad fortune to a bad fortune.

Besides of that Achebe portrays Okonkowo in the novel, as an individual that hates weakness, or laziness, and as an individual that responds to these attitudes with violence, and mercilessly, produced by his automatic instinct that cannot bear seeing his father’s attitudes that lead to failure. An example in the novel that shows how Okonkowo’s social status leads him to have a rude, and merciless attitude, is when he kills a child that he had been raising in front of some leades of his tribe, to not show weakness, and therefore, degrade his social status. Furthermore, not only in this situation, but during the whole novel, social status contributes to show Okonkowo’s attitude, like for example in the week of peace of the tribe, Okonkowo does not respect it beating his wife for not preparing the food, and being outside doing other things. In this situation Okonkowo, being aware of the kind of status that he has, he cannot allow his wife to do this to him, therefore having to beat her, to show here that serving him is such an important thing to do, that cannot be forgotten.

Lastly, in the death of Okonkwo, Achebe shows that Okonkowo, considering himself the bravest individual of the tribe, having won many wars, and being recognized as a war hero, decides to kill the commissioner that comes to the market to stop the meeting, which afterwards, it is the reason why he hangs himself. 

Prince of the Tides Paper 1 Analysis

Paper 1 Analysis

First of all, the text is a magazine article in which the biography of an Indian actor called Saif  Ali Khan is described. The evidence that proves this, is the structure that the text has, including a quote of a statement made by the Indian actor, a picture of him, and his biography, that includes several statements that he made in reference to his professional career.

Second of all, it is clear that the intended audience of the text is the group of individuals that purchase this magazine, interested in the film industry of India, more specifically Bollywood. The evidence that proves that the intended audience of the text is this specific group of individuals, is that the approach of the text is focused mainly in the professional life of the actor, describing his style, main roles in his films, and path during his entire career. Furthermore, the purpose of the text, is to inform the audience of Saif Ali Khan’s professional career, and besides of that, convince the audience of Saif’s success throughout his career presenting him as ‘’ Bollywood’s most unplanned success story in its super league  of stars’’( Line 5).

Essentially, the text describes Saif  Ali Khan’s professional career as a Bollywood actor. At the beginning of the text, it is explained that when Saif started his career in the 1990’s, along with three of his brothers, he brought a total new style to the Bollywood scene. In his early years, when the Indian celebrity was 20, he was regarded as the ‘’ man with the funny face’’(Line 12-13), and not so much attention was paid to him, but twenty years later, that way of looking at him changed. He was recognized as a celebrity in the comedy gender, and as a youth icon thanks to the performances of important roles in comedy shows, in which he received the help of the Generation X storytellers. Besides of that some information of his personal life is described, including the fact that at the beginning of his career he consumed heroin for a while, following the example of other actors, and besides of that a statement that he made is included. In this statement, he admits that at the beginning of his career, he just wanted to have fun,  and that it took long time for him to grow up after getting married, and having children. Eventually he admits that it was in the last years of his career that he really loved acting and enjoyed it. In the last paragraph, the text informs the audience of the fact that Saif’s wide range of abilities to perform different characters, helped him in terms of appeal and casting. Besides of that, once again the text emphasizes on the idea that even though the actor did not have the greatest start, afterwards he became a recognized celebrity due to his dynamic performances, and his desire of experiencing the performance of different characters. Moreover the text exposes the idea that, it is still uncertain if the Indian actor will be able in the future to not get consumed by the temptations that the richness of stardom offers. Lastly but not less important the text explains that nowadays the actor keeps challenging himself trying new things, like direction of fills, or the interpretation of a double-personality character.

The theme of the text is temptation, and human nature, since it shows how once a little bit of success is achieved the human get corrupted, forgiving which are the values that really value in life, and preferring to  get lost in the pleasures of the richness.

The tone of the text is critical, since it evaluates, and analyses the qualities of the actor that helped him to become a celebrity, and besides of that it also includes the cons, or mistakes that the actor committed throughout his career, thus showing and evaluation including the pros and cons of the actor. The mood of the text is clamed, as the text keeps narrating the different steps of Saif’s career that led him to his current success.

 In what concerns use of literary devices, the first literary technique used in the text is the title, which is a metaphor used by the author to attract the attention of the audience, the tides determine how far the water moves depending on the attraction of the moon, or the sun, therefore this idea is used to show that Saif has influence, since he is the King of the tides, he is the one that produces the attraction, in other words he is an influential person. Besides of that there is another metaphor in the lines 15-16 that is sued by the author to explain that choosing him for performing a temporary satire, it is an insurance since he will definitely perform well.

The structure used in the text, includes a title, a quote, a Graphic and three paragraphs. The title is used to persuade the audience to read the article, the quote is a quote of the Indian actor himself that is used as an introduction for the article, and the graphic, is a picture of the actor, which is put there with the intention of persuading the audience, since as it is noticeable in the picture, he appears with his shirt unbuttoned, which is a strategy to persuade the female audience to know about this person that appears in the picture, therefore, persuading it to read the article.

Furthermore the persuasive language used in this text is Pathos and Logos. First off there is no Ethos, since the author of the text is not given in the text, therefore evaluating whether it has credibility or not. The text has Logos, since it includes evidence of the information that it is providing through the use of quotes of the actor himself that corroborate the information that the author is presenting. Lastly, it has Pathos, since it appeals to emotion through the use of a graphic that raises the admiration of the audience, and through the use of a quote in which the actor expresses feelings when he says ‘’ I have started enjoying this film business from my heart’’.

How does Okonkowo develop themes in the text as a tragic hero?

Throughout the book it is recognizable that Okonkowo is portrayed as a though individual that never shows weakness, or affection, and that gives priority to his status, and reputation more than to anything else. This characteristic of Okonkowo, has a duality that is a double-edged sword for him. On the one hand, having this attitude of fortress and toughness, helps him to gain titles in his tribe, winning the best wrestler of his tribe, and helps him to be a successful soldier in war, which gives him a good reputation and status in his tribe, but on the other hand, his excess of rudeness drives him to commit mistakes that at one point turn against him. An example of mistake that he commits is for example when he kills Ikemefuna in front of the other leaders of the tribe, in order to not show weakness. This excess of curtness turns against him, when he accidentally kills the son of one of his friends in his funeral, which causes his exile out of his tribe for a period of seven years. Besides of that Okonkowo can be considered a tragic hero, since after being presented as a respected and successful man in his tribe, eventually experiences a reversal of fortune like for example his exile, or the loss of a child who decides to join a different ethnic group. Finally Okonkowo dies in a tragic way, hanging himself after killing a commissioner coming from a different ethnic group.

Why does Achebe choose a tragic hero for his protagonist in his colonial counter narrative?

Chinua Achebe uses a tragic hero as the protagonist of his book to show how the influence of a colonizer can break down the core of the ideology of a colony. Before the Christians arrived to the Uomofia, Okonkowo’s attitude and actions towards his enemies were regarded as heroic and rewarding, but after the Christians came to Uomofia, his opinion, and decisions were neither listened, nor accepted.

What is the purpose or function of Okonkowo in Things Fall Apart?

From my point of view, Okonkowo portrays how the culture and ideology of the Igbo people has broken down, or has fallen apart, after Uomofia is colonized. Okonkowo experiences a reverse of fortune after he kills Ikemefuna, which has a tragic end, since Okonkowo dies hanged, whereas the Igbo people get ideologically divided, after the Christian missionaries arrive to the tribe.

Most Meaningful Takeaway of An African Voice Discussion

From my point of view, the most meaningful takeaway of today's discussion was Chinua's statement that it is needed to know and to understand the two views, the African view of the African situation, and the European authors'view of the African situation, to understand what the reality is. Knowing just one of the views would not mean knowing part of the reality, but instead, it would mean knowing nothing. Without both of the views, it would not be possible to understand, and empathize with what the reality of the imperialism issue meant to the countries that suffered it. In the discussion of this statement, everybody agreed on the fact that Chinua's statement was a good view, since every view would present the situation in the way that most would benefit themselves, neither the European authors were presenting correctly Africa and the Africans, nor the Africans were totally right with their view of imperialism.

Paper 1 practice

The speech that is going to be analyzed, is the speech that the Yankee’s prodigious first baseman Lou Gehrig delivered on July 4, of 1939. Lou Gehrig was known as the Iron Horse because of his endurance and his fidelity in every single game, but sadly at the age of 36 he had to stop playing due to the contraction of the crippling disease. Therefore, this is the speech that the Yankee baseman delivered as his farewell, since he had to retire due to the disease. The speech was delivered in the Yankee stadium, in front of all his fans, family, and teammates.

The targeted audience of the speech is the group of individuals that know and support Lou Gehrig, and besides of that, the individuals who also are aware of his situation regarding his retirement. An evidence for this, that is found in the speech, is the very first sentence that the Yankee baseman says which is ‘’ Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got.’’(Line 1). This sentence can be taken as evidence since when he refers to the fans, he is referring to a group of people who are interested in him, or care for him since they show interest in his situation. Besides of that, it shows that the targeted audience must know about his retirement since the sentence shows that these individuals interested in him know about a bad break that he had.

The purpose of Lou Gehrig’s speech, is to finish his career in a positive way despite of his disease, portraying his conviction of the fact that he has succeeded in his career with the help of his teammates, manager, family, and fans and to persuade the audience with the fact that his life is not over yet. In order to do this, he does not mention, even one time, his problem regarding his disease, and instead of doing that, he repeats several times that he is the luckiest man on earth, showing gratitude to his teammates, manager,  family, and fans for supporting him in every moment. Besides of that he also wants to show his positivism to his audience since in his last sentence he says ‘’ I have an awful lot to live for’’ (Line 17).  Therefore, the purpose of the speech is to express gratitude, and positivism, and persuade the audience with the fact that he still has a purpose to live.

The speech essentially is a retirement speech, in which Lou Gehrig instead of expressing his sadness of having to stop playing baseball because of a disease, he decides to express his gratitude towards his teammates, manager, family and fans for supporting and encouraging him throughout his entire career. In the speech he tells the audience that even though he had a bad break, he feels like the luckiest man on earth due to the encouragement and support that the fans have provided him with. After that, he thanks some of his teammates and managers like for example, Jacob Ruppert, Ed Barrow, and Joe McCarthy for helping him and for spending nine years of their lives with him.  Furthermore, he keeps saying that he is lucky, since he recognizes that the fact that the baseball team New York Giants sent him a present is an achievement. Moreover he mentions that another important achievement is being remembered by all the baseball players as a player with trophies. In the last paragraph he thanks his family, including his wife, father, mother, and mother-in-law, for the huge support and help that they have provided him. Finally, he closes the speech claiming that he recognizes that he had a tough break, but also that he has an awful lot to live for.

The speech has more than one theme but the most remarkable theme is gratitude. Along the speech it is noticeable that the baseball player keeps showing his gratitude towards fans, teammates, manager, and family, and also mentions some of his achievements, to show that he is happy about his career and to show that he wants to say goodbye to his fans, in a positive way and convinced of his success. Besides of that another theme of the speech is his future, since he tries to persuade the audience with the fact that having to stop playing baseball does not mean that his life is over, as he says in the phrase that finishes the speech ‘’ I have an awful lot to live for’’(Line 17).

In what concerns the tone, it is a sad tone. Throughout the speech Lou Gehrig keeps stopping after a phrase or sometimes after saying a word trying to hold back the tears in front of the crowd. It is also noticeable that in some parts of the speech he blinks, swallows, looks to the ground many times, which are common gestures present in the individuals before crying. Besides of that the mood goes hand in hand with the tone since he is melancholic while he thanks the fans, his teammates, and his family.

It is a biased speech, since Lou is expressing his opinion and view of the situation without including the opinion of other individuals about his situation. Besides of that, it does not take any ideological standpoint, and it does not include pronouns to substitute nouns. The rhetoric devices present in the speech are varied. In the very first sentence of the speech, Lou uses Alliteration, a rhetorical technique that makes the sentence to be said fast, which portrays Lou’s disinterest in talking about his bad break. The second sentence contains a hyperbole, as he says ‘’ I consider myself the luckiest man on earth’’, which is used by the baseball player to show how big is his gratitude towards his audience. In the third paragraph from the line 10 to the line 13 Lou also uses an Anaphora, starting three sentences in a row with the word When, and finishing with the group of words ‘’that’s something’’. This use of Anaphora helps Lou to express that his achievements during his entire career are numerous, and helps him to convince the audience of the fact that his career has left a trace in the baseball scene. Besides of that, the third paragraph also contains a Metaphor which is, ‘’ When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat’’ (Line 10). This Metaphor is used by Lou to explain the high status of the team New York Giants in the American baseball scene.

Lastly, the speech shows the balanced presence of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. It has Ethos or credibility, since it is Lou’s last speech in front of his fans, family, and teammates. The speech has Pathos, since the player holds back his tears, knowing that it is his last time in front of the crowd, therefore showing emotions. Finally it has Logos, because it is known by  the audience that he suffers of a disease that does not allow him to play anymore, as he points out in his very first sentence  ‘’ Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got’’ ( Line 1).

IOC Sample

https://soundcloud.com/ssein/ioc-sample

How does this passage affect the audience?

Most Meaningful Takeaway

The most meaningful takeaway of today’s discussion for me was the fact that we discussed how identity is influenced by culture, and how having to learn a new language in depth produces the oblivion of your own culture and identity. As we can read in the text the author says ‘’for people who cannot entirely identify with either standard (formal Castilian) Spanish nor Standard English, what recourse is left to them but to create their own language?’’ the author in this sentence is explaining how important the language is for her.

 Knowing that her Spanish is not the most common and correct Spanish, and that her English is not perfect since she has a Latin accent, she directly states that there is no other way than creating her own language, in order to be able to communicate . This idea, transmits me the fact that the language is a big part of our identity, since nobody can fully understand what we want to transmit throw a different language than our native language.

Besides of the communication problems, the author is being forced to learn English, since it has more influential power than her own language, so in this case by having to learn a new language, she has to get used to a different culture, different customs since she has to copy the American accent in order to be accepted, copying the American accent and expressions. In this case we can also see the connection between power and language in the fact that she is forced to learn a language that has more power, influence, and acceptance than her language in order to become a more accepted person in society, and in order to be seen as an educated person.  As we discussed in our group when it comes to learn a new language, you know that in order to fully understand everything, a person has to understand the culture of the countries that speak that language as the mother tongue, and besides of that a person has to replace the expressions,and ways of communication of that new language with her or his own expressions that come from his or her own language and culture. Therefore, language plays a significant role in our identity because when we learn a new language, our expressions, customs, and even way of speaking and acting, change, creating a new person that is totally different to the one that knows and speaks in his mother tongue. 

Linguistic Imperialism

Linguistic imperialism, as we can notice nowadays, is affecting most of the countries of the world in many aspects. First of all we can see in education, as an example, how English has become the most powerful language of the world. In the society that we live, English is the most spoken language of the planet, which results in the fact that speaking English has to be a common thing for every single country, and that besides of that all the countries are being forced to learn English, just so that the countries can be part of the international relationships and agreements. What this fact means, is that speaking English, or the fact of being born in a country that has English as the mother tongue, will already give a person more chances to be more successful than a person that does not speak English. Because of this we can say that there are many countries that have so much knowledge that other countries do not have, and that those countries are not receiving recognition just because of the fact that they do not have English as their mother tongue, or they do not even speak English.

 An example that proves this idea is the fact that in all the countries of the world, individuals have to have a certain level of English skills to get a job. Besides of that when it comes to media and internet, most of the media is in English, and all the world accepts it. We cannot blame on any English speaker native country for this fact, but what we could do is to consider if accepting this fact will benefit us.

My conclusion is that nowadays the English has such a power that can dominate the whole world, since its influence reaches every part of the world. Besides of that it is important to also mention that the rest of the countries that do not have English as mother tongue have to do something about it not fearing to reject being part of the empire that this language has built in such a short period of time.

Text 2 Comment

In this blog post I am going to analyze an article called Food Crisis in Sahel, which belongs to the company Oxfam. We can notice that this is truly an article that has been posted in the website of the webpage, since we can see that the text appears in the website of the NGO. 

As we can see, the article is informing the readers about the economical problems that certain countries from Africa are constantly facing. This problems are mainly due to the climate, that has ruined food crops many years in the past as well as it is ruining food crops nowadays. Due to this, many individuals do not have enough food and water, so these countries are facing big problems of food and water shortages. Besides of informing the people about the situation, the writer is also trying to persuade the audience about the bad situation that these countries are facing. Therefore the target audience is the people of medium class that is able to help these individuals in need.

The structure of the article is made in such a way, in which a person can fully understand the message of the article. The writer first talks about the situation that these countries faced in the past and the consequences that it had. After that he or she explains what would be needed to change this situation, and what would be the solution to avoid it to occur on the future. Finally the writer tells the audience what people could do to change the situation.

Each section is important, because without reading the first section we would not be able to fully understand the second section, so the writer in this text gives us the context in the first section. Besides of that in the first section we can find the basic information that helps us to understand the second section, so it can be considered the introduction explaining what are the thing that are going to be discussed in the article.

 Besides of that, in the second section the writer fully explains the idea that he or she wants to transmit, explaining the current situation of the countries, and explaining what would be needed to avoid this bad and sad situation that these countries have to face.

Finally in the third section we find a sort of conclusion in which the writer gives us the last information, talking about, what things in the project have already been achieved, encouraging people to support the project and, encouraging people to believe that there is hope for these countries if people knows more about how the situation is nowadays.

Furthermore the persuasive language has an important role in this article. We can notice that this article has Ethos, Pathos and Logos.

We have Ethos because as we can see the article has credibility since the NGO Oxfam is the organization that is posting the information. Pathos is involved since it appeals to emotion through explaining how sad and bad the situation in these poor countries is, and lastly it also has Logos since the text gives us evidence of the issue, it presents numbers and real facts that can be trusted, so the information is clearly being displayed.