Parody

"A 20- Year Age Gap Makes No Difference". You can find the original article here.

I have chosen to parody this article from the New York Times written by Lauren Lancaster. The opinion editorial writer explores the relationship between Liz Axelrod and James Olson, which has a 20 year age gap, with a bias towards accepting the age gap. I have decided to parody this article with a satirical tone in order criticise the ideology behind age gaps and the ever so romanticised lolita complex in pop-culture, such as the books/films: Lolita,  Manhattan, American Beauty, Leon: the Professional.

--

It was early 2017 when Mary Bob finally turned 18, not only that but it was the year that she met James Brown at a Manhattan bar. He thought he was cute, and she thought he mature, like cheddar. They kept talking and talking, and they went from one bar onto the next until they eventually found themselves at an around the clock cafe at 12 a.m., but that was when James had to go because he was starting to fall asleep. It wasn't until then that Mary Bob realised that he was 20 years her senior. The conversation unfolded as such:
"Don't be such a grandpa, the night's still young!"
"Well can you blame me, I'm almost forty."
...

"Yes, I was a little shocked. I thought he would be old, but not that old" she confessed during the interview. "Did it put you off?" I asked. "Not at all, I remember thinking we had tons of things in common, but the age difference could be problematic. But then I found out more about him. He's friends with two of my uncles, so I felt really safe. It just felt right. It doesn't bother him, so it doesn't bother me."

As the ever so romantic holiday Valentines day rolled around, James didn't want to make too much of a big deal out of it, "I mean we should celebrate our relationship every day, instead of depending on commercial holidays to do fun things." And that's when they turned to doing their favourite thing, watching their favourite films. However, they do tend to face the complication as all of James' films are on VHS, whereas Mary didn't even have the likes of a cd player. A pirater at best.

Their relationship cemented after they decided to take the next step and get married.

"When my dad and Mary started dating, he was just so happy, I think they have a great connection, and honestly even if she's just a few months older than me, I can't help to find a maternal comfort in her." James' daughter seems to support them truly. Their friend Nolan, from church, that knew them both personally, spoke similarly about the couple, "They fit like a puzzle and they look out for each other, and that's all that really matters."

Royal Beatings IOC

blOgp0st heRe!!!11!1!

IOC- Family Furnishings

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Emotional Intelligence

In David Foster Wallace's commencement speech, "This is Water," he develops his thesis through making very relevant and relatable examples. Ones that everyone in our modern world could relate to. This is comparable to the likes of Alice Munro's style of writing. To understand this comparison, both concepts need to be trickled down to their intentions and impacts.


In the commencement speech, Wallace reminds his audience of graduates the purpose of education. "I have come gradually to understand that the liberal-arts cliche about "teaching you how to think" is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: "Learning how to think" really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think."

This awareness allows for the generation of a greater emotional intellect, although emotional intelligence can't be measured with a score, it is instead assessed by the ability to empathize with the human experience. Wallace expresses his opinions by immersing his audience through a detailed experience, one that was explored enough for his audience to be taken on a trip once hearing it, he then introduces the idea of a having a choice, which is very eye-opening for people who are in fact not self-aware.

His thesis entails that education is about experience and awareness. By which he displays through the stylistic choice of taking his audience through the experience before providing them with his argument and coming full circle to the concept of "this is water." Literature such as this, literature that is deeply immersed in the human experience, is something that is actually relevant and relatable to audiences no matter their sociocultural contexts. This is where a bridge between the commencement speech can draw to Munro's short stories.

Literary fiction can develop empathy and emotional intelligence, this is heavily emphasized in the New York Times article "For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov." The "theory of mind" explores the concept of what humans read can influence their social and emotional skills. Experts were able to experiment and conclude that people can be primed for empathy and other social skills. "Reading sensitive and lengthy explorations of people's lives, that kind of fiction is literally putting yourself into another person's position- lives that could be more difficult, more complex, more than what you might be used to in popular fiction. It makes sense that they will find that, yea, that can lead to more empathy and understanding of other lives".

In Munro's fiction, along with many other literary fictions, nothing is arbitrary. Word choice, characterization, figurative language, everything down to the smallest of details are written with intention. The display of shared humanity transcends contexts and allows readers to develop emotional responses to the stories at hand. Humans learn to strengthen their emotional intelligence through the means of their emotional experiences, and these literary fictions allow their audience to undergo experiences that they otherwise would never undergo. Readers have to participate which allows for this emotional growth to occur. Through increasing our attention and education systems attention to such literary fiction, humans can increasingly develop emotionally which at times can be argued more important than developing academically. These audiences, with greater social skills and empathy, are able to competently assess their surroundings and themselves. Which takes us back to Wallace's thesis from his commencement speech, the real value of education being just that.

This is water.

Summer Holiday Blogpost # 2

Summer holiday and languages

At the beginning of the summer, I feared that this would happen again. Every single summer that I have ever encountered causes me to lose the ease of speaking in my second language, English, as I would if I were to be in school. This doesn't mean I lose fluency or sense of grammar, but instead, I lose the ability to quickly debate and encounter long-winded conversations that required a lot of academic terminologies.  Where finding the specific words that enhance my dialogue that I usually practice in school, becomes harder.
"For lack of a better term" Becomes my go-to-sentence when explaining, describing or analysing during those conversations. 
Now at first, I thought this meant that I was at a loss during my summer break, but the distance I get from the use of the English language as an academic medium allows a particular spark to rise and causes me to become more interested in reading. I was always a bookworm growing up, always jumping from one story to the other, however since starting my tenth year in school and analyses began to get increasingly complex, I tend to gain a distaste for reading for pleasure. This is because once I'm in what I like to call the analytical IB Language and Literature zone, it becomes difficult for me to read without questioning everything and ACTS analysing everything. Whether it be the author's intentions with character and plot development, or trying to gain context of the story and so on and so forth. Not to mention my increasingly high standards in reading where I can't read stories that I take as underdeveloped or be lacking (whether it lacks substance, character arcs, plot development, etc.). 
Yet in the summer, I get to step out of my IB Language and Literature zone after a few weeks of relaxing I can finally begin to read for the sake of reading. I was able to explore scripts, novels, and the short stories. This is something that always takes me back to what I like to describe as the equivalent of comfort food. Reading for pleasure is like comfort food; all sorts of positive vibrations.
August 1st, marks the day I stepped back into my IB Language and Literature zone and began to finally read the inevitable Alice Munro (long) short stories. 

Social Media and Dialect

"Where are you from?"

"England is my city."

"Litty!" 

This was a conversation that I had overheard one day on a tour of the town of Dubrovnik, Croatia. When I first heard it my immediate reaction was a cringing of sorts, but not for the reason that a person who lacked interest in social media would; I didn't cringe at the person's ignorance of geography and proper wording. Instead, I cringed at the mere reference to Jake Paul (we all know that the vlog squad was the real gems that came out of Vine anyways).  However after a few days of reflection, what really stirred my thoughts was the fact that in this circumstance a non-native English speaker completely understood the consensus of this viral in-joke, "meme" if you will, that an English person made. The world is becoming susceptible to the international dialect that has come along with social media. 

Looking back on history, dialects occur predominantly due to geographical location, and for the most part, specific in-jokes and slang that occur within distinct dialects tend to go over the heads of those who didn't share the same dialect. This is no longer the case.
Through social media applications and websites such as Tumblr, Vine, YouTube, twitter, Instagram, etc. people all over the world have been developing slang terms that are used and understood globally. I first began noticing these things in early 2014 when the Vine app was at it's prime and therefore so were slang words and catch phrases such as:

"Do it for the vine."

"Hit the Quan."

"Zaymmm.."

These social media outlets have developed so far and have been able to access countries worldwide to the extent that a so called "social media dialect" has been developed. Using these terms with majorly any millennial and/or anyone from generation Z internationally that has had access to these social media apps would allow you to understand the extent by which this dialect has developed and unified these generations. Recently, a degree in Memes has surfaced which also makes it possible to comprehend these extents. 

And I would like to end this blog post off by saying, "Bye, Felicia!" 

Thesis Statement 3.0

Write a thesis statement and three topic statements to address the following prompt: The personal history of an author can have a significant influence on the way meaning is constructed in his/her writing. Comment on specific instances of such influence in Things Fall Apart.


Thesis statement:


 Chinua Achebe's personal history heavily influences the fabrication of his writing, as his critical perspectives on the the history of Igbo culture and Christianity intertwines with his personal influences; by which becomes evident in Things Fall Apart as is sculpts how he portrays culture and religion to his targeted audience through the use of secondary characters, subplots, and cultural traditions. 

Topic sentence 1: In reference to to his personal culture, Achebe employs foil characters from both cultures in order portray an authentic depiction of reality. 

Topic sentence 2: 

Topic sentence 3: 

Thesis Statement 2.0

Prompt: With reference to Things Fall Apart, discuss how an understanding of gender influences how the text may be understood.

Thesis Statement: In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the audience's understanding of gender heavily influences how the text is understood due to the cultural and contextual significance of gender within the novel, by which significantly differs from the expected treatment of gender that the targetted audience of western readers is accustomed to. 

Thesis Statement

Prompt: 

With reference to Things Fall Apart, show how subplots or secondary characters contribute to the reader’s understanding and appreciation of the work as a whole. 

Thesis Statement:

In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Achebe develops the plot by expanding on the Nigerian cultural and contextual significance through secondary characters such as Unoka, Nwoye, and Ikmenfuna; by which informs the targetted audience about British Imperialism and the impact it had on the contextual formation established within the plot.

Okonkwo, A Tragic Hero

Aristotle defines a tragic hero to be a character instilled into a story with the intention of evoking the audience with a sense of pity and fear. A tragic hero is considered to be a character that has been tackled with misfortune through an "error of judgement" that eventually spirals into their downfall. Now, considering the cultural context of Chinua Achebe, why would he choose to characterise Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype?

Initially, Okonkwo is characterised with his hamartia being his fear of failure and his fear of weakness. These two tragic flaws are driven by Okonkwo's fear of ending up like his unsuccessful father. With that, he begins to strive for success and masking his fragility with a hypermasculinity and a facade that lacks emotion. These traits can also be deemed as his hubris, and are introduced to the audience early in the story when Okonkwo beat his wife during Peace week. These flaws drive the protagonist of Things Fall Apart to make numerous mistakes that drive the audiences through the plotline; starting with his involvement in killing Ikmenfuna all the way through the end of the story in which the character commits suicide. 

Making the protagonist a tragic hero, with a fate that is considered shameful in the stories cultural context, Achebe pushes the significance of the entire story. If, as an audience, we were introduced to this story through a traditional hero, we would not become exposed to the conflicts that shape the story and its historical context. Things Fall Apart was written to challenge the single story stereotype that English literature upheld at the time. To correctly prevail this, the author could not present to us his culture as a small single story, because simply it is not. The history of the Igbo tribe and the issues they had faced could not be put into simple terms in order to be entirely comprehended. The complex character of Okonkwo is put through many situations due to his tragic hero status; through those situations, western literature is introduced to the Igbo people through their reactions to all those situations individually. Allowing us to understand the culture in depth and through a variety of situations. Thus diminishing any possibility of a single story. 

By portraying Okonkwo as a tragic hero, Achebe constructs a gateway in which allows the intended audience (English literates) to be introduced to the Igbo people from various perspectives that if Okonkwo wasn't a tragic hero wouldn't be possible. 

Igbo Background: The Royal Colonial Institute Speech

Good evening noble guests, it is an honour to be here. I have travelled long and far to ensure that Igbo people are spoken for. I have been an ambassador for the Igbo people in the United Kingdom for the past decade. Since starting my journey, I have accumulated and understood your people's opinions on colonisation, and today I hope to spread my people's word. Through the course of colonisation, as we have begun to intertwine ourselves, we settle that the British and the Commonwealth have the same interests at heart.

We believe in unity, while we correspondingly preach acceptance. Therefore we must learn to understand foreign lands and situations to overcome them without having to change them. You came to my country, and you provided us with affluence and British civilisation. The unity that we have built proves to us that such diversities are key. Nations that are poles apart can still unite as one strong power, and gain prosperity from both ends.

The Igbo are a spiritual culture, in which spiritual factors are what drive their decisions. They believe in a supreme force, a God called the Chukwu. This god is someone the Igbo people worship, and honour as this higher energy is believed to have created all, and with praising such a God, comes the support in settling relationships within the communities od the world. And so from here, I ask, why do people seek to change what is different? The Nigerians believe in governance that maintains collectivism. Where we make decisions together to ensure that everyone is satisfied. Which differs from Britains individualistic form of governance, but once again, such variety is key. We must learn to work together in harmony.

Colonisation has benefited thousands of people, where different countries begin to help each other develop into greater things. Unfortunately, such great things have been done at the cost of the lives of many. We must ensure that there are no men left behind to fulfil the responsibilities the British Empire has. We must stray away from becoming what is known to the colonised areas as the "wicked men", rather becoming a source of victory and affluence to these countries. Ensuring that we have both our interests at heart. Learning to deal with each country specifically to their necessities, for example in Nigeria due to the various amounts of cultures, one must learn to deal with them accordingly. This is all to be done with the vital ideology that we believe in unity, while we correspondingly preach acceptance and thus variety is key!

Thank you, I hope you all have a good evening

Interview

As I was not present on the day of the shared inquiry discussion, I took it upon myself to inquire further than I had already done the first time I read the interview. I thoroughly questioned the relationship between the cultural and literary contexts' and Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart. The interview inquires the author's direct background of the novel, discussing his own opinions about the cultural and historical background of Nigeria, in addition to his opinions on their local literature.

I was fascinated by the fact that the author was unaware as to how influential this novel would be. "So these people across the waters were able to relate to the story of dispossession in Africa. People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience". This quote resonated with me as I was very affected by the truth of it. Unfortunately, I could personally relate on the basis that those of which have come for colonised nations, per say. So I was surprised and heavily pleased with the author once he stated: "Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation. " I have often felt the emotions of the antagonist or those in his community, but never had it been stimulated by the same issue, but once you allow yourself to identify with the characters you don't need to have been stimulated by the same exact situation to relate or sympathise. This applies to all literary works.

“There’s a reaction to a reaction, and there will be a further reaction to that. And I think that’s the way it will go, until what I call a balance of stories is secured.”

But out of the entire interview, the quote above is the one in which has affected me the most. The author in this instance is referring the European literature. He spoke of how for centuries European literature displayed Africa in a single story, maybe even worse.

This is due to them initially referencing Africans as beasts, which to us now is evident that it had been done with intentions to defend slavery. But the times went on people began to propagate stereotypes of Africans. Although Africa was a continent filled with a variety of cultures, different languages and dialects and so much diversity. It was painted with layered strokes of cliches and stereotypes.

To diminish such happenings one must be given an opportunity to paint their own pictures, in order to establish authenticity and accuracy. Which brings me to the importance of a novel such as Things Fall Apart, as it introduces us to well-known historical events from the eyes of the oppressed as opposed to the oppressors; finally securing the balance of stories.

The Ballot or the Bullet by Malcolm X

The provided text was an extract from “The Ballot or the Bullet”; of which was a speech delivered by Malcolm X on the third of April in 1964, and has since then become one of the most empowering speeches in American history. Thousands of people turned up to hear the activist Malcolm X present, what can be identified as a political speech as it exemplifies the use of rhetorical devices, figurative techniques such as alliteration, analogies and more, references to real world events, as well as appeals to particular needs. The aforementioned conventions of the political speech were heavily utilised by Malcolm X, which to evoke a sense of urgency in his audience and to call them to action in order to reclaim civil rights.

When this speech was given, it mainly targeted African Americans. However, it is multivocal as it somewhat targets the American Political system as well; this speech embodied the activists’ urgency in cultivating his audience and promoting black nationalism, as Malcolm X was a black civil rights activist who had significant influence during the civil rights movement in the mid 20th century. At the time African Americans were limited to making their own decisions on who to vote for due to the impositions and forcefulness that the white politicians projected towards black neighbourhoods in America.  It can be deduced from the speech’s subject of black nationalism that this speech calls for its audience to take a step and fight for their rights and to do so by voting for whom they deemed most supportive of their rights in the United States election.

Furthermore, it is evident in the use of the slogan "The Ballot or the Bullet" as it articulates the purpose. The slogan discusses liberty; to either be free or to die trying. The purpose of the text is introduced evidently at the beginning of the extract, "Black nationalism is a self-help philosophy",  in which is then emphasised in the subsequent sentences. The emphasis is conducted through the use of Anaphora, " You can...You can...You can" by which is used to elucidate the inclusivity that black Americans are provided when it comes to black nationalism. After that, the importance of Black nationalism is further re-instated, "if you are black and you not thinking black at this late date, well I'm sorry for you." in which creates a bandwagon appeal towards the audience of black Americans. This is done to evoke the members of the viewers, that may not be vocal activists that are actively fighting for their rights, to feel left out and old-fashioned. Thus making them feel the need to become a better influencer in this civil rights movement by voting for who is the best option for them; which aforementioned is one of the major subjects that Malcolm X is trying to persuade his audience in doing. After that, the speaker goes on to further illustrate the ease of his ideologies through the use of anadiplosis in the statement, "Once you change your philosophy, you change your thought pattern. Once you change your thought pattern, you change your attitude. Once you change your attitude, it changes your behaviour pattern, and then you go on into some action." In contrast to his earlier use of a bandwagon appeal, Malcolm X now directs his audience through clear steps that should be taken, using repetition is used to ensure that what was said is memorable and has resonance on the targeted viewers.

Aforementioned, this remarkable speech had left many of its audience members affected and called them to action by motivating them. An intrinsic part of why this speech was so successful is due to how Malcolm X uses the contextual properties of the issue on hand to help drive the purpose throughout the speech. Which can be seen in the second paragraph as it begins with a logos rhetoric by which the speech giver is referencing real world events in order provide validation and enlighten his audience by allowing them to see that his goal is achievable. "people in Africa and Asia are getting their independence." Malcolm X counteracts his earlier statement by providing the audience with his opinion as to why their actions of public marches would not gain them independence."They're not getting it by singing 'We Shall Overcome'" but instead makes a foil statement, in which he brings up measures that are the opposite of his resolutions to emphasise the effectivity of his resolutions. The author here is allowing the audience to follow along with him by connecting themselves through popular culture references such as the prior statement. The use of popular cultural knowledge is utilised once again later in the same paragraph where Malcolm X compares "Second class citizenship" to "20th-century slavery."  This comparison is made through the use of anaphora from lines 28-30 that help explain how Americans although not literal colonisers but are in fact a "hypocritical colonial power". Which Malcolm X then makes a swift transition into a hypophora to clarify his prior statement, "What do you call second-class citizenship? Why, that's colonisation." In the last paragraph the author makes another popular culture reference in which he alludes to “Uncle Tom”, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s character, to emphasise and explain their awareness of their own lower-class status due to their race. The combination of all of these literary devices is used to lead his audience along with his ideologies, simplifying it into a step-like process to quickly persuade the audience into buying into his claims, in which he finishes with a hypophora to finalise through a sense of objective.

Previously established in the context of the speech, the themes vacillate throughout, where the major themes of the subject are repeatedly referenced, those themes being: Black nationalism, colonialism, and change. Which are all exemplified through Malcolm X’s use of literary devices that both enhance the themes and consolidate them. Such as his use of epiphora from lines 15-18, repeating the word “sit” in different instances to compare the audience’s in which do not vocalise their activism to elders, chumps, and other in hopes to elicit actions from his audience. Which is used as a persuasive strategy to call his targeted audience to action and thus utilising literary devices to develop his themes in order to drive his purpose throughout the text.

As this was a persuasive political speech, the speech giver demonstrated an informative, instructional register in his tone. This is evident in his recurring use of the logos rhetoric that implements both statistics and historical references “The freedom of 22 million Afro-Americans here in this country… for the past  400 years”. Such references are put into practice in order to validate his clauses and calls to action. Moreover, this speech is proposing to a variety of black Americans, at a time where the ethnic group weren’t all granted adequate education. Meaning that the use of the abovementioned popular culture tropes is done to resonate with the audience and calls to informing the audience through both scholarly back-ups as well as cultural references to keep all of the members of the audience in the loop. This approach leads the audience to an influential state, one in which allows them to feel liberated as someone is finally fighting for their best interest, furthermore the audience are enabled to access an enlightening.  Moreover, the audience is told their situation bluntly and brutally, “He made a chump out of you. He made a fool out of you. He made you think you were going somewhere and you end going nowhere but between Lincoln and Washington.” This statement is told using anaphora to appeal to the audience’s need to aggress; Malcolm X believed that if the government continues to block full African American equality, then violence might become necessary. This all works towards setting an imperative mood, where the audience is advised. Malcolm X’s didactic approach to his speech through the use of statistics and cultural/historical references informs his purpose of influencing the audience to make the right decisions.

The stylistic use of repetition, rhetoric, persuasive appeals, statistics and other persuasive advances, which were previously mentioned, are used to progress the structure. An arrangement in which drives the speech’s purpose throughout explicit paragraphs. Such stylistic choices drive audiences to take action in order to demand equal African American rights. The structure of this text follows traditional political and persuasive speech conventions.

In order to appreciate this speech's effectivity, one must understand all the various kinds of devices used to prosecute this text. The major reason as to why The Ballot or the Bullet has become one of the strongest examples of a political speech is due to the Malcolm X’s efficient stylistic choices. This political speech exemplifies the use of rhetorical devices, figurative techniques such as alliteration, analogies and more, making references to real world events, as well as appealing to its audience's needs. The abovementioned conventions of the political speech were greatly employed by Malcolm X, in order to evoke a sense of urgency in his audience and eventually call them to action in order to gain equal rights.

IOC

IOC:

https://soundcloud.com/shamsa-ala/ioc-act-1-scene-4

Power in Corilanus

Power is potentially the theme that Shakespeare, the author, had explored the most in this play. It is a dominant motif in Coriolanus, by which is a play that has never been deemed successful. This is solely due to the complex take on power and politics. Shakespeare immensely develops the action in the play made through abrupt political withdrawals in which never add up to formulate a satisfaction or resolution. The majority of audience misperceive this as a lack of precision on behalf of Shakespeare's writing and a lack of attention to plot development. This, in fact, can be ruled as completely the opposite of what the author does in this political play.

Shakespeare developed Coriolanus dependant of the current political climate in the context of 17th century England. The play portrays the intense sceptical that the play's context has on both democracy and heroism. Through the ethical battle that develops within the plot, between traditional politics and newfound democracy. Power is first prescribed in the play through the perspective of the plebians, people in which lack it. We are introduced to power on a grand scale, the audience is prompted with power dynamics within this society. In which develops immensely leading up to the climaxes of the play. 

We then are introduced to the actual holders of power within the plays sociopolitical context, characters such as Menenius, the Tribunes, Caius Martius, Volumnia and Aufidius. Initially, the first time the audience is met with these characters they're futures are foreshadowed immediately through both direct and indirect characterizations. The audience is enabled to understand the spectrum of power in this society. Those in which have power due to their quantity such as the plebians, warrior and demi-godly power such as Coriolanus, eloquent and persuasive power such as Menenius, or Aufidius and Volumnia's political and democratic power. 

All of these characters are significant explorations of power, in which the author tries to entail all the different kinds power. This is done by Shakespeare to intentionally display the uprise of democracy in opposition to traditional power in his world; to finally make a statement. A statement by which the author parallels to Englands political climate and displays that the most efficient power in their modern age is what is regarded as political power. This type of authority is heavily characterised by the play by the characters of Aufidius and Volumnia. Who commonly share the trait of being able to make decisions independently from their emotions. Volumnia is established as a woman who is willing to put her son through anything to result in a noble ending. Furthermore, Aufisius deviates from pride and is willing to give Coriolanus the short-lived glory as a leader of the Volscian army to achieve his goals in the long run. Both of these characters succeed, at the end of the play Volumnia is titled Rome's saviour, and Aufidius kills Coriolanus. These characters ability to manoeuvre in politics and their patience allows for them to triumph. These powerful results are implemented by the author to display, not necessarily the kindest or the noblest type of power, but instead the kind of power that lasts. Ultimately, Shakespeare presents that change and flexibility are effective in politics. 

What is Shakespeare’s larger purpose in his characterisation of Coriolanus in Act I?

Coriolanus was one of Shakespeare's last plays, in which was set in the time of Ancient Rome; when Rome was still a small city/tribe, just before the rise of the Republic. Throughout the play, Shakespeare mirrors his current English political contexts; by which was the authoritarian rule of King James the first (1603-1625). Thus resulting the play to densely address sociopolitical issues and emphasising on the ones that occur between the different classes in society, in Coriolanus' case the plebian and the patricians. Due to this setting, Act 1 profusely operates as the basis and establishes the entire plays. The characters are presented, and through them, the external conflicts are acquainted. Shakespeare indirectly characterises Coriolanus' struggle in augmenting power trough his lack of emotional intelligence when he approaches the lower classes; using his lack of verbal self-control to symbolise it. Illustrating Coriolanus' lack of political insight strives towards a larger goal, which is the illustration of a parallel between Coriolanus and King Jame the first. 

Shakespeare introduces the setting of the play through rebellion, in Act 1, tThis scene is where the Roman plebians are revolting against the patricians. Displaying the plebians disadvantages and society and how the higher class react towards them, the men in power being: Coriolanus, the protagonist,  and Menenius, his foil character. The audience is introduced to these two contrasting characters through direct and indirect characterizations. Coriolanus is exhibited as the ''chief enemy to the people' in Act 1, Scene 1. The audience is introduced to the first conflict of the play; where Coriolanus is initially presented through the plebian's hateful perspectives, inscribing him as the primary cause of their societal issues. Shakespeare does so to set up the first actual appearance of Coriolanus in the play. In this scene Coriolanus confronts the plebians and displays his hostility towards the lower class, mocking them, giving the reader insight into Coriolanus' irritable and stubborn traits.  In opposition, the author then presents Menenius, who is referenced as the ‘one that hath always loved the people’ in Act I, Scene I. Unlike Coriolanus, Menenius is an honoured man in his society due to his eloquentness and present his beliefs and thoughts in such attractive manners to the public. His shrewd characterises, and use of language appeases the plebians, although he too is a patrician. Shakespeare does so intentionally to emphasise Coriolanus' attributes, by presenting him with a foil character. Which also foreshadows the inevitable and tragic death of Coriolanus.

There is then an abrupt transition from the protagonist's place in politics, and the author puts him on a battlefield. Contrastingly, in the battlefield, Coriolanus is completely respected and is even perceived as un-human but instead god-like, a demi-god. He is portrayed as a brave warrior and the saviour of the people that is recognised by everybody, showing the audience both Coriolanus' arrogant side as well as his courageous role. 

Once we reach the end of the play, Shakespeare shapes two completely different sides to the protagonist taking him from an ill-mannered politician to a godly figure in the battlefields. Moreover, Shakespeare draws allusions throughout the play between Coriolanus and King James the first and overall political stances. 

belle hooks

"For in the incorrect usage of words, in the incorrect placement of words, was a spirit of rebellion that claimed language as a site of resistance. Using English in a way that ruptured standard usage and meaning, so that white folks could often not understand black speech, made English into more than the oppressor’s language." belle hooks

             Harriet Tubman was an African-American abolitionist that was born into slavery. Tubman was one of the many slaves that escaped and after that went on missions to help rescue enslaved families. She did this through using a network of secret routes and safe houses, named the Underground Railway, that was established in the United States during the 1800s that allow African American slaves to escape into free states and neighbouring countries, with the help of abolitionists and allies. Secret messages in the form of quilt patterns aided slaves escaping the bonds of captivity in the Southern states before and during the American Civil War.

It was illegal for slaves to be literate. Therefore they lacked the ability to read or write. Thus allowing codes to become their means of communication, whether it was oral or drawn and sewn. They played a vital role in the slaves' lives as it was what lead them throughout their route to freedom. That is why these codes are often referred to as Underground Railroad Quilt Clothes. 'Quilt' relates to the fact that most of these codes were sewn into quilts that were used as undetected banners. But these codes came in forms of dance, spirituals, code words and even phrases in which were taught and memorised within the slave community; allowing themselves to communicate in a way that their white slave owners couldn't decipher. Secrecy was the only way that the blacks could protect themselves from the whites; becoming characteristic to their culture. Where even the youngest of children were taught to effectively keep secrets from any strangers or members of society that didn't come from their family to preserve their safety. 

A characteristic of the African-American culture was developed at this time, where communication of enigmas through the use of ordinary, everyday objects; the objects are seen so often they are no longer noticeable by the white Americans and slave masters. This characteristic transcended and subsequently became applied to slave songs, using code words the slaves were able to efficiently communicate indirectly with each other and aid each other to escape.

The primary text that I will be using is an underground railway slave song, “Follow the Drinking Gourd”, which abovementioned were songs sung by abolitionists to help inform each other through codes about their circumstances, or what to expect. This song insinuated the act of escaping in the springtime, as the days got longer, and the sun returned and contrasted with the winter weather “When the sun comes back “. The song then goes on to refer to quails, ”the first quail calls” which begin to call/mate each other at the beginning of spring. The drinking gourd, a water dipper that is stated in the song refers back to a code name for the Big Dipper, the constellation that pointed to the Pole star towards the North. “The Dead Trees show you the way” is a line in the song that refers to moss, as it grows n the north side of dead trees. Thus was used as an indicator for directions in case the Big Dipper was invisible.

These slave songs use of the black vernacular (which implemented AAVE on a larger scale in society)  allows us insight into how the placement of words, was used as a spirit of rebellion by the slaves in America in the 1800s that claimed language as a state of resistance. Using English in a way that ruptured the standard usage and meaning of the words; creating codes so that white people were left with a lack of understanding. Ultimately making English into more than the oppressor’s language. Instead, threading their own history and characteristics into it to rebel and protests for their rights.

“Follow the Drinking Gourd”

Follow the drinking gourd,

Follow the drinking gourd,

For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom

If you follow the drinking gourd

When the sun comes back and the first quail calls,

Follow the drinking gourd.

For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom

If you follow the drinking gourd

The riverbank will make a very good road.

The dead trees show you the way,

Left foot, peg foot traveling on,

Follow the drinking gourd.

The river ends between two hills,

Follow the drinking gourd.

There’s another river on the other side,

Follow the drinking gourd.

Where the great big river meets the little river,

Follow the drinking gourd.

The old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom,

If you follow the drinking gourd.

Endangered Languages: Scottish Gaelic ft. Karma Thomas

A link to our podcast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEP_4db1jk0

What is the value of preserving indigenous languages?

Language is the key to culture. Humans derive their social lives and all of their customs and traditions through the means of language. Due to its role as a communicator between people, it becomes intertwined with the traditions and customs, almost inseparable; language comes hand in hand with culture. With these truths, humans tend to be protective of their values and culture and thus makes us feel as though we are indebted to our language and what it has done for our individual cultures. Even when societies begin involuntarily become ignorant towards their cultures due to the modern day, your mother tongue will always be a constant reminder of the values and virtues your people were brought up by thus proving its significance in our lives. Showing that language tends to be the last string that binds a modernised nation back to its roots. Hence instilling the need of preserving our languages.

Once modern languages such as English begin to evoke a sense of replacing one's native tongue, it also starts to evoke the feeling of replacing your cultures entire history. 7000 languages are spoken in the world today, and 5000 of them are spoken by indigenous tribes; which makes the 6% total of the world's population. Unfortunately, 90% of the 5000 languages are near extinction. Meaning that 4500 languages are dying out in the modern world, taking all of their cultures histories, autonomy, power, heritage, and connectivity. In addition to all of these losses, we lose cultures worth of artistry and scholar. All of which impacts our modern explorations. Without such connections to thousands of tribes explorations, our modern world is missing out on so much.

An example of this would be the knowledge that was lost on the Pacific coast in the nations and tribes of Polynesia. Their culture originates from the ancient voyagers that travelled the oceans. Three thousand years ago there was an abrupt halt of long-distant voyaging for a thousand years, and all the knowledge of voyaging had gone with the people's ancestors. It took their people a millennium to regain any knowledge that they previously had on voyaging. There are many instances where such cultural traditions were mysteriously put to a stop, and couldn't be rediscovered again due to a lack of records through oral or written language. This insights us to the possibility of losing such valuable cultural knowledge alongside custom explorations if there was no preservation of the languages that indigenous people spoke, both physically (in writing) and oral (spoken).

There are huge consequences that come with being ignorant towards indigenous languages. therefore we need to become more aware of all of these languages and the worth they have to our modern world, and what we could learn from them.