Racism Satirical and Parody

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/nigerian-student-mob-beat-up-racist-attack-northern-india-greater-noida-cannibalism-drug-use-accuse-a7656566.html

This week the Indian extremists Hindutva, almost had a close run-in with consequences. So far the Hindutva has been regarded a completely blotch free gang, and it is no surprise why the BJP, India’s ruling party endorses them so much. Hindutva leader, Karan Johar, didn’t have much to say about his latest incident, however. Well, what was the incident? Well after seeing a menacing, black Nigerian lady, walking on the streets, the Karan was clearly enraged. How could a person of a skin color darker than his be smilingly walking on the Indian streets? In fact, Karan was so infuriated that he made sexual advances, taking a leap of faith, with the threatening, dangerous, black lady. As observed previously in Indian history, black individuals are clearly not to be trusted because they work too peacefully when they are doing their jobs.  Back to Karan now. After Karan, made sexual advances on the menacing black girl, he was abruptly surprised when she hit him. How dare a black lady hit a man of Pandit descent? Was she out of her mind. So what if he was fondling her breasts and eve-teasing her in front of the street, how dare she slap him! Absolutely atrocious. Justifidley, Karan then decided to take matters into his own hand as he called the rest of the members of the righteous gang - Tarun, Abhinav, and Aditya. All four of these righteous men then proceeded to stalk the menacing black lady back to her house in Vasant Kunj, and as soon as she opened the door to her house, they murdered her. All in all, as entitled Hindu’s and Indians we should completely support this behavior. People of color are strangers to our country and especially if they are black. Who cares if Salman Khan ran over a beggar on the street, was Salman Khan black? No right. The law is clear, as long as someone is black, they must be prosecuted. Using this logic, I completely endorse the views of the Supreme court by allowing the gang to walk free and instead I’m slightly disappointed with our country's lawmakers since they didn’t reward the heroes who rid of us of one more black person. Thank you, Karan, and the rest of the Hindutva, you guys are the reason we are proud to be Indians!

IOC Link

This Is Water.

In what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? Justify your conclusion:

Wallace's theory about education is that it should dissipate topics which will increase human conscience and self-awareness. According to Wallace, humans are almost programmed like robots to day to day jobs without questioning their existence and having only themselves at the center of the universe. According to him, to be truly "enlightened" or aware, one must take into all that is going on around him/her and be present in the moment. This is what he meant by "This is Water". In regards to how this ties in with Alice Munro, I think it fits into the themes she covers in stories such as Passion, Moons of Jupiter, Royal Beatings and especially Family Furnishings. 

In Passion, Munro discusses how the protagonist, who was accustomed to her day job of being a waitress and having a standard boyfriend, dared to ask for more. The protagonist had a phase of self-awareness and realization of what she really wants from life, in which she had deeper and darker desires. However, this may also oppose Wallace's preachings about how one should not look at themselves as the center of the universe. This is because the protagonist completely dismisses the thoughts, love, and emotions of her ex-boyfriend in order to pursue her interests. This theme is also witnessed in Family Furnishings when Munro talks about how the protagonist was completely engrossed in her self-benefit by running away from her problems due to being embarrassed by her mother's sickness. However, the most closely linked tie is that of Alfrieda and the protagonists battle. The conflict of the protagonist vs. Alfrieda is one that is fuelled solely by ego. The protagonist takes a complex against Alfrieda because of the fact she stops visiting her families and doesn't take into account the alternate realities that could possibly exist. As the novel progresses, the protagonists hate towards Alfrieda only increases as she feels that Alfrieda has wronged her and has no status to even talk to her. However, at the end of the novel, the protagonist realizes what an important role Alfrieda has played in her life and even goes to the extent of saying that she wants her life to be exactly like Alfrieda's. This is congruent to David Wallace's assertions of how humans need to be more self-conscious and need to have a different approach to problems and relationships. When Wallace talks about how a busy job worker may be experiencing difficulties coping up with the horrible grocery place scenario and starts to immediately hate everyone that is present there, this is mirrored in the scene in which the protagonist visits Alfreda. Her immediate mindset is to have a negative attitude towards Alfrieda and have a condescending mindset to her without thinking of the alternate realities that could have been present. 

Ngugi's Correlation

While Ngugi’s extract was used to practice the annotation and structuring of a Paper 1, the content and theme of the article can also be used to inform a deeper appreciation of Things Fall Apart

In what ways does this text influence your understanding of Achebe’s use of language and stylistic choices in Things Fall Apart?

In Ngugi's extract, we witness a similar chronological order to that of Things Fall Apart. This is seen via the chronological narration of how Ngugi's life was before the colonial rule, and how it morphed for the worse after Kenya were conquered. Unlike Things Fall Apart, which depicts a balanced view of the colonizers, Ngugi's text seems to be more biased against the British language. However, a common theme that can be observed between the two is the complex oratory style. In both Things Fall Apart and Ngugi's extract is laden with metaphors, imagery, and personification, which all exemplify the importance given to good orators in the African culture. Another, common theme among them are the writer's decisions to write in English. Whilst this is the language which has oppressed the African countries which both Ngugi and Achebe live in, they have decided to write their texts in English. This decision might be very strategic as they may be using language as a form of resistance and since both texts were written at a time when both Kenya and Nigeria were battling for freedom this might possibly be the case.

Religion - Thesis + Outline

Thesis Statement  - The culturally hybrid nature of Achebe’s upbringing has resulted in the construction of “Things Fall Apart” being narrated through the third person so that a more wholesome and unbiased perspective of both the Christian & Igbo religions can be displayed

Topic Sentence 1 - Achebe’s conflicted upbringing are displayed via the implementation of the characters of Nwoye and Obierika.

Topic Sentence 2 - Achebe’s western upbringing has culuminated in his choice to display the attractiveness of western education to the Igbo society.

Topic Sentence 3 - Achebe's  Igbo roots have resulted in the use of “ethnic” subplots such as the constant wife beating and the characters of Ekwefi to display the reality of Igbo traditions and life.

Thesis Statements + Outline

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

In order to provide a more "ethnic" portrayal of the Igbo society, Achebe characterizes Okonkwo, the protagonist of the novel, with extreme masculine traits whilst giving the females in the novel such as Ekwefi and Okonkwo's wives characteristics of inferiority and submission.

Outline 

Paragraph 1 -  Introduction 

Paragraph 2 - Okonkwo Characterization -

Topic Sentence -  Through the implementation of subplots such as the Week of Peace and implicit actions, Achebe depicts Okonkwo as an Hypermasculine individual, who isn't a good representative of the Igbo society.

Paragraph 3 - Ekfewi and characterization of other females in the novel  

Topic Sentence - Via, implementing the foil characters of Ekfewi and Ezinma in the novel, Achebe depicts the submissive and excessively feminine gender roles, which the Igbo women must follow in the Igbo society.

Paragraph 4 -  Usage of foil characters such as Obrieka, which are used to emphasize Okonkwo's excessive gender traits.

Topic Sentence - Achebe, utilizes the foil character of Obrieka to highlight and emphasize the excessiveness of Okonkwo's behavior, whilst providing a backdrop to show a more human representative of the Igbo Society.

Paragraph 5 - Conclusion  - Through the usage of foil characters, subplots and the characterization of Okonkwo, Achebe manages to create a novel which successfully depicts the reality of post-colonial Igboland in his novel "Things Fall Apart".

Tragic Hero

In many ways, Things Fall Apart is considered a tragedy. Why would Achebe, taking into account the cultural context, choose to characterize Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype?

Achebe chooses to characterize Okonkwo as a tragic hero for several reasons. However, according to me, the primary reason Achebe has chosen the tragic hero archetype for Okonkwo is to depict the deterioration of the Ibo culture, only to give birth to the Western One. 

At the beginning of the story, we witness Okonkwo in his golden days, with Iboland being in a state of stability and order. As in the historical context, this must have been some time before 1861 as Iboland was free from British rule at this time. As the story progresses as does time, we witness the metamorphization of Iboland with the creation of Churches, Missionaries and many newly found converts.  However, Okonkwo isn't there to see this due to his hamartia moment of killing a young boy and getting exiled from Umofia.

Moreover, just like any tragic hero, Okonkwo has a tragic flaw, which is his stubbornness to change and his hypermasculine ways. These characteristics are in fact opposite to those found in a typical Ibo citizen, since the Ibo people are found to be very open and accepting of change. The Ibo people believe that never one correct way or answer to something, as there will always be another way to look at the matter or even answer it. This belief in duality is reflected, in Things Fall Apart with the Christians being allowed to build a Church and the many religious Ibo people they managed to convert, with the best example being Nwoye himself. 

However, Okonkwo, on the other hand, is stubborn in his ways and isn't just rigid to change but opposes and despises anyone who deviates from his ideologies. At the end of the novel, Okonkwo decided to behead the messenger, and his fellow more accepting citizens decide not to react in such a manner. Thus, Achebe could be aiming to insinuate that a single-minded focus isn't the correct approach in life.

This is just one interpretation, however, another viewpoint would be to look at Okonkwo as a victim of the Colonial Empire.

In the beginning of the novel - pre-colonial times - Okonkwo is seen to be a successful man, flourishing and reaping the rewards for hard work. He is seen to be living in a peaceful society, with no conflicts and leading a happy life. However, after the Missionaries appear Okonkwo's life rapidly deteriorates with his son deserting him for the "new faith" of Christianity. A man, who once had everything is seen to be reduced to nothing at the end of the novel with the epitome of the story being that the Britisher were the ones who got to decided Okonkwo's penalty for killing the messenger. This transformation of power was nicely summarized by Obrieka who said: "this was one of the most powerful and well-respected men in Umofia, now look what you have done to him". This tragic hero choice ties in with the Cultural context at this time since most of the tribal Igbo people had either converted to Christianity or were being punished for not doing so. The Igbo people had completely submitted to a colonial power and Okonkwo's tragic hero characterization provides the perfect reflection of what a traditional Igbo tribesman must have dealt with at that time.

Dear Royal Colonial Institute

Dear Royal Colonial Institute,

The atmosphere in the room that I am sensing seems to be one of distraught and dismay from our recent dilution in ownership of our colonies. Whilst this may seem problematic and troublesome from the surface, I beg to differ. According to me anyone who feels in this manner should be cuffed and sent to prison for direct interference with this great countries laws. Our country deems it unconstitutional to infringe the rights and freedoms of the less fortunate, those who can not defend themselves - but this is what we continue to do in the Lower Niger in Iboland. 

Firstly, dear institute our treatment of these people is beyond acceptable. Notice the usage of the term "people". Dear Institute how long will we continue to plunder these people in order to salvage a few more pounds. From what I have heard the District Commissioners are being bribed by the fortunate few converts in Iboland and the others who decide to follow their religion are being whipped and their daughters and wives even being raped. Dear Institute, our government has provided immunity for those who decide to follow our religion of Christianity, but those Ibo people who don't are treated with utter disrespect. What happened to our all-encompassing policies. Even those locals who we have hired as our interpreters/messengers (The Kotma) and taught English to are using this power to fraud their own. 

However, dear institute that argument is only focused on our treatment of the Ibo people. Now, I will proceed to expose our flawed reasoning in the colonization of the people of the Lower Niger. My fellow man Chamberlain had argued that we should continue our colonization on the moral grounds that we are bringing civilization to the Iboland. However, dear institution these Ibo people have an abundance of civilizations. They have mastered the iron sculpting and make spears, hatchets, swords and etc. of a much higher quality than us. They know how to harness wine from trees and their agricultural sense is far superior to ours. 

However, their self-sufficiency doesn't end there. The so-called government and order we are trying to bring about in Iboland is already present there and has been so for almost 5 centuries. The Ibo have an interesting form of governance which is a morphed form of democracy meaning, that their people have more of a voice in matters of the state than do ours. The Ibo society works on the basis of titles and thus everyone is motivated to work hard, yielding a society with a motive. Those who don't uphold any titles in the Ibo society are looked down upon and the society is self-driven and prosperous in their own ways. So when Chamberlain makes claims of bettering the Igbo society, he is simply justifying the ruthless plundering by us Britishers on an innocent Igbo society.

Thus, I have only one question to ask you dear institute

Why try to fix something which isn't broken?

Cultural Context "Things Fall Apart"

1) What was the most meaningful takeaway from today’s discussion relating to the cultural or literary context of Achebe’s work?

According to me, there were several meaningful takeaways from today's discussion relating to the cultural or literary context of Achebe's "Things Fall Apart". However, if I was to chose the most meaningful one it would have to be the fact that Achebe wrote his novel to produce the alternate story for what happened in the European colonization of Nigeria. At the time, which Achebe was writing his novel (1900's) all the books that were being published were from the European point of view, thus suppressing the African story. This led to the fact that a single story was being published and the readers of the books were solely influenced by this content since it was the only literary work available dwelling on the topic of the colonization. The single story prevailing at that time was the fact that the Europeans brought Civilization & order to the Africans, who were so-called "savages". This dehumanized portrayal of the Africans by the European authors served as their justification for embodying slavery. Not only this, but the stories painted by the European authors showed the European colonizers almost doing a favor to the Africans by taking control of them since they brought civilization to them. However, this was the only "untrue" single story available and prevalent at that time. Achebe provided the other story narrated with the African voice. This narration depicted the Africans as a society which already had perfectly harmonic social structure and rich cultural diversity, which was in fact destroyed by the Europeans. Now, instead of seeing the Africans as a mentally incompetent "inhumane" species, the world witnessed a society of clever and hard working traders who had their lives compromised by the Europeans. Thus, by publishing an alternate side to the ongoings of colonization in the context of the 1900's (where the European voice was prevalent), Achebe's publishment of Things Fall Apart at this time had a rebellious and refreshing nature attached to it since, the retaliation and the voice of the victims of colonization was unheard of.

2) Select a specific quote from the interview or a general idea from the discussion and write a brief reflection.

A general idea which was prevalent throughout the interview was the idea of a single story. This was seen several times when Achebe talked about the over cosumption of the "American Culture", Nigerian Media Coverage and even the Literature published in the 1900's about colonization. A single story referes to a one sided or bias account, which doesn't take the other sides' feelings or emotions into context. Throughout the interview Achebe has suggested that when a single story is prevalent this is very dangerous and harmful for society since they are completely misled by the side supplying the propoganda. According to Achebe, single stories are generally produced by "those who win" and "those who lose are forgotten". This means that those who are politically powerful can mould the stories in their way to portray themselves as rightoues and associate themselves with postive traits even if these aren't true because the other less powerful political countries don't have the voice to testify against them. Sometimes news corporations only portray the negative aspects of countries with a single story of negativity since it sells better, and thus leave the other positive story of the country out. For the international viewer this can be very harmful since they will form thier assumptions on that country based on the single story supplied by the news corporations. This is evident in Nigerian news media's constant portrayal of Nigeria as a country ridden with poverty, sadness and desperation, and neglection of Nigeria's successful business's. The idea of single stories can also be connected to the colonial literature published in the 1900's in which the European authors depicted the African people as "savages", with no "mental competency" and "civilization". When this literature was consumed by the readers worldwide they would have created thier assumptions on the African population based on the depictions seen in the books written by the European authors without directly interacting with the Africans or listening to their side of the story.

Thus, in conclusion it can be observed that single stories are highly dangerous whenever deployed since the sole presence of just one story fails to display the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the other side, creating an incomplete and even incorrect image in the viewer's mind.

IOC

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B94uV1cqM09MVzVPWGFLaTZEMXM/view?usp=sharing

Shakespeare Act 1

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

Shakespeare has several purposes, in his characterization in Act 1. Firstly, Shakespeare characterizes specific characters with certain traits, which point out their fatal flaws and strengths, and may give a signal of what is to come in the future in terms of getting in conflicts. Shakespeare foreshadows several conflicts in Act 1 by characterizing Coriolanus to be a man who is very proud and rash. This proudness and rashness of Coriolanus, shows him getting into a fight with the civilians and may foreshadow future conflicts with the citizens. Next, Shakespeare depicts the conflict of Coriolanus and Titus Aufidus. This conflict begins now by Titus praising Coriolanus's strength and war skills, and Coriolanus reciprocates this as well by saying "Tis not a man I would rather fight".  

The next purpose of Shakespeare's characterization is to depict a plot as well. By this, I mean that certain characters have been introduced in the begging who will cause trouble in the future to Coriolanus. The characterization serves as an introduction to the play and Shakespeare starts of the plot by developing dueling characters. The dueling characters serve as conflict makers and develop the plot significantly.

Next, Shakespeare's characterization has a deeper meaning, which has its roots in British History. Evidence, to suggest this is when the main character Coriolanus, is reminiscent of King James I, who had a similar rash, rude and proud personality as does Coriolanus. King James, didn't enjoy plays and was highly oriented on being manly. Coriolanus's characterization is like this as well. King James was ruling in the time of an absolutist monarchy, so he had the right to do whatever he pleased. This power is reminiscint of the power the Romans had over the plebians and thier full control on society. Also, 

Lastly, the corn riot in the begging of the play, is seen to be similar to that of those in England in 1607. Shakespeare's depiction of the setting serves to portray a deeper political meaning and even represent those voices in England, who were suppressed by the absolutist Monarchy.

Bell Hooks

4. 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.

TEXT- "https://www.youtube.com/watchv=CB8pBiUavtg" - Ebonics 101

In this spoken word poem by Steven Willis, we observe exactly what the essence of this quote is about. Steven Willis begins the poem by saying that he is "bilingual", immediately he has put up a divide between the "Standard Queen's" English and his own "African Vernacular English. He describes African Vernacular English as a more "Southern Fried English". Since the South, is associated with Black Slavery he is trying to portray the historically painful roots of African Vernacular English, and how it stands for resistance. He further clarifies this when he says his "Big Mama" (Grandmom) hid AAV under her tongue, when she migrated to the north during the great migration, but had never forgotten the tongue. This implies that the language was so important that it couldn't be forgotten. Then Willis goes on to say that AAV is the "last remaining squab birthed from an African and European". This phrase implies that even though all of the African migrants languages  and culture were taken away, they didn't give up since they made a new one, which still remains in use today. He further backs this up by saying that "Ebonics is the official language of the undefined black culture" and "the native tongue of the underrepresented black American". These phrases further exemplify that AAV serves as something to bond the Black Americans together and since it is the "undefined language of black culture", AAV serves as the representative of the black struggle and "culture" as well. 

Then, Willis moves on by asking the viewers to "get their Notepads out for Ebonics 101". Even though, it is subtle Willis's demand of asking for the notebook, shows that he considers the topic (Ebonics) to be of a significant importance and thats why it should be noted down. He moves on by giving "Chapter 1 - Any English word in the (in) combination is replaced with (an). To this he gives the example after All of MLK's walking his feet didn't stink they Stank. By implementing this example, not only does Willis give an example of AAV, but he yet again goes on to represent the struggle and history that is associated with it.  Moving on Willis introduces "Chapter 2 - Any English word in the (or) combination, the (r) becomes silent. Giving the example of Rodney King saying "Don't be no mo'". Yet again, intervening a language lesson with the painful yet rich historical struggle that is associated with it. These examples continue and then Willis concludes by saying the Black people will not be slaves to the phonetics and dictions of the Standard English. This perfectly links with Bell Hooks's quote on how the Black people showed resistance by making their English different and was an avenue to separate their ties with their oppressors at that time. 

Lost Tongues Podcast

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B94uV1cqM09MOUJHV3Zpbjc5T1U/view?usp=sharing

What did medieval linguist Antonio de Nebrija mean when he told Queen Isabella that: “language is the perfect instrument of empire?” How has language contributed to colonial power? Focus on a specific example.



In my opinion what Antonio De Nebrija meant, in this example is that language is almost like a leash, which keeps all of (in this case) its colonies in check. Language has significantly contributed to colonial power in various manners, some more obvious than others. In order to best prove this, take the evidence of the British Empire.

Britain was considered to be the largest empire that ever existed, meaning that they left an everlasting mark on all their colonies. Language, according to me is the vehicle of communication. In order to communicate with their colonies, British forced around 89% of them to learn English. Now, colonies such as the Red Indians, the Indians themselves and even the Europeans have faced the backlash of this decision. Imagine this situation, you are trying to teach a class full of students who speak Mandarin, a science lesson in French. This just doesn't equate because, the students will have absolutely no idea what you are saying, meaning no orders will be followed, and penultimately there will be chaos. Enter Antonio de Nebrija, who perfectly summarizes the importance of a uniform language being equated with a successful empire. 

Moreover, if there isn't a uniform language the Britishers wouldn't be able to understand what the colonist populations were up to and had a risk of being usurped. Rewind back to your classroom, now imagine that the Chinese students start gossiping about how to find a substitute teacher to replace you, and you are none the wiser. This is exactly the same case.

Thus, in conclusion a language helps in empowering a colonial power significantly by allowing them to communicate efficiently with their subjects, whilst staying aware of the "devious" plans the people in the colonies might be up to.