Okonkwo Character Analysis

Although Things Fall Apart conveys its main protagonist Okonkwo as a self-made, well-repected member of the Umuofia tribe, Chinue Achebe creates this character in a far more complex way. Okonkwo plays a great role in developing main themes and concepts throughout the story. In a classical sense, Okonkwo can be seen as a tragic hero."A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and  gains awareness of the circumstances that lead to his fall. Firstly, Okonkwo has a tragic flaw- his natural balance of manliness, recognition, anger and violence brings him to his own destruction. Throughout the novel it is seen that Okonkwo mainly values these traits and has a strong fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo is always gruff and usually is unable to express his feelings- throughout the story we see that he holds in most of the actual emotions he felt because he wants to be recognized as a powerful and masculine figure. His emotions are indeed quite complex though- his manly values come in conflict with his unmanly emotions, such as his fondness for Ikemfuna and Ezinma. The narrator privileges us with information that Okonkwo to support this tragic flaw- fro example, a truly worried father beneath the seemingly different exterior while he follows Ekwefi in the forest in the pursuit of Ezinma. With that being said, Okwonkwo never really comes to a realization that his downfall may be a result of his wrongdoings or his tragic flaw. It is believed that Achebe chose Okonkwo as a tragic hero to reflect on the in tire Igbo Culture. Okonwo can be symbolic of the entire society and can explain how their downfall was due to their own doings. While being colonized is not necessarily something that is a consequences of Igbo actions, their inability to resist the oppression and fight back about their personal culture and belief lead them to lose their history and background. Other than showing different aspects of the Igbo culture through Okonwo, Achebe has also been successful in advancing several themes throughout the story. Firstly, there is an underlying theme that is shown through the plot of the story; fate vs. free will. Although Okonko works to reach his first priority of being the exact polar opposite of his father, he faces many obstacles that lead him to die at the same worth of his father. Again, if Okwonkwo represents the entire Igbo society, then colonization and destruction of the culture was an inevitable act. While they may have attempted to calmly drive the Europeans out, the eventual takeover of their land is something that could not have been stopped. 

From this we could see that there is an obvious conflict of fate vs. free will and it is shown that fate overpowers free will at the end of the story. Secondly, the theme of culture vs. personality is something that comes up with Okonkwo and other characters such as Obreika. While cultural beliefs are often forced upon every person in the Igbo society, there are instances where each character must question whether the actions are justified or not. many characters, including Okwonkwo, were attempting to reach and equilibrium between their cultural and personal beliefs. 

An African Voice-Chinue Achebe

Chinua Achebe's interview, "The African Voice" provided us with a great insight of the background behind the authors work and worldwide impacts. This interview has really highlighted the significance of Things Fall apart in the African community and literature, but it mostly served in uniting a number of cultures together that have been oppressed through imperialism. Personally, one of the most interesting points discussed in the interview was  in the idea of Things Fall Apart being a book about the story of dispossession. Firstly, Achebe mentions how he was surprised that people from all around the world responded to his book and somehow related to the story. This lead on to look the concept of "universal civilization." This concept looked at how the world can become united despite any difference. In the context of the novel, people from all around the world related to the book in the same way even though they didn't experience colonization similarly to the African culture. This just shows how powerful literature can be. we concluded that in order to achieve this idea of a universal civilization, differences should be understood and accepted;  Things Fall Apart was a way of meeting all the differences in cultures and finding similarities. We also discussed how African literature is a form of expression which allows African people to define themselves and portray their side of the story. looking at the theme of Oppression vs. The Opressed in African literature really opened our eyes and offered a different perspective of Africa. It is also interesting how literature can be used as a tool for expression and this reveals one of Things Fall Apart's purposes. And perhaps this relates to the idea of a universal civilization. In this situation, all the differences are set aside where they are able to agree on the impacts of colonialism.

Political Speech: Paper 1 Practice

Script:

 ‘It is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict. There is nothing inevitable about it.

It is a weapon of war aimed at civilians.

It has nothing to do with sex, everything to do with power.

It is done to torture and to humiliate innocent people, and often very young children.

I have met survivors from Afghanistan to Somalia and they are just like us, with one crucial difference.

We live in safe countries with doctors we can go to when we’re hurt, police we can turn to when we’re wronged, and institutions that protect us.

They live in refugee camps or bombed out streets in areas where there is no law, no protection, and not even the hope of justice.

They struggle to keep their children safe and if they admit to being raped, they are likely to face more violence and social rejection.

Other survivors live in countries where war is over, but the peace has brought no justice. And as an international community, we are responsible for that.

We need to shatter that culture of impunity and make justice the norm, not the exception, for these crimes.

We need political will replicated across the world and we need to treat this subject as a priority.

We need to see real commitment to go after the worst perpetrators, to fund proper protection for vulnerable people and to step in and help the worst affected countries.

We need all armies, peacekeeping troops and police forces to have the prevention of sexual violence in conflict as part of their training.

More than 100 countries will be represented at the summit, and we will be asking them to take these measures. But we really do need your help.

This whole subject has been taboo for far too long.

War zone rape is a crime that thrives on silence and denial.

This stigma harms survivors and it causes feeling of shame and worthlessness.

It feeds ignorance, such as the notion that rape has anything to do with normal sexual impulses. But most of all, it allows the rapist to get away with it.

They feel above the law because the law rarely touches them and society tolerates them.

As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ”The destiny of human rights is in the hands of all of our citizens and all our communities.”

And this evil will continue to ruin the lives of millions of people unless we make this summit a turning point - and we can.

We must send a message across the world that there is no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence; that the shame is on the aggressor.

We must work together in new and unprecedented ways across borders and religions, bringing governments and people together and tackling the problem from every possible angle.

And by doing this we can end the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war once and for all. We really can do it.

So, thank you so much for joining us today, for joining us in this fight, and I wish us all a very productive summit.’

This essay shall attempt to analyze a speech, which was delivered by the actress and United Nations Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie. It is known that this certain text is in the form of a speech as it is written in second-person order to address an audience but still uses personal pronouns to develop a sense of opinion and awareness. In this particular speech, Jolie urges the global community to take action to put a stop to sexual violence in conflict-stricken countries. Recently, rape in war zones has been a recurring theme in Jolie’s United Nations work and this topic was brought into high relief in the UN summit: we could see that Jolie's brief opening statement matched that focus, tackling the topic in direct and forceful language. Her call to action to the delegates used her platform to speak about the issue in terms of the silence that often surrounds it. Jolie has put the time into understanding the issue firsthand, making herself an expert on an ignored issue. It shows in her remarks, loaded as they are with authentic and powerful content. As a result, she's a more credible spokesperson. “I have met survivors from Afghanistan to Somalia and they are just like us, with one crucial difference.”

Firstly, we know that the targeted audience for this speech is the global community as Jolie uses “we” to address people that are similar to her; people who live normal, fortunate lives in developed countries. This could be especially seen when Jolie says, “We live in safe countries with doctors we can go to when we’re hurt, police we can turn to when we’re wronged, and institutions that protect us… And as an international community, we are responsible for that.” Regarding the indirect audience, people who are interested in seeing Jolie’s developments in the political world or anyone that watched that particular United Nations Conference could reach this speech.  It could also be seen that the purpose of this speech is to firstly educate the public about the growing crisis of sexual violence in war-stricken countries, then to inform the public about their responsibility to resolving the issue. In the beginning of the speech, Jolie starts to address her topic by giving background of sexual violence in war and the consequences it has on civilians. “It has nothing to do with sex, everything to do with power. It is done to torture and to humiliate innocent people, and often very young children.” She then starts to plug in the target audience’s responsibility in the issue in order for developed communities around the world to come to realization of the growing problem and atrocious effects to therefore unite to make a change.

Although Angelina Jolie is typically portrayed as an entertaining and talented actress in the media, this speech shows a completely opposite side to her. We could see this in the tone and mood conveyed in the speech. The tone used throughout the speech is a very formal and portrays the intention of a powerful message. The vocabulary is formal with sophisticated words however it is clear and fully understandable to reach a wide variety of audience. The speech also carries a lot of words of call to unity and action; with things such as “We need to see real commitment to go after the worst perpetrators, to fund proper protection for vulnerable people and to step in and help the worst affected countries.” These types of words create a mood empowerment and unity, one of the main intentions of the United Nations. By using these phrases, the speech appears to draw the public together in one mutual interest. Because this is a speech that is specifically related to war, it can be considered as one that has a gloomy mood, this can be mainly due to the fact that it is the context of a painful and sensitive subject. This however does not overpower the mood of unity that was initially created. There is also a mood of strength and power in the speech, which is a result of the strong, concise tone and diction. Finally, it has a rather instructional tone where it is asking the public to believe in the speakers’ ideas and to follow them. Since this is a political speech, it is important for the words to have an instructional tone to them.

There is nothing simple about war-zone rape, but the style and language about this speech is clear and simple. These sentences for instance- “This whole subject has been taboo for far too long. War zone rape is a crime that thrives on silence and denial."- Contain words that are quite simple and have a minimal amount of syllables. . It's a myth that you need multi-syllabic words to prove your expertise, and Jolie is smart enough to know that. Regarding the presence of literary devices in the speech, there are many instances, which allow the author to further strengthen her points. Pathos is mostly seen in several instances to appeal to the audience. This appeal to emotion can increase the overall impact on the reader by addressing the reality of the issue. Pathos is mainly used throughout the speech in places where she attempts to project unity throughout the target audience. Regarding any rhetoric devices used, it is firstly realized that anaphora is used in the beginning of Jolie's statements where she repeats words. It can be seen that she starts off her many of her sentences similarly for instance, where she describes the impacts of sexual violence by starting her sentences with "it is." Secondly, a metaphor is used when Jolie describes sexual violence as "a weapon of war." This metaphor allows us the reader or listener to understand the role of the violence in countries and the extent of the impacts it has on on those countries. 

In summation, this text is in the form of a speech; a text type that is often full of different literary devices and follows a certain structure and tone in order to fulfill its message. This speech executed by Angelina Jolie does the same in order to accomplish its aforementioned aim. The targeted audience is clearly a widespread amount of general public, from fans to political leaders. The clarity of her speech justifies this claim. Jolie aims to educate the general public and members of the summit to address the seriousness of sexual violence and its impacts in third-world countries. Overall, the speech is very well crafted and convincing due to its wide range of language and devices, from emotional appeals to appeals that could reach a diverse audience.

Interactive Oral Commentary Practice

Critical Oral Analysis of a passage in Act 1 Scene 1

Lines 15-59

Conversation between Gonzalo, Sebastian, Antonio and a Boatswain. 

https://soundcloud.com/zena-agabani/ioc-practice

Linguistic Imperialism and Immigration

Linguistic imperialism is defined as the transfer of a dominant language and aspects of its culture, to speakers of other languages. Linguistic imperialism occurs when the language of a large or dominant population or the language of power transfers to other people in the same or neighboring areas. There are many types of linguistic imperialism and many causes of it. Causes include immigration, education, trade as well as religion. Such changes in language can be forced or can take place through natural changes. 

Immigration is a large cause of linguistic imperialism. This is most often seen as the act of an invading or migrating people making others learn their language. From research, it was discovered that at the end of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, a number of Germanic peoples moved westward into the Empire’s territories. Of those invading powers, many took control of the area, but their responses to the indigenous language varied. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes managed to eradicate the language of the native Romano-British. On the other hand, the Franks who invaded Gaul and the Ostragoths, who invaded Iberia, both adopted the language of the native population. From this we could see how there are two main ways that immigration can cause linguistic imperialism; from invading countries forcing their language on the country they are invading and eradicating it's language or from immigrants adopting to the language of the country they migrated to. We could argue that perhaps when we consider some practices that were done , and are still done, in the context of immigration presently as linguistic imperialism. When immigrant children are taught the language of the place they are migrating to, they are taught to speak the language and given the idea that the reason they are there is to learn the language. It was realized that advice that teachers usually give to parents is to speak and practice the language at home; this is when neither parents nor children speak that language and have a chance to speak their original language. And thus children start losing their original language and associated traditions and culture.

We as human beings live in a world categorized by gender, race, nationality, culture and language. We cannot separate these aspects in life because we need them all and language plays an essential part as it distinguishes us from other ethnics in the world.  Language in the context of social identity is describes in terms of cultural specific vocabulary, context-sensitive topics and shared attitudes. Language is naturally essential to the expression of culture and is a medium of instruction and a way of communicate and preserve values, beliefs and customs. this is why linguistic imperialism is believed to indeed be a social tragedy. When a language dies, so much is lost because the traditions and history it once preserved is lost with it. We could see these effects in many endangered languages presently and immigrant or third-culture children. 

Paper 1 Text #2

Text 2 is an informative article written by an international confederation called Oxfam. The text discusses the Food Crisis in Sahel and Oxfam's role and goals in regards to addressing the crisis. It contains the common characteristics of an article as it firstly displays a clear introductory statement and all ideas throughout the text are backed up with statistics and facts. It is believed that the overall intended purpose of the article is to firstly inform and educate readers of the Sahel food crisis and then to highlight to readers of Oxfam's involvement in the issue.

From this it could be said that the article appeals to ethos as it is trying to show to readers that Oxfam is an ethical corporation that that plays a role in aiding the world to become a better place and seeks to inform instead of advertise. There are several terms throughout the article like "protected" and "vulnerable positions" that try to persuade readers by using ethics and moral beliefs. These terms give the reader the suggestion that they have the power to make a positive difference in the situation and puts Oxfam on a pedestal as they are already trying to help. It does not specifically tell readers to help but just highlights the corporations position. Also, the readers, target audience, for this article seem to be people who are interested in learning about growing global epidemics; anyone that would intentionally be interested in reading any article on Oxfam's official website.

The content in this article begins by educating us on the matter by presenting facts and figures and explaining the source of the issue. It then transitions to where is tells the reader about Oxfam's involvement in the issue and what it is doing to help in the situation. It appeals to ethos while discussing the issue at first but still stays direct. There is also constant use of facts and figures to put the topic into perspective. After triggering an emotional response from the reader in the beginning, it starts to appeal to logos by displaying the facts and figures which places the reader into reality and encourages them to want to make a difference. This flow is also an effective way of luring the reader into the article in order to highlight what Oxfam is doing and persuade them that Oxfam is a moral organization, therefore achieving the intended aim of highlighting Oxfam's role in the crisis. The tone of this article is rather straight-forward and formal, which is appropriate for it's particular convention and for such a big confederation. Using a serious tone could also be parallel to the seriousness of the issue. Throughout the article, there are terms such as "tackle" and "humanitarian response" to make people realize how serious the crisis is. The addition of the wide range of facts and figures also adds to the serious tone. 

The flowing structure of this informative article also plays a role in achieving Oxfam's intended aims. At the top, there is a picture added so readers can visualize the growing issue, which could have a bigger impact on the reader. Each cut-up piece of text includes a clear subheading to pinpoint certain aspects the article is trying to cover. There is a clearly distinguished title and quote to grab the audience's attention. By creating a clear and persuasive article, this content and structure therefore justifies that the 2 main purposes of the article is to successfully educate people on the crisis and highlight . It specifically aims to display Oxfam's role in the crisis though, which is the main aim at the end. 

Generation Like

Empowerment- a word you hear a lot when kids talk about social media. Does social media really empower people?

Social media has greatly evolved throughout time and has been considered as a media that can greatly empower people.  Presently, social media is used by a wide range of age groups and has created online communities that display different perspectives. Throughout the development of social media, it has been proved that social media has found the ability to empower people. To empower people means to get the ability to change other people's opinions and perspectives. It means to change someone's style or maybe even own someone's opinion and make them do what you want them to do. Some usual things that social media empowers now are; clothing style, music and movie choices, purchases, news awareness. Personally speaking, I believe social media does have the ability to empower people and even give people the sense of empowerment. We could see in daily life how it is changing the way people interact with one another, the way businesses and corporations innovate and create strategy, etc. Social media is no longer just about friends on Facebook and followers on twitter but the future of our world and breaking the bounds of different viewpoints and perspectives.