Sylvia Plath Practice IOC

https://soundcloud.com/user-753112273/plath-ioc/s-g9TTp

In what ways could Wallace's theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro?

During our last lesson we focused on emotional intelligence, which led us to explore the emotional aspects in Alice Munro's short stories as well as David Foster Wallace's speech 'This is Water'. For this discussion we relied on the question "How can literature develop empathy and emotional intelligence?" in which both authors provoke a sense of empathic awareness and consciousness in their writing. Wallace discusses the idea about the way our mind's think, how to think differently and the impact it has on one's self. He emphasises the idea to maintain an emotional balance that allows us to appreciate the simple things of every day life rather than to let our selfishness mind believe that our own identity is the center of everything. Moreover, he stresses the fact that once we are able to control our minds, it enables us to adjust our thoughts in order to develop sympathy and empathy. Throughout the speech, Wallace encourages the audience to become aware of the choices we have and make in everyday life. He shows us how we allow our negativity to absorb us to then rush us through life. We can choose to overlook the obvious due to our surroundings or we can choose to make effort and create understanding for the alluring qualities of life. He highlights everyone's 'natural default setting' in which we have a self-centred outlook on the world. He continues to talk about activating our emotional intelligence which enables us to empathise with the people around us. In fact, he stresses this idea as a way of freedom; once we are able to turn on that switch, our minds will be set free. We are the only ones that can change the way we think, but most importantly we must choose to do so. 

When relating this to Alice Munro's short stories, it becomes evident that Wallace's theory serves as a parallel to Munro's writing. Munro allows her audience to appreciate the simplicity within her work. She shows us how once we look beyond that which is on the surface, and learn how to appreciate  the observation, we will be able to understand our surroundings with much more intellect. Moreover, in her short stories, Munro incorporates aspects of everyday life and emotional intelligence in order to develop empathy amongst her many characters. By doing so, Munro enhances the idea of becoming aware of our emotional intelligence so that the way we choose how to think can be impacted positively. Lastly, similarly to Wallace's work, Munro's use of realism reveals that the simplicity of life offers a sense of beauty. 

Summer Blog Post #2

One of the things that kept my mind busy this summer was the thought of what I am going to do after finishing the IB and where exactly I will be staying. I have always wished to go back to the Netherlands, narrowing it down to a number of cities. The Netherlands is only a small country in which Amsterdam is quite compact and densely populated. One thing that hasn't passed my mind is the fact that education in the Netherlands is ranked quite high, making it more and more appealing to international students. Up until a few months ago I had no idea of what I want to do with my life and where my ambitions will take me. I was still deciding between the cities Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Groningen. As for now, I have narrowed my options down to a number of studies and Groningen being my number 1 choice to live. Conveniently, my brother is starting university this year, which gave me the opportunity to join him for the introduction week in which I was able to gain more information about several studies, the student life, and most importantly the university of Groningen itself. As someone who was born in this city and spend the past two months here, it became clear to me that this is probably where I will be going to university college next year. I strongly feel this is where I belong once finishing the final year of IB. 

Summer Blog Post #1

At the start of this summer I took some time to relax and just leave my school work aside for a moment. I spend the majority of time back in Holland, and as soon as I reached my house I met up with a friend who introduced me to the concept of Bullet Journaling. I had only briefly heard of this concept, mainly because I had seen the term ''bullet journal'' pop up on the internet a few times. But at first I didn't quite know what she was talking about, especially since I had never heard or seen anything like this in the UAE. Now, Bullet Journaling isn't for everyone. It is easy and fun to do, but incredibly difficult to explain. By definition, a bullet journal is a method of journaling and note-taking that uses bullet points as the core structure. It is simply a way to organise anything you wish to be organised. It is good for people who enjoy creating and using to-do lists, people who (want to) love planners, people who like nice pens or any other stationery stuff and people who would like to keep a diary but find it hard to stick with the habit. A bullet journal is a mix of a planner, a to-do list and a diary. The fun part of Bullet Journaling is that you can make it completely your own; you can create your own decorative drawings, texts and planners. Of course I purchased my own Bullet Journal even though I'm not such a creative and organised person. Up to now I have only used it to make packing lists and to draw vacation doodles. I would say it's a great way to relax, as it definitely helped me lower my stress. 

Thesis Statement Things Fall Apart

With reference to Things Fall Apart, show how sub-plots 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, the author Cinua Achebe addresses many social groups that are treated insignificantly by various villages. The main social groups are women, children, and white men. Since the marginalisation consists of exclusion and physical abuse, Achebe makes use of secondary characters to further display and develop the theme of the clash of cultures, while presenting the conflicts and challenges they face. 

Okonkwo's character

Okonkwo is the main character in the novel Things Fall Apart. The novel revolves around the theme of change vs. tradition and Okonkwo is symbolic of tradition that refuses to give in and accept change regardless the pressure he is under.  In the very beginning of the story, Achebe displays him as a well respected man in a small village, Umuofia, of the Igboland. He is presented as a confident and conventional Igbo man who has 3 wives. Okonkwo is somewhat a representation of the Igbo community before colonization. He holds the people's values high and is respected due to his wealth, regardless of his dad's failure inside the society. However, Okonkwo does not realize that change is inevitable. His tragic flaw leads to his later downfall, which contradicts peace and love, one of the few factors the Igbo community stands for. In the novel, Okonkwo's purpose is to further drive the plot as well as themes presented. He shows that change must be accepted and that in the end tradition often loses. He is a representation of a resistant native towards the colonization in Africa. Okonkwo's character represents change, and most importantly that change needs to happen because, as the title says, things fall apart. 

Tragic Hero Archetype, Things Fall Apart

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?

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Achebe intentionally choses to adapt the conventions of the tragic hero archetype to the main character Okonkwo. Throughout the novel, we experience Okonkwo's high authority and influential position in Umuofia. The Igbo culture follows a hierarchical structure that divides tthe people according to their age, wealth, and gender. Okonkwo belongs to those with the highest title due to his courage and arrogance. His need for power and personal failures create a barrier between him and the opportunity for success. This leads to his ultimate downfall later on in the story. The audience is able to experience the destruction of the Igbo culture due to the threat of colonization. The negative impacts of colonization combined with Okonkwo's internal conflict create a sense of failure for the Igbo community. He is portrayed as the ultimate product of their society, and is characterized using the tragic hero archetype. Okonkwo consists of several bad/negative qualities that result in his ultimatum, which symbolizes the cultural loss of Umuofia. Okonkwo's failure and death can potentially reflect the division of the Umuofia and further symbolize the death of the Igbo culture. 

Igbo Background

Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the Royal Colonial Institute. First off, a great thank you to Mr. Chamberlain for sharing his ideas on the Igbo background and colonization and may I say it is an honour to speak in front of such an audience. I am here today to speak about my perspective on colonization, which will be different from Mr. Chamberlain. We as humans tend to be selfish and prioritise our community and/or our country much rather than the places we seem to 'help'. A perfect example of this is the Ibo culture. Igboland is a small section of land in Nigeria that belongs to the Igbo people. It seems to me that colonising such a place has possibly allowed good things to happen such as (improved) education and transportation systems. However, I do not believe that modernizing the community in such a rapid way was right. Even though our knowledge is passed on to certain individuals in the Ibo culture, the complex and traditional way of thinking of these individuals does not occur to some us. It does not seem to matter. It is almost as if their cultural values are being absorbed by us without thinking of the consequences. The Igbo people presented us with knowledge of their culture that is incomparable to ours. Colonization has made a massive impact on the cultural beliefs and values amongst the Igbo men, and in my opinion not a good one. It affected their religion and their language. The Igbo people had beliefs and these were overshadowed by Christianity within a couple of years. Such a cultural group has it's own belief system, which we completely disrespected. It caused the community to be divided because it was so strongly influenced by the British that they have lost connections with their roots. On top of that, the language of the Igbo people, as it were, has been taken away and the majority is replaced with English. These are all factors that play a major role in once culture, and through colonization we have taken away a huge part of their culture. It is extremely important for one to maintain their cultural values and beliefs as it creates unity and peace. To those of you who are listening this, I urge you to become aware of the approach to colonization in the hope you will reconsider it. Thank you all for your attention. 

Achebe interview

The interview with Chinue Achebe was a very interesting and insightful one to read as it enabled me to acknowledge Achebe's aim to give the unheard African stories a voice. Achebe reveals a range of perspectives regarding several critical questions on foreign literature. He talks about the influences American and European cultures have in modern day literature; they publish stories regarding their social status while presenting other cultures negatively. As for today, many African countries still face adversities within their reputation. This has been caused due to the stories published by both Europe and America that continue to talk about the impacts of colonization as a way to justify their actions. Within this interview, Achebe made me think about the importance of recognising the value of different perspectives, and to view a group of individuals or even people in general in their full context including cultural beliefs. In my opinion the following quote is best to represent and summarise my most important take away as well as Achebe's objective to achieve a universal civilization: "This is really what I personally wish this century to see ... a balance of stories where every people will be able to contribute to a definition of themselves, where we are not victims."

Things Fall Apart Inquiry Questions

1. Why do you think that Achebe believe in identifying yourself in a story?

2. Why do you think that African literature was negative while within European contact?

3. Do you agree with Achebe’s statement that you should allow yourself to identify with the people in a story?

4. What is your idea of a universal civilization? Is it similar to Achebe’s?

5. He says storytelling has to do with power, what do you think he means by that? 

Coriolanus Practice IOC

Introduction 

• Coriolanus is a political play written by William Shakespeare in the 1600s. By many it is considered one his worst plays while it is also one of his last ones. Caius Marcius Coriolanus is a true war hero and leader who seemed very much appreciated among the senators of Rome. Some consider this play to be satire due to the parallel Shakespeare draws between Coriolanus and King James the First. 

• This passage is situated in Act 4 Scene 5 of the play, where Coriolanus has gone over to Aufidius and desperately begged him to join forces in order to defeat Rome. This act/scene has a significant role in establishing further development of Aufidius' character. Throughout the play, the conflict between Aufidius and Coriolanus has developed. 

• There is a  tone of love and admiration present throughout this passage, which highlights one of the key features within Shakespearian plays. Because there is no narrator, and merely a dialogue between characters, it is certain that the effect of the characters tone will play a significant role in setting the mood of the scene/play.

• Coriolanus banishment and lust for power has led him to join Aufidius. 

Section 1

• Aufidius' warm welcome confirms the shifting relationship between him and Aufidius, in which there is still a sense of hostility present in the interaction with one another. 

• The passage immediately establishes Aufidius' respectful tone. Aufidius' regard for Coriolanus is immediately present in his words "each word thou hast spoke hath weeded from my heart a root of ancient envy". This metaphor conveys the effect of Coriolanus' dialogue to him

• Aufidius' allusion to Jupiter showcases how he trusts Coriolanus' honour and honesty. He also says that Coriolanus is the "moon" which is another metaphor that portrays Coriolanus' importance to Aufidius 

• There is the theme of love vs. battle, as Aufidius in line 9 and lines 14-18 Aufidius tells Coriolanus that he is more excited about seeing him than he was about seeing his new bride on his wedding night. 

• Aufidius' description of dreaming about fighting Coriolanus perhaps foreshadows the future downfall of Coriolanus. In these dreams he says they "Unbuckling helms, fisting each other’s throat," These terms could be harmless but do question their relationship. 

Section 2

• At the end of the passage, Coriolanus thanks the gods when previously he was seen as one of them. This symbolises his loss of power and degradation from noble to citizen. 

• Earlier on in the scene Coriolanus is presented as calm and persuasive. As for now he is in his most powerful state due the manipulation, which Aufidius fell for. However, it reveals that this manipulation will lead to his downfall, as Aufidius will eventually see the truth due to the servants.

Conclusion

• Shakespeares political play can be compared to modern issues that include the flaws of greed and the desire to control.

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

The play Coriolanus was written by William Shakespeare in the 1600s, demonstrating Rome as a social hierarchy. By several it is considered one of Shakespeare's worst plays while it is also one of his latest ones. Caius Marcius Coriolanus is a true war hero and leader who seemed very much appreciated among the senators of Rome where he earned his position of consul. Therefore, he is in the upper class of the social hierarchy, which is what leads to his actions throughout Act I. In this act, Shakespeare manages to display development of Coriolanus' character through direct and indirect characterization in which the audience is exposed to the different character traits of Coriolanus allowing the audience to understand his heroic role within the play, providing that Coriolanus' character supports the conflicts and setting, and genre of the play. 

In Act I of the play, Coriolanus plays a significant role. He is respected and admired by several Patricians and senators, and hated by the Plebeians whom are also referred to as the 'rats' of Rome. The Plebeians look at Coriolanus as the "very dog to the commonalty ... what he hath done famously he did it to that end" due to his figure of authority. This continues to show that the patricians are those with power while the Plebeians try to go against Coriolanus. Shakespeare combines the drive for leadership, power, and social change to form the message of the play. Coriolanus' passion for both war and his city is part of the political genre that Shakespeare revolves the play around. Shakespeare utilises Coriolanus' heroic traits to foreshadow the future conflicts against his enemy Tullus Aufidius. Coriolanus seems to be a very fierce warrior while he defeats his enemy with self-determination, which builds on his pride. 

In Act I, Shakespeare manages to reveal two different settings in which he exposes two different sides of Coriolanus' character. One of this being the world out on the battlefield where Coriolanus is portrayed as a man who is driven by bravery while encouraging others. Secondly there is the world in Rome in which he is highly modest. Coriolanus adjusts his character to both the physical and emotional setting of the play. During the battle, Coriolanus said "Tis not my blood wherein thou seest me mask'd; for thy revenge wrench up thy power to the highest" while once he has returned to Rome he says: "I have done as you have done ... that's for my country". Perhaps Shakespeare's larger purpose of his characterisation is to create and foreshadow future conflict leading to the plot of the play. 

bell hooks

"Possessing a shared language, black folks could find again a way to make community, and a means to create the political solidarity necessary to resist. Needing the oppressor's language to speak with one another they nevertheless also reinvented, remade that language so that it would speak beyond the boundaries of conquest and domination."

Text: In Wade in the Water 
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/negro-spirituals/wade_in_the_water.htm (song lyrics)

This text is one of the many examples of a 'slave song' by Harriet Tubman. Her, and many other African slaves, used songs in their everyday life providing them with several purposes such as repetitive rhythm for repetitive manual work and motivation. Singing was used as a way to express values and as a tool to understand one another since the majority of slaves didn't have the ability to read. Often times the songs are referred to as spirituals, and slaves used them as a strategy to communicate with others in the search for freedom. The African slaves created their own coded language consisting of words that gave directions on how to escape or where to meet such as map songs. 

"Wade in the Water" was created to tell the slaves to get into the water, which would avoid them of being seen and make it through. This song is an example of a map song in which the coded language is used as a way to give directions. Such texts make reference to Biblical people, places and stories to then compare them to their history of slavery. The text shows how the black community has the ability to transform a language so far away from it's original source that it becomes almost impossible to identify what is being said. Through this, we are able to see how standard English is used by slaves, whom are looked upon as non-educated, in a unique way to communicate. Since the slaves are the only ones who know how to decode what is being said, the songs create a niche language for the community. The African slaves have turned English into a language of their own, which implies that it is something more than an oppressor's language.  

source: http://www.harriet-tubman.org/songs-of-the-underground-railroad/

What is the value of preserving indigenous languages?

Multiple languages are threatened to become extinct due to many reasons. It is important to acknowledge the fact that it is possible to lose more than just a language. A language could be considered 'extinct', once the people of a tribe no longer teach the youth how to speak the language properly for their nation. Preserving such indigenous languages has extremely high value. It is the voice of a nation. Language allows us to describe the cultural attachment to heritages, and puts meaning within the rituals or activities such groups of individuals do. Furthermore, language plays a major role in binding communities together as a culture, as well as individuals in society. Language can be looked upon as a community itself. Not only do we as individuals speak a language but a history of generations have also spoken it. The language recognises and identifies with you. Once a language 'dies', so do the culture, habits, and religions associated with that language. Not continuing a language causes the younger generation to become distant towards their roots. The younger generations will not be aware of the value of their backgrounds that was taught by their ancestors. I think that old languages should be preserved and kept alive, or at least kept record of to not completely destroy it. The loss of languages is sad, as the world is slowly losing some of its diversity. I strongly believe it is important to preserve indigenous languages, as they contribute towards identity, culture, and personal values.

Are today's YouTube stars being exploited or empowered?

As the use of social media increases, people are becoming more involved with themselves and the people around them. Social media may be argued to be a distracting and fairly useless form of communication, but it is considered to be the home for many YouTube stars and others. YouTube is a broad form of communication in which videos are uploaded for the outer world to see. This happens within a vast amount of genres and topics. These videos will be accessible to everyone, whether this will be for the YouTube stars themselves, teenagers, grown-ups or more. Throughout our generation, social media has allowed teenagers to interact with their culture through the likes of their preferred celebrities and brands. As for now, the amount of likes to YouTubers is regarded a huge deal. They have the ability to post any sort of video made for a specific audience. While doing this, they are able to gain much attraction over a short period of time. The development of YouTube users has increased drastically. Many of them are simply being known for the amount of followers they have or the way society views them on other socials media platforms. I view YouTubers as those who are being empowered due to their ability to interact with the world on a daily basis. The YouTube stars feel the need to reach out to their audience and somehow create a relationship gaining the attraction of fellow teenagers. I do not think that YouTubers create such videos to advertise or gain fame, as they produce their videos with a purpose. Most of the time, the purpose of these videos are to help people. Social media allowed YouTubers to have a strong voice that can be heard loud and clear in various parts of the world. They have the power to inspire people and often times indirectly help individuals with their thoughts and personal feelings. Many YouTubers made the decision to use this power to support charities and take part in actions to help others, possibly their followers. They want to do good in the world with the power they have. After all, the stars know there is a possibility of not gaining much fame yet they still proceed to create videos, as they want their points to come across leaving the audience feel empowered.