English Blog

original text: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/16/isis-bombs-hostage-syria-islamic-state-paris-attacks Rationale I have read the text of 'I was held hostage by ISIS. They fear our unity more than airstrikes'. This text is an opinion column which shows the author's opinion about how ISIS can be innocent. I have chosen to write a short parody using the literal devices utilized in this short column. I applied hyperbole when describing the 'innocence' of ISIS in order to emphasize the irony presented. I do agree to the main message of the chosen column, which is 'instead of bombing the ISIS territory, the world have to unit', however the bias within the text was somewhat arguable. ISIS is, yes, a group of innocent people who does not know anything about killing. In my experience of getting held hostage by the ISIS, they did not know how to do anything (well, except for beheading people) ! Even now, I chat with them using social medi

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7j4eKx5EtWjX2ZPWDQwZzhlTlE/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7j4eKx5EtWjZE9IeUs2a2Z5eDg/view?usp=sharing Reflection: I went through numerous trials, however, all of them were too short for the time limit. I would need to practice talking and analyzing in dept. I also find it difficult to make the conclusion. After certain period of time (around 6-7 minutes), I run out of things to say and ends my IOC in a very awkward way. 

In what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? Wallace's theory about education shows how education can effect not only how one can live a wealthy life but how it can affect one's view of 'choice'. He gives an example of a mall and how one can perceive the world around him/her. His utilization of examples makes the readers relate their daily life forcing us as the audience to think back and receive his theory about education into 'our life'. Such theory of Wallace can be applicable to the short stories of Alice Munro as majority her stories exemplifies how different world and daily life on people can be 'unique' according to how one - the narrator or the protagonist - views the world. For example, 'Boys and Girls' shows the narrators' daily rural life changes unconsciously through a simple act of letting the horse run away. Adding on in the "Family Furnishing", the protag

In the extract form 'Decolonizing the Mind' by Nguigi wa Thinong'o there were various content and themes which enriched my understanding and appreciation of Things Fall Apart. In the text, Ngugi reiterated the fact that African culture value words for their meaning and nuances. Additionally, he related to how one's aboriginal language had to be transformed into English language due to the colonizers.  From this contextual information, we can glean that the emphasis on proverbs and spoken forms of language in Things Fall Apart was a factual piece of information. Achebe's utilization of certain stylistic features and language is now more explicitly understandable after the interaction with the text as now, I have the knowledge of how the colonizers' effect on language have affected the African tribesmen. 

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. In Things Fall Apart, sub-plots and secondary characters play a crucial role throughout the novel. Especially in this novel, the protagonist, Okonkwo, is characterized to hide his emotions. In order to relate the readers' emotions to the novel, Achebe have chosen to characterize secondary characters to be more emotional. These emotional description from the secondary character contributes to the readers' understanding of the work as it further establishes symbols and foreshadows main plot twists. Adding on, the secondary characters tend to show various foils throughout the plot of Things Fall Apart. We can glean that these foils are placed to establish a contrast of Nigerian culture before and after colonization. Furthermore, Achebe's use of sub-plots further contribute to a firm understanding of the reader.

Why would Achebe, taking into account the cultural context, choose to characterize Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype? In the novel Things Fall apart, written by Chinua Achebe, the main protagonist, Okonkwo shows archetypes of tragic hero. Tragic hero is defined as a character with heroic aspects but with a fatal flaw . Okonkwo follows a stereotypical  standards of a tragic hero in the novel. In this particular novel, Okonkwo has the fatal flaw of fear for a change. Also, he has heroic aspects of being rich, respected, and hard working. A tragic hero is often the protagonist in literature of tragedy. Then, why did the author decided to make the protagonist follow the stereotypical guidelines to a tragic hero? The background of the novel is based upon the aboriginal culture of Nigeria of 1800's. It was a period of time of massive colonization - colonization have begun and started to gain power over the endemic culture. The Westerners had supreme over technology such as v

Hello and good evening It is a great honor to have the opportunity to be invited to speak for one of the greatest community of all times. I want to congratulate the great British to success in breaking the boundaries between countries and spreading our great culture. On the other hand, the African tribes are now falling into altercations and frays on deciding which culture is 'real' for them and which one they should follow. It is common for us to believe that following and preserving a 'real' culture is important; I mean who doesn't think that? Well, today, I want to share this one particular world that you might have, or, by high chance, not heard of. This world is a world where it is 'real' in every aspect. This world is where people believe the existence is a dual but interrelated phenomenon. A world where people believe death is not the end. A world where all forces interact to cause "good". A world where people believe more than one god.

My most meaningful takeaway " 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" My most meaningful takeaway for our inquiry discussion in the interview of Chinua Achebe was the quote of " 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" Our group asked whether or not if it is possible to understand the oppression of colonization even if one's country was never colonized. Our group had a long discussion to answer this question fully. Most of us believed that it is not possible to fully understand while some said it is possible through having a second experience such as watching a movie, reading a book or even hearing other's experience. As we were discussing, I realized the power of language once more. Depending on how one articulate, people of different ex

They are all in chronological order so WATCH IT CHRONOLOGICALLY!!! Thank you :)

These are my annotations for Practice IOC

I say "um" for like 7457690 times... It might be a bit disturbing :( but I tried my best:)))))

In Shakespeare's play, Coriolanus , Shakespeare highlights each character's characterization, and its symbol for power. Coriolanus is symbolized with dragon, semi-god like figure as he fights with a power that no one can stop. Volumnia , on the other hand, is shown to be a powerful character that saves Rome without using force but by convincing her son, Coriolanus.   Aufidius is like Coriolanus as he is also a fierce warrior. Coriolanus's friend, Meninius , is shown to be a good speaker, and a wise person. On the other hand, the tribunes- Brutus and Sicinius-  shows opposite political spectrum to that of Coriolanus where they emphasize the voice of common people. At the end of the play, the "victory" is given to Aufidius and the tribunes by eliminating Coriolanus at the end. As this play was written in paradigm shift of Elizabethan era, he represents each character in different political sides. The play uses the protagonist, Coriolanus, to mirror King James

What is Shakespeare’s larger purpose in his characterization of Coriolanus in Act I? In Shakespeare's play, Coriolanus, he sets the scenes and characters throughout Act1. According to Act 1, Martius is portrayed ambitious, war person, and follows what his mother, Volumnia, wants. In battle scenes he is also portrayed as brave (willing to take injury), as a leader, and a person who highlights the outcome.  This is portrayed through his words, and opinions of citizens. Menius is portrayed friendly, wise, and as a good speaker. We can see this in his speech made towards the common people. His use of diction and word choices shows that he does not want wars and wants peace among the people.  Volumnia , the mother of Martius(Coriolanus) is portrayed with a characteristic of strong woman, who wants her son to suceed in a manly way - wars. However, Virgilia , Martius's wife, is portrayed as a stereotypical women at that time - being obedient, and to the extent of being '

 It is not the English language that hurts me, but what the oppressors do with it, how they shape it to become a territory that limits and defines, how they make it a weapon that can shame, humiliate, colonize. Bell Hooks As this quote focuses on the point of how English or other languages become territory that limits and defines and makes some people ashamed, humiliated and colonize people for it. We can analyse texts from 1800s when racial segregation was apparent. We can analyse such as old animations where they use AAVE as a funny accent. For example, The Jungle Books dubbed the monkeys in AAVE while they dubbed other animals and Mowgli with 'standard English'. This example can used as an evidence to prove that English language was use to shame, humiliate, and colonize. For my FOA, I can use this as my source to prove my thoughts that English - or any language has the power to oppress people. This quote serves a great role in the speech by Bell Hooks as she writes

http://jayhitherton.blogspot.ae/2017/01/english-endangered-languages-podcast.html

What is the value of preserving indigenous language? Consider language as a living species. If an language dies out - extinction- what might be the cause of it? Probably that species was consumed by the predator tongue. The economic power, military power, and culture prestige decides whether or not the language will survive. When one species of animal dies out, it has the power to threaten the whole ecosystem and can even cause the world to diminish- whether or not that species was giant or small. This is the same for indigenous language - extinction of one language has great powers. As New Yorker Article says, " the loss of languages passed down for millennia, along with their unique arts and cosmologies, may have consequences that won’t be understood until it is too late to reverse them.”  Indigenous ideas about certain topics have always been an important topic- especially the language. The language acts an important role when defining a culture. In other words, as language