The Thief and The Dogs -- Sonnet

Just as the dust clears and the sun rays strike

He believes it is when freedom arise

Fighting for justice, no casual hike

He will take the traitors to their demise.

He lacks self-judgement, just seeks for revenge

Full of confidence, but failed to repent

His old motive has forgotten his hinge

He serves just self-interest like a serpent.

The innocent dying does not faze him

Soon he’s the target of his own fate

The sunset is coming, lights are now dim

Darkness that he escapes quickens its rate

Surrounded by the horror sound of crowns

With his own fate that brings him down.

Sheik al Junaydi -- The Thief and The Dogs

The Thief and The Dogs was published after the Egyptian revolution, where Mahfouz intentionally provides each character with a purpose that enhances the theme of the story. From Rauf that represents betrayal to Nur that represents love, all these themes can simply be seen through their actions and dialogues. In contrary, Sheikh Al Junaydi is a character of which Mahfouz purposely creates provides vague interpretation so as to represent the theme of "fate and free-will".

Looking at the context of this novel, it can be argued that Sheikh Al Junaydi is representing the theme of free-will; when he provides necessary aid to Said. An example is where Said Mahran is released from jail and has no place to stay. Said decides to stay over Sheikh's house, which can be argued that Sheikh's house is a location that is placed outside Said's fate. The author, in this circumstance, provides an opportunity to Said to have a wisely thought and decision about his future plan; either he wants to continue to follow his fate or breaks out to his own free-will. The fact that Sheikhs provides food and shelter to Said extends Said's disaster. 

However, I believe that Sheikh Al Junaydi is also representing God and Fate because of his role in the mosque. Throughout the novel, there are many events that could be used to support the idea of Sheikh's representation of Fate. One thing that could be easily identified is that Said does not or could not actually comprehend most of the Sheikh's words. This has a correlation to Said's fate as he usually questions what happens to him. When Said receives advice from Sheikh and does not understand, it is coherent to when Said could not reflect on his own actions, and still carries on what readers easily identify as morally and physically wrong (killing innocent people for his sake of revenge).

I believe that Sheikh is created to be Said's prospect and security as he tries to lead Said's with his words of thought while provides him with aid. He is the one who provides an opportunity to escape from fate (revenge) and pursue his ordinary life (with or without his daughter). I believe that the Sheikh is added into the novel in order to enhance the theme of fate and free-will. As stated that he could represent both sides of the theme, his contribution to Said Mahran is a development of Said's character. Sheikh is represented as a bridge for Said to be used when Said has obstacles. By including Sheikh to the novel, the readers are provided with two-sided views to the theme, which might enhance understanding of the text.

Thesis Statement -- The Thief and The Dogs

In writing the novel, the characters are represented in which each of them has unique characteristics and flaws that widen the audience's perspective of the theme of justice. However, Mahfouz extends these ideas by using the techniques of stream of consciousness to raise a question of what actually defines "Justice" in non-justified society. (Through the use of each characters, readers are able to interpret the novel distinctively based their ideology and cultural background).

Tragic Hero

--What is Said’s tragic flaw? (Harmatia)
--Because of the rejection of his own daughter, Said’s personality is affected and changed dramatically which brings to his own disaster. His ambition of seeking revenge and the fact that he does not adapt to Egypt post-revolution society has brought him to similar cycle that he passed before his imprisonment. As in the text:

"I was sure of my safety, as usual. It was that dog who betrayed me, in collusion
with her. Then disaster followed disaster until finally my daughter rejected me."

--How does he display excessive pride? (hubris)
--It can be seen at the beginning of the story that he has too much confidence for what he plans (expectation from Sana to belief of orthodox view or pre-revolution Egypt of being a thief). He also does not recognize that post-revolution Egypt has a use of laws which he thinks that he is still able to violate for his own interest. He does display his pride though the use of excessive violence (and wrathful actions) which eventually drags him down. As in the text:

"To kill them both--Nabawiyya and Ilish--at the same time, would be a triumph. Even better would be to settle with Rauf Ilwan, too, then escape, go abroad if possible"
"Nabbawiyya. Ilish. Your two names merge in my mind. For years you will have been thinking about this day, never imagining, all the while, that the gates would ever actually open. You'll be watching now, but I won't fall into the trap. At the right moment, instead, I'll strike like Fate"

--When is his reversal of fortunes? (peripeteria)
--When he meets Nur who has passion for him. Nur provides accommodation and food for him which extends his time for committing his brutal deeds. She even helps him plans and steals car from her own friend when they just meet. In addition, Tarzan is another character that provides the needs that he requires such as revolver and a plan with smuggler. As in the text:

"Would you like me," she said with a sly smile, "to bury him in the sand?"
"I'll be ruined if they find out," she said with sudden seriousness. "His father's an influential man and he comes from a powerful family. Do you need money?"
"Tarzan, holding out to him a revolver in his other hand" (...) "It's a present from me."

--At what moments in the text does he recognize that the reversal was due to his own actions?
--When Nur leaves her apartment and Said, and never comes back to him. He has passion for her and realizes that she is perfect for him. But it’s too late. Also at the end of the story where he realizes that his revengefulness has brought him destruction. As in the text:

  "Said knew, all the malice and revengefulness he'd been running from would be breathed right into his face. He held his gun poised as the barking grew ever louder and closer. And suddenly there was blinding light over the whole area. He shut his eyes and crouched at the base of the tomb."

--Is his fate greater than he deserved? (nemesis)
--I believe no because he is the one who does bad deeds which brings to his own destruction. He always seeks for revenge his companions rather than trying to adapt and understand reasons behind their actions. He deserves his death since he has already killed two innocent people for the sake of his revenge. Therefore, his fate is reasonable enough to accept.

Passage Analysis

Chapter Nine: The Thief and The Dogs

Passage:

God, it's dark! I'd be better off as a bat. Why is that smell of hot fat seeping out from

under some door at this hour of night? When will Nur be back? Will she come alone?

And can I stay in her flat long enough to be forgotten? You might perhaps be thinking

you've got rid of me forever now, Rauf! But with this revolver, if I have any luck, I can

do wonderful things. With this revolver I can awake those who are asleep. They're the

root of the trouble: They're the ones who've made creatures like Nabawiyya, Ilish and

Rauf Ilwan possible.

Something sounded like footsteps climbing the stairs. When he was sure he

heard someone coming, he crouched and looked down through the banisters. A faint

light was moving slowly along the wall. The light of a match, he thought. The footsteps

came higher, heavy and slow. To let her know he was there and to avoid surprising her,

he cleared his throat with a loud rasp.

"Who is it?" she said apprehensively.

Said leaned his head out between the banisters as far as he could and replied in

a whisper, "Said Mahran."

She ran the rest of the way up and stopped in front of him out of breath. The

match was almost dead.

"It's you!" she said, breathless and happy, seizing his arm. "I'm sorry. Have you

been waiting long?"

Analysis

Although it seems that there is not a lot going on in passage nine of the story, this passage mainly reveals Said's shift of emotions, which portrays his intentions and thoughts to other characters, and also emphasizes on Nur's characteristic and passion toward Said. Mahfouz chose to depict Said's lack of security in a way that damages his mental mind. However, these damages affect Said's mind in both positive and negative ways. 

Through the use of soliloquy on the first part of the passage Mahfouz uses Said's lack of security to create shift in emotion that emphasizes his deadly intention toward Rauf. He internally reveals his future plan through his thought "But with this revolver, If I have any luck, I can do wonderful thing". Said is simply implying that he could and would kill Rauf with his revolver in a sake of revenge. Revenge, which is a force that drives the plot of the story, is frequently emphasized throughout the story, and it is becoming stronger and more violent as the story progresses toward the end. Chapter nine does touch with "revenge", but it does not effectively develop throughout the chapter as it mostly deals with an interaction between Said and Nur. In addition this particular sentence ("But with ....") shows that Said gains power through objects, revolver as shown in this passage and military uniform in the others. The sentence "With this revolver I can awake those who are asleep" simply implies that his brutal deed would create enough resonant sound that spreads his reputation, and therefore some kind of power. "(...)awake those who are asleep" could/might be interpreted as Said's supporters that are waiting for him to lighten pathway to new era of post revolution. Moreover the use of soliloquy also allows Mahfouz to emphasize wrathful thoughts toward Nabawiyya and Illish ,who had betrayed him. When looking broadly, it reveals that those whom Said mentions would eventually be plotted against. 

In contrary chapter nine enhances emotional passions and interactions between Said and Nur. The sentence "When will Nur be back? Will she come alone? And can I stay in her flat long enough to be forgotten?" illustrates that Said sees Nur as a way for seeking security that he had lost. Nur's support is vital for him since she provides shelter and food. And therefore Said starts to have passion toward Nur's action. Conversely Nur has already had full passion for him, and is willing to do anything to comfort Said. It can be seen throughout the story that Nur always loves Said, but Said only starts to express his passion for her in chapter nine. With reference from Said's dialogue above and "(...)breathless and happy, seizing his arm" from Nur, it clearly implies that both of them start to expose fond emotional appeal. "Seizing arm" is definitely illustrating the sense of love that Nur have regardless Said's deeds. 

Ultimately chapter nine still does not show a lot of developing ideas or themes, however it does show some shift in character interactions. 

Narrative Structure Analytical

The stream of consciousness technique is once broadly used by many authors during Victorian era. The technique allows readers to experience actual flow of thoughts and ideas in the mind of the protagonist (or characters) which the author may or may not put that thoughts into action. By alternating between techniques of stream of consciousness, the author is able to enhance the depth of character development as well as the context of the plot in a faster pace.

Mahfouz uses stream of consciousness technique to begin The Thief and The Dogs, which provides more depth of character's introduction and the generic ideas behind the character rather than using normal third person narrative style in order to lay the foundation of the context and plot. By using the techniques, it allows Mahfouz to represent  impressionistic style that portrays the intention and incentive prior action, and realistic style that shows the consequences of the character's action in reality. So Mahfouz's intention of this text was to portray the changes of middle-class people after Egyptian revolution during the 1960's. However the story does not only depict changes, but it also portrays some consequences that one's life has to pass through (treachery, lost of family members and love ones, and friendship).  

The uses of stream of consciousness have many advantages to the novel. It allows the reader to experience thoughts and ideas or may further feel like the character itself since the author gives the description prior the events by narrating through his mind. Moreover the description (the technique) allows the reader to access basic details and emotional appeal that can further make the plot and the overall meaning of the text more realistic.

For example, Mahfouz uses Indirect Interior Monologue in chapter 1 to introduce the protagonist.

"Once more he breathed the air of freedom. But there was stifling dust in the air, almost unbearable heat, and no one was waiting for him; nothing but his blue suit and gym shoes."

He lays the foundation of the protagonist that he has to be someone who did bad deed since there is no one waiting for him when he's set free after custody. The sentence "stifling dust in the air, almost unbearable heat(...)" also shows that he might be detained long enough that he is barely able (or cannot) cope with changes within the community. So this first paragraph is likely to introduce some information of the character which would be more elaborated later on.

However this writing technique also has its disadvantages. Sometimes it might make plot more complicated to follow along which can confuse the reader. Moreover by alternating between reality and the protagonist's thought, it might be difficult to receive the overall meaning of the paragraph or the text as a whole. If the technique was used for entire story, it would double the amount of pages since the author doesn't go straight to the point.  

The uses of techniques combined with his language is one reason that makes The Thief and The Dogs successful. The combination makes overall plot and the protagonist's thought more exciting and comprehensive to the meanings of the text which make it easier for the reader access those meanings.  

Literature in Translation

   Literature in Translation provides various benefits for people who study it, although some might contradict that there are limitations that hinder the values, meanings, or overall message expressed by the author. However, I believe that the benefits of studying literary works in translation can outweigh its limitations because audiences are able to learn and perceive new perspective of exotic culture.

   Through exploring translated literature and word transformation, readers can understand complexity of the language and the meanings that are intended to convey. However, one sentence alone cannot be translated and comprehended perfectly; so, it is better to study everything in order to receive overall meaning and value of the text. By exploring translated literature, culture and indigenous practices are also perceived by the readers, which provides better understanding of their true value. Some might argue that these values are already presented by media on television or internet, but I believe that these media can be altered to serve what audiences want to see. Literature, though it’s translated, seems to bring readers into a different world by which the author creates with themes and context, and this is good because I believe that it provides new experiences that readers can perceive from just reading translated literature.

Although the meaning of words that can be translated from one language to another can differ in regard to original language, I believe that everyone can get something from the literary work if they really want to. I also think that the study of translated literature is a foundation for understanding new cultures and its differences. Therefore, it might be better for knowledge-seeker to reader their literature before actually study their culture.

Propaganda 4 Corner Reflection

"Deception is just as bad as telling an outright lie"

First of all I agree with this claim in some extent, but I still believe that deception is still identical to a lie. By looking at the definition, "Deception" means to cause someone to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage. I think that to say whether Deception is just as bad as telling an outright lie depends on situations and intentions.

Let's say that a man, whose mother is very old, sick, and has to stay in hospital for a long time , is sentenced to death with an act of crime. His family decides to deceive his mom in order to not make  her health getting worse. In this situation, I think it is acceptable because the action is benefiting the one being told. Therefore it can be said that "Deception" is not bad in this case, in fact it might be seen as a good decision since it prevents a sudden shift in mother's emotion which can potentially kill her. 

On the contrary if someone is deceiving the fact so as to portray one-sided view and distort the actual fact, I think it is unacceptable and can be seen as a worst deed. Referring to the article "The truth about Jessica", I believe the act of American media, which is distorting and choosing to inform certain facts so as to satisfy people's expectation and change the value of the action, is exploiting people's right to know truth. Some people might enjoy such a report while some people still want to know what is actually going on. By reporting certain or selected information, people's ideology might be shaped into bad way. Someone might see a footage from war is something to enjoy because the authority chooses to present in a thrilling way (act of heroic by real life actors). However, the reality is totally different because war is a situation where people are fight, injuring and dying. Choosing to portray one-sided information is unethical. So I think that in this case Deception is just a lie which is worst deed.

Media Biased Ideology Rewrite

Originial Source: New security measures considered amid continuing violence in Israel 

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/13/middleeast/israeli-palestinian-violence/

The original source contains some biased view regarding the violence within Israel and also further criticizes the violence in Middle East Region as a whole. The news is representing in a way that lead the audience toward one-sided view to understand that Israel will use forces to reduce and end the violence. It [the new agency] also interviewed a man who involved in the conflict, and later implies that the Palestinian [attackers] had tried to negotiate but it didn't work. Although CNN did interview, they interviewed "a youth" who might not able to comprehend things as adult. So his/her notion or ideology might only follow the majority of Palestinians who take part in a violence.

Furthermore the claims made by Israel authorities to Palestinians are mostly describes as "terrorist" which provides a negative perspective from the Israel's side. The negative words such as "bloody, terrorism" are used quite a lot within the article. This and other aspect used to describe the situation potentially makes the aspect of the news to be in a negative side as a whole.

Pastiche: 

So what I'm trying to create here is to rewrite similar news article but biased to Israel side. I will try to write in a way that what Israel is tring to do is to create peace negotiation and to reduce the tension in Jerusalem as well as to settle through dispute diplomatically. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urges negotiations for peace in Jerusalem violence

Although there were many clashes between Israeli police forces and Palestinian that injured dozens of people, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu is showing clear sign that he is willing to move toward peace amid questions from people "when, how, or will the violence stop?"

Mr Netayahu has urged Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to hold negotiations to settle the conflict that led to deadly violence. He said he was "perfectly open" to a meeting that might be potentially "useful"

Tensions between Isarelis and Palestinians have been gradually increased after several attackers - mostly Palestinians - had been wounded recently. However Mr Netanyahu clarifies that a security deployment in Jerusalem to cope with the assault carried by Palestinians was to calm the tensions between the two sides and control a situation within Jerusalem. 

"Right now as we can speak, we can meet - I have no problem with that - and we shall stop immediately this wave of incitement and attacks against Israel," Mr Netanyahu told a news conference. 

Furthermore the Israeli leader said he was also willing to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordan's King Abdullah for diplomatic talks to defuse and seduce the tension. In this case the White House and US state department confirmed that Seretary of State John Kerry would travel to the region soon.

Some critics have also suggested that the violence is the consequence of the absence of any progress toward peace. Mr Mahmoud Abbas, a Palestinian President, likewise accused Israel of using unnecessary force against Palestinians that resulted in the death of 13-year-old and 15-year-old boy killed. He said Israel was carring out "execution of our children in cold blood". 

However Mr Netanyahu rejected this as a "new big lies" in the news conference saying that the police was merely trying to end an act of violence. He said the two boys were carrying a knift and had stabbed two Israeli policemen already. 

Israeli authority said new measures, such as homes of attackers would be demolished and families would be expelled from Jerusarem, have also been implemented to penalize those who use violence

Though Human Rights authorities comdemned the new measures, Mr Netanyahu emphasized that such measures need to be implemented to deal with "people wielding knives, meat cleavers, axes, trying to kill people on the street".

IOC 2

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxNWYnuaMNBRUzk0aVptWmpPVjg/view?usp=sharing

Practice IOC Boys and Girls

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxNWYnuaMNBRQWZzUnN1U0NZOHM/view?usp=sharing

Women's Literature Reflection

I think the purpose of studying literature, especially English literature, is to learn history and culture through books. For example, Alice Munro’s books provide insight of woman culture within society throughout her life. By learning literature from different authors, we also would be able to perceive different aspects of the English culture. The benefits from this are the abilities that can be used in daily life such as comprehension skills. When studying literature, we can learn the aspect of language which can be used in specific branches. It also provides the skills of writing appropriate English structure or grammar. Apart from those skills, literature enhances emotional and imaginative feeling provided by character and themes. These will help us to become more creative in every aspect.

Women’s literature is a portrayal of women’s lives and relationship between them and societies. It explores many aspects of their life such as relationship with family, friends, and lovers that may end happy or sad way. The importance of studying women’s literature can lead us to explore about gender, literary history, oppression as well as criticism to people especially women. It allows us to know the aspect of culture in particular time when the poem(s) was written. I think that it also shows the relationship or social importance between men and women in the past.

I believe that the main theme of Munro’s social realism is the equality and inequality that deals mostly with women in the society. So the reason that her social realism theme was so significant during 1950s-1980s because during that period of time there were many gender equality movement (feminist movement) occurred in the society. The creation of her works might have sparked a notion or expressed the reality of what women had to face during that time. I think that her short stories might have expressed the conflicts metaphorically without triggered chaos. Hence, it was the reason why her works were so significant during that period of time.

Well I think that although she does not identify as a feminist writer, her short stories usually contribute with the threats to women metaphorically or sometimes explicitly. The works show express aspect of a reality of women, which if one of the women who faces with the problem directly read the books; it can be interpreted that her work might contribute to gender equality. Although her works do not raise gender equality intentionally, it can be seen to have raised some of the notions.

What I enjoyed when reading Munro’s stories is to know the aspect of women history. Although it does not show explicitly, some of the themes can be interpreted though short stories. However, it does not have a lot of impact on me because I do not face with the conflict by myself, but it does not mean that I did not get anything. I think it is quite important to know some of these aspects in the society because it might help our developing in the future. If we understand hindsight, our society might grow or develop faster.

Analytical Activity

Disturbed: “Another Way to Die”

"Another Way To Die"

The indulgence of our lives has cast a shadow on our world.
Our devotion to our appetites betrayed us all.
An apocalyptic plight.
More destruction will unfold.
Mother Earth will show her darker side and take her toll.

It's just another way to die.

There can be no other reason why.
You know we should have seen it coming.
Consequences we cannot deny will be revealed in time.
Glaciers melt as we pollute the sky.
A sign of devastation coming.
We don’t need another way to die.
Can we repent in time?

[Pre-chorus:]
The Time bomb is ticking and no one is listening.
Our future is fading.
Is there any hope we’ll survive?

[Chorus:]
Still, we ravage the world that we love.
And the millions cry out to be saved.
Our endless maniacal appetite.
Left us with another way to die.
It's just another way to die.
Can we repent in time?

Greed and hunger led to our demise.
A path I can’t believe we followed.
Black agenda’s rooted in a lie.
Will we repent in time?
Species fall before our very eyes.
A world that they cannot survive in left them with another way to die.
Are we dead inside?

[Pre-chorus]

[Chorus x2]

Can we repent in time?
It's just another way to die.
Can we repent in time?

The song “another way to die” is of a band named “Disturbed”. It comes with the central theme of world’s environmental problems that are created by human while stating some of the consequences. Overall, the tone of the song is quite sad and remorseful to what human did. The tone and the theme can be recognized while just read through the chorus.

By looking at the preposition used within the song, the author always uses “we” to refer to people in the song. This can be interpreted that it refers to human because human are responsible to most of the world’s environmental issues. Looking further on, “greed and hunger led to our demise” can also be used support this interpretation because “greed” is one of the characteristic that only human can have. Therefore, the main audience is human in general. The aim of this song is to review to what is caused by human’s action while trying to internally persuade people to resolve the problem as “can we repent in time?” question is asked. The effect of this rhetorical question, referring to the main theme, is for the audiences to realize what is happening now. The sentence “It’s just another way to die” is supporting the mood of sadness and regretful. By combining these two together, the effect becomes more powerful toward the audiences. Meanwhile these two sentences are repeating many times within the song, so the effect of repetition is adding more emphasis to the consequences of the main theme.

The author uses rhyme such as die, why, deny, and time, which create reflection to overall theme of the song. By looking in a sentence, it shows that some of the sentences are arranged to provide time frame of the conflict. For example, “another way to die” followed by “no other reason why” followed by “consequences we cannot deny will be revealed in time”. These sentences are arranged to express or abbreviate the larger theme into small point that the audiences can follow easily, and it makes audiences wanting to read or listen further. Meanwhile, metaphor is also used within the lyrics to express the idea of the theme in another perspective such as “The time bomb is ticking”. “The time bomb” in this case refers to the effect of global warming that is currently harming us which again emphasize the main theme. The sentences “Black agenda’s rooted in a lie” may also refer to the government who acted that they are trying to deal with the issue, but actually do not do anything. Therefore, it can be seen again that every human needs to step in a help in order to solve the problem.

Overall, the song is dealing with world’s environmental problem. The author uses rhetorical devices supported by general ideas in order to successfully create an effect to the audiences.

Summer #2

Hi, this is my second blog post. To be honest, I don't really have anything to say in This post. Throughout the summer, I have been eating, playing and studying for the entire time. Summer, for me, seems to be nothing but studying without teacher only. Actually, I think I gained weight a bit HAHA!, but that's not the point.

The point is when I heard that there was bombing in Bangkok, I felt very bad because Thailand's economy and tourism business have just started to improve. Furthermore, there were a lot of people dying and countless people injured in the incident. Although Thailand is a beautiful country where a lot of people are willing to visit, I think external threat such as politics, crime and pollution have ruined the beauty of nature and reduce the interest of the country. Bangkok used to be nicer in old days where there wasn't triffic congestion problem, crime rate was very low because most of the people had what they need. Well, I don't want to criticize my country too much because it's quite bad. So I'm just going to end it there. 

As I said before, I don't really have anything to say. What I can say now is that throughout the summer, I cooked many dishes. Some of them tasted not too bad and not so delicious, but I still tried to get the best out of it. I just kept cooking what looks interesting. Every time I cooked, I felt relaxed, clam, and so enjoyable. So what's the point of saying these things? The point is just "do what you want while you can" because you might not be able to do it in the future.

That is the quote of the day... HAHAHA!. Keep smiling !

Summer #1

It's almost the end of the summer now, and it's time for me to write blog post. Summer has been quite busy for me. Although I stay in Abu Dhabi, which seems to be a great idea for chilling, doing some work or even just playing around, there have been a lot of unexpexted things to do apart from those i mentioned. 

Firstly, my brother, which we haven't met for about two years, has been visiting me throughtout the summer. We have spent a lot of quality times and exchanged conversation about our relatives and home town. We went to Yas waterworld in the day that the weather was buring straight for almost 9 hours. Although I think it was pretty fun, the park was not as good as I expected. 

Anyways, what I've just realized from chatting with my brother is that Thailand has changed and developed very rapidly. There are new projects everywhere in Bangkok; for example, new skytrain will be finished at the end of 2017, new shopping malls are emerging even in the suburb area now, and most importantly tourism business is starting to rise again after crisis two years ago. However, the downfall of these developments is the attitude of urban people toward others. People seem to be using eletric devices all the time without spending quality time with their family. They seem to be playing games, surfing internet or chatting with the invisible person on the internet. Sometimes I personally believe that it's not a good idea to spend a lot of times with these things. I would have been great if the development had not changed people. 

Secondly, I have got my internship certificate.....YEY!!. Well, I initially didn't have an idea about attending to any non-paid jobs. HAHAHA!. However, I informed my mom that I wanted to apply for an internship in Thailand Embassy in Abu Dhabi, where my mom is working in. Although my mom has a job there, I did not use any privilege to get my certificate. I still had to learn everything from a simple regulation to a sophisticated one. I was working in Visa section five days a week as ordinary officer for two months. I had to deal with more than 50 people each day and it wasn't really enjoyable. Some of them are quite disrespectful and some of them are very polite. I learned how to check documents correctly and knew how to read codes in passport, which I think it's a beneficial skills.

Finally, although I have been living in Abu Dhabi for two years so far, I still feel the test of my culture when I spent time with Thais. For me, it seems that these things are hardly changed by external factors. I still act as what I did in Thailand; for example, in Thai culture when we meet older people, we tend to pay repect to them. Summer had provided some opportunity for me to meet with Thai people, so I think this summer is quite nice.

Obierika's Perspective about Umofia.

Everything was falling apart; it was because our own people, our weaknesses, and Umuofia would never be the same again. At first, I thought that the missionary and Christianities were coming in peace, having good intention to explore the land and provide education to our people. However, everything was exposed when the second missionary, Mr. Smith, replaced Mr. Brown. The true intention was shown that they wanted to conquer our land, and oppress our people. They urged us to convert to their religion, obey to their god, and go to their church. It was our people’s weakness and fault that couldn’t see their true intention behind their peace and smiley face. Our people, converted people especially Enoch, were the one who destroy our tradition and religion. He dared to expose our Egwugwu whom he used to consider be his divine ancestors. Our divine spirit had gone; there would be horrible incident in our clan and our village. And there was; Okonkwo, my true friend and respected warrior of our clan, had let our people to disaster. He burnt their church, creating tension between two religious, or probably war. We, people of Umuofia, had done the same deed; our people would never live peacefully. Our god was oppressed, our clan would break soon. And it was, even the best warrior, Okonkwo, of our clan killed himself. He used to have a lot of prestige pride, but he killed everything in just one deed. He used to lead, protect our clan. When he killed himself, it seems that our clan would fall apart. Everyone was not as strong as him to dare with the strangers.e

Paper #2: Prompt

Question: To what extent has an awareness of context enriched and enhanced your understanding of Things Fall Apart.

The novel Things Fall Apart is based on the story of Nigerian community, culture, tradition and belief, especially Igbo ethinicity group. The novel proceeds its story relatively quick -- starts from the era where everyone lives and depends on each other within society to the era where they begin to deal with opressors. By studying critically into Igbo's system and uniqueness, understanding of the context and story of Things Fall Apart is enhanced, and would allow reader to follow along why the the characters act in particular aspect.

When talking about awareness of Igbo's culture and tradition within society, we could see that Igbo people heavily rely on personal ambition in order to gain wealth, status and power -- as seen in the novel where Okonkwo has very fierce, harsh and hardworking personality. He rarely shows his weaknesses because Igbo's tradition, especially when dealing with men, is considered men as leaders and relied with personal God. For people who have powerful personal God would have strong and brutal personality. By undestanding Igbo's context, it allows us to understand why Okonkwo has such a low morality. It allows us to understand that everything that foces Okonkwo to have this personality is shaped by the uniqueness of culture. Someone who does not have any understanding of Igbo's context would misinterpret the story, for instance; some student might prejudge Okonkwo to be bad, unacceptable or swagger character in society. This might lead to another meaning of the novel that the author is trying to express, resulting to debate or controversy about the context of the novel.

Furthermore, understanding the context of Igbo people would allow audiences to appreciate the way novel is leading, and reasons behind dialogue and difference between masculin and feminine. Some action done by man to woman in the novel is realistically unacceptable -- where we see that Okonkwo often beats his wife when he is angry. However, knowing Igbo background is helping readers understanding how Igbo people value themselves and nature.

Meanwhile when looking at the context within the novel itself, it shows that the way characters react and proceed the stroy leads their community falling apart. By interpreting (have some awareness about the context) the story where pure and guiltless Ikemefuna was killed by the circimstance of Igbo culture, it seems that everything running afterward was tuning badly. The aspect of Igbo's culture is changed -- superstition has become less powerful to the Ibo people. Furthermore, having awareness in the mind makes readers understand clash between Ibo culture and White colonizer. We could be able to see how new religion is spreading, old religion is threatened. Readers could be able to understand the reason why Ibo culture is falling apart; it is because Ibo people themselves. Circumstance and old beliefs of Ibo culture act as two-edged sword because, while one is trying to follow and preserve tradition, another see it as old fashioned since Ibo tradition belief has no further development in order to seek a better quality of life. It rarely has equality between men and women which further develops why Ibo women prior start to convert thier religion. Moveover as seen in novel that Ibo culture teaches their men to be harsh and fearless warrior, it stabs themselves because the way they treat White colonizer was brutal -- where we can see when Okonkwo chopped messenger's head with machete-- which leads to the falling apart of its culture because of his impatient and personal characteristic shaped by culture. I think by having awareness of the context of the novel, we could interpret and understand small element of the culture, context and dialogue shown in the story much more better. We could be able to identify the reasons behind context and characters.

Okonkwo

Why does Achebe choose a tragic hero for his protagonist in his colonial counter narrative? 

I think the reason that Achebe chooses a tragic hero for his protagonist in his colonial counter narrative because he wanted to show cultural value and practice of Igbo people. As we can see from the beginning of the story that Okonkwo’s desire was to be successful which he gradually achieved along the story. However along the way to his goal, which to gain his title in the clan – considered to be a hero of the village, he had to pass my challenges such as death of Ikemefuna. Igbo’s society practice is mostly based on the power of masculinity, showing and acting strong without any fear – as a fierce warrior. Death of Ikemefuna did actually interrupt Okonkwo’s journey to be a hero in his clan. Okonkwo did show some of his weaknesses which was usually not accepted by Igbo’s culture. Meanwhile talking about colonial counter within the story along with tragic hero – Okonkwo, I think Achebe wanted to express his thought and idea about colonization through this particular character. Achebe used Okonkwo as a tool to act and resist European colonizer, which perhaps portrays Achebe’s feeling. At the same time Okonkwo was to pursue his journey to gain title or the clan, which he had to follow Igbo’s culture, tradition and practice in order to receive the name, but his hero journey as well as Igbo’s tradition was stopped and disrupted by European. Achebe wanted to show the cultural and political system of Igbo’s culture where we can see that everyone is packed and built the culture. By using Okonkwo’s hero journey, it shows that the destruction of African culture was something that cannot be accepted. The suicide of Okonkwo shows Achebe’s notion that African tradition culture was gone at the same time when Okonkwo died because Okonkwo was a character that strongly obey and believe in his own culture. His death means that there is no one to resist colonization – lost of Igbo culture. Hence, I think Achebe is trying to represent African culture though Okonkwo’s action.

How does Achebe use Okonkwo to develop specific themes in Things Fall Apart?

I think the most obvious theme in Things fall apart is colonization, collapse of culture and acceptance. Achebe used Okonkwo to encounter the theme of culture where we see that Okonkwo strongly believe and obey in Igbo practice. He believes everything from the way used to gain title, oracle, and tradition believe about killing clansman. Meanwhile, the theme of colonization and acceptance is perhaps merged because Okonkwo didn’t accept European colonizers at all. Okonkwo is used to show that colonization is harsh and tough to accept especially for people who strongly believe in their culture. Okonkwo also provides the other perspective of colonization that if the colonizers come with peace, they might conquer and change local’s notion easily. However they did not come with peace in the story, therefore it is hard to accept because losing culture is hard to grant. 

Paper #1 Speech Analysis

 Elizabeth Glaser

1992 Democratic National Convention Address

I'm Elizabeth Glaser. Eleven years ago, while giving birth to my first child, I hemorrhaged and was transfused with seven pints of blood. Four years later, I found out that I had been infected with the AIDS virus and had unknowingly passed it to my daughter, Ariel, through my breast milk, and my son, Jake, in utero.

Twenty years ago I wanted to be at the Democratic Convention because it was a way to participate in my country. Today, I am here because it's a matter of life and death. Exactly – Exactly (ANAPHORA) four years ago my daughter died of AIDS. She did not survive the Reagan Administration. I am here because (DIACOPE) my son and I may not survive four more years of leaders who say they care, but do nothing. I -- I am in a race with the clock. This is not about being a Republican or an Independent or a Democrat (METAPHOR). It's about the future -- for each and every one of us.

I started out just a mom -- fighting for the life of her child. But along the way I learned how unfair America can be today, not just for people who have HIV, but for many, many people -- poor people, gay people (PARALLELISM), people of color, children. A strange spokesperson for such (ALLITERATION) a group: a well-to-do white woman. But I have learned my lesson the hard way, and I know that America has lost her path and is at risk of losing her soul. America wake up: We are all in a struggle between life and death.

I understand -- I understand (ANAPHORA) the sense of frustration and despair in our country, because I know firsthand about shouting for help and getting no answer. I went to Washington to tell Presidents Reagan and Bush that much, much more had to be done for AIDS research and care, and that children couldn't be forgotten. The first time, when nothing happened, I thought, "They just didn't hear me." The second time, when nothing happened, I thought, (ANTISTROPHE) "Maybe I didn't shout loud enough." But now I realize they don't hear because they don't want to listen.

When you cry for help and no one listens, you start to lose your hope. I began to lose faith in America. I felt my country was letting me down -- and it was. This is not the America I was raised to be proud of. I was raised to believe that other's problems were my problems as well. But when I tell most people about HIV, in hopes that they will help and care, I see the look in their eyes: "It's not my problem," they're thinking. Well, it's everyone's problem and we need a leader who will tell us that. We need a visionary to guide us -- to say it wasn't all right for Ryan White (ALLITERATION) to be banned from school because he had AIDS, to say it wasn't alright for a man or a woman to be denied a job because they're infected with this virus. We need a leader who is truly committed to educating us.

I believe in America (ANAPHORA),, but not with a leadership of selfishness and greed -- where the wealthy get health care and insurance and the poor don't. Do you know -- Do you know (HYPOPHORA) how much my AIDS care costs? Over 40,000 dollars a year (LOGOS). Someone without insurance can't afford this. Even the drugs that I hope will keep me alive are out of reach for others. Is their life any less valuable? Of course not (HYPOPHORA). This is not the America I was raised to be proud of -- where rich people get care and drugs that poor people can't. We need health care for all. We need (ANAPHORA) a leader who will say this and do something about it.

I believe in America (ANAPHORA), but not a leadership that talks about problems but is incapable of solving them -- two HIV commission reports with recommendations about what to do to solve this crisis sitting on shelves, gathering dust (METAPHOR). We need a leader who will not only listen to these recommendations, but implement them.

I believe in America(ANAPHORA),, but not with a leadership that doesn't hold government accountable. I go to Washington to the National Institutes of Health and say, "Show me what you're doing on HIV." They hate it when I come because I try to tell them (ALLITERATION) how to do it better. But that's why I love being a taxpayer, because it's my money and they must feel accountable.

I believe in an America (ANAPHORA), where our leaders talk straight. When anyone tells President Bush that the battle against AIDS is seriously under-funded, he juggles the numbers to mislead the public into thinking we're spending twice as much as we really are. While they play games with numbers, people are dying (METAPHOR).

I believe in America (ANAPHORA), but an America where there is a light in every home. A thousand points of light just wasn't enough: My house has been dark for too long.

Once every generation, history brings us to an important crossroads (METAPHOR). Sometimes in life there is that moment when it's possible to make a change for the better. This is one of those moments. (HYPOPHORA)

For me, this is not politics. This is a crisis of caring. (ALLITERATION)

In this hall is the future -- women, men of all colors saying, "Take America back." We are -- We are (ANAPHORA) just real people wanting a more hopeful life. But words and ideas are not enough. Good thoughts won't save my family. What's the point of caring if we don't do something about it? A President and a Congress that can work together so we can get out of this gridlock and move ahead, because I don't win my war if the President cares and the Congress, or if the Congress cares and the President doesn't support the ideas (HYPERBOLE).

The people in this hall this week, the Democratic Party, all of us can begin to deliver that partnership, and in November we can all bring it home.

My daughter lived seven years, and in her last year, when she couldn't walk or talk, her wisdom shone through. She taught me to love, when all I wanted to do was hate (AMPLIFICATION) . She taught me to help others, when all I wanted to do was help myself(AMPLIFICATION). She taught me to be brave, when all I felt was fear(AMPLIFICATION). My daughter and I loved each other with simplicity. America, we can do the same.

This was the country that offered hope. This was the place where dreams could come true, not just economic dreams, but dreams of freedom, justice, and equality. We all need to hope that our dreams can come true. I challenge you to make it happen, because all our lives, not just mine, depend on it.

Thank you.

Analysis 

This text is a speech by Elizabeth Glaser at the Democratic National Convention Address 1992. It is mostly talking about AIDS virus relating to the movement and work of government in trying to solve the problem. The speech is relatively powerful and hitting the government’s work by showing and illustrating the quality of life of people especially poor.

The targeted audiences of this speech is clear – the government. By looking at many paragraphs, the author usually begins the point with “I believe in America, but not with a leadership..” . She is using Logos such as “over 40,000 dollars a year.” to back up her point about government’s work. She is trying to persuade people to look at this problem as well as to raise a movement from the government. She is informing crisis to the government and the public.

The content is straightforward as we can see from the beginning of the speech that the author is starting with small problem within family – talking about her own experience with AIDS virus. She is talking about heartbreaking feeling and her struggle without any help and support from government health care.  The death of her daughter from AIDS virus was one of the reasons that she wanted to raise the movement and gain support from the government to all the people. The author is also talking about equality of value of people – no matter how poor you are, you have your right to get decent healthcare. She says that she wants old America back where there was some justice. Meanwhile, the theme of the speech is justice and equality between poor and those who can afford decent healthcare – expensive one. We can see that the point she makes is simply that people don’t gain support from the government even though there is money in the budged.

The tone of this speech is critical to the government as we can see that she is mostly commenting on them; for example “I believe in an America, but not a leadership…” and “ It’s not my problem (said by the people she asked for help).”  The tone also objective as we can see that she uses Logos (“ Over 40,000 dollars a year) to support her point which comments on the government. The mood is quite fierce and sad at the same time. She is sad because of her daughter’s death and fierce because government’s response.

There are many uses of literary devices in this speech such as Anaphora, Diacope, Metaphor, Alliteration, Parallelism, Antistrophe, Hypophora, Hyperbole, Amplification and Logos. All these literary devices can be seen in the speech above in the brackets.

Overall, this speech is mostly comment of the role of government of America about AIDS virus. There are many uses of literary devices in the text in order to create particular mood and feelings. The effect from this speech is effective when reading because of the uses of language the content itself. 

bell hooks, "The Language of Power"

“The Language of Power” by bell hooks is one of the stories I have read in the topic language and power. Although there are many stories within the topic, I found that this book contains many interesting fact about language and its power.

One thing I found quite interesting is that when bell hooks states “I know that it is not the English language that hurts me, but what the oppressors do with it”. This particular sentence makes me think that before English language became worldwide, many people were oppressed, forced and exploited. The English language itself does not have anything to deal with colonization, or negative attitude seen during that time. I see that English language was just a tool which, perhaps unfortunately, was used by oppressors to force and enslave people; and hence, its positive values were overcome.  When being forced while living within a place containing various kinds of people, people had to struggle in order to live and communicate. Manipulating and mixing language is the only choice for slave because if you do not sacrifice, you will not be able to live and escape. This is relevant to another sentence by bell hooks “So, if you want to really hurt me, take badly about my language”.  I think that language is not only a tool used to communicate, but it also contains cultural and religion values, history, and most importantly identity. Changing or manipulating language means the deviation of your identity because your identity relies on it. Referring to her statement, talking badly about language can really hurt people because it means that your nation, identity and culture are insulted. Identity is what most people proud of, since it shows everything from fundamental. I think I have never seen people accept or agree when their language is insulted.

Another point I found interesting in this story is that enslaved African used and manipulated English to the language of resistance. It is surprising that changing some part of word would create significant impact on its meaning such as no one to nobody resulting in richer meaning. It shows that people can do everything in order to gain and acquire more power. Knowing language and having ability to speak creates a lot of power because they will be able communicate between slave. Even though the structure of language did not change, I see that making new word is a great idea. Nowadays, although we are not in the era of colonization, new words are made due to the change of society. Things have changed and created, which society has to keep the same pace with development. I come with my idea that changing language or adding words does not mean insult to the language anymore, since everything needs change.