Okonkwo- Character analysis

Due to Okonkwo being a tragic hero in the text ' Things Fall Apart,' he is able to develop certain themes throughout the novel. The theme of ' Culture vs. tradition' is a recurring theme that is present throughout the novel as it develops over time. Although Okonkwo abides by his culture's values and traditions, they inevitably set him up for his downfall. This is depicted through Okonkwo's resistance to change, better known as his tragic flaw. By displaying his resentment towards the new political and religious orders, it further confirms just how fearful he is, in terms of showing himself as effeminate and weak. He wishes to be nothing like his sorry excuse for a father, who was better known as a agbala (woman) throughout their village. Okonkwo perceives the idea of manliness through the act of aggression, due to him feeling that anger is the only form of emotion in which he should display. Another theme in which Okonkwo develops in the text as a tragic hero, is the theme of ' Fate vs. free will'. From the beginning of the novel, it clearly states that Okonkwo advances from being the son of a lazy debtor into a profoundly respected and influential clan leader. Nonetheless, when things began to go south for Okonkwo, he began to blame his fate. Okonkwo worked immensely hard, In order to return from exile a stronger and more put together man. Unfortunately upon returning from exile, Okonkwo's opportunity to seize stature in the eyes of the villagers was lost due to the alternated Umuofia. Achebe chose a tragic hero for his protagonist, in his colonial counter narrative in order to manifest the impact of the colonisation of the Europeans. Through the representation of discussing what not only Okonkwo went through but also the people of Umuofia and the escalation of the events, it assists in displaying just how much it impacted Okonkwo (hence leading to his death). Okonkwo plays a vital role throughout ' Things Fall Apart' other than being the protagonist. Okonkwo is in a sense the key to understanding the entire novel. Through the portrayal of the Igbo life, what they believe in, and what they have to deal with and face on a daily basis, actually opens up everyones minds to their reality. Ultimately, Okonkwo symbolizes the positives and the negatives of his village, culture and values.

Igbo Background Assignment

Rationale

Chinua Achebe immerses his audience into the history and culture of the Igbo people. In order to fully appreciate the structure of their society within the text as well as analyze its significance to the context, content, and structure of the novel it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of their culture and history.

To complete this assessment you must read the two essays provided by Don Ohadike and J.P. Clark and complete one of the following prompts. Additional research is encouraged if necessary.

Prompt 1

Create a persuasive text of your choosing that persuades a Victorian audience to visit Igboland and experience their unique culture. You must include detail of their history, belief systems, social and political structure, as well as any other relevant details. Consider the following text types: brochure, speech, editorial, magazine article, memoir, or radio broadcast. Remember that your text must show critical engagement with essays provided as well as an awareness of the Victorian audience.

My fellow community,

Recently, light has been shed on the matter of our rigid social barriers, the majority of us have come to the realization that our social barriers have been depriving us from experiencing unique cultures. A specific culture that I have been hearing about which came up in our city council meetings is the Igboland, the more I heard, the more intrigued I became. The time is right for new experiences, to open our eyes and minds, we need to explore and travel.

Allow me to introduce you to the Igbo people, they are the second largest group of people who live in Southern Nigeria, they are both socially and culturally diverse, they break off into lineage groups, according to decent from father to son. Interestingly, their villages and towns consist of three groups – the Uno, the Umunna and the Obodo (a mini hierarchy) the Igbo communities strongly believe in mutual respect and diplomacy, this bodes well for them and they live peaceful, happy lives. The Women play a huge role throughout the society as they take on certain aspects of community life. A popular form in which a woman can make a decent amount of money would be selling her weaved baskets in markets, ladies, can you imagine spending afternoons learning a new skill with these women weaving baskets? Or men, perhaps you would enjoy learning and observing about the Igbo smelting and forging iron process.

Although we are very different from them, we clearly have different skin tones, accents, and beliefs, however, we still have the same ambitions and desires, goals that we all strive to achieve throughout our everyday lives. Something that I found very interesting was that everyone in these villages have equal rights, they do not have any rulers or kings they simply make decisions as an entire village. Equalitarianism ensures that no one person has too much control, now that sounds good, right?

The Igbo's strongly believe in cosmology as it is the basic foundation of how everything came to be and along with that it emphasizes on the perspective ethics and the action system, these two aspects assist the Igbo into being better people. The Igbo religion varies from ours slightly, the Igbo believe that there is this marvellous being (whom controls everything on earth and the spiritual world) named Chukwu whom they call their God. They call him that as he is the first force and existence of all beings, and so he possesses the power to bring the rains in order for the plants to grow. Each Igbo believes in and acquires a Chi, (which is similar to a guardian angel in our Christianity). Its the Igbo belief that someone with a good chi, will always remain a successful person, whereas if someone possesses a bad chi then sadly they will remain unfortunate. Now I know this may seem very different, and perhaps a little absurd to some of you, but I can't stress enough, you must be open minded to such things. I urge you all to give this unique culture a chance. Hopefully, many of you may consider flying out and experiencing a whole new world. Can you really pass up an opportunity like this?

Isn't it time we break free from our self imposed rigid barriers that have been depriving us the opportunity to explore the world? Surely we have the right to explore and live a little?

Further Oral Activity – Reflection #2

My further oral activity explored the topic of how language and social class are portrayed in literature. Whilst focusing on how literature portrays ones social class, by displaying how the power exerted influences their language. I presented and compared two texts set in contrasting time eras. The first text was S.E Hintons ' The Outsiders' and the second text was Charles Dickens ' Oliver Twist'. The specific learning outcome that I achieved was 'Demonstrate an awareness of how language and meaning are shaped by culture and context', this was done by providing a little bit of background history on both the time eras. This helped further enhance my information as when I presented my information, people understood what I was trying to explain in my presentation and how it was all interlinked.

After I presented, I felt very relieved and proud of myself, I got all my points across and I felt that I did not rely on my script as much as I had the first time. I am aware that there was the occasional hic-up, however, I took a moment to recompose myself and continued. I would say that I did well in criteria A, B and D, however, I feel that for criteria C, my grade would improve from my last FOA. Admittedly, I am feeling a little agitated to finding out what I will receive in this criteria.

The reason I chose my specific texts was due to the fact that I was interested in my topic, and so I seized the opportunity to further enhance my learning. By choosing those two texts, they allowed me to highlight the difference in language in both texts, along with putting a spotlight on the transition of social classes in the two time periods. Having completed my further oral activity, I have learnt that this time although I was nervous before presenting, in the end it was a really positive experience. Receiving pleasing and positive feedback from my classmates was just the icing on the cake. In future, when I complete more of these oral assessments, I shall be more experienced and I will know exactly how they are conducted and what is expected of me.

IOC- Act 1 Scene 2 of the Tempest

https://soundcloud.com/dana-farah-1/final-tempest-recording

Most Meaningful Takeaway

The most meaningful takeaway from our group discussion was that in the text “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” there was one particular quote that allowed us to elaborate on our thoughts and ideas and really get to dig deep into the meaning. The quote is:

“Who is to say that robbing a people of it's language is less violent than war?”

The quote touches on the idea that you can not simply just rob someone of their language, it is seen as a much bigger crime. By stripping an individual of their mother tongue ,you are stripping away their identity aswell. That raises the question that if successful in stripping an individual of their language, what will they have left to turn to? This relates to the relationship between language and power as the possibility of individuals being robbed of their language, this would happen in a situation of linguistic imperialism.

The most meaningful takeaway from our group discussion was that in the text “The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts” the concept of how different the atmospheres were for the Chinese girls when they were either at the American or Chinese School. When they were at the American school, the girls rarely spoke unless asked to do so. They felt left out as English was not their mother tongue, hence allowing those whose mother tongue was to have the upper hand. However, when the girls were at Chinese School, they completely transformed into girls who were constantly speaking and participating as they were comfortable with the language and they in turn were the ones that possessed the upper hand. This relates to the relationship between language and power, as we are able to differentiate how different cultures (when put in specific environments )display their power through language, as they are able to adapt much faster.

Linguistic Imperialism

Over the years education has advanced in various forms, linguistic imperialism within education has not only impacted individuals but communities aswell. In the past, linguistic imperialism has been aided by education in the situation where it has helped get the message of linguistic imperialism across. Linguistic imperialism “involves the transfer of a dominant language to other people” - Robert Phillipson. As education develops over the years, so does the linguistic imperialism, there are various forms of courses in which it's linguistic imperialism will advance and change as it is an organic format that needs to grow. Everyone these days no matter where they are on the globe receives the same level of education as anyone else. They take all the same courses, the only difference being that their linguistic imperialism would depend on their global location. For example : if there was a child being educated in France and a child being educated in England and they are both in the same year, they would be receiving the same information except they would be learning it in their mother tongue. Although the concept of linguistic imperialism is not advanced in third world countries as they are in first world countries, it is still acknowledged. In an anglophone world the dominant language of course would be English, this creates a restraint for education as it places numerous countries at a disadvantage. The disadvantage being that not every country is aware of the English language, yet alone able to speak it implying that their education rights are being ripped away from them. Depriving people from the opportunity to receive an education is a horrendous act. That opportunity will allow them to be successful in their older years leading to them receiving good jobs and allowing them to be able to provide for their families. In conclusion although to some individuals and communities an anglophone world is idealistic, it can be improved upon in away that works for everyone. If this idealism is carried out then the extinct of various languages will be closer than we all thought.

Food crisis in Sahel

Oxfam is an international organization, based in Oxford in the United Kingdom, they work with various international communities to find ways to eradicate poverty and free those enslaved by it by enabling them to exercise their basic human rights. In December 2011, a blogpost was posted on the Oxfam website which discussed the food crisis in Sahel.

The blogpost targeted the people living across west and central Africa, informing them that the possibility of a food crisis may strike them in 2012. The post warns the people that if no action is commenced in order to prevent this disaster from occurring then history will repeat itself, yes the repetition of the 2005,2008 and 2010 crisis's will happen again. However, the possibility of more than 10 million people will be affected. It is discussed further that there still may be salvation for west and central Africa, simply by educating others that the mistakes of the past can be avoided by preparing for external shocks.

In general, the key idea of the post is to inform not only the residents of west and central Africa but also the public that the situation must be dealt with, this is done through the use of and the plans that Oxfam plan's to see through. By branching out and reaching the general public they are persuading the public to help promote and support their organization, alongside getting them to donate and invest to their charity. Oxfam's humanitarian aid is clarified in the text along with the goals they hope to reach.

The post creates a very unifying ambience, it does this by referring to both Oxfam and the reader as a team, which breaks away from a business relationship and makes it more of a personal one. Overall the general goal is to inform people of an upcoming natural disaster that could affect the lives of numerous people. This is done through the use of various statistics to make the situation more realistic, an example of this would be “Recent reports said over 5.4 million people (35% of population) in Niger...” By providing such statistics it aids the enhancement of the depressing and saddening reality of our world.

Throughout the entire blogpost the use of ethos, pathos and logos are used to enhance the message of Oxfam's blogpost. Pathos is displayed in the blogpost as the basic description of the entire situation is emotionally effective, due to the general fact that as humans we generally feel empathy and sympathy in these situations. This is done through the use of the photograph placed in the blogpost, it shows an African person riding a donkey in a barren environment, this helps the audience depict the situation and helps draw more attention towards what the people are suffering from and going through. Logos is used statistically throughout the post hence allowing the realization of the serious damage that this food crisis may cause, as numerous statistics are used. Due to Oxfam's reputation, and what they stand for they are seen and respected very highly by everyone, causing the ethos affect to occur.

In conclusion, due to Oxfam being an international organization, who work with various international communities to find ways to cease poverty and free those enslaved by it, they have created a blogpost which would cause people to take action and help those in need simply by using ethos, pathos and logos along with involving their targeted audience. By doing so this will cause the targeted audience to feel like they can make a change in not only our societies but our world aswell, all by stating unification.