Tiara's English Blog

In what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? Justify your conclusion . “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace talks about the “natural default-setting,” Wallace says that all humans have a natural“default-setting”. Humans only care about situations that revolve around us and not others. Within the article, David Foster discusses how the “default-setting” can be overcome through the use of education by developing emotion intelligence. His message within the article is to show people that freedom can be earned through education, learning how to think, awareness and being emotionally intelligent in situations. Alice Munro has a similar message in her stories. When reading her stories you almost get a feeling that you’re pulled into the story, experiencing everything the protagonist is. There is a strong emotional connection between the reader and the novel. We start to experience empathy and a mix of emotions towards the chara

Prompt: The personal history of an author can have a significant influence on the way meaning is constructed in his/her writing. Comment on specific instances of such influence in Things Fall Apart. Thesis statement: Having knowledge of the history of an author can greatly influence the understanding of meaning constructed in their writing. Within the novel ‘Things Fall Apart’, having historical and cultural knowledge on aspects of Chinua Achebe’s life can help the reader analyze the novel to a deeper extent and have better understanding of the underlying themes in the novel.

With reference to Things Fall Apart, discuss how an understanding of gender influences how the text may be understood. Thesis statement: In the novel 'Things Fall Apart' having previous knowledge on the understanding of gender roles can greatly give a new outlook on the text for its reader.

In order to understand why Chinua Achebe chose to portray Okonkwo as a tragic hero we first need to understand what a tragic hero is. A tragic hero is a person with heroic qualities. But the hero struggles mightly against this fate and this cosmic conflict wins our admiration. Okonkwo, the protagonist of Chinua Achebe's 1958 masterpiece, Things Fall Apart , faces the exact struggles of being a tragic hero. Okonkwo is the leader and of the Igbo, a Nigerian ethnic community, who live in the village of Umofia. Okonkwo’s incredible talents drive him to success only in the end to bring him to his ruin. Similar to other tragic heroes, Okonkwo also has a tragic flaw, which is a fear of weakness and failure. While the fear of failure and weakness drives Okonkwo to work hard and helps him earns his fame and achievements, on the other hand, it also causes him many problems. Many times throughout Okonkwo's life, his fear of failure and weakness leads him to act harshly, viol

Winston Churchill gave the speech called “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” on the 4 th of June in 1940. It is  one of the most inspirational and moving speeches delivered during the time of The Battle of France by a lieutenant colonel of Britain’s army named Winston Churchill. The speech is directed to the Parliament to up date them about how the war is proceeding in all aspects of the Britain’s army. Its intention was keeping the House of Commons up to date about the war and how the German army had pushed them back. The analysis of the speech will inform the audience about the person who wrote the speech and what the speech meant to the people at that time, it will also look at how the speech could be useful to historians. The speech was given to the House of Commons. Winston Churchill was elected for his military experience because of his prediction of the Germans to advance. The audience would be the members of the house of commons since it was given there instead of a public p

Shakespeare introduces Coriolanus as what most now a days would call a hero. Even though Coriolanus has the characteristics of a typical hero, he is also greatly flawed. Unlike most stories we hear about hero’s, Shakespeare’s novel Coriolanus does not display the hero’s journey but instead follows the structure of a political play. When we are first introduced to Coriolanus, he is portrayed as strong, courages etc. All attributes of a good leader. Although as we continue reading, unravelling Coriolanus’s character we notice that Shakespeare doesn’t portray him to be a typical hero. Instead, Coriolanus is perceived as stuck up, rude, demeaning to the plebeians etc. Coriolanus believes he has a certain power over the plebeians, he believes they shouldn’t be given the right to be involved with the government as well as food, he doesn’t take care of them, leaving them to starve. Unlike a typical hero, Coriolanus is hates by the people which once again Shakespeare is showcasing to show

2. What did medieval linguist Antonio de Nebrija mean when he told Queen Isabella that: “language is the perfect instrument of empire?” How has language contributed to colonial power? Focus on a specific example. "Language is the perfect instrument of empire" Antonio de Nebrija, medieval linguist told Queen Isabella. But what is the deeper meaning behind this quote. The quote is trying to say how people really do underestimate the power of language alone. Too many, think language is just a means of communication but in reality you could say language is the glue that holds an "empire" together. Language imperialism, refers to "the transfer of a dominant language to other people". The transfer is essentially a demonstration of power, traditionally, military power but also, in the modern world, economic power and aspects of the dominant culture are usually transferred along with the language. If you think of it language has enough power to rule the wor