Paper 2 Introductory Practice

   During the late 19th century, England began their colonization of Africa. During this conquest, England "civilized" the African residents living there. Chinua Achebe's novel, "Things Fall Apart" follows the colonization of Africa; more specifically, the land that later became Nigeria. Achebe's novel follows the Igbo people, his not-so-distant ancestors and their transition into Christianity, including his parents. His novel shows the original complexities of the Igbo people before the English. Due to Achebe's personal experiences of belittlement of cultures that weren't Christian and the very recent loss of his mother culture, Things Fall Apart focuses on showing the values of the Igbo people. His family history influences his writing and characterization of certain attributes in his environment such as the character Mr. Smith, who represents the person who converted Achebe's father to Christianity.

3 Topic Sentences:

The Igbo were a complex group with varying values between them. An example of this concept is Achebe's depiction of Okonkwo and his acceptance of English change.

Okonkwo's Charactarization

Okonkwo is a significant character to the TFA novel because he is the tragic hero followed throughout the story. Okonkwo serves as the symbol of rebellious souls. Rebellion against their own culture and against the expansion of colonial forces in Africa in the late 1800's. Igbo culture values balance: no one having too much of one thing. However Okonkwo is a character having no balance between feminine and masculine traits. Many of the tribes didn't mind the English colonies and many of them were quite friendly. Okonkwo, on the other hand, was very opposed to them as their very arrival was an extreme change that he wasn't willing to accept. A lot of literature depicts the African people as savages who were only civilized after being "tamed" by the colonizers. Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart shows that this isn't true. Achebe writes his book based on the Igbo's way of life before and during the English people's occupancy. We follow Okonkwo, the stubborn protagonist and see that the Igbo people had already developed a civilization on their own and we learn about the different ethnic groups and their indigenous cultures. The English turned tribes against each other and encouraged people to convert to Christianity via missionaries. This began to push authentic traditions into obsolescence. Okonkwo is a significant character in the novel as he is used as a symbol of the rebellion against authentic traditions dying out and the change in their culture. He stays true to this attribute as to the very end. In the end of the novel, when English influence settles and the lifestyle changes, Okonkwo commits suicide, resorting to the greatest sin of their culture. He'd rather die than allow for himself to be changed by foreign influence. What's so magnificent about this is that Achebe puts this event at the end and after our constant building of Okonkwo's character, can't see this as a disgrace to his values. In the end Okonkwo won in his own sick way. He was never changed or influenced by the English missionaries and stayed true to his values to the bitter end.

Paper 2 Practice

Children often inherit their values from their parents. Explore to what extent this is true of Okonkwo

   Okonkwo is the protagonist of Things Fall Apart. His personality, demonstrated behavior, and decision making is all influenced by his unchanging resolve. His resolve to be nothing like his father. Okonkwo rejects any compassion or friendly traits that could be associated with any hint of femininity from his lifestyle. This all stems from his father's way of living. Okonkwo's father is described as a failure who was very lazy. This fear of failure and laziness eventually are comprehended by Okonkwo as a rejection of any feminine behavior in order to be a successful man. In this way, though Okonkwo did not inherit his father's values, his values still come from his father.
   The entirety of Okonkwo's character arc builds upon this major contribution to his life choices which lead to both his success and his flaws. Okonkwo, opposite to his father, was extremely successful and respected by everyone in his village. He had three wives, each of which had their own hut. Striving agriculture and land under his name. He had even proven his worth as a warrior by defeating "The Cat" who was the best wrestler in the tribe. However, his drive to succeed also leads him to face many hardships as Okonkwo is the creator of his own hardships. Okonkwo desires victory and refuses to change. His stubborn resolve to be as manly as possible often puts him into conflict. Okonkwo would much rather fight than talk as a man does not back down from a fight. When his adopted son Ikemefuna runs to him for protection he cuts him down, fearing that if he didn't, he may be less of a man. This also causes a great inner-struggle that Okonkwo faces when he goes into a depressive state afterwards. Almost resembling his father as he sits around drinking. When his friend Obierika tells him he shouldn't have come with them to kill his son, Okonkwo refuses to admit his contribution to his situation. Instead he says that he had to go. He claims he couldn't run like a coward and claims that "If everyone feared blood on their hands, who else would have done it". 
   Though Okonkwo doesn't inherit his father's values directly, his personality and decisions are all directly influenced by his father's way of life and values.

Things Fall Apart Context + Adding Context to Context Assignment

Why would Achebe choose to set his novel prior to and during the arrival of the colonial administration as opposed to during the context of production?

I believe a factor contributing to Achebe's choice of setting in his book "Things Fall Apart" is h

3 Important TFA Moments

One of the three most important events in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, is Okonkwo's suicide. I believe this is one of the most important events in the novel as in a way, it shows us Okonkwo's stubborn resolve. He will not change from his ideals and ways. Throughout the novel we see Okonkwo power through strife, doing his best to stick to his ideals and be unlike his father in every way possible. He resents weakness and is strong through the whole story. So to see Okonkwo give into despair and take his own life is a complete twist, a great sin to his culture and to many a sign of weakness. An interesting note however, is that it can also be seen as an act of strength. The strength of Okonkwo's resolve to remain on his own path. We see his final act as the novel's tragic hero as he refuses to allow the influence of foreign powers to influence his lifestyle.

The second important moment, is the moment Okonkwo cuts down Ikemefuna. He has agreed to have him killed after some internal struggle when the boy becomes more important to Okonkwo. The Oracle advises against Okonkwo committing the murder himself. In their culture, listening to the Oracle is crucial but as Ikemefuna runs in fear to his father figure for protection, he is betrayed and he is cut down by Okonkwo. Okonkwo afterwards says that even though he disobeyed the Oracle, he did so out of the fear of being considered weak. Though we see Okonkwo's dedication to his culture, we also show the development of our tragic hero as he is still human. Regardless of the weakness he suppresses, the events still have an effect on him. 

Finally, is Okonkwo's youth. I feel as though this is a crucial part of the story to take note of. Although it is not a focus of the novel, it is mentioned in the story for a reason and it gives us insight to Okonkwo's behaviour. The lack of a powerful figure and success Okonkwo saw in his father brought him to resent him. This hatred fueled Okonkwo's success and results in many plot points and conflict in the story. Okonkwo's hate of being weak or sentimental like his father drives him to be the character he is in the novel.

Gillette's Glutinous Grievance (I really enjoyed writing this)

Gillette's recent commercial started quite the uproar just last week as waves of viewers, men in particular, took a stand against the company in disgust. The commercial itself is structured sturdily but issues of context and modern culture are what gave it such a negative impact. 

The advertisement makes use of different methods of persuasion to communicate their idea. Personally, I think they wanted to give the audience both a wake-up call, and a rally. A rally to unite. Although looking through comments and the general public's reaction shows that that intention back-fired. In their ad, Gillette makes use of the three persuasive techniques: Pathos, ethos, and logos. Some examples of these techniques can be viewed as followed:

-Ethos: Up until we were 55 seconds into the video, there was a constant use of ethos. The second the video starts, there is implicit mention of multiple occurrences of sexual assault and harassment. For men that are loyal to this product, starting off like this will definitely get their attention, but their first impression is likely negative. As time passes on we see (and more importantly, hear) more and more direct confrontations of this dangerous topic. They make it clear as day that this is an issue everyone, especially men, must face. At first we can only hear the confrontation but soon, they explicitly show a collage of news reporters talking about the subject of sexual harassment.

-Logos: After the first half of the video has shown us the worse side to man, we are met with a more uplifting feature to this commercial. It shows us simple solutions to variations of sexual harassment and violence. They tell the audience that we can make a difference with the simplest of actions. Telling us to be reasonable and as Terry Crews says: "Men need to be hold themselves accountable for other men"

Pathos: It isn't as often or explicit as the other two, especially not ethically, but it's still there. Sprinkled throughout the video there are also a few appeals to our emotions. Though I'd like to focus on the two I thought were the strongest. During the first half, at second 13 to 17, we see a huge topic in modern society within a few seconds it has on screen. Bullying. Cyber-bullying to be precise (as well as a prologue to physical). We see a text pop up, "FREAK" and shortly after we see the boy who got this message hugging his mother in tears. At this moment we can still hear the implicit news reporters in the background as they distantly chatter about bullying. The boy gets more negative and insulting texts as he cries in his mother's arms. This is an emotional push compared to the rest of the video that also brings up another serious world issue in a matter of seconds. The mother and son are soon washed over by some running children. If you look closely though, you'll realize these are the same children who can be seen at the end of the video, a group of bullies chasing a smaller boy who is later saved by a role-model father. The second is the last words spoken by the narrator. These words leave the viewers with something to think about after they've seen everything. Leaving a long lasting impression to ponder. After telling us to make change he gives us one final thing to think about. The boys of today, will be the men of tomorrow. 

Those defending men's rights have gone haywire seeing this ad. Many find it inspiring but others find it offensive and crippling. In this day and age, we need to be extra careful of what we say and how we say it. This ad most likely riled up people watching with how direct it became to the point it was too late to bring the intended feeling of unity by the time half the video had gone by. An interesting idea brought up by a speaker on "Good Morning Britain". Not as many women took offense to this advertisement nor understand what has men so betrayed. What if a commercial came out the same why, but the first half were to be confronting women that make false harassment allegations and taking advantage of men or the law for their benefit? What would the impact be on the ad's audience? 

Adverinfotainment: Gender Ads Analysis

In order to strike the attention of as many viewers in the intended audience as possible, many companies rely on stereotypes and other eye catching techniques to keep the viewer watching. Among these are stereotypical or interesting gender roles. Today's aim is to review a couple of ads for America's Number One Detergent: Tide. 

Up top, a video from 2014. This Tide commercial features a average looking man who speaks with confidence who is used in the decorative portrayal of Tide Boost. The man from the start, appeals to his parent portion of the audience, first addressing the moms watching. The mothers stereotypically being the most interested in cleaning and laundry. After calling himself handsome and "alluring" due to his combination of masculinity as well as experience of parenthood. 

This second commercial is once again set in the house setting with what is presumably a "dad mom", who has already been titled by Tide as the mothers' favorite. In this ad, the dad mom is cleaning while explaining his children's shenanigans. through doing this Tide is able to bring out the familiar feelings parents experience with their troublesome tots. This dad mom also keeps a very lighthearted approach as he plays along with his child's excuse of not being responsible as many parents might experience. With the introduction of a dad mom, a stereotype is broken but its replaced with a masculine person with the motherly role as the setting is also set, as the both previous times it was a home.

After the introduction of Tide pods, a controversy appeared due to their danger to children who ate them. Consequently, Tide took a blow to its sales, but when the super bowl came along, Tide's reputation was redeemed, essentially taking over the super bowl's commercial feed. It follows one of the characters of the popular tv show, Stranger Things, as he leads misleading commercials only to loop back to how clean the people's clothing are, thanking Tide. The company also uses plenty of attractive men and women during this collage of commercials as you, the viewer, are presented with clean clothing and suggestive eye candy in the form of attractive actors.

Linguistic Imperialism: The Value of Preserving Indigenous Language

Language is the ultimate form of communication. It is also very diverse and complex, joining different meanings to a person's lifestyle. As certain languages grow stronger, their influence spreads to others. This spreading of language can result in the slow assimilation of language and culture. This can put weaker, less known languages at risk.
An aboriginal language is a language existing in an area before any imperialism, a language used by the aboriginal people indigenous to that region. These languages often have a history behind them. Aboriginal languages with rich vocabularies to describe the natural world especially, have knowledge about a society's history and culture within their dialect. In a passage in "Speaking in Tongues" the writer states: "The evocative imagery they contain expresses how closely the aboriginal clans are linked with the land." This link the people have with their land is progressively lost as time moves on. The language slowly becomes more and more irrelevant to them, as this happens, the language loses its value. With the loss of this value, a piece of history and knowledge disappears.
When a language runs out of speakers, the knowledge stored within it slowly disappears as less people live to understand and regurgitate it. Consider a record of herbs and agriculture around a remote area is kept in the corresponding language, as less people are able to understand the record, this information becomes both priceless, and worthless. Soon, the language dies out, and now this information, no matter how useful and important it could be, has lost it's value, along with the language. Without people who can teach and keep these languages, we lose the potential to learn more. According to the article, Nicholas Evans, a linguist specialist and head of linguistics at Melbourne University gives credit to these less known aboriginal tongues for advances in science.
Another reason the preservation of indigenous is so important is your identity. A piece of your heritage lies within your mother tongue, and that heritage is a big piece of who you are. With dominant languages like English taking over, fewer people have the need for an unpopular language. Consequently, the next generations of speakers are losing interest in their mother tongue, diverting to a more dominating language instead. Opposite to what most would believe, it's much more valuable to keep the languages alive. The world can learn from languages just as they can learn from teachers. That is why these dying, endangered languages are so valuable to save and keep alive.