Hello literature world I am writing again as my class has just been assigned to read and respond to Chinua Achebe’s article, An image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. After reading Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad I had some positive and negative opinions about the text but none as strong as the ones Achebe conveys. He hated the book, in short … and that is nicely explaining the way he felt about it. I did love that in the beginning of the article he mentioned how repetitive Heart of Darkness is and that was what I was thinking the entire time while reading the novella! It was like Conrad kept saying the same descriptions using varying literary devices and sophisticated vocabulary. He says “ Of course there is a judicious change of adjectives from time to time…” when I read this I was relived as I thought it was just me who thought the short story was repetitive.

However, something that I was taken back by how upset Achebe was by the racist commentary within Heart of Darkness because I did not find it to be as racist as he made it out be. Going back and re-reading a few passages I still believe Conrad was trying to portray the whites as being brutal and savage like things, not the Africans. On contrary I did not think about how Conrad in a way does belittle in Africa’s name in a sense. Achebe says “…reducing Africa to the role of props…” Africa was the backdrop, the setting for the novella but now that I think about it, Conrad defiantly depicts Africa in such a way. Achebe also refers to it as “dehumanization of Africa and Africans…the very humanity of Black people is called in question…” I disagree with this because Conrad is not attempting to do that in my opinion that is not the purpose of his work. Instead he is sharing his story of all the atrocities that he witnessed and I do believe he puts quite a bit of blame on the Europeans in the short story.

Although I had a difficult time reading Heart of Darkness I believe that it was an incredible story depicting the Congo River, Africa and what took place during this time. However as Achebe does mention each traveler has their own experiences and sometimes does fail to experience and or witness things. Conrad may be bias as several people believe Marlow Is in the story because they had their own experiences, they are not telling of someone else’s in a history book. In another five years or so I will re-read Heart of Darkness and Achebe’s article and who knows maybe I will have a change of heart. I found both these unique pieces of literature to teach me a great deal about historic events I had not learned about as well as author’s purpose! This year I have experienced different books and varying genres and I challenge you all to broaden your interests when reading! As always keep reading and analyzing!  

Wuthering Heights

Hello writing world! I am back at it again as my AP Literature class has just concluded reading the gothic novel Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë. I have read Jane Austin before and immensely enjoyed her novel, Pride and Prejudice. However, other than that I have had no exposure to gothic literature. I was a little nervous when my teacher first passed out the novel, but ended up being pleasantly surprised. I loved the book and could not seem to keep my nose out of it. I was fascinated by the origin of Gothic literature in the first place and thus was able to catch the aspects of the type of literature that were staring me in the face while I was reading.

            My teacher had us do some researching before we started reading and I think that really helped me because I was not going in blind. Learning about the supernatural events that are explained by natural events and those that are not were the most fascinating facts for me. Wuthering Heights had several starling turns in the story in which I would pause and ask myself which type of supernatural this was. During the book I began to notice that when Catherine would have her spells they could be explained by natural events such as her starving herself. While the ghost that Lockwood believes is present in the beginning of the novel, can be explained just by the idea of supernatural occurrences.

            For those of you who have not had the ultimate pleasure of encountering this novel I highly recommend that you take the time and open yourself to other types of literature such as gothic. Although some of the language and discussion in general was difficult to understand time from time it was certainly not impossible. However, there is one character that drove all of us in my class crazy, Joseph. Joseph was the hardest to understand as we all would swear it truly was not any kind of English. I feel like at first I tried to ignore what he was saying as I didn’t feel it was relevant to what was going on. However, I know some would argue that it was indeed important to understand. Throughout this novel, it takes time and is important to make sure you understand all the events that are going on and ultimately what the point of the story was.

            My AP literature teacher refers to it as the SO WHAT, why did Brontë spend her time writing this story line, what was she trying to say to her readers? After concluding the novel, I realized that she was trying to portray the tragedy of history repeating previous generation’s mistakes over and over again. Catherine and Heathcliff are famous lovers who are never together until death because of the different social graces they are raised in. Then the story portrays their children being forced to make the same mistakes until the end of the story where love conquers all (sorry for the spoiler alert everyone). However, I truly believe this was the message that was trying to be conveyed. Everyone until next time, make sure to keep writing and reading! 

      Hello writing world! I am back again and this time attempting to analyze poetry.... (Before this year I had never done that!) However as my mom always says, never a bad idea to try new things! 

       In the poem, Base Details by Siegfried Sassoon he uses diction to convey the speakers attitude of bitterness. After reading the poem a few times I understood that it was about war but was convinced there was more to it than that. Therefore I did some research and found that Base details is about a soldier who is bitter over the fact that old man ( politicians and such ) wage war and in turn send young men to fight it. I say men because when this poem was written that was whom they were depicting was fighting a war. Now however we know it could be young females that end up in harm’s way do towards older men and women deciding to go to war. 

     The diction in the poem conveys such bitterness when Siegfried uses words such as, Fierce and Petulant to describe his appearance. In addition when he explains how those who waged the war were “Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel..." While they were out to war. These young men did not want to fight a war they did not choose and that was evident in the bitter attitude conveyed. The poem primarily adds humor to the horrendous and unfair actions and decisions during a time of war. This poem in my opinion could be considered a Satire because the poem is in no way attacking one person but the idea that government officials get to choose to go to war and to send young soldiers out. 

     Until I read this poem a few times I did not uncover the indirect method of making fun of the way the government in a sense sends the youth out to fight their battles. The speaker is mocking what it would be like in the life of an officer during World War I. As I am reading this I keep thinking that history truly does repeat itself as men and women are risking their lives all the time to fight someone else's battle based on orders they were given. Although this is their job, I cannot begin to imagine having to fight on the front lines and watch as officers and politicians who took a young man away from his family drink and enjoy life without a single regard for the men that are in a sense cleaning up their mess. 

     I have to say this poem was amazing and now I completely comprehend why people take the time to analyze poetry and literary devices. In addition, this truly helped me understand what a work of Satire is and how to recognize one. I have to say I have not been a fan of Satire but I think after reading this poem I will take another approach to it. Hope you enjoyed! 

Until next time! Make sure to keep analyzing and reading! 

Big Brother Is Watching

Hello world! I am back so soon again writing. Although I had already finished the book when I wrote the half way point blog, here are my final thoughts about the work of Satire. I thought that Animal Farm by George Orwell was absolutely amazing. The text is no question a satire because of how hysterical of a novel it is. Orwell makes fun of the ideology of communism using animals. He explicates the idea that the animals who made a government and seven commandments were under the impression that everything they were doing was for the best interest of the animals on the farm. 

    I could not put down this book because it was not obviously funny; one had to understand what was going on in the book. The way Orwell depicts the pigs manipulating the lower class of animals as government officials do to people within society caused me such hysteria. Slowly as time goes on in the story, animals are being manipulated and because it is not all at once they do not realize what is going on. 

    Although, several people do not understand why and how Orwell's book is a comedy, also known as a satire, he is using animals to depict the life of humans. I think the comedy is explained just based on that aspect. The animals over time end up being involved in a monarchy. They think they have a say when in reality they do not. The pigs change the seven commandments to fit their desired way of life. This part alone in the book left me in awe because it is extremely true to society today.  Even though , United States citizens have the right to vote the government makes several decisions that have the mask of looking like they are for the people when in reality they are for their own hidden agendas. 

     The meaning of the work as whole was clear for me since the very beginning. Although people start together when an idea is created or started, as time goes on people start to form their own groups based on their opinions and beliefs. I would highly recommend reading this book if you disagree with the government or would just like an overall good laugh. Literature, a good work of literature, something worth merit is expected to be able to relate to all people. Animal farm, a satire about a bunch of animals that try and change their way of life relates to people in modern society today, those who are government officials corrupting the country or just the middle class and or lower class person. Anyway I'm sure I will be writing again soon enough! Always keep reading and being analytical. 

   P. S make sure to actually read this book. Most of my class had already read this in like the eighth grade but I still chose to read it. Animal Farm can truly be for anyone from seventh grade and up. Do not be afraid to read things that may not be as AP sophisticated as some of the other books your peers are reading! 

The crazy understanding of how animals relate to society

Hello world I am back with yet another somewhat insightful post! In class we had to pick a work of Satire to read on our down time, I chose Animal Farm, by George Orwell. This is our half way point post but in truth I have read the entire thing! I could not put this book down for a second it was thrilling. The way Orwell portrayed the animals as the people and officers during the Russian Revolution and the Stalin era is mind blowing. The two major characters; Snowball the pig who challenges Napoleon one who emerges as the leader after the revolution. Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin and Snowball depicts Leon Trotsky. The novel catches the reader’s attention because of how brilliant of a Satire it is. It is making fun of the time when people did not have rights and gad to follow people like Joseph Stalin or the leader of the Red Army. Throughout the story, at first I thought I was just reading about a bunch of animals on a farm who wanted freedom, however it goes much deeper than that. The animals, representing the lower class were brainwashed to think that everything they were doing was to help their cause of freedom. The animals were introduced to the problems of the Manor farm by Old Major, who passed away earlier in the story. He explained to them that the way they were living was not right and that the conditions and way of life they were currently living was not okay. For me, as I was reading I kept comparing it to modern day society even though it is based on the idea of communism. In the beginning all the animals are eager to learn, to vote and to be a part of the process of creating a new life for themselves. However, as the story continues, the pigs start to take over the farm and change everything that was created by the animals as a whole. It reminds me of our government today and society in general because although United States citizens have the right to vote , several decisions are made by a small group of government officials. Things were changed without question or concern for the lower class of animals on the farm. In addition, when changes were made, the animals were content because so many things had been changed in their lifetime they began to forget how things originally were on the Animal Farm. As generations passed on the history of their revolution was not forgotten but the details of what they stood for was. The small details in the novel is what caught my attention and caused me not to be able to put down the book , the animals had created a version of the seven commandments and each of them had been altered. The animals were always to walk on two legs, never to wear clothes, to sleep in a bed or drink alcohol. However, by the end of the story, the higher classes had found a way around each one of them and were able to make up excuses to explain to the other animals why the alterations were necessary when in reality they were just to benefit themselves. Those who took charge were not in charge for the better good of the farm and other animals but primarily to better themselves as many people in society are. I would highly recommend reading this wonderful book. Until next time!

 

 

 

 

 

Blinded by Revenge

Hey world I am back to tell you about a little game I like to call the blame game!  My AP Literature class just finished Shakespeare’s famous play Othello and there was a whole lot of the he said she said game, also known as the blame game. Iago ends up believing that Othello slept with his wife, Emilia causing him to despise the moor (Othello). Then to worsen the situation Othello chooses an old friend as his lieutenant instead of Iago who according to himself rightfully deserved the promotion. Iago was fed up with Othello and decided it would only be fair to get revenge. He produces an extremely evil plan that ends in the deaths of Desdemona, Emilia and Othello. In the end of the play Iago is left with blood on his hands. Thus the question arises, who was to blame Othello or Iago? After concluding reading the play and watching the film the answer is clear, Iago is to blame for the atrocities that take place at the end of the play. Iago was blinded by the revenge he was craving. He put the devious plan in place to purposely ruin Othello and Desdemona’s life. If Iago had truly believed that his wife had been unfaithful he should have confronted her, it takes two to tango. On the contrary, many would argue that it was Othello’s fault that the killings happened. They believe that Othello’s over confident and charming self, is what caused the end of the play. However, Othello did not plan to ruin his and his wife’s lives like Iago did. Although he did plan to kill Desdemona and carried that out, it was under the false pretensions that Othello had planted in his head. Does that then mean it was Othello’s fault for trusting Iago? The answer is no , Othello was wrong in killing Desdemona even though none of this would have occurred if Iago had not started the rumors and had not followed through on his plan. Iago is ultimately the culprit behind every event in the play. He tricks Roderigo into believing that he could help him win Desdemona , only to use him to kill and then kill him in the end to keep quiet. In addition, he turns his wife into an accomplice when she takes Desdemona’s handkerchief for him. Iago uses people until he is done and does not need them anymore and either kills him or turns them against each other. He is a manipulative and very decisive character who only is concerned about himself. In modern society if someone was to murder another person they would not be able to say “someone made them”. The action was completed by someone and they have to face the consequences. In the film during the end of scene five Lodovico (kin of Desdemona’s) forces Iago on his knees at the end of Othello’s bed to show him the result of his plan. On the bed laid; Desdemona, Emilia and Othello. They all could have been spared if Iago had not been caught up in his life and let that aspect and jealously get the best of him. In the play he says to Othello, “O, beware, my lord, of jealously; It is the green eyed monster… (46)” this is ironic because in the end he (Iago) did let jealousy get the best of him. Shakespeare leaves the audience with the lesson that there will always be blame games in life but to look at what actions were carried out and by whom. The situation, the details and the background story do not matter when someone’s life is taken and or destroyed. Iago could have saved himself if only he did not blame every wrong in his life on Othello.