Friday, November 24, 2017

Hold your meat because this post is about to sweep your off your feet!!!

Rationale;
The article I have selected is from the Guardian, and is entitled "My meat addiction is over: I’ve gone vegan, and it’s brilliant" by Jack Monroe. This article explores the author's journey into veganism and also deplores the nature of omnivore diets. The bias is on vegan diets, as it claims to be the only way to be healthy, without considering flexitarianism can also be an option for readers. This is prominent in the chosen arguments, as even if they are true and highlight why veganism is better for their environment and health, there are ways it can not benefit them. Additionally, it is the exclusivity of anecdotes from the author's life play into this bias. This parody will be written under author name Jackson Devon, that highlights the magnificence of eating only animal products.

My vegan addiction is over; I eat only animal products and it's brilliant
Jackson Devon (not a certified nutritionist or qualified to give any nutritional advice whatsoever but I will do it anyway because it is the only way I can get attention)
"Now my cooking has gone to a whole other level; I have such a big variety of juicy meat I can include in my dishes" Photography : Jackson Devon

During the new year, with some friends and our young children, I had a crazy night of drinking 1 litre of kombucha and watching the best vegan documentary; Cowspiracy. That night I went to bed, but little did I know that would be the last time I would indulge in that environmentally correct behaviour of limiting meat consumption.

I woke up the first day of the year, and resolved to pick up the habit of smoking and eat exclusively animal products; I ate so much as a vegan I needed something to suppress this appetite. I experimented with meat recipes for a very long time, and I abruptly removed fruit, vegetables, all the superfoods like quinoa and chia seeds as well as the meat substitutes I used to eat all the time. This got me to save money because that stuff is expensive as s***, I'll tell you that. And the best part is, I was no longer deficient in vitamin B12 because all the meat I ate had it. I get my calcium from milk and my iron from chicken liver. I cooked with eggs and steak and I was always obsessively for new meats to try and experiment with! I even tried raising my own chickens and killing them myself, although they wouldn't stop moving and ran away headless, although it didn't cross the street.

When I was a kid, I once announced to my born and raised skinny and pale vegan parents that I wanted to eat meat. The reply I got was "Don't be silly. And finish your quinoa, avocado and kale salad." Out of respect for my parents, who worked really hard to get food on the table, I would eat dinner. Even when they would force feed me grass because they read somewhere it's rich in vitamin D. I was entrapped in a sad vegan childhood, due to my parent's oblivion to the juiciness of meat.

I tried giving up my vegan diet several times, yet like I junkie I always caved in. Premade veggie burger patties, coconut yoghurt, frozen fruit for my smoothies, gosh it was so difficult to resist all these cruelty-free foods! And now when I look back at my recipes published when I was vegan, I try not to cringe at how awfully stupid the concept of having food without animal products is. After all, I evolved to who I am today, from experience and decisions. I now host yearly meat-stock festivals to celebrate this amazing lifestyle, although one of my cohosts had a nearly deadly heart attack and now stopped eating meat. What a fake meat eater!

"Steak became my go to almost every day, vegetables makes your body way too alkaline and it will definitely kill you. Steak has all the macros; carbs, fat and protein"

Vegans, you all secretly hate yourselves. Where do you ever get your protein from? or calcium? Don't you miss meat? The other day I went to my vegan friend's house, but I forgot to warn them about my new journey, and the sight of all the vegan food made me lose my appetite. But it's a good thing I got chicken flavoured tofu and sausage cucumber substitutes; this stuff tastes like veggies and have the same texture but actually are made 100% animal products.

Unless you live under some kind of rock, you know people living in Antarctica only eat seal meat and they are way more spiritually evolved than us. You have to be on a meat only diet to experience these advantages. And do you really have canines to eat celery? Yeah, that is what I thought. Plants give out oxygen, why would you want to eat oxygen sources? The world is a much safer place if we eat animals because that way they won't eat us. Additionally, eating their food is so unjust! 

I could never eat plants that are raised on inhumane farms, given pesticides and GMOs and in such crowded conditions, with less than 1 square millimetre per plant. It is so devastating to see how plants are being killed and deforestation; vegetables can feel too! Eating lettuce has 3 times worst greenhouse emission gases than bacon. There are crazy amount of hormones in soy, and did the plant even deserve to be treated that way? Plus to all men out there you will start growing breasts from eating too much soy, and oh boy having a bigger cup size than your girlfriend is embarrassing (been there done that). But I'm not going to gross you out with science. In my experience, harassing vegans, screaming at them, and feeding them meat by saying it's fake meat doesn't work. You don't really change much. I stopped spamming with memes that make fun of vegans or articles that talk about vegan vitamin deficiencies. You won't get that for me. But what you will get is more food recipes that only have animal products, but honestly, it is just like what I used to do but no longer using lettuce like before. Vegans that can't take nutritional advice are in denial, and that's usually a symptom of all the fibre that is fogging up their brains.

Never skip the steak, that's a mistake.


Saturday, September 16, 2017

Alice Munro application to Wallace's theory

In what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? Justify your conclusion

The speech This is Water by David Foster Wallace speaks of the importance of sympathy and consciousness, which can be acquired through education, said to be a true freedom. He discusses how it is very common for humans to place themselves in the centre of their universe, and disregard the possible circumstance of those in their surroundings. He builds his argument that people's consciousness is always on auto, using a fish anecdote, and then to example to the supermarket. To prevent so, there is a possibility of reading literary fiction, as being in the centre of another's person life develops empathy and emotional intelligence. By evaluating simple situations that are easily neglectable and overlooked, his perspective allows us to see the situation from a different viewpoint, that lets empathy and emotional intelligence come through. He also believes that true freedom can only be acquired by learning how to think as well as being aware and conscious.

When it comes to Alice Munro ’s short stories, Wallace’s theory of education can be applied to it; the reader is able to experience the world from the protagonist eyes, and experience multiple emotions due to the fact that the stories have a development in a human experience and character. Building on the example of royal beatings, we develop empathy for the protagonist and her slight difficult childhood. It is through reading literature that we shift away from our « automatic » thought process, and learn how to be well-adjusted, through the recognition of the possible feelings of the protagonist but also our own.

Another aspect is that Munro’s short stories do concentrate on otherwise seen banal stories, in everyday life situations, and Wallace does the same since he depicts the average American adult life during the work week. The simplistic settings allow the reader to have a concentration of the character, to which favorisies the ability to put oneself in the protagonists view, which is the experience of something realistic but out of the ordinary of one’s life.

There are several possible links between Wallace’s theory and the writing of Alice Munro. Wallace's speech encourages us to break from our regular « automatic » thought process, and develop empathy and emotional intelligence through literature, and Alice Munro’s stories are a good way of doing so, as it does build us into being a more empathetic, sympathetic, conscious and adjusted individual.The speech This is Water by Wallace speaks of the importance of sympathy and consciousness, which can be acquired through education, said to be a true freedom. He discusses how it is very common for humans to place themselves in the centre of their universe, and disregard the possible circumstance of those in their surroundings. He builds his argument that people's consciousness is always on auto, using a fish anecdote, and then to example to the supermarket. To prevent so, there is the possibility of reading literary fiction, as being in the centre of another's person life develops empathy and emotional intelligence.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

The struggles of being trillingual

At the beginning of this month, I had "officially" started doing my summer work, this had been a very interesting experience, to say the least, as while my relatives are just enjoying down time, I am forcing myself to do work, knowing that I am doomed in either way. Nevertheless, I will persevere because I had started reading two self-help type of books which had highly motivated me ; 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey and Le Chemin Le Moins Fréquenté by Scott Peck (translated in French from his original book; Road Less Traveled), and I highly recommend reading both by the way.

Anyways back to the point, during my stay in Tunisia that has been for the totality of the summer, I had realised that I was truly linguistically confused. How so you may ask? Well, my trilingual self was showing, not subtly but rather as if it had been written on my forehead since at this point I cannot speak for two minutes without subconsciously mixing three languages. Don't get me wrong, I love being trilingual, but the issues with languages are that when you neglect one, you give too much power to the other, causing you to have a hegemony in the way you speak, and a confused grandma that doesn't understand a word you say. 

Nevertheless, I am not the only one in my family to have this struggle. Ameni, my older sister, keeps speaking English whilst we walk the roads of a rural city, and I keep insisting she speaks French or Arabic because I don't want to come out as being a tourist, only to have her start speaking English again a few minutes later. Or my parents keep asking for take away at restaurants when it's actually à emporter. I'm always a stranger wherever I go since in Tunisia I do not speak totality the dialect (which itself is a mix of Tunisian and French, and the ratio varies where you are) and anywhere else I am not a native.

My brain thinks in French when I am writing in English and thinking in English when writing in French, and Arabic I guess had always been at the bottom. I do not speak any of these languages perfectly and I cannot have one as a focal point. By the end of grade 11, my French had regressed due to my lack of practice, but now I guess it's been back again, as I force myself to speak French with my cousins. It's funny because you would expect that the more languages you speak, the less you need google translate but in reality, it's always a tab that is open, because of those troubles in memory of remembering what the word is in another language.

My cousins have a similar struggle as when they go back to school they adopt the strange Yesmine Jargon. I will leave you the benefit of the doubt to what this could be.

Monday, July 31, 2017

Summer post #1

Well I started doing my summer homework today, although I have done a few things previously, I do not qualify it as an official start. For this occasion, I decided to write a poem about summer and well I don’t know where my inspiration will take me but this is free style guys. (I also need a blogpost and I really don’t know what to write about)

Today is the 31st of July,
Making me think; time does fly.
I hate summer.
Oh sorry, did I say that too soon?
Well my words are said. Because we all know
I’ll spend half my time binging tv shows on my bed.

The beach is overcrowded 
It’s hot and the sun is scorching 
But no fear! It’s almond season here.
Three days, I will spend, opening nuts,
As if I am trying to uncover a mystical secret of the universe,
But really, my father needed more “main d’oeuvre”

And there is my new found talent,
I can spend endless hours alternating
From one app to another, my sister would care to add; 
“Almost as rapidly as you jump to conclusions”

And I might have delayed my summer work too much,
I might not finish this load in time but
Let them know you are ill-equipped; 
Decorating ruins in flowers will not change 
The original state of the edifice.
And my mother has asked me so many times
“Yesmine, shouldn’t you start studying?”
To the point of it being engraved in the back of my mind
I could even start a shift in paradigm.

Are you bothered yet by my lack of rhymes?
Sure my creativity could be defined 
By my ability to make some coherent sounding poetry
But I refuse to adhere to this obligation 
That doesn’t matter between the lines
Because only there you can define 
What is truly on my mind 
When I lay my fingers on my keyboard
Desperately but surely filling the word count

For this sorry excuse of poetry.  

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Ngugi's extract & TFA

In what ways does this text influence your understanding of Achebe’s use of language and stylistic choices in Things Fall Apart?
Ngugi's extract was beneficial to understand better Achebe's use of language and stylistic choices in TFA. Ngugi starts by saying how important language is to him and his culture. He somewhat explores the topic of orality without directly addressing it and explains that how with his language has given him a unique view on the world, through proverbs and songs. His given explanation of the importance of language can help us justify Achebe's choice in publishing a book that exposes a mostly western audiences Igbo terms.This choice is to be able to keep the authenticity of the book as well as portray as much as the culture as possible, and language plays a big role in that. Not only is this choice of publishing terms as they are in the book is to be able to show the culture, but also to break stereotypes about African civilisations that are portrayed as brutes and savages, or in this case specifically the Ibgo people; even if they were not literate they still have as much complexity as the existent modernised world.
 The extract goes in a chronological order, and although is not characteristic of African storytelling, it is notable that once the author talks about the colonial school, he used "I" and "my" instead of "we" and "our" from previous paragraphs showing the no longer collectivistic environment. Achebe does a similar thing by starting the book in part 1 in a circulatory narrative and once colonialist arrives adopts a more linear narrative. 

Friday, May 5, 2017

Gender in TFA

1.  The first paragraph that begins “Okonkwo rules his household with a heavy hand…” In this paragraph, we learn about his fear of weakness and how he learns that agbala means both “woman” and a man who has no title. Discuss how this affects his attitude and views about gender.

This affects his attitude as it highlights the way he ranks women in society, as the Ibgo world does value rank and prestige. Since women have a title similar to men that do not have title, this shows that women are at the bottom of societal construct and expectations upon them. The causes Okonkwo to give less value to women, but also to have a lot less expectations towards them.

2.  “Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell, and which she no doubt still told to her younger children… […] That was the kind of story Nwoye loved. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children, and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women’s stories…” (53‐54) What does this passage tell us about the conflict between father and son? What does it tell us about what gender means in the novel? How does it foreshadow Nwoye’s later conversion?

The whole argument is that Nwoye loves stories but that his mother tells him but turns them down because of the ideology that his father has imposed on him, so that he is able to gain his father's respect and be more masculine in his eyes. This shows the conflicting views on what masculinity is and what men should act and enjoy. Having to always mask his true intent and feelings, Nwoye's later conversion is foreshadowed as from this moment he realises he will not be able around his father to be his true self.

3.  Women “never saw the inside of the [egwugwu house]. No woman ever did. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. If they imagined what was inside, they kept their imagination to themselves. No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and the most secret cult in the clan” (88). This is a good example of how women and men have different social roles in Igbo society. Discuss this passage and what it means to the novel.

This passage highlights the submissive role of women and the strength and intimidating nature of men. The passage is able to contrast the role and rank both genders have in society and shows what are the gender beliefs and values in the community.

4.  The discussion of motherland and “mother is supreme” on p. 133‐135. What does this add to our understanding of gender in the novel?

Uchendu literally says "A child belongs to its father", showing the importance and supremacy of fathers in the household. This allows to contrast the gender roles that are within the community when it comes to parenting as the mother is supposed to have a more emotional connect and the father has a more straightforward relation with his children.


5.  The very important passage in which Okonkwo’s friend Ofoedu discusses the relationship of a well‐known couple, Ndulue and Ozoemena, who have both died at the same time. Obierika says “It was always said that Ndulue and Ozoemena had one mind. ..He could not do anything without telling her.” To which Okonkwo replied, “I did not know that. I thought he was a strong man in his youth.” And Ofoedu says, “He was indeed.” (68) This is a key passage as it shows that other esteemed elders in the village do not share Okonkwo’s view that warriors cannot be loving or gentle or close to others; it demonstrates that his rigid position on what constitutes strong masculine behaviour is not shared by all Igbo men. Do you agree? Why?

Yes this passage shows how Okonkwo has a conflicting belief with Oberkia and how he believes that any display of affection or overly giving importance to women is a risk to masculinity.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Creation of a thesis

Prompt: With reference to Things Fall Apart, show how sub-plots or secondary characters contribute to the reader’s understanding and appreciation of the work as a whole.

In the novel by Chinua Achebe, "Things Fall Apart", Okonkwo's family help characterise Okonkwo in an indirect matter by highlighting his hypermasculinity and contributes to the conflicts throughout the novel by contrasting different values.


Saturday, April 29, 2017

Character consolidation


1. What is the significance of Okonkwo’s character? What does he represent or what is he symbolic of? 
Okonkwo is a significant character as he is in African literature one of the most compelling characters. He is the raging fume throughout the book, symbolizing hypermasculinity and fear of weakness. He is an accurate embodiment of both his culture as well as internal contradiction with it. He is both an antagonist and protagonist, allowing us to get insight of how true people act and how childhood and actions around us can shape and affect personality as well as an individual's outlook on life.

2. What is the purpose of Okonkwo’s character within the text? 
Although interpretations may differ, I believe that Okonkwo's character is to show how people that are resistant  to change and stubborn are bound to find themselves in difficult situations if they are not open to change. In this case Okonkwo's character, which a lot of people view as a tragic hero, shows the fate of all those that had to confront the colonialists and had a similar approach to him. Okonkwo is a strong character that not only represents himself but a culture that has evolved for centuries and was able to crumble after an event which is the arrival of colonialists, just like how Okonkwo took a while to build his status, only to end up being a lifeless body hung by a tree.

3. How does Okonkwo’s character contribute to themes or meaning?
Okonkwo's character relates to many of the themes within Things Fall Apart. He contributes to the theme of gender as he is afraid of feminization and dislikes any man close to it, and is a masculine character. There is also the theme of family as even if he doesn't show his affection for others, he still maintains the traditional family structure. He is also a character that is build up on respect and reputation as well as fear, and how it drives most of his decisions. 

Friday, April 28, 2017

Choice to characterise Okonkwo

Why would Achebe, taking into account the cultural context, choose to characterize Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype?

Okonkwo has many flaws, from his dominant fear of failure to his terrible temper. Okonkwo is seen as a tragic hero in the text, meaning he "holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall." In the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a very influential member of the Igbo community, a renowned wrestler, strong fighter and successful yam farmer. He is a good representative of both his village and culture, that both have a significant role in his life.

With Okonkwo being characterized as a tragic hero, this allows the Igbo culture and it's people shine through the novel. Having a character like so impacts the plot as when the character reacts which is always resistance, especially in the arrival of the missionaries and the colonialists, and the events show how the life of those that were tricked in Nigeria is different to those who were forced upon it. Okonkwo's death after the death of the white man ultimately signifies the death of the Igbo culture after colonisation.

Achebe using cultural context and values, does so to show that change is inevitable, and the release of a story like this to show another side of colonisation, that is against Western Occupation, and demonstrate to a possibly larger audience how those who acted likewise to a tragic hero and that stood up for their beliefs and what they were taught during their childhood became their own tragic hero unheard by the others around them who had already accepted the change.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Persuasive Speech


                                                  The speech of Charles Nogarther

                          Professor at Oxford that travelled to Ibo with the missionaries 
                   At the annual dinner of the Royal Colonial Institure on April 21, 1895

Greetings to all, I am immensely honored to be here at the Royal Colonial Institute, being able to share opinions in the light of the Imperial patriotism. In that light,we are all cognizant of the situation in the colonies of our beloved country, but I am afraid that we may not realise  how we are affecting consequently these so called "uncivilised populations".

I would like to commence this speech with the poetry lines from my latest book "Words From A Distance";
"So why do we label whoever does not resemble our reflection,
There is this creation of some kind of perception
That anything unknown will lack convention." 
You see when I decided to join the missionaries on their voyage and quest into the African continent, it was in light for inspiration for a new creative piece, to see these people that apparently have their eyes in their chests, these people that are not even characterised as humane in our literature.  The Igbo world is a "real world" just like any other country. We have set foot in this territory containing over fifteen million people and decided to call it ours, without considering the population, undermining their worth until they are nothing but slaves of our demands and a mere source of profit. 

It seems that we have detached ourselves from our humanity and if anything we should learn from the Igbo life; how it is based on equality in which nobody is allowed too much control or how the world is known to have constant struggles thus they have an approach which recognises that vie with situations is not worth it; constant readjustment is demanded by the individual. Surely, they live the same way our ancestors did; in touch with nature, but does that give us the right to go into their land and force them into our beliefs? 

As a professor, not only do I teach the depth of literature in our language, but I have also learnt to look at the depth of thought, and surely we do have different occupations, as they have more primitive needs such as living in harmony with nature or making enough food, but we truly need to stop making these false comparaisons; all flowers do not bloom at the same time. Does the fact that we are more educated make us superior? They believe in reincarnation, we believe in one God, but why can't one disregard the differences and try to work together to build a bridge in between both worlds. I am here to challenge your thoughts and conceptions, not force it upon you like what we have done to these populations. 

They are kind people that are open to change and negotiation, and it is indisputable that the Igbo people are not the only population which we have abused of their values for our mere benefit. I will finish this speech with one idea; if a bully were to threaten your child on your front lawn, how would you react?

Saturday, April 15, 2017

My takeaway from Achebe's interview

When approaching the book Things Fall Apart during the summer, I was confused of what the purpose of the book and it's significance, but only when understanding the decision of Achebe to set his book in that literary and cultural context (during the 19th century) in parallel to what was actually happening in all colonised countries (in 1958) was I only able to understand. It is not only a new form of literature in English that has been written to be able to show another side of civilisations in Africa that were otherwise described as savages and "uncivilized" by Europeans authors in the 18th century, but also shows the community that is values strength and stability. Submerging the reader into the world of Igbo before the arrival of colonial powers allows to show the complex, individual voices and deep value of African populations before they had been weakened by all it's values, unity and traditions, ultimately leaving all colonised territories discussing what should be the next steps for the future of their nations during the process of decolonisation. 
The demonstration of the complexity of the situation and it's impact reminds me of a quote that has stood out during the crash course video said by the Igbo people which is ; "If you want to see it well, you must not stand in one place" , highlighting the importance of not only looking at "the single story".

One quote that has stood out from the interview is; 
"but a whole range of people across the globe who have not spoken. It's not because they don't have something to say, it simply has to do with the division of power, because storytelling has to do with power. Those who win tell the story; those who are defeated are not heard. But that has to change. It's in the interest of everybody, including the winners, to know that there's another story. If you only hear one side of the story, you have no understanding at all. "
I have chosen this quote because it expands the idea I have said in the previous paragraph. There is an emphasis in this quotes that power is unfairly divided in the world, and that storytelling is essential because it's spreads the message and complexity of the issues. Usually history is essentially told by the winner and Achebe states that this must change, as there is no benefit in looking at the story from one perspective, but rather from a holistic view.