Parody

https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21576081-margaret-thatcher-britains-prime-minister-1979-1990-died-april-8th-age 

The following article was published by "The Economist" and 'assess her legacy to Britain and the world'. It is clear that the following article contains large amount of bias towards Thatcher and her 'legacies', as there is a use of bias in the headline stating: 'No ordinary politician', this overstatement and bias by the use of language, indicates that the writer sees Thatcher as great authority figure and that the article will be based on positive aspects.  

Ideology: For-Thatcherism 

Margaret Thatcher was Britain’s first female Prime Minister throughout the years 1979 to 1990. During her terms, Thatcher introduced a set of ‘conservative’ policies that she, herself, followed and then later mandated her policies on the public. As such, these policies were essentially called “Thatcherism”. The Thatcherism era (the 1980s) was a time of great conflict in change; whereby many workers responded by going on strikes, there were poll tax riots and many teenagers did not receive the public education they were entitled to.

Margaret Thatcher believed that there was "no such thing as society" and in the individual pursuit of wealth and this lead to the marginalization and belittling of the unfortunate and therefore ignore their needs. A country can not prosper or function properly if not all citizens are satisfied with how their leader is treating them; instead, citizens should be encouraged and assisted with their basic needs. For this reason, Thatcher's system was nowhere near moral, it was predominantly economic, it somehow became more "evil" than empires of socialism and communism, as those systems are 'based on public ownership of the means of production and centralized planning'. In the 1970s and 1980s, she initiated what became known as the "Thatcher Revolution," a series of social and economic changes that dismantled many aspects of Britain's postwar welfare state, establishing in their place free-market economic policies and deregulated markets and industries.

Sylvia Plath IOC

Guiding Questions:

What is the significance of nature imagery?
How does Plath surrender her identity?


https://soundcloud.com/reem-abusin/sylvia-plath-ioc 

Royal Beatings IOC

https://soundcloud.com/reem-abusin/royal-beatings-ioc-1

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

David Foster Wallace suggests that education does not necessarily determine one's future, nor does it help them with dealing with the real world and real people, implying that it only a fictional thing. Wallace states that "learning how to think" is the most important concept in the learning field; emotional intelligence rather than intelligence quotient.

Wallace's theory may be applicable to the writing of Munro's, as Munro's work mostly consists of characters who emotionally deal with life's complications, rather than using school or university education to assist them and aid them in getting through and enduring throughout life.

In addition, Wallace states that "the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about"; Munro makes use of this and entails this in one of her writing pieces- 'Runaway'.

The way Munro characterizes Carla is parallel to the preceding statement- Carla is aware that she is involved in an unhealthy relationship however she chooses to stay in it, even though it is an 'obvious, ubiquitous, important reality', it is also the 'hardest... to see and talk about'. This all suggests that no matter the economic/social/mental status of one- all humans are guilty of this.

"A huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded" 

Wallace, once again, reminds the readers/listeners that school education is not the most informative and most advantageous and that in school we, all, are conditioned into thinking that the answers we memorize will make us 'smart' or 'intelligent', this is true, to an extent. What Wallace suggests is that 'intelligence' comes in many forms; an important form is in the form of 'emotional intelligence'; "It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience". This is also evident in Munro's writing, as the characters, as well as the readers, are exposed to various emotions, which ultimately cannot be explained or put into the right words, meaning in school, we are not taught how we are supposed to manage our feelings or describe how we feel; most of the time when we believe we are feeling one type of way, it ends up being "totally wrong and deluded".

  

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:
The personal history of an author could most likely have a great influence on the way they choose to write and what they may choose to include; this is evident in the novel Things Fall Apart, as Achebe writes about events that occurred in his country's past, the way meaning is constructed in his writing imply that these events are what helped Achebe become who he is today.


OUTLINE

Paragraph 1:
From Achebe's work, the reader can understand the dedication he has towards his home country, this can be shown forms he way he constructs his writing.
Paragraph 2:
The fact that Achebe chooses to set this novel in Nigeria, implies that he sees Nigeria as a base for his own identity.
Paragraph 3:
Achebe portrays the missionaries in the novel as the 'bad guys', however he shows appreciation towards them through his work.

With reference to Things Fall Apart, discuss how an understanding of gender influences how the text may be understood.

Thesis Statement: 
Gender is one of the most noteworthy and prominent themes explored in the novel Things Fall Apart. It is evident that there is a bold division line between the 2 genders; one receives more appreciation and value than the other. The term 'agbala' holds an important meaning in the igbo culture and all of the male characters aspire to disassociate themselves from that term as much as possible; this could arguably be the trigger to his high level of aggression and dominance over his wives.

OUTLINE

Paragraph 1:
Achebe illustrates the division line between females and males during that era by using offensive diction to describe women.
Paragraph 2:
It is suggested in the novel that there is conflict within males as well; they compete to be more masculine than one another.
Paragraph 3:
The women in the novel are shown to be degraded at all times throughout the novel.

Thesis Statement

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 'Things Fall Apart', it is evident that Chinua Achebe shines the spotlight primarily on Okonkwo's character, however it is crucial to mention that many of the other secondary characters surrounding Okonkwo are what manufactured him into the dominant and egotistical male figure he is shown to be. Okonwko is portrayed as a tragic hero in the novel; even though his father, Unoka, is not present throughout the novel, he is incredibly acknowledged and blamed. The secondary characters in the novel all contribute to eventually lead Okonkwo to his own downfall towards the end of the novel.