Why is Things Fall Apart a tragedy?

In many ways, colonization is a tragedy in itself. The culture of many peoples being stripped away from them as they are forced to assimilate into another culture that may differ widely from theirs. Okonkwo being painted as a tragic hero isn’t too far from the truth in my opinion, as humans are always reluctant to change especially when something foreign is introduced, such as the British missionaries. Okonkwo rose to the top from despair but then fell back due to his actions and struggle with colonization.
Chinua Achebe himself is part of the igbo culture, though he described his christianity compared to his igbo culture as being on a fence. As a biracial person, being half Arab and Latino, I have some sort of understanding about what Achebe says about being on a fence. It could be because he lives in Nigeria and wanted to represent that part of his culture, which again is understandable for me. Arabs are never portrayed in media correctly, so when I write I always have Arab characters.
This is similar to Achebe, he took his cultural identity and applied it to stories he wrote. Being able to write a tragedy about your own culture can have lasting impacts, especially when there's nothing on your culture before it was colonized. The author is able to shift the perspective and allows people to have another understanding about the colonization of Igboland, a deeper understanding of the culture and the tragedy of colonization. This way, he is able to express his feelings on his own culture and how it's portrayed and provide insight to non-igbo or non-african audiences.

Igbo Bg Assignment

NOTE: The background assignment is presented as a speech given in the Victorian Era about why it is unjust to have colonies.

I greet each and every one of our prestige guests to the Royal Colonial Institute. We gather to speak of the colonies, how we may regard them as an extension to our prestige empire. However, to what extent do we speak of the culture and lifestyle of our extensions? Do we stop and think about the peoples under our empire? The Igbo people are just one of them, but they were just as much as a civilization as we are today. What do you know about the Igbo people?

After witnessing their society first hand, I must say that their culture has captivated and beheld me. Their customs and way of life before we had ‘taken them under our wing’  is truly fascinating. I was in the company of an Igbo man, where traditionally a kola nut would be broken and shared amongst us. I enjoyed learning their idioms and phrases, too. I learnt that iron forges has been a part of their culture for centuries and developed unique techniques. They have such a rich culture that even a vegetable has such an impactful meaning, such as the yam. The Igbo believe that the yam is the first agricultural turning point for them.

Staying in a village was insightful, I developed a deeper understanding and passion for these people that I can only say it is unfair to assume they are savages when they have such intricate democratic and social aspects that just differ to our own. Women contributed largely to their society and are in charge of religious duties and are able to commerce freely and gain ranks just as their male counterparts. Everybody in this society contributes to a greater goal of keeping civil and peace, therefore it is unjust to ruin that when they have lived so long without the help of our empire. We should also keep this in mind to other lands that are an 'extension' to us.

Coriolanus Practice IOC

Link to the audio

Power in Coriolanus

The political play, Coriolanus, is written by William Shakespeare to represent how power can fall into the wrong hands and how power can be manipulated through various circumstances. It was a reflection of England at the time, a nod to King James I. Throughout the play, many characters portray some sort of power over the overarching plot, such as Coriolanus's mother or the power of the people, the commoners.

The commoners have little power that holds great responsibilities. They have voices that in the end, are heard as the subconscious. Coriolanus held the power of persuasion, which eventually gave power to the commoners to elect him as consul. It was also the people who then begged for the downfall.

Though, some may argue that Volumnia has her own way with words, her own power over her son, Caius Martius Coriolanus. Volumnia on her own persuaded Coriolanus to present his scars to the people, though he was unwilling. She was the woman who raised him to be who he was, and later she regret it and even managed to convince him to cease his attack against Rome. Ultimately, she holds that maternal force that is able to calm down the revenge seeking Coriolanus.

With power also comes with the loss of power. Coriolanus lost his power multiple times throughout the play. He gained it through serving his country in a war, then persuaded the people to vote for him. It worked out in his favor, however he later lost it due to his betrayal and banishment from his country and was later executed shortly after he had decided not to attack.

Roll it off the tongue!

Here's a podcast I did in collaboration with Nicole!

Language is an instrument.

As medieval Spanish linguist Antonio de Nebrija said to Queen Isabella, "Language is an empire's greatest instrument." which could have many different meanings. Empires are known to conquer and colonize, instruments could mean a plethora of things such as devices, tools or even such things to create music. Taking in the account the context is colonialism, the instrument here could be meant as a device. Music is usually meant for performances, entertainment and joyous occasions, all of which colonialism is not. Language is a weapon that can deconstruct or add on to cultures, it can be used to assimilate itself unto a region unknown to the originators. Colonizers like France, Britain and Spain force their languages to their colonies like the mediterranean, North America, or South America respectfully. To the natives of those regions, their culture is being lost since language is a big part of culture.

Culture, as the British Oxford dictionary defines it, is "The ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society.". This means that it's a way of life, it's part of their history and surroundings and it should not be taken away from them. Languages, however, can co-exist, although colonizers of the past wouldn't agree as they though that it was their language that was the purest, and should be the only spoken tongue on stolen land. There are examples of languages in the modern world co-existing, post-colonialism. Countries such as Canada, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates all have two or more prominent languages spoken in their nations due to the effects of colonialism.

So to conclude, Antonio de Nebrija clearly meant language is a device that can be used by empires spread their words throughout a region.

Stereotypes in advertising

I believe that in order to progress in the modern world, we must be morally conscious of the content we distribute and publish. Therefore, advertisers should best avoid stereotyping because putting down one innocent group in favor of the other is never a sound thing to do. People must be treated as equals, everyone is different and there must be an acceptance of that. Stereotypes are based off of historical misconceptions or unfair assumptions in the modern day, contributing to any stereotypes is generalizing an entire group of people. Most stereotypes contribute to historical oppression towards marginalized groups, or contribute to toxic idealizations towards any group. Either way, they do nothing to make progress, they exist to guilt, punish or undermine.

Putting stereotypes into advertisements could mean two things: Garnering the attention of the wrong crowd, people like bigots who you would not want to associate with your product, or your product being boycotted for unethical, demoralized practices (like stereotyping). With internet culture, both are likely to happen which will either way, give you bad reputation and turned into a laughing stock of social media with jokes or memes. Normally, social media attention is a good thing, but having done something morally and ethically wrong will increase the jokes and decrease sales.