...for a labor force to work the land in the Caribbean Islands. European colonization in Africa reaches back to Ghana in the late fourteenth century. From the fifteenth century and beyond, Ghana was a major slave exporter for the Europeans to the Caribbean and Europe. In Ghana, relationships were formed with political powers to produce and maintain European slave trading posts on its coast. The African response to European colonization varied. Middle and low class Africans suffered greatly as they supplied the slave force. In contrast, Africans who held power or were wealthy profited as they provided the slaves for trade. In both the past and Achebe’s novel, European colonization in Africa was both highly demanded and discouraged. Prior to colonizing for slave trade, Ghana was known as the “Gold Coast” to the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and English. (Richard, “The Gold Coast Slave Trade”) Only gold and resources were traded between Ghana and Europe. Similar to Sierra Leone, Europeans made their way to Ghana in the fifteenth century, building fortified trading posts along the “Gold Coast”. This area was militant protected which often caused conflicts with inhabitants. Europeans formed relationships with those in political power, which allowed them to colonize parts of Ghana, and also have a consistent source to supply them with slaves. European colonization of Ghana, ripped the country in half; the wealthy political figures and chiefs worked with the Europeans, selling out middle/...
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... | Discuss any two fictional texts studied in the light of fin de siècle theories of degeneration. The era of the Victorian fin de siècle ‘…from the 1880s to the end of the century…generated an enormous amount of scientific and cultural debate concerning the future civilisation and the human race itself.’[1] It was an era of technical progress, Imperial gain, and a nation at the pinnacle of progress. ‘…bolstered by Darwin’s theory of evolution, Victorians regarded themselves and their society as the acme of human development.’[2] However, it was an era that balanced on the age of a new century that seemed to accentuate and highlight numerous anxieties. Ledger and Luckhurst (2000) further state that this was an ambivalent period; with major progress in science and technology but also a time of real decline, in which Britain’s global economic power was rivalled by Germany and America. This ambivalence at the turn of the century created fears and anxieties concerning the decline of the British race. A crucial influence on British anxieties of decline was underpinned by scientific and medical knowledge known as Theories of Degeneration. Ledger and Luckhurst (2000) state, at this time, that ‘…degeneration was one defining structure which can be traced across many disciplines…’[3] These theories of degeneration impacted over many discourses within Victorian culture including race, class, sexuality and morality, and envisaged ‘…a “primitive” lost world or degenerate “after...
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...relationships, worldview etc. Narrative form used by realists is characterized by several narrative characters in order to create an objective vision of life. The most prominent among the writers who continued the traditions of realism were: J. Galsworthy, A. Bennett, H. Wells, B. Shaw; and their followers R. Aldington, G. Orwell, J. Priestley, and E. Waugh. The Novel is certainly the most important literary form of the period. The realistic novel is represented by such novelistic forms as: the social and social-psychological novel (J. Galsworthy, E. Waugh, R. Aldington) the social-domestic novel (A. Bennett, H. Wells) the comic or satirical novel (E. Waugh) family chronicle or epic cycle (J. Galsworthy) science fiction (H. Wells). Despite all this, realism and his representatives suffered much criticism. The main argument developed between Arnold Bennett and Virginia Woolf. She felt that there was something missing from the works of Bennett, Galsworthy and Wells; that there was something deficient in their approach. They still followed the Victorian tradition as far as the technique of the novel is concerned. Woolf wrote,...
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...otherwise contemptible.[1] In this context, it can be used interchangeably with jerk, and can also be used as a verb to describe rude or deceitful actions. Variants include dickhead, which literally refers to the glans. The offensiveness of the word dick is complicated by the continued use of the word in inoffensive contexts, including as both a given name and a surname, in the popular British dessert, spotted dick, in the classic novel Moby-Dick, and in the Dick and Jane series of children's books. Uses such as these have provided a basis for comedy writers to exploit this juxtaposition through double entendre. The word dick has had other slang meanings in the past. It was frequently used in mystery fiction to mean "detective", as with the 1940 W.C. Fields film, The Bank Dick (which was released in the United Kingdom as The Bank Detective). The word has sometimes been used to mean "nothing". Neither of these definitions were necessarily pejorative or related to the usual modern meaning of the word. Contents [hide] 1 Origin and evolution 2 Offensiveness 3 See also 4 References Origin and evolution[edit] The term dick originally derives from the given name, Richard, derived from German, French, and English "ric" (ruler, leader, king) and "hard" (strong, brave), and therefore meaning "powerful leader". This was shortened to Rick as a nickname, which then became "Dick" through the same...
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...HENRY JAMES ( 1843 - 1916 ) Henry James was born an American and Joseph Conrad a Pole. Each chose to settle in England to become a British subject and for each, the collision of different cultures was an important themes. The relation of America to Europe is a central concern in James’ fiction : in major novels such as “ The Portrait Of A Lady “(1881), “ The Wings Of The Dove” ( 1902 ),or “ Daisy Miller” (1879) the moral consequences of the meeting of American innocence and enthusiasm with a sophisticated but corrupt European culture are explored by means of irony , a sustained attention to the nuances of individual CONSCIOUSNESS , and a prose style of increasing subtlety and complexity . But in their technique James and Conrad are most revolutionary .Modernist novelists sought radical redefinition of the REAL. Since the individual always perceives reality through his or her own consciousness , the contents and structure of consciousness represent the only accessible reality .A number of philosophical influences are relevant here : William James ‘ Henry James’ brother ‘ a psychologist and philosopher elaborated the notion of “pure experience”, all reality being described in terms of SUBJECTIVE HUMAN EXPERIENCE ( and he also named the new trend “ stream of consciousness”). Sigmund Freud (1856- 1939) had had an enormous influence upon modern literature as a result of his idea that “ all mental phenomena have meaning...
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...Piggy: The Voice That No One Listened To The Lord of the Flies by author William Golding is an allegory that parallels human nature with the tale of a handful of British schoolboys who must come to terms with reality and work together in order to survive on a deserted island. The character of Piggy is the author's voice of reason, and the sort of parental control that keeps the story progressing and interesting. Piggy is the voice of conscious due to his mature way of thinking and insightful observations. Amidst rash thinking and brash decision making, Piggy helps advance the novel’s themes of consequences to choices. Out of all the characters in The Lord of the Flies, Piggy shows that he thinks on a higher level of thinking than most of...
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...and evolution took place, boosting mankind into the nuclear space era. The joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. space station spots a magnetic disturbance on the moon; they send a team of researchers to investigate it. When they arrive they find a black monolith like the one from millions of years ago. They study from afar as the sun rises over the crest of the moon, as the sunlight hits upon the monolith. As the monolith baths in sunlight a piercing tone is sent through the deepest part of the galaxy. David Bowman and Frank Poole are the conscious astronauts guiding the “Discovery” mission to Jupiter; HAL (Artificial intelligence) was maintain the ship and checking components. They’re days aboard the “Discovery” were immaculately planned as to minimize failures. The ship neared Jupiter. Here, it released probes to gather...
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...The Remarkable Tale of Mary Anning: An Analysis of Remarkable Creatures and its Merit as Historical Fiction Novels can do more that simply tell stories. Novels can enhance or emphasize thoughts and ideas. They can excite a wide variety of emotions. They can be the product of imagination, or they can be influenced by historical fact. Whether or not the events in a novel are true is left entirely up to the author, but it is truly an incredible feat to take a piece of history and turn it into a work of fiction that is plausible and logical. For our Senior Seminar, we have studied the aspects of fiction that have a basis in historical fact. They do so by applying certain literary devices that are necessary to the historical fiction genre. The novel I chose to research and present on is entitled Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Last Runaway. This work of historical fiction tells the story of Mary Anning, one of the first recognized female paleontologists whose discoveries changed many views on the world and how it began. Remarkable Creatures is a biographical novel, as it concentrates on the experiences that Mary Anning had during her lifetime, the people she meets, and the incidents that occur in her life. This essay will evaluate Chevalier’s work on the basis of its merit as historical fiction. Remarkable Creatures belongs in this category because it Chevalier implements the critical terms of the genre in numerous and intricate...
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...figures had little reason to do anything except reinforce the myth of Canada’s birth of a nation on Vimy Ridge. The notion of creating a nation from a myth is hardly a new concept in history, dating back to Augustus’ commissioning of the Aeneid in 27BCE. In fact, the narrative of Vimy Ridge in its current mythical form closely mirrors the format of the Aeneid. Through a heroic expedition and battle, both the Roman and Canadian states begin to take shape. Literary scholars Joseph Farrell and Micheal Putnam describe the Aeneid as a Roman etiology whose “narrative aims at a Roman nation distinct from other nations, particularly from the Trojans with whom it had originated….” If one views the relationship between Canadians the paternal British Empire surrounding Vimy Ridge through this lens that Farrell and Putnam illustrate, the similarities between the Aeneid and Vimy etiologies are eerie. While the nation-building purpose of the myth is clear, one must ask how the myth achieved fame in Canada. While the earlier example of Berton’s Vimy was doubtlessly complicit in establishing the myth’s Canadian ubiquity, there was a pre-existing notion of Vimy as a nation-founding event. Historian Tim cook observes that Berton’s Vimy utilized personal stories of the Canadians that fought at Vimy – those who had a personal stake in the importance of the battle – and thus “retrieved many strands of memory that celebrated Vimy from older Canadians and veterans, and presented them to a new...
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...was the last natural case of smallpox, and on the 9th of May, 1980, smallpox was officially eradicated. Canada’s contribution to the smallpox eradication was the development of a highly potent freeze the dried smallpox vaccine by Connaught Medical Research Laboratories in Toronto. More recent contributions include; Professor David Evans of the University of Alberta who announced on Friday, March 3, that he has devised a new vaccine based on horsepox. In conclusion, with the threat of bioterrorism, we had little health infrastructure if smallpox were to return. In addition to the lecture, we were asked to read The Speckled Monster: Canada, Smallpox and Its Eradication by Luis Barreto and Christopher J Rutty. This article discusses the evolution of smallpox, and the developments taken place to eradicate the virus. Before the vaccine, smallpox initially meant death, but with the development of various vaccines, smallpox was eradicated in May of 1980. In addition, the article discusses Canada’s role in the development, improvement and deliverance of smallpox vaccines, that eventually helped eradicate the virus. To reflect upon the lecture, it is evident that when there is a need, such as the eradication of smallpox, one can see it causes for a development in technology. I strongly believe that if one has the motivation to fulfill a need, it is possible, creating new inventions in the process. In the case of the smallpox, when they were first developing vaccination, they extracted...
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...Hari Kunzru Literature Resource Center | Ratcliffe, Sophie. "Hari Kunzru." British Writers: Supplement 14. Ed. Jay Parini. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1483000135&v=2.1&u=monroecc&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w | Title: Hari Kunzru British Writer ( 1969 - )Author(s): Sophie RatcliffeSource: British Writers: Supplement 14. Ed. Jay Parini. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2009. From Scribner Writers Series.Document Type: Biography, Critical essay[Image Omitted: ]Table of Contents:Biographical EssayFurther ReadingsWorks In 2007, visitors encountering Hari Kunzru's website for the first time might have been a little surprised. Those searching for more information about this British author would have come across an old school photograph of a small boy aged perhaps five or six years old. A few lines of curt white typeface gave a few brief details: his current age, the fact that he was born in London in 1969, and, perhaps surprisingly, his blood group (HbAD) and a hyperlink to his genotype (human). Kunzru is joking, here, about the contemporary thirst for biographical details about writers. As he puts it, nowadays, "British journalists seem more interested in your biography or your publishing deal--the British press is interested in writers, but it isn't interested in writing" (Litt, 2004). The starkly playful nature of Kunzru's 2007 website poked fun both...
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...Mr Deeprose October 10th, 2012 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Reading Response The novel The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald is a book that deals with the American Dream: an ideal presented in American literature where the dreamer rises to wealth, very present in the twenties. In this bestseller, Gatsby – the protagonist – embodies the evolution of one to greatness. Beginning his life as a simple, poor farmer’s boy. James Gatz, upon meeting the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan who is wealthy, decides to rise to success and fortune – and carries the name of Jay Gatsby, who “sprang from his Platonic conception of himself”(95). Through this process really achieves the American dream. In addition, Gatsby becomes great to the narrator and his close friend, Nick Carraway – however, the novel ends as a tragedy, and by having the great Gatsby shot dead. Through the use of the symbol of Daisy Buchanan as well as the significance of the title, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the idea of the American Dream and that it rarely equaled to absolute happiness. Daisy Buchanan symbolizes the failed attempt at finding ultimate happiness through money: ”For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes” (143). Daisy is the cousin of Nick Carraway, but most importantly Gatsby’s love. Daisy and Gatsby had been romantically...
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...1. Literature of the 17th century. John Milton. “Paradise Lost”. John Bunyan. “Pilgrim’s Progress”. The peculiarities of the English literature of the 17th century are determined by the events of the Engl. Bourgeois Revolution, which took place in 1640-60. King Charles I was beheaded in 1649& General Oliver Cromwell became the leader of the new government. In 1660, shortly after Cro-ll’s death, the dynasty of the Stuarts was restored. The establishment of new social&eco-ic relations, the change from feudal to bourgeois ownership, escalating class-struggle, liberation movement and contradictions of the bourgeois society found their reflection in lit-re. The main representatives of this period is: John Milton: was born in London&educated at Christ’s College. He lived a pure life believing that he had a great purpose to complete. At college he was known as the The Lady of Christ’s. he Got master’s degree at Cambridge. It’s convenient to consider his works in 3 divisions. At first he wrote his short poems at Horton. (The Passion, Song on May Morning, L’Allegro). Then he wrote mainly prose. His 3 greatest poems belong to his last group. At the age of 23 he had still done little in life&he admits this in one of his sonnets. (On his 23d B-day) In his another sonnet he wrote on his own blindness. (On his Blindness) Milton wrote diff. kinds of works. His prose works were mainly concerned with church, affairs, divorce & freedom. The English civil war between Charles...
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...mixture of both morality and hypocrisy, severity and conformity to social standards (possessions of good manners, ownership of a comfortable house, regular attendance at church and charitable activity); it distiguished the middle from the lower classes; * charity and philanthropy: an activity that involved many people, expecially women. The family was strictly patriarchal: the husband represented the authority and respectability, cosequently a single woman with a child was emarginated because of a wide-spread sense of female chastity. Sexuality was generaly repressed and that led to extreme manifestations of prudery. Colonialism was an important phenomenon and it led to a patriotism deeply influenced by ideas of racial superiority: British people thought that they were obeying to God by the imposition of their superior way of life. The concept of “the white man’s burden” was exalted in the works of colonial writers (such as Rudyard Kipling). This code of values, known as “Victorian Compromise” founds its basis in some religious and philosophical movements: * evangelicalism: influenced the emphasis upon moral conduct; it had been created in 18th century by John Wesley who believed in the dedication to humanitarian causes and social reforms; * utilitarianism: whose theorist was Jeremy Bentham, neglected human and cultural values and trusted reason as...
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...Rethinking the Regional Novel In the previous chapters, I have discussed the polemics of the regional novel during the course of its evolution as a special category. An attempt was made there to trace their development in the British, Indian, and Telugu literary traditions. The British regional novel is a different phenomenon from that of the regional novel in India. Yet, there have been some important continuities in the genre. Preoccupations with landscape as also with identity conflicts have continued as distinctive components of the regional novel. As the introduction discusses, such developments are partly products of the socioeconomic milieu of the writers. In this concluding section, I return to that assertion and draw together some observations, discussions and arguments to offer my views on what might actually have gone into the making of the regional novel. Firstly, I review the major queries regarding the nature of the "region" and the "regional novel" that have cropped up during the course of the thesis and consider how they might be explained. "There is no universally accepted definition of the region," observes Norton Ginsberg, (qtd. in Cohn 101) The study comes out with the hypothesis that the "region" cannot be given one particular identity and definition. When we come across labels like Regional College of Education, Regional Engineering College, etc, we are bound to associate the region with something local and inferior as opposed to the National and the...
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