Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Chimamanda Adichie - how an author's life and past experiences can serve as a platform for stories

Life experiences are a collection of events that people have had in the past. It provides us with something to talk about and share with others. Many writers talk about small pieces of their lives to their readers in how they write and what they write about. One author i am really fascinated with is a Nigerian writer, her name is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she was born  in the year 1977. Maybe the reason why i like her so much is because i could relate easily to her work because I'm Nigerian too. 

She grew up in eastern Nigeria with her parents in a university campus because her dad was a professor and mum a university registrar, she started writing at a very young age because she was exposed to American and British children's books. Today she She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, and a collection of short stories titled The Thing around Your Neck. She has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Orange Broadband prize for Fiction and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.

She frequently talks about the colonial and post colonial era in Nigeria. Her book "Half of a Yellow Sun" for example takes place during the Nigerian civil war also known as the Nigerian-Biafran war, that took place in the late 60's to the early 70's shortly after the British gave Nigeria her Independence. I think one of the reasons why she writes about this event is because she lost relatives during the war and obviously the war was caused by the colonial amalgamation of Nigeria.
The point is she's a writer and she has been able to tell stories by using her a life experience. Just to name but a few, Emily Dickinson life reflected through her work, Elie Wiesel is another example so as many other writers who who have had horrible experiences such a war, and those who have loved and lost, all have their works revealing a little about them.

I, Too by Langston Huges

Overall class reflection

I could remember coming to class the first day thinking I'm going to be the odd one out because I'm probably the only one who wasn't born in this country, but I've met a few people i now talk to frequently. My first thought was that it is English so it is going to be easy compared to my other classes but when i got the syllabus, i realized it will take more time than i was hoping for because i have many other classes that requires great deal of time too.


We've covered a lot and i have learnt a lot, even though we didn't do much on writing, i have better understanding now, of how to analyze poems and stories and also interpret them in my own way, Most of all, the biggest thing i have learnt is to always to get as many information as possible about the author of the work I'm reading because, it gives a lot of clue as to why the writer frequently talks about a certain topic for example people who fought in wars write many things based on it and so on and so forth .


furthermore, we discussed Hemingway, Faulkner, Jackson, Langston, Owen, Blake and so many others and interesting stories such as "A Rose for Emily", "Oedipus" which is my favorite because it was straight forward and '"a doll's house" by Henrik Ibsen that emphasized self actualization have all opened my minds to a new way of looking at literature.


In a nutshell it has been an interesting class so far and also a hard one too, but i know more now about literature and also how to read to understand.

reflection-personification, alliteration, metaphors, simile and verbal irony

personification is when an inanimate object possess the traits of a person,
alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound
metaphor is the likening or comparison of something with another
Simile is similar to metaphor; it is the comparison of the two different things using "like" and "as"
 and finally, verbal irony is a figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

Writers use these literal devices to make their work more meaningful and thought provoking, take "the silken tent" by Robert Frost for example, where he uses the silken tent to represent a woman which is most likely his mother. When we talk about tent, we think about a shelter, shade that is mobile supported by one or more poles, so in-other words his mom possess characteristics of a tent and vice versa. so it is personification.

Verbal irony can be used either when trying to convey a serious message across or when trying to be sarcastic. An example of verbal irony in literature is the one we can find in Hamlet. When he said " I will speak dagger to her, but use none" it means that he will tell her how he feels and wont be nice about it, but wont physically hurt her. Also another example is "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen that loosely translates to "it is good and honorable to die for your country" but the point the poem is trying to get across is totally different.

The Lottery - Part 1 of 2

you can watch the other part on YouTube

reflection-Wordsworth and Keats

A very interesting class lesson. We discussed  similarities and the differences Between Wordsworth and Keats and how they are unique in their own ways. Both authors were romantic writers and by romantic i mean the Romanticism era; a period of artistic and intellectual movement that originated in the late 18th century. It stressed strong emotion, imagination, freedom from classical correctness in all form including paintings and poetry.
Starting with the similarities of Keats and Wordsworth both talked about nature and how beautiful and comforting it is they also wrote about the empirical age.
What i learned from the class lesson  is that Wordsworth is a teacher in his works, he wants his readers to gain something, he talks about Joy and that he wants his readers to find themselves while on the other hand Keats didn't write to change others views also he wrote about the joy and relief nature can bring.
It can be said that both authors attitude to writing was influenced on their life experiences for example Keats lost his parents at a very young age which reflected in his work also Wordsworth lived in France during the revolution which can said to have influence him because, he frequently talked about about how he wants his readers to discover themselves which can be equated to freedom displayed in the french revolution because they were tired of the repressive monarchy they were living under.

Doll's House Final Scene

Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris

In midnight Paris starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, Corey Stoll did a wonderful  portrayal of  Hemingway.

blog assignment #10 - A doll's house

According to Michael Mayer “There's need for every individual to find out the kind of person he or she really is, and to strive to become that person.” I read a biography about the play, in it, Ibsen was requested to write an alternative ending to the play because it won't play well in German theaters because at the time, which was the 1800's to early 1900's, women were seen as caretakers of their families rather than the bread winners of the family in their society then. "a doll's house" brought about confrontations from many in the society about his work, but he felt that the society sets what they think should be the "norm", and that people are being controlled and being dictated to how to live their lives in the society. He thought every person including man and woman, had the right to self-discovery and self actualization, to be who they wanted to be and an example from the play was when Nora decided to leave Trovald because, she is being taken for granted by him and also she realizes that Trovald is only the marriage for his own selfish reasons. Overall they are all a product of what the society wants them to be and it took that misunderstanding for Nora to realize where she really stand in their relationship.

blog assignment #9 - Oedipus The King

Oedipus was born to fulfill the abominable prophecy of Apollo which is, to kill his  father and marry his mother when he is grown. Even though he came to know about the prophecy of Apollo about him and could have used it as a tool to control how he wanted his life to turn out and prevent the ill prophecy from coming to pass, instead he made rash decisions in ignorance of the truth that led him to the state he later found himself in.
Oedipus displayed enough intelligence to solve the "sphinx's riddle" but not enough to escape what he was destined for. He allowed himself to be controlled by pride, impatience and hardheadedness, made him determine to find the killer of Laius ignorantly.
 most importantly when he found out he killed his father he intentionally turned himself blind and also humbly apologized to Creon for the way he acted towards him.
in relation to my own personal experiences, i haven't really suffered but i try to use my mistakes in the past to forge ahead in tough and similar situations i find myself.

Prince of Persia Movie Trailer

blog assignment #7- the prince of persia: the sand of time

Dastan and his two royal brothers Tus, and Gasiv launched an attack on the of city of Alamut. Their uncle Nizam had convinced the eldest of them that the sacred city of Alamut is selling weapon to the enemy of of persia. Dastan who was formerly an orphan,  was adopted by the king after seeing him display courage against the city's guards who were after him for stealing an apple created the opportunity for the defeat of Alamut. Dastan came across a special dagger that uses a special sand to  reverse the course of time without anyone else remembering the event except for him alone. When they returned home the king wasn't happy with his eldest son's, Tus decision to attack Alamut so he exiled him. Before he embarked on his journey, Tus unknowingly gives Dastan a poisoned robe prepared by their uncle Nizam to present to the king which eventually  kills him and Dastan had to flee Persia because he is believed to be the murderer and him being an adopted child made the matter worse. Dastan attempts to convince Nizam that he did not kill his father but Garsiv and the city guards appear and attack him. On his way Dastan explained to the princess of Alamut who initially flee with him because of the dagger that actually belongs to her that Nizam is the killer of his father, he succeeded in using the dagger to reverse the time after a long struggle with his uncle and his mercenaries to when the attack on Alamut was being plotted and finally succeeds in convincing everyone that Nazim is trying to kill their father because fate has not been good to him and that if he could he would go back in time to have left their father to die when he was attacked by a lion so that he could become the king.

blog assignment #7

There are many questions I'd like to answer
why quarrel when you can make amends?
why fight wars to terminate young lives when many others can be saved?
why do we the let bad side of us take over the good side?
why do allow anger to manifest it worst before come to our senses?
why do we kill for no reason ?
why do we take pride in our flit when can simply humble yourself?
why do we take pleasure in hurting and making others cry, and wallow in their pain?
why are we so greedy, power-thirsty?
why can you just say sorry before it gets out of hand?
I am a young man who sees nothing but humans as very confused and at the
same amusing being, but all i can say his we are just humans no knows not what our
actions and the way we do things we lead us.

Blog assignment #6

"Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity."

Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 1830. She was a great poet. She lived mostly an introverted and reclusive life. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most reoccurring topics in her works are immortality and death. The poem  shows that the speaker is dead and she's looking back at when she died. (12-13), it symbolizes the fact that her mobility is now restricted because she is now in the grave, which is part of the landscape, and thus, cannot move. Also (17-24), where it says "we paused before a house that seemed A swelling ground' it is meant to symbolize her grave and the "horses heads were toward eternity"  symbolizes the fact that her body is going to be buried, and her soul is going to the afterlife.

Blog assignment #5 -- "It dropped so low in my regard"

It dropped so low -- in my Regard --
I heard it hit the Ground --
And go to pieces on the Stones
At bottom of my Mind --

Yet blamed the Fate that flung it -- less
Than I denounced Myself,
For entertaining Plated Wares
Upon My Silver Shelf -- 

Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 1830. She was a great poet. She lived mostly an introverted and reclusive life. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence. The poem, simply symbolizes regret, from lines (1-4) the regrets of not making efforts in putting what she loves so much out there to be published because not up to a dozen of her work was published in her lifetime even though she was a productive writer. Maybe it is about her holding something in high esteem, perhaps a person? that was not what she thought it was, like a similar situation in a "Rose For Emily" by William Faulkner.

"Yet blamed the Fate that flung it -- less
Than I denounced Myself,
For entertaining Plated Wares
Upon My Silver Shelf --" this stanza simply means even though her experiences and what she if feeling right now can be atrributed to her own fault and mistakes, yet she chooses to blame fate because she can't stand the fact she is the cause of her own  in life.

blog assignment #4 - Jerusalem by William Blake

The romantic era was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century in Europe and strengthened in reaction to the industrial revolution and a revolt against the aristocratic social and political norms. Jerusalem by William Blake is also one of the work produced at the time.
In the poem William Blake calls for Jerusalem to be built in England, he said
"I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
 In England's green and pleasant land."(13-16)
Jerusalem represents holiness and purity and he takes this idea to speak about the spiritual meaning of Among these dark Satanic Mills? an example personification connected with alliteration is the reference to the holy lamb of God which represent Jesus(1-2). And the line that quotes "Among these dark Satanic Mills?  simply means a holy land Jerusalem cannot be built in a place of tyranny

blog assignment #3 - Bartleby

The whole story deals with the purposeless of much of human life. Bartleby is a man who becomes increasingly isolated from others. He gradually gives up on life. That's why he continually says: "I would prefer not to." (Melville 13). The narrator is confused because he can't seem to help Bartleby. The world in which these characters exist is a kind of slow poison that drains them of their humanity.

The narrator, an elderly Manhattan lawyer with a very comfortable business helping wealthy men deal with mortgages, deeds, and bonds, relates the story of the strangest man he has ever known.
At the start of the story, the narrator already employs two scrivebners, nicknamed Nippers and Turkey, to copy legal documents by hand. . An increase in business leads the narrator to advertise for a third scrivener, and he hires the forlorn-looking Bartleby in hopes that his calmness will soothe the temperaments of Nippers and Turkey.
At first, Bartleby appears to be a favour to the practice, as he produces a large volume of high-quality work. One day, though, when asked by the narrator to help proofread a copied document, Bartleby answers with what soon becomes his stock response: "I would prefer not to." To the dismay of the narrator and to the irritation of the other employees, Bartleby performs fewer and fewer tasks around the office. The narrator makes several attempts to reason with him and to learn something about him, but Bartleby offers nothing but his signature "I would prefer not to." One weekend the narrator stops by the office unexpectedly and discovers that Bartleby has started living there. The loneliness of Bartleby's life impresses him: at night and on Sundays, wall street  is as desolate as a ghost town, and the window in Bartleby's corner allows him no view except that of a blank wall three feet away. The narrator's feelings for Bartleby alternate between pity and revulsion.
For a while Bartleby remains willing to do his main work of copying, but eventually he ceases this activity as well, so that finally he is doing nothing. And yet the narrator finds himself unable to make Bartleby leave; his unwillingness or inability to move against Bartleby mirrors Bartleby's own strange inaction. Tension gradually builds as the narrator's business associates wonder why the strange and idle Bartleby is ever-present in the office.
Sensing the threat of a ruined reputation, but emotionally unable to throw Bartleby out, the exasperated narrator finally decides to move out himself, relocating his entire business and leaving Bartleby behind. But soon the new tenants of the old space come to ask for his help: Bartleby still will not leave. Although they have thrown him out of the rooms, he now sits on the stairs all day and sleeps in the building's front doorway. The narrator visits Bartleby and attempts to reason with him. Feeling desperate, the narrator now surprises even himself by inviting Bartleby to come and live with him at his own home. But Bartleby, alas, "would prefer not to."
 In short the narrator returns to find that Bartleby has been forcibly removed and imprisoned. The narrator visits him. As ever, Bartleby rebuffs the narrator's friendliness. Nevertheless, the narrator bribes a turnkey to make sure Bartleby gets good and plentiful food. But when the narrator visits again a few days later, he discovers that Bartleby has died of starvation, having apparently preferred not to eat.
Some time afterward, the narrator hears of a rumor to the effect that Bartleby had worked in a death letter office, but had lost his job there. The narrator reflects that the dead letters would have made anyone of Bartleby's temperament sink into an even darker gloom. Dead letters are emblems of man's mortality and of the failures of his best intentions. Through Bartleby, the narrator has glimpsed the world as the miserable scrivener must have seen it. The closing words of the story are the narrator's resigned and pained sigh: "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!"

Blog assignment #2- "A Rose For Emily"

 Respect, admiration, and fame from the general public can come at somewhat of a cost. The cost can be anything from a decrease in privacy to an actual effect on ones mental state. This story is narrated in a third person point of view, The story is being told by the town's people and it started off with Ms. Emily's death and how the whole town went to her funeral: "the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly put curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save and old manservant- a combined gardener and cook- had seen in the last ten years"(Faulkner pg.33). From this statement, it shows Ms. Emily was a well known person and sort of a center of attention but yet mysterious citizen in her town.

Faulkner uses Symbolism and foreshadowing to describe the character of Ms. Emily. An example is when the tax collectors came to her house for her taxes, Faulkner describes how the house and Ms. Emily looks. "only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores", this statement explains how the house gives off such a depressing mood. "Her skeleton was small and spare;", this line shows us how her appearance showcases death also.  

When Ms. Emily was younger, her deceased father used to force away all the young men that was in love with her. The summer after her father death, she fell in love with a Yankee by the name of Homer Barron. Everyone in the town was whispering about their relationship and wondering if they were married. After a while they stop seeing Homer and decided that they got married. The townspeople then proceeds by saying that Ms. Emily then died a while after. They didn't know she was sick.

After they buried her, they knew that there was one room that wasn't opened. So after they decently buried her they went to see upon the room. When they opened the room they was greeted by great amounts of dust. They also explain that the "room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man's toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured." They also saw a man's collar, tie, suit, shoes, and discarded socks. "Then shockingly, laying right there in the bed was the man. For a long while we just stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace. What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust. Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair."

blog assignment #1- A Clean - Well Lighted Place

Ernest Hemingway was one of the young men who volunteered to serve in  the first world war, he was an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross in Italy. according to him, he said "when you go to war as a boy you have a great illusion of immortality...then when you are badly wounded the first time you lose that illusion and you know it can happen to you..." He was injured while running a mobile canteen dispensing chocolate and cigarettes for soldiers and while he was trying to get a wounded Italian soldier  to safety. one thing lead to another, Hemingway fell in love with Agnes Von Kurowsky a nurse he met while in the hospital within a six month span in Milan. After the war, Hemingway returned Home expecting Agnes his found love to join him shortly, only to receive a letter from her ending the relationship. This i think serves as the basics to the way he writes. In "A Clean - Well Lighted Place" the bar represents a perfect place where it is quiet, where lonely people can find comfort, somewhere they can just go to sit, think and relax. The character of the deaf old man symbolizes isolation, separation and living in the present moment, not worrying about the future, it also sort of reflects how Hemingway lived his life as a drunkard like the deaf old man who drank until he is unable to pay for his drinks, and how he took his own life maybe because he had thoughts that he didn't have anything worth living for anymore? and decided commit suicide to save himself maybe the unhappiness, discontent, or just the plain everyday life.