Critique of the Opening of In a Free State by V.S. Naipul
Though many of poets and authors are purged by a notion to do
something about the world's dire conditions that they write about,
they don't. They complain and rave about in their texts, bringing out
the morbid atmosphere of the place, but they know that owe their
inspiration to those very conditions; without them, the stimulation to
narrate powerful texts such as the tramp at Piraeus could have never
arisen. V.S. Naipaul illustrates his journey from Piraeus to
Alexandria in a morose tone and gloomy language. Most texts written
about a journey have elaborate details about its natural surroundings,
but this extract indulges more into the 'dingy' steamer itself and its
passengers. He takes an insight into understanding his fellow
passengers, especially the tramp. Using these techniques, V.S. Naipaul
has produced an influential and forlorn text.
The text is written from the view of the first person, allowing the
reader to feel more involved with the text - "as soon as I saw the
dingy little Greek Steamer I felt I ought to have made other
arrangements". We see the whole journey from his point of view, thus
our views of the situation and characters are based solely on his
opinion. This personal approach lets the reader indulge into the
extract on a more personal level. The narrator seems to be a wealthy
person, hence being able to get tickets on the upper part of the ship,
and this allows the situation to be seen through the critical eye of
the middle/upper class; "We on the upper…on the lower deck didn't"
Naipaul creates a melancholic, moody and suffocating atmosphere, using
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...¦..the Australians".
The liability of what the tramp says is extremely questionable. He
seems to be living out his fantasies through these illustrations,
going to places that he has never been to through his imaginative
conversation to the Yugoslav. Despite his convincing words, the tramp
seems to remain unfulfilled; 'it was mechanical, without conviction,
even the vanity made no impression; those quivering wet eyes remained
distant'. The tramp seems almost lost, with no roots, and no where to
go to.
Naipaul explores the steamer through the overwhelming number of
passengers that it carries. He seems to look at the people in a
cynical way, bringing out the morbid feelings that the steamer
invokes. The most memorable character in the extract is certainly the
tramp, who Naipaul both mocks and has compassion towards.
Patterson, Foner, and King all describe their typological analysis of Freedom in three uniquely different ways.
History is taught and perceived in different ways throughout the country, however historians and teachers play a major role in how history is understood. My history teacher made me understand that the African-American slaves suffered adversity in different manners but never explained how their efforts led to a revolution in America. This gap has been filled by David Roediger in his book Seizing freedom where he reminds us of what we have missed in our prominent and scholarly accounts of emancipation and what we might gain by revisiting an era when “profound and unimaginable changes exploded” across the country(p.9). In reference to WEB Du Bois analysis of Civil war as workers strike, David Roediger accounts for the upsurge and
almost see or relate to what is being described, but as time progresses you can
In Roderick Chisholm’s essay Human Freedom and the Self he makes the reader aware of an interesting paradox which is not normally associated with the theory of free will. Chisholm outlines the metaphysical problem of human freedom as the fact that we claim human beings to be the responsible agents in their lives yet this directly opposes both the deterministic (that every action was caused by a previous action) and the indeterministic (that every act is not caused by anything in particular) view of human action. To hold the theory that humans are the responsible agents in regards to their actions is to discredit hundreds of years of philosophical intuition and insight.
Tera Hunter througly analyzes in To Joy My Freedom the experiences of the working black women after the civil war in the south. She focuses on the hopefulness and positism of the hard working African American women through the termination of the civil war all the way to the strife and struggles they had to go through laboring . She also focused on the demanding and defining of freedom for the african american women.
David Grayson once said that "Commandment Number One of any truly civilized society is this: Let people be different". Difference, or individuality, however, may not be possible under a dictatorial government. Aldous Huxley's satirical novel Brave New World shows that a government-controlled society often places restraints upon its citizens, which results in a loss of social and mental freedom. These methods of limiting human behavior are carried out by the conditioning of the citizens, the categorical division of society, and the censorship of art and religion.
This paper will accomplish two tasks. First, it will briefly outline the main points of Thomas Nagel’s argument in “Personal Rights and Public Space”. Secondly, it will examine and discuss the portion of his argument that I find to be the most problematic.
In "Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Educational Apartheid," Jonathan Kozol addresses the deafening issues that urban public schools in America remain segregated, underserved, and their respective state unrecognized. Kozol was apprised of the tragedy via the study of unconscionable statistics on the actuality of non-diverse schools. He determined that an inordinate number of elementary schools continue to be segregated by race; regardless of the complexion of the area in which they reside. Numerous studies identify that many blacks are still living in poverty or in lower income neighborhoods. Consequently, the location of schools has a profound effect on the quality of the student’s education. Funding is directly affected by the affluency
The text was written with reading out loud in mind, that can not be recommended; but it is suggested that the reader attend with his ear to what he takes off the page: for variations of tone, pace, shape, and dynamics are here particularly unavailable to the eye alone, and with their loss, a good deal of meaning escapes. (87)
Edward Said “States” refutes the view Western journalists, writers, and scholars have created in order to represent Eastern cultures as mysterious, dangerous, unchanging, and inferior. According to Said, who was born in Jerusalem at that time Palestine, the way westerners represent eastern people impacts the way they interact with the global community. All of this adds to, Palestinians having to endure unfair challenges such as eviction, misrepresentation, and marginalization that have forced them to spread allover the world. By narrating the story of his country Palestine, and his fellow countrymen from their own perspective Said is able to humanize Palestinians to the reader. “States” makes the reader feel the importance of having a homeland, and how detrimental having a place to call home is when trying to maintain one’s culture. Which highlights the major trait of the Palestinian culture: survival. Throughout “States”, Said presents the self-preservation struggles Palestinians are doomed to face due to eviction, and marginalization. “Just as we once were taken from one habitat to a new one we can be moved again” (Said 543).
From my past experiences, I have grown to prefer reading over writing. When I am reading, I can visualize the text in any way that I see fit. It is almost as if I am rewriting the novel using the illusions that I feel express the words in a passage. For example, in the current independent novel I am reading, it portrays a woman of high stature who is able to lure ...
Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.
The age of the Cold War impacted decolonization either positively or negatively. But, most evidence suggests that it was affected negatively. The age of the Cold War lasted from 1949 to 1989. There were many examples from each country of how decolonization took place. Decolonization took place from 1945-1980, during a thirty-five-year period after World War II, when the European empires in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific gradually came apart as the former colonies became independent nations. (Map of Decolonization pg 855).
...I do like to go back and reread my favorite parts of stories and books so analysing how my views and ideas change over a piece of writing was interesting for me. During my first read of something I often look at the work in a very literal sense. I am only trying to see what the writer is strictly saying and not really looking for any literary devices. After that with each read I try to look for more hidden meanings. I read it from all the different viewpoints I can think of to see what evidence there is for it. Once I have found what I think is the best fitting meaning I try to pinpoint the parts that fit that view. As a reader I am very similar to myself in that I am very into the details and very tactical about how I look at the meaning of something. When reading something I take steps in looking at it much like I did when reading Frost’s poem “Mending Wall”.
I can hear my heart pumping faster and faster. With every breath, it pumps a little faster. I count each person ahead of me in my roll of straight desks. Pam will read paragraph one. Carl has paragraph two and Donna will read paragraph four. That means, I will read paragraph five. I go over every word making sure I can pronounce each one correctly. I am not aware of what the others have read. My only concern is not to make a mistake. It is my turn. Yes, I made it. Wow, glad that is over! What I have described is my early reading experience in elementary school. Reading was not something you did for pleasure. Reading was something you maneuvered through making sure you didn’t explored by the bombs of vocabulary. It was not something you enjoyed.