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Death and the king's horseman research paper
Death and the king's horseman research paper
Summary of death and the king horseman
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The African world-view in Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman
In his play, Death and the King's Horseman, Wole Soyinka uses certain literary forms and devices to intermix Yoruba culture and a predominantly European dramatic form to create a play easily understood by the audience, but that allows the introduction of a foreign influence. These devices include the use of a songlike quality in dialogue and the telling of stories, the use of personification and metaphor to give an exotic quality to the play, and the use of certain elements to provide the reader with a sense of the mystic traditions that are Africa. These Yoruban elements are best explained by the character Jane with "You talk! Your people with your long-winded, round-about way of making conversation" (1171), and the character Pilkings with "What is she saying now? Christ! Must your people forever speak in riddles?" (1176). The use of rhythm and a songlike quality in the dialogue and the telling of stories is used by Soyinka to transport the reader to another place. In the following excerpt, the...
The structure of the memoir immerses the reader in African culture by incorporating anecdotes, poems, proverbs, and songs. These elements combine to emphasize the importance of oral institutions and to convey the significance of understanding them, "One must learn proverbs a proverb is regarded as the horse' that carries words to a different level, investing them with meanings, enrobing the user with the garment of wisdom" (Falola 53). "As in this case and others that I witnessed, the leader must be gifted with language, making extensive use of proverbs, idioms, and cross-references" (Falola 133). While the verses add depth to the story, they often become cumbersome and superfluous. For example, when discussing the need to keep quiet in order to conceal the location of their musical group, the addition of the proverb, "You cannot light a fire when in hiding," is unnecessary seeing as the reader already has a clear understanding of the meaning of the text (Falola 243).
Giving a successful speech, in any language, is a difficult yet gratifying skill. Great speeches can be inspiring, compelling, and even revolutionary – indeed, these speeches are deliberate, succinct, engaging, and unforgettable. Two examples of such great speeches in both literature and in history are Mark Antony’s eulogy in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Robert F. Kennedy’s On the Death of Martin Luther King. Through the speakers’ use of parallel structure, caesuras, and personal references – three stylistic devices and techniques – not only were both speakers able to embellish their speeches; it also allowed each speaker to deliver an even more powerful speech. In these speeches, the use of repetition through the anaphoral and epiphoral structure in both speeches accentuates the purpose of the speech, while the use of caesuras adds texture and tone to the speech, and the use of personal references engages and stimulates the audience.
“Language is frequently used to stir up & manipulate emotions.” - Mary Hamer. The words that people say can appear brutal or detrimental. These violent words take up many forms such as lying, insulting, etc. Along with its’ comedic formula, William Shakespeare's, Much Ado About Nothing is enhanced with humorous mockery and intertwined dialogues. In the play, the soldiers have just returned from a successful war. Love is traveling through the village; however the “language of war” appears rooted in the language. Numerous times do the characters joke around in cruel dialects. The mockery, however, is not considered to be as harsh due to the presence of comedy within the play. William Shakespeare’s intricate use of language in his play, Much Ado About Nothing, allows immense aggressive language to thrive in the characters yet is able to use this to alleviate the violence.
Without the texts like “Civil Disobedience” people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi would never have been inspired. Chris, as a modern transcendentalist in his own eyes, should have shared his experience with the world. One might argue that he did, as one can watch the movie or read the book on his adventure, but that is simply incorrect. Chris died and his story inspires many people today to leave the world behind and go to Alaska and die, though the latter is usually not intended. Thoreau and Emerson would be rolling in their graves if they knew that Chris ultimately failed as a transcendentalist, yet he is praised as one too. From Walden to “Self Reliance” by Emerson, they all share a few things in common, mainly that their authors lived to publish their exploits. Towards the end of the movie it is shown that Chris was mostly incoherent by his last few days. Anything that he had even attempted to write down at that point could be false due to his altered state of mind from starvation, dehydration, general loss of sanity from being alone for so long, and the poison berries that eventually took his life. No one could really doubt it had Chris simply just survived. The fact that his tale was even told is surprising, but it would have been more inspiring has he actually survived. People wouldn’t follow in his footsteps
words so that the sound of the play complements its expression of emotions and ideas. This essay
In the soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part II, King Henry is restless and loathes those who are able to take advantage of the “O gentle sleep” that he is unable to partake in. Shakespeare is able to imply diction, imagery, and syntax throughout this soliloquy to convey Henry’s state of mind. The envious and confused state of mind is carried out through literary devices, exposing the situation of King Henry’s restless night.
Lumumba: Race and Revolution In the French film entitled Lumumba, director Raoul Peck recreates the revolutionary struggle of Patrice Lumumba, the newly elected Prime Minister of The Congolese Republic. In the movie, we do not see much of the independence struggle against the Belgian government, but we begin to see the reconstruction of the African state in African hands. While no one ever claimed that decolonization was easy, maybe this particular example can best be explained by Fanon’s simplified little quip “decolonization is always a violent phenomenon. ” In this paper, I will seek to locate where this post-colonial violence is located in discourses regarding race, class and gender.
All throughout the play, murder had been the only way to rise to the top and rule over the city. However, in addition to Macbeth struggling to gain power, Malcolm also struggled to gain power. Malcolm, not only wanting to be king as well, but also just wanted to be as powerful as Macbeth if his plans of becoming king failed him. Malcom too talked to the witches, but his prophecy was not yet as clear as macbeth’s. Malcolm’s prophecy said he would be greater than Macbeth, but also lesser. He would be happier than Macbeth, yet still not as happy. This riddle confused Malcolm. As a reader, we assumed that Malcolm would be greater than Macbeth, and happier than Macbeth because he would not have the guilt of killing so many people. Malcolm would be sadder, and lesser than Macbeth because he would never hold the power that macbeth held through recognition, even though he was not the king. However, malcolm does not know that Macbeth was the man behind the murders, and therefore his struggle to gain power came to him through this prophecy. He struggled to understand what his prophecy meant, and therefore could not find a way to rise to gain power over others.
As wise John Berger once said,“Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one”. A “single story” is the story of a culture that we learn from stereotypes and conspiracies developed throughout time in our society. In “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe defies the single story of African culture while still tying their native language in to show the importance between a physical differentiation of culture, and the similarities with morals and values they have in common. Through gender roles and proverbs used in the language of this book, we have a cultural insight of Nigeria through a new set of eyes given to us by Achebe that detures us from the single stories that we were taught to by our society.
In the 1964 play Dutchman by Amiri Baraka, formally known as Le Roi Jones, an enigma of themes and racial conflicts are blatantly exemplified within the short duration of the play. Baraka attacks the issue of racial stereotype symbolically through the relationship of the play’s only subjects, Lula and Clay. Baraka uses theatricality and dynamic characters as a metaphor to portray an honest representation of racist stereotypes in America through both physical and psychological acts of discrimination. Dutchman shows Clay, an innocent African-American man enraged after he is tormented by the representation of an insane, illogical and explicit ideal of white supremacy known as Lula. Their encounter turns from sexual to lethal as the two along with others are all confined inside of one urban subway cart. Baraka uses character traits, symbolism and metaphor to exhibit the legacy of racial tension in America.
With some degree of differences, every individual has their own capacity to form and maintain relationships. Some people naturally form and maintain close and caring relationships, but unfortunately, some others are not.
In relation to Landon and Jamie’s relationship, the four reasons that people are attracted to one
Cultural clashes result in unnecessary conflict. Several countries (European powers) including France, Great Britain, and Belgium imperialized Africa. They did this because of their demand for raw materials, need for markets, and their attempt to implement commerce, create civilization, and to bring in Christianity to be the primary religion. The clash between the Europeans and the Africans caused the Europeans to colonize Africa and to partition the continent, this partition plan is know as the Scramble for Africa. Chinua Achebe’s thesis regarding Colonial Africa in Things Fall Apart is an accurate portrayal of imperialism and Ibo culture to a high extent due to the religious accusations serving as catalysts for conflict, the use of the Christian, European missionaries attempting to conquer Africa, take the resources of the land, and convert multiple Ibo people to Christianity, and the display of cultural aspects (customs/traditions) about the Ibo people.
Soliloquies in a play are very important for an audience to comprehend. When a character on stage speaks their thoughts aloud by oneself, its called a soliloquy. In the play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet loses his father. Hamlet’s uncle, who killed the king, takes over and marries the queen, who is also Hamlet’s Mother. After the ghost of the past king visits and exposes his brother for murder, Hamlet attempts uncover his uncle. Acts one, two, and three, of Hamlet, all contain soliloquies that expose a diversity of messages.
Human rights are universal and they belong to all people. Due to discrimination and other human rights violations minorities often are still left without human rights (Barusch, 2015.) Social workers have the obligation to promote these rights. After the holocaust, the United Nations created the Declaration of Human Rights to address some of the same issues social workers might encounter (Barusch, 2015.) Social workers should work to promote freedom and human rights without discrimination for their client’s. These Human rights are needed to promote social justice.