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Clarissa: A Peculiar Protagonist

Clarissa Dalloway is an interesting protagonist because she does not have many redeeming qualities and is not made to be completely loved by the readers. Although she is not made to be lovable, she does trigger compassion in the reader. Clarissa struggles to fit in with the social standard she is held to as an upper-class individual in England. Although Clarissa detests most upper-class culture, she finds herself identifying with some of the upper-class ways of life. For example, she obsesses over her dinner party, doing everything in her power to ensure it is a success. She also is very materialistic, which can be seen in her high concern of material things while walking the streets of London and peaking in shop windows. Perhaps pretending to fit in with the all of the social class elites has caused her to become part of what she despises. She triggers sympathy in the reader because she struggles internally and never acts on her complex thoughts that the reader is exposed to. After re
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Elesin in Death and the King's Horseman

Elesin seems to be a very ironic character in the sense that he is very confident and self-centered, yet he is completing a very selfless act by sacrificing himself for the better of his tribe. Perhaps this is because his suicide has been set into his culture and because to Elesin killing himself is not his choice because it is something he must do: his duty to his tribe. Elesin demands to have another beautiful wife before he commits suicide, despite the fact that she is already promised to Iyaloja's son. This shows that Elesin cares little about other people and how his actions affect other people, but him committing suicide shows that he does care for other people (his tribe). Elesin is known to be very noble in his tribe and the praise-singer refers to him as an honorable man, perhaps because of how well people refer to him, he has gotten overly confident. It seems as though Elesin is mainly selfish, with the exception of one, very large selfless act he is meant to commit. The
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A Deeper Understanding Through Literature

I never knew what a key and revolutionary figure Wole Soyinka has been in Nigeria until I watched the documentary in class. In the documentary, many Nigerian revolutionary figures were mentioned that I had never learned at school. I like to think that I have a pretty good perspective on past world events and history, but this documentary made me realize that I do not have a deep understanding of the world events that have occurred. I had only learned specifically of English colonialism and the effects, but have never learned (in depth) about the cultures, and what exactly happened before the colonialism in the country that was colonized. I know how English colonialism impacted Nigeria on a religious, economic, political, and social scale, but I do not have an emotional understanding of the colonialism, nor do I know specific historical figures. I think that the history courses I have taken do not focus on the deeper understanding that I have found through my English classes and reading
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Too Little Time

Ever since I read the poem "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath I have always had a strong interest in Sylvia Plath as a person. I started to read more of her poetry, my favorites that I have read so far have been "Lady Lazarus," "Ariel," and "The Moon and the Yew Tree." I find her poetry so meaningful and full of emotion. I became so intrigued after reading some of her most depressing work that I decided to research her to try to understand the background of the poems. After researching, I realized that in her life she did face many difficulties, which worsened with her mental illness. It does not take a long time to read a poem, although my reflection on the work usually takes longer. I have always wanted to read The Bell Jar  by Sylvia Plath but have never gotten to it because I have never had time to read a full book, so I have filled that curiosity by reading her poems instead.
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The Tempest: The movie

While reading The Tempest  in class, I envisioned an island that was very small and with lush green forests. I did not envision the weather to be sunny or windy, but I imagined that it was always cloudy with gray skies. Also, I did not think that Prospero and Miranda lived in a home with such well-built infrastructure. Perhaps it was magic that Prospero and Ariel used to create their living space, but the elaborate staircase in the movie does not seem like it could be made through the use of magic, especially since Ariel and Prospero use natural types of magic by using the elements of nature. Also, in my mind, I thought that most of the characters were younger than they are portrayed as in the movie, like Trinculo, Sebastian, Alonso, and Antonio. The one character that matched with my personal image in my mind was Miranda. It would be pretty difficult to miscast her as she is a young, beautiful girl, which is a pretty generic image. Overall, I am glad that I was able to create these ow
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Prospera vs. Prospero

In the Disney movie adaptation of The Tempest , Prospero is replaced by a woman, Prospera. For my school of literary criticism, I studied the feminist approach and examined Prospero, the most powerful character in the play, and his relationship with the other characters in the play, specifically Ariel and Miranda. Prospero becoming Prospera changes my approach and lense of the movie through the feminist approach. First, the argument of a patriarchal society being reflected within the Prospero's manipulative and controlling position between Ariel, Caliban, and Miranda is not valid. A patriarchal society is when men are predominately in power positions, but in the movie a woman, for once, is finally put in the ultimate power position. However, Prospera's actions do not suddenly become ethical just because of her gender. For example, putting Miranda to sleep, manipulating her marriage to Ferdinand, and the enslavement of Caliban and Ariel. The actual story and plot do not change j
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Tempestas, Tempestatis

Tempestas, Tempestatis (genitive), means "storm" in Latin. Having taken Latin for 6 years, I have always been promised that learning Latin will greatly enhance my understanding of words and other languages in general. While there are some similarities in the derivative of Latin words, I have always felt as this promise has always been such a let-down. Afterall, Latin is a dead language and has little significance compared to that of the Roman culture that is still studied. This promise might not be as empty as I had assumed, as finally, I have been able to utilize my Latin knowledge and apply to this play, especially the title. "The Tempest" begins with a storm that demolishes a ship due to the manifestation of Prospero's rage and resentment that he still holds of his stolen dukedom. The word "tempest" has greater significance to me and stuck out to me due to its Latin roots and caused me to pay close attention to the storm and its significance. Inte
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