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Reflection 6 S6

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Mexico City and around the world, we have been having classes online and working at home. This new way of learning has made me spend much time watching the news and reading articles online about the virus, but also about the new campaigns that governments, schools, and even businesses have employed for all the people around the world, advising them to stay at home. I have noticed how different entities have different ways of communicating the petition to stay at home. Whilst the government tries to advise people to stay at home “or else, there will be consequences”, social media has a very different approach, targeting one’s motivation instead of fear. For example, instagram launched a new hashtag for people to post their activities during quarantine and give ideas to others about how they can use their time at home. On the other hand, some sensationalist news media attempt to induce panic to their audience by showing videos or images of dead people or crowded hospitals to show the viewers the fatal consequences of going out in the midst of a crisis. It also suprised me how a lot of influencers on social media have pointed out their discomfort with this new “Stay at home” trend, arguing all the people that follow this trend are talking from a classist point of view, as here in Mexico not everyone has the chance to be absent to work and eat that same day. It was very interesting for me to see how the same message is being communicated in so may different ways.

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Reflection 5 S6

This week I have been working in my Further Oral Activity and it has been quite challenging. One of the hardest parts was coming up with an idea that could actually reflect what we have learnt in class; because most of the ideas that my partner and I discussed were good ideas but didn't quite reflect our knowledge on the topic, until we came through a very good idea! We were going to pretend to be filming a comercial for a political campaign, where my partner would be the candidate and I would be her advisor. During the “filming” she was going to act like a politician and me as an advisor, was going to correct or comment on her postures or her phrases in order to show how her body or her language had an impact on the audience; however, this was all before school got canceled. Due to the circumstances we had to re-imagine the whole scenario as close as possible to what we had originally planed, however we had to make a lot of changes because we realised we weren't able to see each other to practice or actually film the activity together. We stuck to the characters and the whole advising situation; however, now she is going to be giving a speech to the whole nation about the COVID-19 situation and the actions, and I will be commenting on her speech and the techniques that are useful or most frequented by politicians. We will carry out the activity on zoom, but im quite bummed we don’t get to see each other for something as important as the FOA. 

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Reflection 4 S6

The coronavirus outbreak has recently hit Mexico. These are very shocking news for a country like Mexico because an outbreak like this one seriously threatens the national health system. However, Ive also recently noticed how social media has impacted people’s minds more than the virus itself. There is so much information circulating around the COVID-19 situation that people don’t know what to believe anymore. This overload of information has affected the perception all Mexicans have about the situation. Sensationalist news and articles have flooded the internet, and by my own experience I can say the Mexican culture is very sensitive to drama, therefore generating more panic than what is really needed. As much as social media is a revolutionary way of communication, it is also extremely easy to spread false information; which is specially dangerous for a society like the one that I live in. Language also plays a big role when spreading news around; it is very different to say “The situation is really bad” to “The situation is terrifying”. Even if both send a negative message, the second phrase generates fear instead of rationalism like the first one. In times like these, when people are very sensitive to language stimuli, language is a weapon that must be used with caution. Connotations are also very important when communicating in day to day life; even sarcasm has become a sensitive issue because of the fear we are all experiencing. Today, I can say that I had never been more cautious with the words I use in my daily life to avoid spreading unnecessary panic.

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Reflection 3 S6

Over the last few weeks we have discussed how a single story is portrayed very differently depending on who writes it, where, when, amongst other factors that influence language. One of the topics that caught my attention the most was the study of the portrayal of the Mexican president amongst different news media around the world. It was very evident to me how different news sources had different ways of evidencing the Mexican president and his actions; whilst some were very straight forward with the facts, others were more subtly introducing the problems. However, it was very interesting to see how even when being different sources with each a different style, they all had a same opinion about the president; incompetent. This was honestly very shocking to me, but not surprising. I was most shocked by the fact that some radical news media would think that all Mexicans are the same as the president, which makes me reflect more on the huge impact language can have on people and their culture; whether it is shaping it or talking about it. Moreover, we also studied the impact visual elements can have on the audience when being complemented by language. This was more evident when we were studying news and their coverage on the international women’s day protest in Mexico City. Some showed only the dark side of the protest; choosing only violent images which evidenced a strong bias, whilst the more centrist news media focused on giving accurate information to let the audience build an opinion of their own. This is personally my favourite type of news.

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Reflection 2 S6

This last week we have been discussing rhetoric and how it is employed in political speeches, advertising, and daily life. This has been a very interesting topic for me because there have been many new learnings. I have also found myself mesmerised by the subconscious power of language. What impresses me the most is the fact that people or enterprises can persuade us to buy things or ideas we have never seen or used just because of the way they talk about it. Sometimes, we are not even sure those things or ideas exist, but just by the way they talk about it, they manage to get to your subconsciousness and persuade you into their side without you even noticing. It doesn’t just happen in advertising and political speeches; I have also thought about how this same rhetoric is employed in horror stories. Reading different Mexican tales and legends I have come to the conclusion that they work no different than a speech or an advert. Storytellers constantly employ things like the “three breathless sentences” or exaggeration to make you think that what they are telling to you is 100% true, even if it comes from their imagination. I have also been very interested in learning more about political speeches and I am looking forward to try some of the techniques myself.

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Reflection 1S6

This last week we have studied the rhetorical tools behind some of the greatest speeches of all time; such as “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King, or “He for She” by Emma Watson; what amazed me the most, has to do with the subtle ways people can get into our head with something as natural as words, or tone, or volume; it is almost terrifying how easily it is for the public figures -or anyone really- to get us on their side without us even noticing; which makes me wonder, how many of your decisions are actually made by your conscious self? (see? rhetoric) We are constantly being bombarded with advertisements, metaphors, movement, that our brain has developed a way to filter information without us never really thinking about it. I also found very interesting the fact that persuasive speeches often target the unconsciousness because it gives them a type of advantage we cant really fight because even if we bring those ideas to the light, our unconsciousness has already made a decision for us. You cant fight it. From the metaphors, to the rhythm, to the way the speaker dresses, the staged expressions, and the endless subliminal language tricks, anyone can convince an audience if he/she knows where to hit. This week has also encouraged me to learn more about rhetoric; which I never really payed attention to until now, because it opened my eyes in many ways; since how vulnerable we all are to words, to how powerful we can get to be just by learning to speak right.

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Reflection 8S5

Today I helped one of my classmates from the other English A group to edit his video essay, and on the task, i managed to learn some of the elements which were crucial for the development of the theme of regret in Oedipus Rex. Some of these elements include the atmosphere and the tone of the narrating voice; but what I found the most interesting, is the fact that there are some elements which are crucial for the development of a theme independently of the novel. I had heard about literary conventions from past literary studies, but I had never realised their universality of them. This also made me think about if this literary conventions are truly universal, because literature is often a reflection of a personal situation, so It got me thinking about if we can really use the same conventions for all literature, if literature is also supposed to be intimate and personal to the authors most of the time. If I were to write a creative literary piece, I would definitely would want to write about something I feel familiar and comfortable sharing; for example, a worthy anecdote about my childhood or a constant theme throughout my teenage years like my hopes and dreams; but I wouldn't be so sure I would be thinking about the literary conventions traditionally imposed to authors because I imagine I would probably be more interested in getting my message across one way or the other. Since this day I know I am more interested in literature because of its duality; I also find very interesting the effect it has on the receptor; a literary piece meant to be understood by the word, but which curiously has the capacity to captivate you the most out of all the other people that read the work, makes literature so special in a more emotional way to me.

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Reflection 7S5

Today in class we watched a video about a teenage bride who managed to escape an abusive marriage. I found the story to be very inspiring because just as everyone of us now, she had dreams and aspirations, but in difference to us, her innocence was interrupted. However, she managed to hold herself up through the toughest times. I believe hope was key in her success as a survivor; during the interview, she talks about how she had to put up with abuse and oppression, but even in the darkest moments of her life, she somehow knew she was going to make it out, even if she didn't have a structured plan. I related this video to Satrapi’s Persepolis; because just as the novel’s protagonist, Marji, she never lost hope in trying to find the best solutions to every problem she faced. War and marriage are different things, however, in literature and in life, we can always find hope as a key theme. 

I also found very interesting to see how the themes and situations we see in literature are often the ones we see in real life. I believe one of the key functions of literature is to communicate personal situations and help people have a different understanding and perspective of their own situation. This system can also work the other way; as many times, authors take their inspiration from other people’s real life situations to attempt a better understanding of the live’s of people around them, more than trying to communicate their own. For example, in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, we can see this communication both ways; we can see Achebe communicating his reality through all the integrants of the Ibo tribe, whilst trying to understand the situations of the people around him through the characters of the colonisers 

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Reflection 6S5

Today some of my classmates presented about the context of the poem that we are currently analysing; Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It got me thinking about how relevant the context is to every work even when the text is not merely about the context. Like it or not, we are all influenced by the situations around us in a deeply unconscious level, so, naturally we are going to reflect it in what we talk about, or in this case, what we write about. There are also many relations to the context even when we are not talking about a personal, intimate context. For example, one can attempt to guess the time this poem was written in because of the way the narrator talks about the ships as “her”; in more ancient times, the ship were referred to as “her” and were usually cheered when put to sail, as we can see in an imagery in part 1. This type of things in the ambience or the scene the poem is developed in, puts under the light the context of the author; as one is more likely to talk about the things one knows best or has the most interest in (for example, the first hand situations). Julio Cortazar mentions that even the most ordinary things can be talked about if they are talked about correctly; in other words, it’s not what you tell about, but how you tell it. Rime of the Ancient Mariner gives us the unique mix of a great story, with a greatly handled development. As Julio Cortazar also said, it is hard to find a balance between tension and rhythm; a good author will know how to keep its audience interested without making them frustrated about knowing an answer or getting to an ending; but this poem has clearly found the key.

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Reflection 5S5

We are beginning to analyse “The rime of the ancient Mariner” and I must admit I am much surprised with how I am getting along with the poem. To be honest, I am not very familiar with poems of this type, plus the archaic language is a little bit hard to understand; however, once you begin to be fluent with the language of the poem you get indulged in the story as much as the Wedding-guest (a character in the poem). Moreover, it has a beautiful rhyme and beat to it that it makes it so much easier to read! It engages you to the reading and takes you by the hand throughout the story; it is very rhythmic in terms of reading. I am also mesmerised with the variety of literary devices we can see only by looking at part 1 of the poem; my favourite literary device until now has been the imagery; the author includes onomatopeya’s, vivid descriptions, amongst other devices that enrich the imagery to a point where you can actually feel you belong to the story which makes it easier for me as a reader to sympathise with the Mariner as a protagonist of his own story; this intensifies the feelings evoked through the imagery, which has a much more striking and deeper effect. I am also in love with the story itself, as it includes many hidden symbolisms that can mean many different things depending on the point of view of the reader; and this versatile style makes it so much more interesting and fun to read, as every time you read it you can come up with another conclusion. Even if there is still much of the poem to analyse and read about, I am very content with the style and the analysis that derives from just part 1, so I am looking forward to read in depth about the rest of the parts, and hopefully enjoy them as much!

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Reflection 4S5

In class, we saw a video about the importance and an analysis of the different elements in poetry. It really touched me to see the passion with which the speaker talked about the impact poetry had had on his life. Amongst his arguments, he talked about how poetry can portray feelings not only through the actual meaning of the words but through their metric, their rhyme, their accommodation, amongst other factors only poets know how to describe. It seemed amazing to me how there are many different levels of meaning not only to the words but by other factors and literary devices employed by each poet. I also loved the fact that in poetry, every single word has a purpose and a different meaning and everything is where it is meant to be to express a specific feeling or message. Plus, there is a certain magic to poetry because you could re-accommodate the exact same words and punctuation of a poem and it would mean a totally different thing; just by changing the slightest detail. In a much more personal level, I haven’t been really in touch with poetry because I constantly struggle to analyse the deeper meaning of the structural aspects of a poem; as I am much more used to prose, I tend to get driven away by the implicit meaning of the word only, but poetry has so many different aspects to be critical about that it is easy for one to get tangled in the analysis and stick with the parts you understand. Throughout this part of the course I intend to get a better approach to poetry as I did with prose in its respective time. I look forward to a better understanding of both prose and literature; to each their own respective beauty and complexity.

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Reflection 3S5

This week in class, we talked about Things Fall Apart; and the discussion that caught my attention the most was the one about the protagonist’s death. Okonkwo kills himself at the end of the book and the reader is given no warning or explicit reason beforehand. This gives the reader the opportunity to speculate about Okonkwo’s reasons to kill himself, and it gives us the opportunity to think about questions like, was it an honorable death? Was he being weak? Does this ending make Okonkwo's story a tragedy? There are many sides to every story, but I believe his cause was honorable. As a warrior, you wouldn’t want to be seen failing, and he was, as the colonisers basically were taking away from him everything that he had ever worked for; Umofia’s culture, traditions, and unity of the tribe; so he would rather kill himself than accept he was losing a battle. However, in Umofia it was a crime to kill yourself; which in this case we can say his death was not as honorable. Moreover, in my opinion Okonkwo was not being weak, I believe he was tired and jaded of battling against the pressure he was exposed to on a personal level, and he was tired of trying to reunite the clan and no one following him, he put his full efforts into a lost cause and I believe that was what hurt him and tire him the most. It is not only the fact that he kills himself that makes Okonkwo's story a tragedy; but the way he worked his whole life to be a leader, to be recognised, and to preserve Umofia's culture and tradition for it to be all taken away from him in a matter of months. To me, it is very sad to see no one remembered him in the end, even when he was a successful man, a provider, and a warrior; nothing really mattered because he ended up just the way his father did; forgotten.

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Reflection 2S5 (short story)

It is 9:30 pm already and your are running late; you've been waiting for this party since forever! What are you waiting for? In the midst of your rush you grab the red furry coat. No. The leather jacket goes best with your outfit. You tear it off the hanger, forget about closing the closet door, and you rush out to your apartment to see that your Uber is already outside waiting for you. Damn. Late fee. As usual, you check the plates are right, the face corresponds to the photo on the app, and you you do a last rain check with your sixth sense to make sure you can get in the car safely. He starts the car's engine and gets on the road. Hm. Slow driver. You ignore the fact that he has ignored the map on the first turn; then on the second turn, then you realise he has gone left when the map said right. Remember that sixth sense? It is starting to ring your ears now. You know something is not right. Uh oh. He stopped. Why would he stop? You are still five blocks away from the party. Call your friend. Let her know where you are. Why is she not picking up? You try again. Both of you are starting to get nervous because you know each other's intentions. "Why did you stop?" you ask. Silence. Silence until the phone rings. "We are waiting for you at the front door! Why are you taking so long?" Thank God. That's your queue, let him know you are not alone. "Im five blocks away, i'll send you my location right now, don't hang up." He sighs, you catch a frustrated frown from the rearview. He gets on the road again, drives considerably faster, and gets you to that front door you have waited for for so long. You try to get out. The door's locked. "It's the children's lock, sorry." He gets out of the car and opens the door with a key he got from his jeans. Ubers are not supposed to have locked doors. Weird. The door opens and you rush out of the car into your drunken friend's arms. You are safe. For now.

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Reflection 1S5

This past weeks we have been studying Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall apart”, and one of the themes amongst the book that captured me the most was gender roles. I had the opportunity to make comparisons about what was like being a woman in the novel’s context, and what does it mean to be a woman nowadays. It is certain we have made big progress as a society and as women with time; nowadays women don't have to stay home and cook for their husbands, we can now have titles, jobs, equal pay, and equal job opportunities. Now, our socioeconomic status doesn't depend on who we are married to; now, we get to choose who we get to marry, how many children we want to have, and how we want to live our lives. However, there are many things that still need to be worked on; for example, right now in Mexico City woman are protesting against sexual harassment and are fighting for justice for women who were victims of gender violence. Women objectification has been a problem since Achebe's context, and has been carried up until now; however, it is important to note that women have a voice now, because there was no such thing as a women protest in the context of "Things fall apart". Reading about the injustice of gender roles in the past is a great motivation for me to do something about the future. Although the novel is historical fiction, it is important to see that the situations presented on the book come from a reality, and I am willing to work towards gender equality to give justice to all the women who were victims of these problems. I love to read authors like Achebe because he writes in a very objective way; he can clearly describe his context independently from his gender, which gives people the chance to make their own judgement out of an unbiased statement.

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Reflection 4

1. What are some of the themes Macbeth and The Handmaid's Tale share? How are they treated in each?

Macbeth and The Handmaid’s Tale share themes like gender roles, power, and hierarchy. The theme of gender roles in THMT are revealed through interactions between the characters; in difference to Macbeth, where gender roles are defined through speech (for example, when Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s masculinity when he is doubtful about killing Duncan).

2. How is the language a tool for power in The Handmaid's Tale?

Neologisms help the new regime establish itself as there is a strong relationship between language, culture, and ideologies. For example, in THMT, women are defined and categorised by their gender roles (names) as Wives, Handmaids, or Marthas.

3. What should the reader assume about the way Shakespeare and Atwood develop their characters?

Authors usually intent to communicate their situations and opinions through their novels and plays. Hence, we can assume all the characters and their individual development throughout the story, represent a point of view from the authors perspective.

4. How does Shakespeare regard women?

Shakespeare thinks of women as evil and cunning as portrayed by Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. He also believes women are driven by ambition, and they always try to get what they want through their sexuality.

5. What is the attitude Atwood takes toward women and men in The Handmaid's Tale?

Atwood has a very polarised view about genders in THMT; she emphasises in letting the reader see real life situations like gender inequality and oppression, but hyperbolised so it makes them more evident. She portrays women as the victims of a patriarchy that strips away their value as humans and defines them as their capability of conceiving. Men are portrayed as ruthless, powerful humans that are superior to women just because of their gender.

6. How is The Handmaid's Tale a critique of contemporary society?

THMT touches upon themes that are still relevant now-a-days and have been around since the term “men” and “women” exist. It criticises society because its a way of saying “if we keep going on in this path, it could lead us here (a dystopia like Gilead).”

7. Are the themes treated in Macbeth still relevant?

Some of them; for example ambition. This will always be a relevant theme as it is in human nature to be ambitious; however, Macbeth explores this theme deeply as it is what eventually lead all the kings to their downfall.

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Reflection 3

1. What is Shakespeare's view of women?

Shakespeare views women as evil and cruel beings. However we can also say Shakespeare also perceives women as intelligent and mentally agile beings; for example, in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is a clear representation of this vision. She is cruel in her acts and intentions, but the way she develops her plans, is quite a cunning process.

2. What are the similarities between Macbeth and a Greek tragedy?

Macbeth, just as in greek tragedy, is the great hero, who because of a great flaw (greed), has a great tragic ending. Greek tragedy, just as Macbeth, also strived to emphasise on the flaws and imperfections of the average human; and in this case, they have the purpose of a message as a similarity.

3. What themes in Macbeth resonate with you? Why?

Macbeth’s themes include greed, gender roles, treason, masculinity, ambition, and guilt. However, the one that caught my attention the most, was the theme of masculinity and gender roles. I am highly intrigued by Shakespeare’s vision of gender roles, specially women’s, not only in the characters of Macbeth; but how the portrayal of these characters resonates in the gender role implications and clichés of daily life.

4. How would you classify the characters in Macbeth? Round? Flat? Complex? One-dimensional? Why?

In my opinion, characters in Macbeth are round; as at the beginning they all start as a defined person, with specific personality traits, and specific plans, but at the end, these traits, their moralities and goals turn upside down as a side effect of the events that led to the big tragedy. Macbeths characters are also very complex as they all have different moral values and they usually have hidden intentions which makes them a lot harder to understand but much more interesting; they add mystery and unexpectancy to the play.

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Reflection 2

1. What does Poe have to say about human nature?

Poe believed human nature is dark. Through the themes and characters he portrays in his short stories, we can assume he also believes humans are naive and unconscious about their actions; he portrays humans as obscure figures with evil feelings. However, he also thinks of humans as victims of higher powers; such as love, death, and God.

2. What does Shakespeare have to say about human nature?

Shakespeare, as a Romantic, perceived human nature as something more pure (in comparison to Poe); as he believed things like love and hope were part of the essence of humankind. However Shakespeare also believed human nature had a dark side; for example, in Macbeth, Shakespeare portrays greediness as part of human nature.

3. How do these visions of human nature relate/differ?

Shakespeare has a more pure vision of human nature in relation to Poe, as Poe though of human nature as something more obscure and evil. However both visions relate when they say humans have two natures or two sides; one good and one evil.

4. Why has Poe's style endured?

Poe, as a pioneer of the Gothic style in literature, will always be remembered. However, his style has endured because he is unique in his way of writing; he has a way to express and induce feelings like no other author; he has also endured because of his stories; as no one has ever had the ability to work such themes and tales.

5. Why has Shakespeare's work endured?

Shakespeare's work has endured because of the problematics his works present; those problems are still observable in the modern world, and the continuous factor of those conflicts make his work memorable because it is a way of going back to previous events and seeing humanity has not come through those conflicts.