Insanity in WSS

Prompt: Discuss the portrayal of insanity in Wide Sargasso Sea

Introduction

Thesis Statement: Jean Rhys portrays insanity as a socially constructed method to exert power over subaltern women.

Main Idea 1

Topic Sentence: Jean Rhys connects the madness of her protagonist Antoinette to representations of insanity common in the eighteenth and, respectively, in the nineteenth century while deconstructing them at the same time. 

Main Idea 2: 

Topic Sentence: In her novel, Jean Rhys uses different contemporary archetypes of madness and fuses their aspects in the persona of Antoinette to blur the notion of one unbreakable perception of insanity. 

OR

Rhys’s depiction attempts to state explanations for Antoinette’s madness but also refuses to fit into one category; thus, it again challenges the notion of one true notion of insanity as well as reality. 

Main Idea 3: 

Topic Sentence: Jean Rhys equips Antoinette with madness to gain agency as a means to subvert patriarchal hegemony

Conclusion

Thesis Statement: Jean Rhys portrays insanity as a socially constructed method to exert power over subaltern women.

Essay Outline for WSS

Prompt A: The relationship between men and women, and the differences in their role in society, are central considerations in many works of literature. Discuss the part they play in Wide Sargasso Sea.

Main Ideas:

• Imperialism: Patriarchal System (Imbalance of Power) - Marriage of Antoinette and Rochester
• Antoinette's Madness: Product of the Patriarchal System
• Impact on Identity

Introduction

Thesis Statement: Within the novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys explores the constructed gender roles in the patriarchal system, in context of the nineteenth century, and the resulting impact on identity. 

Main Point 1: Patriarchy 

Topic Sentence: One’s identity is shaped by the expected gender role of their culture. 

Antoinette:

• The value of beauty and sexual attractiveness is reinforced for Antoinette as this will enable her to find a husband for economic dependency. 
• The importance of appearance in constructing a woman’s identity is emphasized around Antoinette; use of clothes, mirrors, the picture of the Miller’s Daughter, image of an idealized English woman. 
• Passivity and obedience are taught at the convent school.
• Antoinette also challenges these norms. 

Rochester:

• Traditional Victorian gender roles cast men as rational, strong, protective, and decisive; they cast women as emotional (irrational), weak, nurturing, and submissive.
• Rochester is representative of the main aspects of masculinity as seen in his dominant attitude, rational thinking, and the active role he plays in the plot.
• This is seen in his language which is more passive and observing, Also, he places more emphasis on reason, logos. In contrast, Antoinette is more passionate, reflective and imaginative; the dream-like language.

Main Point 2: Patriarchy (Marriage of Antoinette and Rochester)

Topic Sentence:

Ideas:

• Rochester is simultaneously portrayed as a victimizer and a victim of the patriarchal system.
• When Antoinette fails to reach these standards in his eyes, he starts to see her beauty as being deceitful and as Other.
• He uses his dominance to injure and imprison her. He not only renames her but calls her his marionette.
• His letters and interior dialogue reveals insecurity within his familial relationships. 
• In response to the West Indies, Rochester re

Main Point 3: Madness (Antoinette)

Topic Sentence:

Ideas:

• “Madness” because she deviates from the expected social gender role (wife). 
• Antoinette acts outside the normative frameworks of a Victorian society; she rages at her husband when she is angry and expresses her sexuality openly. Her sexuality frightens him since female sexuality is repressed in Victorian England.

Wide Sargasso Sea Part 1: Antoinette

In what ways does Jean Rhys characterize Antoinette as an outsider in Part One of the novel and to what effect?

Wide Sargasso Sea opens with the following words: “They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did. But we were not in their ranks”. To be in-between, ambivalent and not knowing which way to go or turn and not having a clear direction or advice to follow is what

the main character of Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette, has to struggle with throughout the novel. Described as a Creole, she is neither black nor white, but somewhere in-between Europe and the Caribbean, a slave and a master in a world where, due to decolonization, new identities and roles have to be formed in ways never experienced before; in Antoinette this creates an uncertainty of identity and belonging.

At her mother Annette's wedding she overhears the guests discussing Richard Mason's choice to marry Antoinette's mother.'A fantastic marriage and he will regret it. Why should a very wealthy man who could take his pick of all the girls in the West Indies, and many in England too probably?'

'Why probably?' the other voice said. 'Certainly.' 'Then why should he marry a widow without a penny to her name and Coulibri a wreck of a place? Emancipation troubles killed old Cosway? Nonsense – the estate was going downhill for years before that.' Antoinette's family is not part of any of the dominate social groups; neither are they physically a part of the Europe they once used to look up to. Antoinette's sex and status, geographical location and alleged state of mind all alienate her from the world around her, but at the same time she is bound to it, making her unable to change her situation. She does not belong to any sphere, yet cannot avoid being affected by all; with relatives both within the white and black community she is a hybrid both in a social and physical sense.

In the first part of the novel, Antoinette is telling us her story, and thus gives us her view of the way her family was excluded from the society. As a daughter to former slave owners, it might have seemed natural for her family to belong to the white community, rather than the black, but as the very opening words of the novel suggest, they were not in their ranks due to the Cosway's Creole background. The white community did not accept them, but neither were they welcome among their former slaves: “They hated us. They called us white cockroaches” (Rhys 8). Antoinette finds herself in a gray zone between the dominant blocks of power, not belonging to any of them, but instead forced to become a hybrid.

Hybridity among the Creoles in the Caribbean is not uncommon. Even if Antoinette's situation is not unique, it nevertheless does not make her life less problematic. The exclusion Antoinette has to deal with does not only come from the outside world and its people, but it also lives within her own family. Antoinette's mother is very distant and cold towards her daughter, depressed by the loss of her wealth, status and husband. She is laughed at by her former slaves, which also underlines the shift of power that has recently taken place on the island. She is at several points throughout the novel accused of being mentally unstable, which also reflects the way people view Antoinette; being the daughter of a mad woman will probably not go unnoticed and undiscussed.

Instead of crossing a physical border, and having to deal with the questions of belonging from a traditional immigrant perspective, the Cosways are immigrants within a society, forming their identity through the crossing from one system of power to another. Indeed they are second and third generation immigrants, now sharing a Creole background, which is even intensifying the questions of identity and belonging because of the difficulty they have in identifying themselves as either white nor black. These questions were perhaps not as pressing in colonial times when the Cosways could grow wealthy and powerful through the abuse and slavery they occupied themselves with and even were dependent on. But as the social structure changed and they no longer were by default on the top, new questions of identity arise. They were suddenly not in the white people's ranks due to their loss of economic status, their racially mixed, and allegedly mentally unstable background, but neither were they in the favor of their former slaves. It is this crossing from one system to another that changes the way they perceive their identity, and also changes the way they are seen by others.

Why it is so important to exclude such people as the Cosways from the white community? Orientalism-the Western view of the East- suggests that the East is seen as a realm of the exotic, the mystical and the seductive. Although the Carribbean is not technially part of the East, it is neither part of what is often referred to as West either. If the idea of East is expanded to include areas that are outside the European sphere of thinking regardless of geographical location, then these qualities of exotic, mystical and seductive perhaps reflect Antoinette and her mother's beauty. Furthermore, their behavior is seen as a result of the race and ethnicity. In other words, Antoinette can never change in the eyes of the English, because of her Creole background.

A large theme of colonialism is the "Other", where there is a line between "us" and "them". Ever since early Western thought equated the Good with notions of self-identity and sameness, the experience of evil has often been linked with notions of exteriority.The relationships Antoinette has throughout the novel are undermined by these problems caused by her not being defined by the world of “we”, but instead being a threat to all. She cannot be let in, because as a hybrid she can potentially destroy everything identity is built on. Antoinette learns very early on that she cannot count on the help or support from people close to her. These “others” are represented by several people in the novel: servants, visitors, friends and husbands to name a few. When she is rejected by her only friend, the black girl Tia, who for a little money turns her back to Antoinette and calls her a 'white nigger', clearly stating that Antoinette's family is not part of the wealthy white community:

'Keep them then, you cheating nigger,' I said, for I was tired, and water I had swallowed made me feel sick. 'I can get more if I want to. 'That's not what she hear, she said. She hear all we poor like beggar. We ate salt fish – no money for fresh fish. That old house so leaky, you run with calabash to catch water when rain. Plenty white people in Jamaica. Real white people, they got gold money. They didn't look at us, nobody see them come near us. Old time white people nothing but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger'.

Instead of questioning her friend's words and proving her wrong, Antoinette accepts what Tia says. By not quoting Tia directly, but rather repeating her words in third-person narration, Antoinette demonstrates that she has internalized and accepted her friend's criticism and reported gossip. Antoinette seems to feel that Tia is right and that she really is a white nigger, not part of the white community on the island, and therefore not anyone to be taken seriously. Antoinette seems to take the comment personally, as criticism towards her actions and behavior, and not as a general comment about the situation of the white Creole minority at the time. It seems as if Antoinette sees her outsiderness as a result of her own actions, something personal – and hence also her own fault, not as a result of racial exclusion that she never had a chance to change. Antoinette views herself and her actions as the seed of something evil, which eventually affects also her mother.

According to Antoinette, it is not the situation her family was in, neither the lack of belonging, but her own actions that made her mother unstable. “Then there was that day when she saw I was growing up it like a white nigger and she was ashamed of me, it was after that day that everything changed. Yes, it was my fault, it was my fault that she started to plan and work in a frenzy, in a fever to change our lives”. The problem with Antoinette's view of her situation is that she does not understand that Tia's comments about her being a white cockroach also includes her mother and the rest of her family; it is not a personal comment. If her mother is already included in the comment, then Antoinette cannot carry the guilt of it all; it is not her fault. Antoinette's actions did not change anything, her personal problems are related to the political situation. Antoinette cannot see that 'what Tia said' included her mother too, because she has no grasp of the historical and ideological barriers that separate classes in West Indian postslavery society. Her personal is not political.

Antoinette's feelings of not belonging anywhere are gradually intensified and she chooses to find comfort in the wilderness that surrounds her worn down home, Coulibri. As she walks away, she thinks to herself: “And if the razor grass cut my legs and arms I would think 'It's better than people'. Black ants or red ones, tall nests swarming with white ants, rain that soaked me to the skin – once I saw a snake. All better than people”. It is people that leave her outside and alone, although she never did anything to harm them. It seems that she does not understand the reason for her exclusion, but is very saddened by this. Indeed, the exclusion she faces is not based on her actions, but on her background of not belonging and being seen as a threat, although perhaps not openly admitted of being one: how can a young woman be a threat to a mighty nation? Antoinette carries these feelings of abandonment as she grows older and as she in her teens attends a school run by nuns she is once again struck by the fact that people near her do not see and understand her situation: “They are safe. How can they know what it can be like outside”. The other girls do not share Antoinette's experiences of abandonment and cannot understand her.

Sheikh Al-Junaydi

Sheikh Al-Junaydi is a Sufi Muslim and Said's late father's spiritual advisor. Firstly, note that Sufism is a sect of Islam, known for their peaceful and meditative nature. Sufi principle compromises of dedication to worship and to Allah and abstinence from vice, wealth, worldly prestige and material possessions. Sheikh Ali al-Junaydi’s first words to Said are “peace and God’s compassion be upon you,” 

However, he recognizes that Said’s concern is an immediate need and want is for food and shelter, not dedication to God. “You seek a roof, not an answer,” the Sheikh admonishes. In response to this, the Sheikh says “Take a copy of the Koran and read. . . . Also repeat the words: ‘Love is acceptance, which means obeying His commands and refraining from what He has prohibited and contentment with what He decrees and ordains.’ ” However, unlike Rauf who was uprooted by the present and carried away

Sheikh Al-Junaydi is part of Said's childhood, like Rauf Illwan. Seeing the Sheikh's house and staying in it, evokes memories and associations for Said. Said feels a thousand ties binding him to this place, of childhood, dreams, a loving father and thoughts of heaven. This is in contrast to the sense of detachment Said feels from other places such as Rauf's villa. The continuity and the openness of the Sheikh's house to Said, is symbolic of the lack of change of their inhabitants and the facts that they have not betrayed him, in contrast to places such as Rauf's villa. When recalling memories, Said mentions the "forgotten happiness" which he no longer remembers. This is an indication of his alienation from the innocence of his childhood, which starts of with his father's death and thus, the removal of the only active connection with the Sheikh's world. 

The Sheikh can stretch language to signify an array of symbols that seemingly stand outside language. Said acknowledges this, “This was the language of old times again, where word had a double meaning.” For instance, when Said says “I got out of jail today.”, the Sheikh replies with “You have not come out of jail.” tearing the word 'jail' out of its limited denotation and implying a new and broader significance, telling Said that he is still in what can be considered an 'existential jail'.

The house of the Sheikh becomes Said's refuge. He goes there after each of his failures such as when his daughter Sana rejects him, when he failed to kill Ilish, when Nur fails to return and when he is wracked by hunger and loneliness. He comes to see it as his sole refuge: “Forgive my coming to your house like this. But there’s nowhere else in the world for me to go.” and “What other refuge have I?”.

The Sheikh continuously offers Said the opportunity to reject worldly temptations such as his path to revenge, in favor of a spiritual path. However, the Sheikh's statements seem to have an air of 'universality' which makes it difficult for Said Mahran to communicate with him. This is because Said's perception is imprisoned in his obsession with his immediate needs and wants. Furthermore, Said can only produce an illusory picture of reality, seen in his statements such as "If you're oblivious of things, things would conceal themselves from you" and "I don't care about shadows."

The Sheikh acts as a moral voice throughout the novel, yet Said is unable to accept or comprehend the Sheikh's guidance. After accidentally killing a man at the door of Ilish Sidra’s old apartment, Said visits al-Junaydi again. This time Said ignores the morning prayers of the Sheikh’s disciples and falls asleep for many hours. When he wakes the Sheikh observes, “You’ve had a long sleep, but you know no rest.... Your burning heart yearns for shade, yet continues forward under the fire of the sun.” Said cannot comprehend the Sheikh’s simple wisdom. After the meaningless shootings outside Ilish’s apartment and Rauf Ilwan’s villa, the public sympathy Said once possessed erodes. Said's inability to accept the Sheikh’s offer of redemption through religion results in tragic consequences. “I am alone with my freedom,” Said laments, “or rather I’m in the company of the Sheikh, who is lost in heaven, repeating words that cannot be understood by someone approaching hell.” Mahfouz presents Sheikh Al-Junaydi as a foil to Said and uses him in order to present Said opportunities to avoid his tragic fate. Said's ignorance and unwillingness to take the opportunity to change, furthers Said's spiraling downfall as a tragic hero, leading to his greater than deserved fate. 

Lastly, an intriguing viewpoint is that the Sheikh's system can be considered authoritarian. According to the Sheikh's perspective, love of Allah requires putting one's faith and trust in him which leads to an ever greater virtue which is accepting whatever He wills. This acceptance is exemplified through the archetype the Sheikh chooses to refer to when he says “And as he was impaled on the stake he smiled and said: “It was God’s will that I should meet Him thus.” Wherever Said turns to he is required to submit to some type of authority. Society requires him to comply within its law, Rauf Illwan wants him to comply within the dictates of Revolution and the Sheikh wants him to comply with the Will of God. 

Word Count: 887

Passage Analysis

“So this is the real Rauf Ilwan, the naked reality—a partial corpse not even decently underground. The other Rauf Ilwan has gone, disappeared, like yesterday, like the first day in the history of man—like Nabawiyya’s love or Ilish’s loyalty. I must not be deceived by appearances. His kind words are cunning, his smiles no more than a curl of the lips, his generosity a defensive flick of the fingers and only a sense of guilt moved him to let me cross the threshold of his house. You made me and now you reject me: Your ideas create their embodiment in my person and then you simply change them, leaving me lost—rootless, worthless, without hope—a betrayal so vile that if the whole Muqattam hill toppled over and buried it, I still would not be satisfied.

I wonder if you ever admit, even to yourself, that you betrayed me. Maybe you’ve deceived yourself as much as you try to deceive others. Hasn’t your conscience bothered you even in the dark? I wish I could penetrate your soul as easily as I’ve penetrated your house, that house of mirrors and objets d’art, but I suppose I’d find nothing but betrayal there: Nabawiyya disguised as Rauf, Rauf disguised as Nabawiyya, or Ilish Sidra in place of both—and betrayal would cry out to me that it was the lowest crime on earth. Their eyes behind my back must have traded anxious looks throbbing with lust, which carried them in a current crawling like death, like a cat creeping on its belly towards a bewildered sparrow. ”

Excerpt From: Naguib Mahfouz. “The Thief & the Dogs.”

Once again, Said is caught up in the continuos betrayal from those close to him. "The other Rauf Ilwan has gone, disappeared, like yesterday, like the first day in the history of man—like Nabawiyya’s love or Ilish’s loyalty." He catogorizes Rauf's identity as his most significant attribute, "like Nabawiyya’s love or Ilish’s loyalty." Said considers Rauf’s success as betrayal to him and his principles. Rauf's betrayal causes Said to hover on the side of paranoia, stating that "I must not be deceived by appearances."

The effect of Rauf's betrayal on Said is exemplified and further emphasized in the claim "You made me and now you reject me: Your ideas create their embodiment in my person and then you simply change them, leaving me lost—rootless, worthless, without hope—a betrayal so vile that if the whole Muqattam hill toppled over and buried it, I still would not be satisfied." Rauf plays a critical role as his mentor, who he values "more than the Sheik", who infused in him a political and moral spirit. In order to meet his selfish ends, he has joined the mainstream - the stream of power, politics, pleasures and corruption. Said, on the other hand, is led to be a criminal or rather a blot on the society - a society that begets and nourishes corruption. The delineation of Said evokes our sympathies for him in spite of his apparently anti-social activities.  Said having been betrayed by his comrades, he felt the loss of the moral values that inspired him to take action against those who are in the mainstream. Especially by Rauf, his past mentor, who justified his first theft.

Furthermore, although the writer portrays him as an intelligent man, his reaction after finding that Rauf had become a wealthy newspaper journalist was hostile. This reaction does not show intelligence but jealousy and illiteracy.

Narrative Structure Analytical Response

‘Stream of Consciousness’ is a technique that was first used in the late 19th Century that broke away from the formality of Victorian literature.  This technique allows the audience to experience the “emotional, moral, and intellectual thought” from inside a character’s mind, and explored new points of view, beyond the traditional first or third person narration.

With The Thief and The Dogs, Mahfouz starts to write shorter and faster-paced psychological novels, using stream of consciousness narratives. Rather than presenting a full and colorful picture of society as he does in previous realistic novels, Mahfouz concentrates on the inner workings of the individual psyches and its interaction within the social and cultural context. Mahfouz’s style ranges from realistic to impressionistic to surrealist, using a pattern of evocative language and imagery that binds the work together. 

Said continuously indulges in long and passionate internal monologues with himself, throughout the novel. Due to his self-denying predisposition, he suffers both internally and externally. Said is unable to come to good terms with his society, and finds it hard to reconcile himself to the bitter reality, which surrounds him. By employing the stream of consciousness narration, Mahfouz presents the protagonist’s inner thoughts as the flow of life and something beyond human control. We, the audience, side with him as we are affected by his torment and suffering, being made painfully aware of his flow of thoughts.

Said’s thoughts and his interpersonal interaction with his interlocutors are loaded with meaning in their Egyptian context. Mahfouz’s careful diction and structures play an important role in the psychological portrayal of an unjustly imprisoned man. 

The audience tends to accept Said’s interpretations as we keep developing empathy for him. Mahfouz combines dialogic interactions and monologues in order to subtly engage the reader in favor of Said. He portrays him, in his plights and predicaments as an oppressed and exploited character.  Mahfouz skillfully uses the stream of consciousness narration to effectively enhance Said’s characterization. Said’s internal crisis is portrayed explicitly through the stream of consciousness narration.

Value of Literature in Translation

In the article Why Won't English Speakers Read Books in Translation, Anderson states "Literature – fiction especially – offers a crucial window into the lives of others, promoting empathy and understanding in a way that traveling somewhere rarely does. By not translating more widely, publishers are denying us greater exposure to one of reading’s most vital functions." This statement is echoed throughout the article Found in Translation, with focus on the contemporary Arabic novel, providing us with "answers to questions we did not know we wanted to ask". Translated works allow us to access different narratives, offering us a more balanced perspective and therefore, a better understanding of our world. For instance, Things Fall Apart by China Achebe was written as a counter narrative to the colonial perspective at that time.

In previous posts, I've discussed the significance and complexity of the relationship between language and culture. In this sense, language can affect the historical, cultural and social context a text is received in. This is because that language's and that culture's attitude and values will be transferred as well. Writing in a certain language can reveal the author's intention. For instance, Achebe choses to interpose Western linguistic and literary forms with Igbo phrases, tales and other forms of Igbo orality, in order to preserve Igbo culture and offer an effective and balanced counter narrative to the colonial attitudes at the time. By writing in English, Achebe could reach a much wider audience and expand its value to contemporary times.

However, in The Thief and The Dogs, Naguib Mahfouz writes in Arabic for the Egyptian people. Thus, Mahfouz is given access to Egypt's attitudes and values in order to create a context for his text. However, in translation, it can be difficult to transfer the same attitudes and values with a different language, and this can therefore affect the context in which the text is read and interpreted. In the article, What makes a good literary translator, Daniel Hahn, director of the British Centre for Literary Translation, and Urdu language translator Fahmida Riaz comments that "Every word or phrase; every syllable, for that matter, will be different from the original text." and that "Every translation is an interpretative act, as well as a creative one." In this sense, the role of translators can be seen as ideological gatekeepers and negotiators of foreign values in the way foreign texts are translated.

Furthermore, another learning outcome questions "how form, structure and style can not only be seen to influence meaning but can also be influenced by context." Riaz states that "there’s not a single word in any of the languages I translate that can map perfectly onto a word in English." In view of this, translation can change the "form, structure and style" of the text. Riaz continues with "Anything that is, itself, a ‘linguistic’ quality will by definition be anchored in a particular language — whether it’s idiom, ambiguity, or assonance. All languages are different. There are congruences between languages that are more closely related, of course, but those relationships are very much in the minority." Essentially, in order to capture the essence of what and how the author is trying to communicate, translators may have to change their literary devices in light of the language and their rules.

Paper 1 HL Practice

Text 1

From 'Cranes'

Jennifer Ackerman 

National Geographic 

2004

From a blind overlooking the wetlands of central Wisconsin, I can see a long-legged bird in the distance, a stroke of white curled at the top, like a bright question mark against the emerald green grasses. Then up pops another from the screen of reeds. The birds are yearlings, five feet tall, with snow-white plumage and elegant black wing tips that spread like fingers when they fly. They’re quiet now, but from the long trachea coiled in their breastbones may come a wild, singing whoop, harsh and thrilling, that gives their tribe its name.

This would be a primordial scene – big sky, undulations of tall marsh grasses, wild whooping cranes – were it not for a penned area nearby, where several whooper chicks, well camouflaged in tawny feathers, forage in the shallows. In a whisper, crane biologist Richard Urbanek explains that these chicks have been raised in captivity but have never heard a human voice nor seen a human form, except in crane costume. As part of an experimental program to reintroduce a wild migratory population of whooping cranes to the eastern half of North America, these chicks have been fed and tended by crane-costumed people for two months. Now, before they are released to the wild, they are being taught the habits of their ancestors with modern techniques pioneered by Operation Migration, an organization devoted to helping endangered birds learn their traditional migratory routes. Near the pen is a long stretch of open grass, a runway, where the chicks are learning to fly behind an ultralight plane flown by a pilot in crane costume who will guide them from this refuge 1,200 miles south across seven states to wintering grounds in Florida.

Two cohorts have already made such trips – and returned on their own, the first whooping cranes in perhaps more than a century to fly freely over the eastern United States. After three years of ultralight-led migrations, the new eastern migratory population numbers 36 birds, including the yearlings and the chicks. The success of this effort is leading the way for a more ambitious project half a world away in the northern reaches of Russia. In the fall of next year an international migratory route, from Russia to Iran, will restore the birds’ knowledge of the ancient flyway – not with ultralights but with hang gliders that will soar a difficult path extending more than 3,000 miles over four different countries.

Hang glider pilot Angelo d’Arrigo leads a trio of young captive-bred Siberian cranes on a trial flight over the Arctic Circle in Siberia – part of an ambitious effort to teach the endangered birds the migration route of their ancestors from Russia to Iran.

Text 2

'To a Waterfowl' 

William Cullen Bryant 

1815

Whither, 'midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,

Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue

          Thy solitary way?

          Vainly the fowler’s eye

Might mark thy distant flight, to do thee wrong,

As, darkly seen against the crimson sky,

          Thy figure floats along.

          Seek’st thou the plashy brink

Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,

Or where the rocking billows rise and sink

          On the chaféd ocean side?

          There is a Power, whose care

Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,—

The desert and illimitable air

          Lone wandering, but not lost.

          All day thy wings have fanned,

At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere;

Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,

          Though the dark night is near.

          And soon that toil shall end,

Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,

And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,

          Soon, o’er thy sheltered nest.

          Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven

Hath swallowed up thy form, yet, on my heart

Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,

          And shall not soon depart.

          He, who, from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,

In the long way that I must trace alone,

          Will lead my steps aright.

Text	Audience	Purpose
1	Text 1 is very characteristic of a journalistic article for National Geographic, which targets nature-minded readers.In the second paragraph she then moves on to inform the reader of the organization that the text is about. Her diction here suggests that the intended audience is a more than average educated audience. “As part of an experimental program to reintroduce a wild migratory population of whooping cranes…” The words such as “reintroduce” and “migratory population” are not colloquial words used in every day speech implying that the audience that is expected to read this must be highly educated and interested in birds as they are somewhat specific words to birds and their habits.	The article, however, is more centered on the idea of informing the reader. It’s starts off as very descriptive to catch the readers attention, “I can see a long-legged bird in the distance, a stroke of white curled at the top, like a bright question mark against the emerald green grasses”. Ackerman continues to describe this scene she sees with riveting detail to peak the interest of the reader. In the second paragraph she then moves on to inform the reader of the organization that the text is about.
2	Text 2, on the other hand is characteristic of Romantic poetry from the 19th century, read by literary enthusiasts. We know that it is an ode through the use of poetic language, the title ‘To a Waterfowl’, the use of rhyming quatrains and apostrophe, (when a poet asks an object a question). These qualities require readers to hear the spoken word, and therefore the audience is most likely interested in its literary qualities. The title of the poem suggests that the poet, Bryant, is talking to the bird in his poem rather than addressing his actual audience, “All day thy wings have fanned”. This is backed up by how the poem is written in second person, Bryant continues to directly talk to the bird addressing it as “you”.	Whereas birds learn from people in remarkable ways in Text 1, the poet, William Cullen Bryant learns a life ‘lesson’ (line 26) from one bird in Text 2. The poet has written an ode to this waterfowl, who has taught him about the importance of solitude and steadfastness.  The author expresses his feelings to the reader through the flight of a crane. This allegory supports the underlyng theme.
Compare & Contrast	Both texts are very different in their purpose, as they come from different centuries and target different audiences.

Text	Content	Theme
1	In the article the writer explains how they are teaching the cranes , “… they are being taught the habits of there ancestors with modern techniques pioneered by Operation Migration, an organization devoted to helping endangered birds learns their traditional migratory routes.” An organization is dedicated to teaching birds about their traditional habits as displayed in this article.	Text 1 is built on the assumption that nature and the whooping crane must be preserved. Lines 24-27 describe a plan to “restore the birds’ knowledge of the ancient flyway.” The extreme measures that are taken to help these birds migrate, including the costumes, the reserves and the gliders, are never questioned in this article.
2	In the poem, however, it is the poet who feels as though he is taught a lesson, ” Deeply has sunk the lesson thou hast given,”. He expresses how he believes the waterfowl has taught him about God. He feels this way as the bird is following a migration route that it has never gone on before believing that it is a higher power showing the bird the way.	The message of Text 2 is also built on the premise that nature is important. The poet asks the crane why it pursues its solitary ways (line 4). Eventually he claims that the bird’s purpose is to guide him on his lonely path in life, as stated in the final stanza: “He who, from zone to zone, / Guides through the boundless sky they certain flight, / In the long way that I must tread alone, / Will lead my steps aright.” Its message is very characteristic of Romantic poetry: We can learn how to live through observing nature.
Compare & Contrast	Although the purposes and contexts of these texts are different, they comment on a similar theme: the importance of nature, the migration of birds and the lessons being taught to either the birds or the people on this subject. The article is about the people teaching the birds whereas the poem is about the bird teaching the person.

Text	Tone	Mood
1	As the whooping cranes in North America, it uses diction that is descriptive. The narrator seems to be hiding in the reeds or ‘emerald green grasses’ (line 3). This colorful choice of words indicates that she is enthralled by the natural elements around her. Words like ‘snow-white plumage’ and ‘elegant black wingtips that spread like fingertips’ are rather poetic. The effect of this descriptive language on the reader is both intriguing and sympathetic. As the interviewee whispers to the reporter, the reader becomes drawn in and concerned about the fate of the whooping crane.	The poetic language sketches an image in the reader’s mind that is quite romantic, rural and rustic. The journalistic nature of the article is almost sensationalist. There is something extraordinary about people wearing ‘crane costumes’ (line 11) who teach young cranes how to fly and migrate from an ‘ultralight plane’ (line 16). What’s more, the journalist explains that this practice is happening in Siberia as well.
2	Bryant makes use of descriptive language that engages the reader. Phrases like the ‘crimson sky’, the ‘abyss of heaven’ and the ‘chafed ocean side’,	The descriptive language paints an image in the reader’s mind and makes the text come to life.
Compare & Contrast	As the texts have a common theme, there are also similarities in their use of tone and mood.

Text	Style	Structure
1	Text 1 plays a clever trick on the reader. After a colorful attention grabber, in which the journalist describes the whooping crane in its habitat, the second paragraph explains that this ‘would be’ a primordial scene. She explains that the cranes are in fact in pens, which surprises the reader. Like the use of imagery, this structural device also has the effect of intriguing the reader. The reader wants to learn more about why the chicks have never heard a human voice (line10), why the humans wear crane costumes (line 11) and there is a runway for an ultralight plane (line 17). The facts follow, including the number of miles they fly, the number of birds that participate and the similar project in Siberia. This kind of structure is characteristic of a feature article. The stylistic devices in the article are not that broadly used, except for the beginning. This is quite common in scientific articles.
2	The structure of the poem is very different, but equally effective in its aim of creating sympathy for nature and birds. As mentioned the poem is an ode, where the poet praises the qualities of an object and finds inspiration in it. Furthermore there is a rhyming scheme and rhythm that are aesthetically appealing to the reader. The rhyming scheme in each quatrain is ABAB. For example the final word of line 1, ‘dew’, rhymes with the final word of line 3, ‘pursue’. Line 2, ‘day’, rhymes with line 4 ‘way’. This creates a sense of harmony and perfection that relates to the poet’s understanding of the waterfowl. Each line contains loose iambic feet, meaning there are unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables. There are three iambic feet in the first and last lines of each quatrain and five feet in the second and third lines of each quatrain, creating short-long-long-short pattern to each stanza. The effect of this pattern is that the reader feels a rocking sensation, which may relate to the steady flap of the bird’s wings or the poet’s pondering mood. This to adds to the aesthetic harmony and sense of perfection that the poet wants us to associate with nature.  The poem however starts off easy and slowly increases the dramatic flow as the hunter gets more and more dramatic until the crane’s death which then leads to this fade-out effect in the outro
Compare & Contrast	Both authors use structural devices to convince the reader of their cause.

Paper 1 HL Practice: Perfect Paper

Text 1 is a print advertisement from the 1920s for the cruise liner, "The Great White Fleet”. Coinciding with the age of colonialism, the advert attempts to persuade the American middle class to take an exotic trip to the Caribbean with their steamship company. Text 2, “Squatters Take On Developers”, is an article written in 2007 for the Miami Herald outlining how developers are exploiting the Caribbean for future tourism development and displacing squatters in the process. Using a post-colonial lens, the article attempts to persuade the audience to stand beside the squatters. While Text 1 and Text 2 do target common audiences and comment on similar themes, they differ in specific purpose and content due to their contrasting temporal setting and cultural values. This provides the reader with a colonial and post-colonial lens, respectively. As a result of this, both texts use stylistic features and literary devices differently, in order to achieve their purpose.

Both Text 1 and Text 2 target the literate and middle and upper class audience, despite being temporally disconnected. This is seen in Text 1, with the statement "Only First Class Passengers Carried" and the continuous tone of exclusivity. In Text 2, the article is placed in the "Business Monday" section of the "Miami Herald", a news agency. This indicates that the audience would have to be literate. The lower class would be uninterested in these matters, and it is most likely the the upper class would be the developers seeking to take over the Caribbean island. Contrary to their common audience, Text 1 and Text 2 differ in their specific purpose. The purpose of Text 1 is to persuade the target audience to buy their product, their summer cruise. This is seen through the various advertisement techniques used such as the 'bandwagon' technique, repetition of establishing Ethos and the selective omission of detailed facts such as the exact, numerical price. Using these techniques, they associate the product with exoticness, affluence and social status which becomes their main selling points. By extension, this Text reflects the cultural values held in America in the 1920s. Set in the peak age of Colonialism, this text reveals that Americans at this time exploited colonized land for consumerism. Colonized land was meant for entertainment rather than being an actual home. Furthermore, this was the social norm and something expected of the higher class. In contrast, the purpose of Text 2 is to raise awareness to their audience, on the issue of squatters vs. developers. This is achieved with use of graphic language and the extended imagery of colonialism in order to create an atmosphere of sympathy towards the squatters. By extension, this Text reflects the cultural values held in America in 2007. Viewed through a post-colonial lens, this texts reveals that Americans were more liberal and regarded colonialism as ethically wrong. Thus, although they differ in specific purposes, both Text 1 and Text 2 try to sell or reinforce an ideology that reflects the cultural values of their time. 

Text 1 and Text 2 are in opposition, in terms of content and due to their temporal setting and their cultural values. However, both texts comment on a similar theme. Text 1 is a print advertisement from the 1920s for the cruise liner, "The Great White Fleet". The advert compromises of both visual and literary elements. It includes a map portraying the cruise's trajectory and destinations, a list of all the exotic destinations such as "Jamaica, Cuba, Panama Canal, etc.". The main written body is a persuasive description on the reasonable cost, the cool temperatures and the luxurious lifestyle provided. It concludes with a list of 3 addresses of their branches for bookings and a drawn illustration of wealthy people enjoying a cruise. The significance of all these elements will be further discussed in style and structure. On the other hand, Text 2 is an article written in 2007 for the Miami Herald describing how developers are coming to these Caribbean islands to purchase the beach front for future tourism development. The article specifically focuses on the squatters living there and the eviction they are facing. While they do differ in content, they comment on a similar theme. Both texts are placed in the Caribbean and both address the opportunities there, particularly tourism. Text 1 brands these places as exotic in order to sell their product. Conversely, Text 2 persuades that these homes should not be considered as holiday spots. Subsequently, Text 1 glorifies the lifestyle resulting from colonialism for economic gain while Text 2 unveils the injustice squatters face as a result of developers placing economic cost of future tourism over the human cost of exploiting the fringes of our society. They share a common topic but are oppositional in regards to perspective with Text 1 seen through a colonial lens and Text 2 seen from a post-colonial lens.

As a result of their distinctive purposes, Text 1 and Text 2 use tone to create contrasting moods in order to sell or reinforce their ideology. In Text 1, the author uses descriptive and persuasive language in order to create a mood of exclusivity and exoticness. With the statement "Only First Class Passengers Carried". The tone of this phrase alludes to a certain exclusivity to the product being sold. In doing so, it becomes more effective in its persuasion using the 'bandwagon' technique. In targeting the social elite, the advert marginalizes and excludes the middle class. Consequently, the product becomes associated with social standing and makes the excluded group crave the product in order to achieve this social status. This is further enforced through the bold and enlarged subtitle "Reduced Rates For Summer Cruises" and the use of language such as "The Coolest Ships Afloat". The reasonable prices makes the product more attractive to the target audience and the middle class lingo makes it more relatable. In Text 2, the author uses graphic language in order to create an atmosphere of pity and sympathy for the squatters and cultivates a dislike towards the developers using language that stirs up imagery of colonization. The author starts by using very descriptive and graphic language to create an image for the audience that moves us to empathize with the squatters. The author associates the developers with imagery of colonization with language such as "Indigenous, displace, charges of "colonialism" and "Developers and speculators will use any means necessary to get the land from the people."". This implied bias by spin where the reporter's selective manipulation of the facts and tone, makes one side's perspective look better. In this case, it further gains empathy for the squatters. Hence, Text 1 and Text 2 oppose each other in terms of tone and mood. 

Due to their contrast in purposes, the stylistic and structural features differ greatly between Text 1 and Text 2. Despite this, there are similarities due to the fact that both texts aim to persuade their common target audience. For instance, both texts largely rely on imagery, diction and exploit their text type to the brim. Text 1 is a print advertisement from the 1920s for a cruise. It compromises of a large and bold title,”The Great White Fleet” with a subheading in italics “Only First Class Passengers Carried”. As mentioned previously, the phrase below the title exudes an atmosphere of exclusivity to the product. “The Great White Fleet” is a popular nickname for a US Navy Battle Fleet. Using this name, established Ethos and a sense of patriotism. This is further enforced by the word “White” being in white in contrast to the black background. We can assume that the intended audience is Caucasian. Furthermore, if we look at this from a post-colonial lens, we see that this advert informs us about the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer in the Caribbean. The use of a parallel name that alludes to the militia emphasizes the colonizer’s victory in conquering the Caribbean. Furthermore, the emphasis on the “White” informs us that superiority was determined by skin color. Anything other than white was deemed inferior and as “Other”, consequently, marginalizing and oppressing this group. The advert compromises of both visual and literary elements. It includes a map portraying the cruise's trajectory and destinations.” This map suggests that the audience may not be familiar with the geography. Through this, we see that the advert further emphasizes the ‘exoticness’ as it suggests to the audience that this cruise will go somewhere different, a place not like home. This aspect of the advert is both informative and used as a means of selling the product. The main written body is framed using the map above and the picture below, thereby giving it more focus and an overall balance to the composition. It compromises of a persuasive description on the reasonable cost, the cool temperatures and the luxurious lifestyle provided.  The bold and enlarged subtitle "Reduced Rates For Summer Cruises” makes the product more appealing to the targeted audience through reasonable prices. Below, is a list of all the exotic destinations such as "Jamaica, Cuba, Panama Canal, etc. In bold, they reinforce the product’s selling point of exoticness. “Sailings, every week, from New York, Boston and New Orleans”. This highlights the accessibility of the cruise ships. Furthermore, serving from top capitals only, emphasizes the exclusivity of this cruise. “It is cool in… much cooler than”. This use of language puts themselves in a position of superiority over any other holiday destinations. Using an empty claim such as “Official temperature records prove this”, established ethos. The author also uses manipulation of facts through word choice. This is seen for instance in “The thermometer at Jamaica…seldom touches 88 degrees” where the author manipulates one fact to persuade the audience. The author then goes on to describe the luxurious lifestyle provided through glittering generalities such as “Built especially for tropic travel…Extra large staterooms…Cuisine noteworthy for its excellence”. This luxurious lifestyle is used as a selling point. The ambiguity of the description uses the audience’s subjectivity by allowing the individual to paint their own image in their head of their own desires and associate this with the product. It concludes with their company name in bold, a list of 3 addresses of their branches for bookings and a drawn illustration of wealthy people enjoying a cruise. By stating the company name and the addresses, it uses ethos to give it credibility. The illustration below puts women and men as very elegant and highlights their status using fashionable clothing. Using this illustration, allows the audience to visualize themselves in this position, thereby making the product more enticing and giving the advert an effective conclusion. 

Text 2 is a newspaper article in the Miami Herald in the Business Monday section. First of all, the bold title “SQUATTERS TAKE ON DEVELOPERS” immediately introduces the audience to the content of the article and pits the two groups against each other. This diction portrays the squatters not as aggressors, but rather as if they’re talking on a challenge and depicts them as courageous. In the “Author” section, it states “BENJAMIN SHORS Special to The Miami Herald”. By stating his status in the newspaper, the author establishes ethos and gives himself the credibility to talk about this issue. The first line, in capitals, sets the setting of the article immediately in “ISLA CARENERO, PANAMA”. Shors begins the article by describing the setting and the squatter group in this setting. He heavily relies on diction that has negative connotation such as “shacks”, “scavenged tin”, “rough floor planks” and “cracks”. This immediately paints a selective image in the reader’s mind and builds empathy for the squatters. The article uses a particular case study, Nicasio Jimenez, to further establish ethos and give support to the author’s argument. Shors emphasizes the fact Jimenez earns specifically. $1 an hour, a despicable minimum wage. This punctuates the overall atmosphere of poverty. The alliteration in “Panamas poorest residents” makes it more memorable and the assonance provides weight and intensity to the phrase with its harsh p’s and o’s. While creating an atmosphere of sympathy for the squatters, Shors also highlights the Caribbean’s natural beauty with phrases such as “Caribbean breezes” and “stunning archipelago”. He then states that “foreign investment transforms these languid islands”. Consequently, he portrays the developers as not only colonizers to the people but also to the land itself. Shors uses testimony to appeal to the audience’s sense of pathos by eliciting empathy for a man losing his rights and his family facing eviction. In contrast to this, he casts doubt on the developers by his ambiguous diction with “developer who claims he bought the property from a third party”. He also uses direct quotes from one of the squatters in order to further establish ethos. In the next few paragraphs, Shors informs the audience more on the issue with historical context. While this may seem objective at first, Shors uses diction to view the issue from a post-colonial lens. In doing so, Shors is able to sway the audience to the side of the squatters by aligning himself in the morally right stance and the majority’s opinion. This diction is used throughout the article such as “Afro-Caribbean and indigenous Indians who occupy these once-isolated isles”, “threaten to displace hundreds”, “charges of “colonialism” ” and “Homes have mysteriously burned and been torn to the ground”. This is even seen with the facts. For instance, the statistic of $1 billion dollars the developers have, greatly contrasts the $1 wage of the squatter, cited earlier in the article. Shors ends the article with an endorsement from Osvaldo Jordan, an expert on the issue and part of “a Panamanian nonprofit” which contrasts with the ending sentence “developers and speculators will use any means necessary to get land from the people” which embodies a Machiavellian sense of the ends justify the means, where the ends mostly consist of profit. A strong distinction is seen in terms of the stylistic and structural features used in order to communicate their oppositional messages. Where Text 1 uses a combination of visual and literary elements, Text 2 relies on literary elements alone. Yet, both Texts use imagery, diction and the advantages of their text type in order to sell or reinforce their ideology. 

Both Text 1 and Text 2 target the literate, American middle and upper class and common on the Caribbean and its opportunities. Yet, they differ in content and purpose due to they contrasting temporal setting and cultural values. As a result of this, Text 1 is viewed with a colonial lens where it glorifies and sells the lifestyle resulting from colonialism for economic gain. On the other hand, Text 2 is viewed with a post-colonial lens, commenting on developers essentially ‘colonizing’ the Caribbean and displacing the squatters. Due to this contrast, both texts use use stylistic features and literary devices differently. However, since they both try to persuade their audience there are some similarities such as diction, imagery and using the advantages of their text type.