In
the first 21 lines of the poem, My Last Duchess, a dramatic monologue in the
Renaissance period, Robert Browning portrays the duke as a jealous, arrogant,
self-centered, obsessive, over domineering, abusive, and manipulative
psychopath. Through his description in lines 1–21 of the poem, Browning
displays the Duke as a heartless villain.
One
example is "that's my last duchess painted on the wall" --- This objectifying
line displays both the duke's selfishness and egotism. "My" shows
that the Duke thinks that he owns the Duchess as some sort of object. His
materialism is also presented in this line as he is proud and boastful of his possession.
Furthermore,
the duke is a symbol of jealousy. In lines such as "strangers like you
that pictured countenance" and "'twas not her husband's
presence only, called that spot of joy into the duchess' cheek", it is
clearly evident that the Duke is jealous of any attention his wife shows to others
(even if not romantic or flirtatious). He’s especially jealous of every smile she
gives to anyone, even if she's only being nice. He’s so jealous that he has to
kill her as that was the only solution he could find. His jealousy is extreme
and this is vividly depicted in the opening 21 lines.
In "We'll Never Conquer Space," Clarke convinces the modern
reader that humans will never be able to overpower space or choose space as
their habitat for a number reasons. Clarke presents his reasons using an
argumentative essay.
Clarke focuses throughout the essay on 2 main reasons why we will never
conquer space. The first reason is that space is too vast to be ever conquered
(if we could even explore it all) and that there is not enough time (time
barrier) to conquer space again due to its vastness. Clarke utilizes predictions,
analogies, facts, and a well-structured, focused writing style to emphasize his
point.
One of his analogies compares space to an ocean and the planets as
islands. He mentions that just like how the vastness of the ocean poses a time
barrier so does the vastness of space; humans will only be able to explore
space but never conquer it.
In addition, throughout the essay Clarke uses charged words to
illustrate his point and uses an argumentative writing style that is convincing
and straight to the point.
Clarke, for the most part, manages to convince his readers that we, in
fact, will never conquer space. Although there are a few errors in his
predictions, the rest of his argument is accurate, well-defined, and
persuasive.
Edgar Allan Poe, a renowned writer, who is especially known for his mysterious stories and gruesome tales, has written over the years a broad range of compelling literary works, and my favorite is his short story "The Tell-Tale Heart." "The Tell-Tale Heart" is told by an unidentified narrator who attempts to persuade the reader that he is sane while wildly describing, with vivid detail, a murder he committed.
What struck me the most about this short story is Poe's ability to capture the feelings of a crazed murderer, allowing me to truly understand the thoughts and sensations of the madman persona. Throughout my reading of "The Tell-Tale Heart" I began to notice that, much like most of Poe's other works that I have been exposed to, the narrator is in an outright mad and unstable mental state. The process of understanding the inner thoughts of an unsound mind can be tremendously thought-provoking. Just from reading the opening paragraph of "The Tell-Tale Heart," I instantly realized the extent of madness of the narrator but was at the same time intrigued by the level of his self-denial; he insists that he is not mad but claims to hear things that occur both in heaven and hell. This absurd idea, along with many others from "The Tell-Tale Heart", makes the short story highly interesting and is one of the main contributors to the high level of appeal of Poe's works.
As part of the "DEAR" (Drop Everything And Read) program implemented by my school, DJIS, we students have been reading for 30 mins at school on each Thursday. Through this accumulation of time spent reading, I have gained valuable insight and enjoy reading now.
The book I chose was "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. In this entertaining novel, Golding describes the struggle of a group of British boys stuck on a remote island. They try to govern themselves but fail miserably. Golding does a great job at describing each boy and his characteristics. Through reading about the boys' struggle at working together, I learned how to think responsibly and not make rash decisions. I highly recommend this novel to everybody and thank Mr.Ammar and the English department for adding such a beneficial program.
"Words can inspire. And
words can destroy. Choose yours well." This assertion stated by Robin
Sharma elucidates Mohammed Qahtani's argument in the simplest of forms. For the
most part, the majority of society takes no discretion when speaking to others
and utters whatever crosses their minds without considering the deleterious consequences
they might have on others such as in Qahtani's example about his friend Nasser.
In his speech, "The Power of Words",
Qahtani addresses the topic by giving various examples of how people were
affected, positively and negatively, by mere words. What strikes me the most
about his presentation is his articulacy and persuasiveness. Just one minute in,
I had already been deceived by Oahtani's eloquence and fully believed him up
until he confessed he was lying. The most important thing I truly learned from
his presentation was that the way words are delivered is of extreme importance.
For example, Qahtani mentions how people who cannot articulate words in a
powerful and expressive manner will not be taken seriously such as was the case
with the scientists who tried to talk about global warming on the television.
In order to grab the audience's attention in any public speaking event, the
speaker himself should be as fluent, expressive, and convincing as possible. Even
if something is extremely important but is not articulated in the most
persuasive manner, it will have no effect on the people being addressed.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/18295942211940126/
Before watching Nasser's
presentation I did not take much care with my words but now, after watching, I will
exercise extreme caution when speaking; something of trifling significance may
prove to be detrimental to another individual when spoken if it is in the wrong
time or if the person is in a bad mood.
Illiteracy is one of the most severe
problems in modern day society. Even with all these advancements in recent
years, there are still some who are illiterate; they cannot read or write. The
causes of illiteracy are plenty, but the most prevalent of them is poverty.
Out of the
2.2 billion children present in the world, almost a billion are suffering from
poverty and 121 million are deprived of education. Most of the poverty
stricken families, who cannot afford more than a meal or two a day, have no
intention of educating their children and often make them work in low-income
jobs in order to support the family. Another significant cause of illiteracy is overpopulation. The world population has been continuously
growing since 1350 when it was nearly
370 million to the 7 billion that are present today. There
is a strong correlation between poverty and illiteracy rates. For example, India which holds around 17% of the world's
population, has one of the world’s largest illiteracy rates at 37% concluded in
a 2014 study by TIME magazine. Gender bias also plays a role in illiteracy. In
countries like India and Pakistan many, often illiterate parents, have a
misconception that a son has the right of education and a daughter is
considered a burden and must be denied such things. As a result, more women are
illiterate than men are.
We usually
take literacy for granted, but we should always be reminded that it is one of
the most important and one of the most necessary skills a person can attain. It
allows individual to succeed in life. From understanding the instructions and
indications on a medicine bottle to performing well in a job, literacy is vital
to having a sustainable society. How can one work and do good for his community
when he or she does not have the basic fundamental skills of reading and
writing?
In order
to counter illiteracy, schools, corporations, and the media must enforce good
reading habits. We should read more, much more than we do now. In poorer areas
there are already organizations that are supporting them but it will never be
enough as long as the population count is increasing. The best way to fight literacy
is to stop the causes. Families should limit themselves to having two children,
but if they cannot support two, they should have only one to provide him or her
with a proper education. If the population decreases then also the poverty
rates will decrease as job opportunities and money will be spread out more
evenly. Finally, there should be no gender bias, especially in education
related matters; women have the right of education as much as men do.
Most
importantly, one suggestion on how to increase DJIS students' literacy level
would be to read more. There is no way to increase our literacy level if we don’t
read. All the information mankind has ever gained before the creation of recent
technology has been through writings and books.
Aaron Blabey - The Importance of Literacy Mohamed Shaban - 11 Silver
In
the first 21 lines of the poem, My Last Duchess, a dramatic monologue in the
Renaissance period, Robert Browning portrays the duke as a jealous, arrogant,
self-centered, obsessive, over domineering, abusive, and manipulative
psychopath. Through his description in lines 1–21 of the poem, Browning
displays the Duke as a heartless villain. 
