Category: Communication

In this essay, I will talk about how the poems, ‘Remains’ and ‘The Emigrée’ express the theme of power in many different ways. In ‘Remains’, the protagonist is filled with the power of guilt because of how he has killed another man and how it is continuing to haunt him throughout his time, whereas in ‘The Emigrée’, the protagonist is unshaken on her fixed idea of what she thinks of her home despite all the negativity that she is constantly hearing about it; therefore the power of conviction. There are also many similarities within the poems, such as the outcomes of their situations, for example how it results around the power of memory.

To begin with, in the poem ‘Remains’, the protagonist regretfully says, ‘His bloody life in my bloody hands’. This quotation conveys the power of regret. The writer uses words and their suggestions to give two means for the word ‘bloody’. Usually when somebody is bleeding out and you hold them you would have blood on your hands. However, in this context the protagonist does not physically have blood on his hand so the reader must refer to the other meaning of killing someone. ‘His bloody life…’, shows that the protagonist did not care for that person who is affecting him that much and it just happens to be stuck with him.

In contrast to the previous paragraph conveying the power of regret, “I walk right over it week after week.” conveys the power of memory within the poem. It shows how the protagonist has engraved where this person has died in his mind and how this comes back to him every week. It  was not just a singular event in the protagonists’ life, as it appears he is constantly reminded of what happens, almost as if he has a flashback. From this moment in the story, the protagonist begins to realise what he has done as well as the type of effect that it has had on his life. The poet uses repetition when he says, ‘Week after week’, to suggest that the protagonist can not get it out of his head.

Similarly, in the poem ‘The Emigrée’, the protagonist, which is portrayed as a little girls says, “But my memory of it is sunlight clear”. This suggests the power of memory because the refuses to accept any other thought about her country except her own. There is a chance that although she is young she may only remember positive memories of her country yet, she has been told about it being at war as well as endangered. The writer uses symbolism to suggest that the sunlight she remembers could represent the hope that she has for her country. She remembers that her country was a strong country as well as there was always hope in it. This is similar to the way power is portrayed in the previous poem ‘Remains’, as both protagonists are overwhelmed by the power of memory. In the poem remains, the soldier’s memory haunts him, constantly reminding him of what he has done and in ‘The Emigrée’, the little girl’s memory is presented as the only thing that keeps her going.

Although, in the poem ‘The Emigrée’, power is shown through memory, in the poem ‘Remains’, the protagonist attempts to wash away his guilt. We can see this when the writer quotes, “And the drinks and the drugs won’t flush him out.” This quotation tells me that he is attempting to use alcohol and drugs to hide away that memory of the person that he has killed. But it doesn’t work for him, so it shows that the protagonist did all of those things to avoid it from happening and it still didn’t flush him out. This conveys the power of guilt because he is guilty of what happened to the man and can not get it out of his head. All the regret he must be feeling must overwhelm him. The writer uses ‘words and their suggestions’ to further deepen the meaning if what he is saying. The words ‘flush’ is usually used when talking about removing waste. The word flush used in this sentence to suggest that the memory is seen as waste/rubbish therefore the drink and drugs are used to assist the removal of the memory…

Also, in the poem ‘The Emigrée’, she quotes, “But I am branded by an impression of sunlight.” This quotation shows the power of conviction because she chooses not to believe any other opinion but her own. The fact that she is ‘branded’ shows that she is owned by the country. The writer uses ‘words and their suggestions’ when she says, ‘An impression of sunlight’. This is because and impression of sunlight could be to always be looking towards hope. To be branded by an impression of sunlight could mean that they are very optimistic and always looking towards the brighter side. A suggestion for this could be because she has not been to her home country in years therefore, the only way that she wants to remember her country is through the positive things that she has heard.

To conclude, the poem ‘The Emigrée’, conveys the power of memory and conviction whereas the poem ‘Remains’ portrays the power of memory and guilt. In the poem Remains, the protagonist appears to be overwhelmed with the power of guilt and it slowly begins to affect him in a way that it haunts him because it is always with him. In my opinion, I think the the second poem ‘The Emigrée’ is more affective in showing power. This is because it shows how much somebody could stand out when going to a new city and how they are seen as an outsider in a free city. It also shows when a person has nothing else to push them on, how easy it would be for them to give up. Throughout the poem she explains her problems and how she never fit in within a new country.

How is Mumbai presented through the perspectives of Abdul, Asha and Sunil?

This essay will be about Behind the Beautiful Forever’s, a book written by Katherine Boo. In this essay i will be writing about the perspectives of three different characters in the book. Annawadi, a place all three of these characters call home, resides between the developed New India and an International Airport. They all live in Annawadi however, they are all of different status within the slum. These characters are Abdul, Asha and Sunil. Each of their perspectives differ from negative to positive. In this essay, i will be talking about the different perspectives of each protagonist and showing how their status can affect their views and opinions of Annawadi.

To begin with, the start of the chapter tells us that, “Abdul rose with minimal whining since the only whining his mother tolerated was her own”. This quotation tells us that the way Abdul has perceived the world they live in and the way it is structured, there is no point in whining about things. You will need to do something to get the most out of it and from his mother living in poverty and attempting to raise her children, she will be the only one in their family that will have a right to whine.

Furthermore, I am going to focus on the perspective of Abdul on Annawadi. As Abdul rises he realises that, “this was the gentle going hour in which he hated Annawadi least”. This phrase gives us an idea that it is most likely the morning and not many things are happening at this time so it is peaceful and he hated it the least. As Abdul is observing his surroundings, he sees that, “The pale sun lent the sewage lake a sparkling silver cast”. In this phrase, Katherine Boo uses personification to describe the lake as a cast in which an injured person uses. The fact that it is lent tells the reader that it will not be there forever and it is only a limited amount of time before it goes. This shows that in Annawadi things won’t stay there forever so they must take as much of it as they can. In this sense they are expressing the view of the lake.

Next, I will be talking about the way that Asha, our next protagonist in the book, looks at Annawadi. Asha believes that Annawadi is just a place with people of high beliefs. We can see this in the quote, “She had by now seen past the obvious truth – that Mumbai was a hive of hope and ambition”. This quotation tells us that Asha has seen that everyone living in this ‘hive’ had high beliefs of what they could obtain from living in Annawadi. The fact the she had seen past the obvious truth tells us that she must have been blinded by something else to make her almost disbelieve that this was not the place she lived in.

In addition to that, we also see another view of Asha’s perspective when she says, “Corruption, it’s all corruption”. This phrase uses revolves around the word ‘corruption’. When used regarding to Annawadi/Mumbai, she is attempting to say how it has changed from its original state and decreased in its overall value. “It’s all corruption”, tells us that everything has decreased in value and it will never turn back to the way it was. This phrase shows us Asha’s perspective of Annawadi is completely destroyed and changes within it will not have as much of impact so it is as good as worthless.

Moreover, I will now be talking about the last protagonist i have seen so far in the book, Sunil. Sunil works hard everyday to ensure that his sister and himself have something to eat. When they do not have something to eat they resort to things lower than they expect. We can see this in the book when, “Sunil and Sunita had stood silently outside the huts of their neighbors at dinnertime.” This quotation tells us that they expected their neighbors  (also living in poverty) to share some of their dinner with them. From this we can see that Sunil sees Annawadi as a place of poverty yet still able to share what they can between a neighbor.

Finally, as Sunil was brought up with his sister in an orphanage, he learnt a few things that will show a different part of the world at such a young age. He a also quite smart for his age therefore understood some things that the other boys could not. We can see this when he says, “He knew why he and the other children received ice cream only when newspaper photographers came to visit,” This quotation tells me that as the children never received ice cream they would be unhappy and would not usually be given such a treat by those working in the orphanage, since they were given ice cream an such when the newspaper photographers came, they would be happy giving the world behind those doors and idea that the children in the orphanage were happy.

To conclude, all the protagonists in this essay have a different perspective of Annawadi not only through their social status, such as a slum lord or scavenger, but from their environment and what they have learnt from being in an environment. Abdul is a scavenger and is attempting to earn enough money to keep his family alive through the money he is making from selling his rubbish. Asha has become so desperate that she will do anything to obtain as much money as she can, and Sunil from such a young age has become a scavenger in order to make sure that his sister and him eat and survive another day in the slum.

“Is Titus Andronicus too violent to be taught in schools?” I believe that it is too violent because of how to script shows many scenes and moments in which the children are not ready for yet. Some of these scenes could be seen as inappropriate to the wrong type of children e.g immature, misbehaving or those that believe they are not ready for what lies in the book. As a result of the wrong class of children reading it, they may be influenced to do what they have learnt or understood to be a bad thing and it could follow with some serious consequences. I do not think parents would enjoy the fact that their child has killed over thousands of men, or that they have raped a female in the woods and cut off their arms and tongue just to avoid her from telling or knitting what has happened to her and/or why she is in such a disgusted state. If the parents whose daughter was raped cannot do anything but watch her walk endlessly in different paths, they would not know what to do to stop their child from their misery… except kill her and put and end to her misery (once again, reenacting a scene that has happened in Titus Andronicus).

That little section which I have written above shows what the book/movie/play Titus Andronicus is capable of doing to children and how it will have an effect on their parents and their basic family life… destroying it completely. This is not what only the book/ the movie Titus Andronicus can do, but also books that contain murder, sex, violence, bullying and bad language or some very gruesome scenes, such as torture. Even if it was to be taught in schools, I believe that the class learning it would need to have a sensible level of maturity in order avoid a misunderstanding of what should happen in reality as well as an understanding of the book containing what is happening and why it is happening and if they could possibly give an explanation on what has been happening.

I believe this because once children are  in to something and are energetic, they will do everything they can to release all of that energy in that moment. During that moment, they may begin to act out some of the scenes in Titus Andronicus in such depth that it becomes realistic and physical actions begin to progress to a point where it no longer becomes comfortable to those who are performing the scene. Of course, all of this is definitely avoidable. Furthermore, we should consider the way that the character Titus Andronicus performs some of his actions and things that he was known to be very famous for e.g killing many enemies at war, killing his son for portraying him as an enemy, slicing the throats of the men that ravished his daughter and then grinding their bones into powder and using their blood as paste. All of these actions contain extreme violence which somebody dies in such a bad way possible. Furthermore, we should consider the way that children act towards inappropriate scenes and it is our duty, as elders, to understand their comfort zone and the boundaries of where they no longer wish to take part in the situation. In that case, we need to understand their feelings and emotions towards certain things and we may have to question them what they are comfortable with and what they are uncomfortable with, just to get an idea of what they are like in situations, and to avoid the discomfort of stepping out of the comfort zone, i would avoid the choice of allowing them to read/watch or even view the play of Titus Andronicus until they are at the point where they can confidently say that they are ready for Titus Andronicus in the manner where they are mature and will feel really easy about learning the story of Titus Andronicus. Obviously this will require the child to be able to find language features and use figurative language to understand Titus Andronicus in deeper knowledge however this makes it a bit easier for them to answer questions in an exam.