4U English Blog

The Book of Negroes: Aminata Diallo

Welcome back everyone! In today’s blog post, I’m going to focus on the protagonist of the novel, Aminata Diallo.

As you can see from my previous blog posts, I admire Aminata for her courage and bravery. This character has so much history, it was enough for me to write a whole blog post on. Aminata’s story is a historical reality that many Africans faced back in the mid 1700’s. They were forced to worked under slavery and weren’t given proper pay either. Many women were harassed or sexually abused and their babies were told for money. This is the story of Aminata Diallo.

Right from the beginning of the novel, Aminata explains her life in Africa with her mother and father. From that I realized how intelligent she was raised to be. Her mom and dad taught her everything she needed to survive, make a living, and even read and write. This already made her different from the rest. At the age of 11 she could speak, read, and write in 2 languages! I happen to speak English and Gujarati but I don’t know how to read or write in Gujarati so I can only imagine her intelligence to be able to excel in both languages. Not to mention, when Aminata arrived in New York she learned English fairly quickly.

One of the major parts of her journey that boggled me was the fact that she got over loosing her parents so quickly. I thought maybe it was because she was young and didn’t understand they had died but later I found out she knew. I couldn’t ever imagine myself acting in such a calm manor if I were in that situation. Once again her bravery astounds me.

I realized after looking over her life story, how little I appreciate my blessings. I was born and raised in a safe environment with freedom and rights, something she only dreamed of having. All around the world still, there are people who are struggling with what Aminata felt with and its really sad to think about. What could I possibly do? Well, even when Aminata returned to Africa, she decided that she needed to help the people who were taken away to be slaves and so she travelled to England to fight in court. She told her story. She represents the image of kindness, bravery, and heroism.

Overall, Aminata is the face of every African who has suffered the horrors of slavery. No matter what came in her way, she always continues to persavere with the help of her companions she meets along the way of course. She escaped the evil behaviour of Appleby, survived small pox and depression after loosing her child, and faced death multiple times. But like she says at the beginning of the novel, she has a hard time dying.

The Book of Negroes: Archetypal Insight

Hi everyone! I’m back with my first in dept post about The Book of Negroes. Like I mentioned in my last blog post, this book captivated me and it was very interesting to see how life was back when freedom was not given to everyone. The archetypal literary theory will allow me to analyze the work of Lawrence Hill by focusing on themes, reoccurring symbols, images, character types etc. Hill incorporated many common archetypes that made it easier for me to follow and better understand his work. He gave almost every character in the novel an archetype to relate to. This includes heroes, villains, mentors, the innocent and many more.

I related each major character in The Book of Negroes to a archetype that I think best suits him/her. The most obvious one was Aminata Diallo as “The Hero”. It wasn’t clear at the beginning to the novel but as the story progressed and we saw character development, I realized she’s not the weak 11 year old who was kidnapped in Africa but instead a strong, innocent girl who fought through all the storms life threw at her. Aminata always fought for what she thought was right and in return ended up saving many black people from being traded. “I knew that it would be called the United States. But I refused to speak that name. there was nothing united about a nation that said all men were created equal, but that kept my people in chains.” (Lawrence Hill) I found dozens of examples where Aminata showed qualities of a hero but I’ll share a few of the most important ones. Aminata always put others before herself and like a hero, she’s faced loss, grief, and leadership qualities. Aminata lost her mother and father when she was kidnapped. Later on, she looses both her children and her husband. I mean that’s a lot of grief for one person to deal with but she continued to fight for what she believed in. Since Aminata was the only one who could read and write in 3 different languages, she read out all the announcements to the the black community in New York. She also constantly fought to be free and to end the trading of men. It was hard for the reader to not fall in love with her, I know I did. I admired her courage and strength and her will to keep fighting even when she wanted to give up. I couldn’t choose a better fit for the role of the hero! I knew that it would be called the United States. But I refused to speak that name. there was nothing united about a nation that said all men were created equal, but that kept my people in chains.I related each major character in The Book of Negroes to a archetype that I think best suits him/her. The most obvious one was Aminata Diallo as “The Hero”. It wasn’t clear at the beginning to the novel but as the story progressed and we saw character development, I realized she’s not the weak 11 year old who was kidnapped in Africa but instead a strong, innocent girl who fought through all the storms life threw at her. Aminata always fought for what she thought was right and in return ended up saving many black people from being traded. I found dozens of examples where Aminata showed qualities of a hero but I’ll share a few of the most important ones. Aminata always put others before herself and like a hero, she’s faced loss, grief, and leadership qualities. Aminata lost her mother and father when she was kidnapped. Later on, she looses both her children and her husband. I mean that’s a lot of grief for one person to deal with but she continued to fight for what she believed in. Since Aminata was the only one who could read and write in 3 different languages, she read out all the announcements to the the black community in New York. She also constantly fought to be free and to end the trading of men. It was hard for the reader to not fall in love with her, I know I did. I admired her courage and strength and her will to keep fighting even when she wanted to give up. I couldn’t choose a better fit for the role of the hero!

Unfortunately, where there is a hero, there’s always a villain. The white male population could technically all be considered villains seeing the way they treated the Africans. Nevertheless, I narrowed it down to one person who I think played the most foul part in the novel, Robinson Appleby. I literally hated that guy for how he treated Aminata and the way he looked upon all negroes. There are numerous times in the novel where Appleby tried to sabotage Aminata and prevent her when accomplishing anything. Even over 20 years after she escaped from him (she was his property), he came back to stop her from being a free negro. He claimed that she still belonged to her and only “loaned” her to Mr.Lindo. Not only did Appleby control Aminata but also sexually abused her and shamed her for having a child with another man. Appleby had absolutely no respect for negroes and expected them to serve him due to their skin colour. Knowing a major theme of this book is discrimination and prejudice behaviour, Appleby can without fail fill the shoes of the villain.

Appleby, Mrs.Lindo, and Soloman Lindo

The final archetype I’ll be talking about is “The Mentor”. I realized after reading the novel that there is more than one person who guided Aminata and aided her in times of need. Mamed is the first person I choose to represent the role of the mentor. Aminata bettered her reading and writing skills with the help of Mamed. He was a big part of her life when she was in New York. Mr and Mrs. Lindo were also very kind to Aminata and helped with her academic skills. Mr.Lindo taught her math and Mrs.Lindo further developed her reading and writing skills. Of course, none of this would have been possible if it weren’t for Aminata’s mom and dad who prepared her from when she was just a child. If it weren’t for her mother, Aminata would’ve never learned to “catch babies” and her father taught her two different languages. Without them or the rest of these mentors, Aminata would never have made it as far as she did in her journey.

Analyzing this book in a archetypal perspective opened up a new door for me. It better helped me understand the book and all the characters in it. Comparing them to archetypes makes it easier to relate to the characters and uncover hidden themes.

The Book of Negroes: Introduction

This past month I have been hooked on my ISP book “The Book of Negroes”. When I first saw it, I was shocked by he length of the book but surprisingly it wasn’t hard for me to get into it and before I knew it, I buried myself into the book. It was a intriguing!

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill shadows the life of a girl named Aminata Diallo from the time she was a little girl living in Africa to when she was old and crippled. Aminata was captured by slave traders and shipped off to South Carolina. That was just the beginning of her journey. She dealt with physical and emotional torture with no rights to protect her. I was shocked while reading about the harassment she tolerated and imagined what it felt like to have no control of ones life. We have grown up in a society that allows us to live freely and we have learned to take that for granted. Aminata didn’t have the basic rights of a person. She wasn’t expected to be educated (but thanks to her father she was), she was always someone’s property, she was harassed and sexually abused and she didn’t even have the right to keep her own child! From the time she was 11 “rains” old to when she decided to tell her story, she had dealt with an unbearable amount of grief. You will see slavery, harassment, torture, and death that Aminata faced and saw as she told her life story.

My next few blog posts will be strictly based on The Book of Negroes. I’ll discuss themes, different view points, heroes/villains, political discrimination and much more. I wanted to familiarize you guys with the content of this book and what it’s based on before diving in. If your interest in reading The Book of Negroes (which I strongly recommend) I’ll leave a PDF link to it below!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23316548-the-book-of-negroes

Serial Podcast: What We Know

The last episode of the podcast Serial revealed a lot of information about Adnan Syed’s trial. Sarah Koenig, the narrator, came to her conclusion and I came to mine. If I had to choose, I’d conclude that Adnan is innocent. No one including me can really know if Adnan killed Hae or not because every theory in the trial is a speculation and nothing has been proven. This is precisely why I had such a hard time coming up with a verdict. Adnan was either very unlucky on January 13th or he really did strangle his ex-girlfriend, Hae.

Adnan never had a history of violence and he was a well-rounded kid in high school according to his friends and teachers. So the question is why would a normal 17 year old child commit the murder of a girl he once loved? It really doesn’t make any sense to me.

I did some additional research by looking up the letter written to Adnan by Asia (one of his friends). Unfortunately, Adnan’s lawyers didn’t feel this letter would help during his first trial which I feel was a BIG mistake. This letter is proof of Adnan’s presence at the library during the time of Hae’s murder. Asia states in the letter “I’m not sure you remember talking to me in the library January 13th, but I remember chatting with you”. In the podcast, there was speculation that the letter could’ve been forced by Adnan’s family but you can decide that for yourselves. Below is the full letter from Asia.

Furthermore, in the last episode a new suspect, Ronald Lee Moore, was accidentally let out 13 days before Hae’s murder. They were in the same area and Adnan’s case was actually re-opened due to this coincidence. Now is it more likely for a 17 year old boy in high school to commit murder or a serial killer responsible for raping many woman in the past? This is one of the major reasons why I don’t think Adnan should be in jail right. Not only was there absolutely no DNA evidence and witnesses of Adnan strangling Hae but a serial killer was lose during the time as well.

Sarah Koenig compared this case to many other murders and realized this one has more blanks than it should. None of the timings or witnesses or people’s stories connect and fit together. I find it ridiculous that the authorities put Adnan in prison without solid evidence.

The medium I choose to express my opinion on Adnan Syed’s case is a blog post. I have an interest in blogging and have always wanted to start one for myself. Blogs give you the ability to express your opinion in content of your choice. They also allow pictures, videos, links and other visuals that podcast and vlogs can’t offer. For example, in this post, I was able to show pictures of Adnan and even insert the letter Asia wrote to him. A podcast is limited to audio whereas a blog post is able to have audio, visuals and written content. I read blogs often and realized that they tend to be more relatable due to the laxc terminology for the specified audience. The informal tone allows the audience to relate to the post and gain a more realistic view of the topic.

Led Zeppelin…Rip Off Artist?

After watching “Everything is a Remix Part 1: The Song Remains the Same” I learned 2 major key points. The first is that Led Zeppelin (one of the most popular and successful band of all time) was responsible for ripping off many other artists without giving them credit. The second thing I learned is that everything is a remix, hence the title. Anything that uses the same base but is altered (including pictures, videos, and music) is a remix.

Let’s take a look at one of the most prominant topics in this video which is Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” having the same cords as “Taurus” by Spirit. This is a very contraversial topic due to the fact that it isn’t clear if Zeppelin copyrighted the song. The guitar riff at the beginning of Zeppelin’s song is the same as “Taurus”. Take a look at both the songs below and see what you think.

https://youtu.be/D9ioyEvdggk – Stairway to Heaven

https://youtu.be/gFHLO_2_THg – Taurus

Not only is the guitar riff the same but the cord progression and bass melodies are also very similar . While I was listening to the songs, no obvious changes have been made to the cords so Zeppelin should’ve at least credited Spirit for his work and original idea. Now would you consider Stairway to Heaven a rip off song or are they too different? Maybe this will help. After some research on the matter, I learned that Zeppelin and Spirit actually toured together in the late 60’s BEFORE Zeppelin released Stairway to Heaven which people say would have given him plenty of time to learn the guitar part that became the intro to his new song. He took elements of the song Taurus (like the guitar riff and melody) and added new instruments and relocated the tune to make it different (just not different enough).

Personally, after listening to both of the songs, I think that Led Zeppelin did rip off Spirit. His version of the song was too similar to Taurus and almost sounded like the same one. Zeppelin clearly didn’t modify the original version enough to claim they were original. He didn’t emulate the sound enough and since there weren’t any lyrics, the songs sound almost identical. Like Kirby Ferguson said “Zeppelin copied without making fundamental changes.”

In my opinion, to be able to call something your own work (but use someone else’s idea as a base) you have to incorporate one of the elements as your own. For example, if Zeppelin used the guitar riff but has his own melody and added his own sounds, maybe he wouldn’t be known for copy writing. Overall, you definitely don’t want to be known as the artist who’s “ripping someone off”. To avoid this one must incorporate their own idea’s and modify the track to a certain extent that avoids it sounding the same. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Zeppelin did not fulfil this criteria.

My sources I used for this blog are listed below:

https://vimeo.com/14912890

https://news.avclub.com/a-guitarist-on-whether-stairway-to-heaven-really-rips-1798248408

Serial Podcast Review:Adnan Syed’s Trail

Wow! This podcast was not what I was expecting. To be honest, I was expecting to be falling asleep and thinking of strategies to keep myself focused but the second it started playing, I was hooked. It was narrated and overall presented so perfectly, it kept me engaged the whole time. The mysterious and cliffhanging behaviour of the podcast was my favourite part since I enjoy fast paced and thrilling content. This type of media and new form of journalism is new to me. You’ll usually find me watching documentaries or reading about events like these but never LISTENING to one. I will say that if I didn’t find the topic of the podcast so interesting, it definitely would’ve been hard for me to minimize distractions. I recommend a quiet and comfortable setting.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this podcast, here’s a little bit of an overview. An 18 year old boy named Adnan was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, who was found six weeks after her murder. There was no solid evidence proving Adnan was guilty but he was still arrested and remains in jail. Sarah Koenig investigated further into the matter to try and figure out this unsolved mystery murder. If anyone is interested in listening to the full podcast, I’ll leave a link below. https://serialpodcast.org/season-one

Below are some pictures of Adnan when he was first arrested and him now. His girlfriend Hae Min Lee is also shown.

My opinion on the trial isn’t set in stone yet. The whole story seems fuzzy to me and there isn’t any clear evidence proving Adnan is guilty. It’s even sadder to think that his family and him both claim he’s innocent and still fighting for a trail currently in 2019.

When Sarah introduced her podcast by talking about recalling a day 6 weeks prior, I was baffled. I don’t understand how one can remember specific details of one day that took place so long ago. Most of the time I can’t recall the meals I ate just a few hour after I had them. If you asked me right now to recall what I did 6 weeks ago, I know I wouldn’t know for the life of me. This is one of the main reasons why the trial is so blurry to me. I don’t think basing the verdict off of the memories of teenagers is very promising especially if the future of a man on the line.

This podcast is quite popular and after looking further into it, the whole trial has blown up all over the internet. I see why some people would think that the family probably wants some privacy but the publicity this trial is getting could overall start benefiting Adnan. More awareness towards his trial could cause it to open up again. I think the family appreciates the popularity rather than neglecting it. All anyone can really hope for is the truth coming out and putting this case to rest. Popularity could help this matter.

Should grade 12 University level English be necessary for all University Programs?

When applying to university, as I will be doing this coming fall, each program has specific requirements that must be met. However, for every university program in Ontario, a grade 12 university level English credit is required.

Talk to any high school student and you will find them wondering why they have to take English throughout high school. Personally English isn’t my favourite subject either and can often be a bore. I would always complain about the extra work load and not learning anything relevant to what I want to pursue as a career (which is dermatology for anyone who’s wondering). Before doing some research on the matter, I would always be pondering what I’m learning from Shakespeare and what truly is the point of reading it. I can confidently say that even though English can sometimes seem pointless, it should definitely be a requirement for all university programs!

When most people think of English class, the first thing that comes to mind is reading and writing. But if you think about it, English teaches us the basic skills we need in our lives. Some of these skills include note taking, essay writing, critical thinking/making connections, preparing presentations, and expressing effective arguments. I’ve done about 3 debates in my past English classes it they’ve helped me better develop arguments and ways to back them up. This skill can be useful for anyone applying to business programs to pursue lawyering or marketing. Furthermore, I’m sure reading Shakespeare wasn’t only my least favourite part of English. I mean it took me forever to figure out what being said and I had to use spark notes most of the time. Little did I know that Shakespeare helped me in developing my critical thinking skills and problem solving (which is useful in subjects such as math). I recently watched this one video on Youtube that explains how Shakespeare relates to our everyday lives. I’ll leave a link right here https://youtu.be/c5pW10drX7M.

Critical Thinking Skills you can obtain from English

One thing is for sure, any university program you apply to will have fast paced note taking, presentations/seminars, and preparing some form of writing pieces. Taking grade 12 English will better prepare you for these tasks. My essays compared to a grade 12 students essays will have a big difference because they have the extra practice and skills that the grade 12 English course provides. Finally, I saved the best for last; communication!!! This skill is not only important for ALL university programs but also your whole life. Oral skills that English classes teach you will help you with interviews, presentations, and communicating in general. All job professions involve some form of communication, like lawyers debating in court, doctors consulting patients, and professors public speaking. From grade 11 English I learned many communication skills that I will be using for a lifetime.

So yes, grade 12 English should be a mandatory course for all university programs. It may seem like a pain in the butt right now but when you’re in first year writing an essay or preparing a seminar, you’ll look back and appreciate this course and all that its taught you a lot more.