Shakespeare's Characterization of Coriolanus

Welcome back, It’s been a while since I last wrote on this blog and I’m bringing something different today. Today’s topic is about Shakespeare’s characterisation of Martius in Coriolanus Act 1.

When the play begins we are thrusted straight into an angry mob, as they march to ask for grain and search for the man they hate the most Caius Martius. Giving us the impression that this plays main character is not favoured by those of the commons or plebeians of the time. With the use of the plebs Shakespeare describes Martius (who later becomes Coriolanus) as prideful, arrogant, an enemy to the people, and aggressive. Which makes the audience question how they could possibly connect to Coriolanus.  This is all happening right at the begging which is a crucial part of any play, for it is where you introduce your story and characters, and Shakespeare has carried this out but presents more of a villain than a hero. With the progress of the play we begin to question Shakespeare’s logic when giving us a man such as this for role of the main character as we see him provoke those he deems unfit, however this all changes when he is sent to war.

When Coriolanus is sent to fight Aufidius’s Volscian army at Corioli, we are presented  a different side to this character and witness him in his element as a warrior and general. As the rest of the act 1 progresses the audience will still be able to see his aggression and pride when he attempts to motivate his soldiers, by totally scaring them and threatening to kill them himself if they do not fight and win. This is then followed by the roman army taking the city and Coriolanus venturing of to fight Aufidius. During this scene, Shakespeare yet again adds another layer to this character by giving Coriolanus the ability to respects those who he may see as an equal even if they may be his enemy. After Rome’s victory, the generals give a large speech to their soldiers, with them praising them and sharing the loot acquired from the city. They begin to praise Coriolanus and offer a substantial amount of the loot, which he turns down. He states that it is not about the items for him, that he rather choose the victory and the scars. Show yet again another layer, he now looks like a classic Greek hero, strong, noble and modest.

Shakespeare definitely has given the audience a character that needs to be thought about and not just accepted, clearly scene by what happens in the first act.

Is the Khwe language important

Language has a major role in today’s modern day and age, and there are language’s used more than others, but this does not depict their worth. All languages around the world have been created in order to for fill the people’s needs for communication and the sharing of knowledge. This is what makes a language useful and important. The Khwe language is one such language, where a group of people started a tribe and created it in order to communicate. This had lasted for hundreds of year. This language carries a key, to understanding multiple cultures around southern Africa, holding information about their medicines and cures to health issues which may benefit others living in a similar climate and area, as well as how they have survive as a people in that harsh environment, farming and agricultural knowledge would be lost as well. There is no way to decide whether or not a language is more important than another, due to their different uses from those who createdit.

Podcast

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Language and Power

Welcome Back

Its definitely been a long times since I've posted a blog, the topics will change now from media and language to language and power. Today's topic is based around a question that had been given in class..

What did medieval linguist Antonio de Nebrija mean when he told Queen Isabella that: “language is the perfect instrument of empire?” How has language contributed to colonial power? 

When Antonio de Nebrija had presented this to the Queen, with the use of this quote, it is  believed that he was stating how the use of a language could be one of the most important "weapons" used when forming a colonial power. Exactly why is when ruling over people it is simply that much easier to control them when one specific language is being used. Meaning there would be no confusion and that you could stop any plots that are being planned against your rule as an monarch. However when looking at how it would be used for colonial reasons, a language could be used to infiltrate  another culture and act like a virus in order to wipe this culture out and convert to what the invaders consider appropriate. Some of the most obvious examples were the Spanish and British effect on the America's, with the influence of Spanish and English, forcing Christianity upon the natives. Which would slowly cause their culture's, beliefs and languages to decay, resulting in the loss of their way of life. 

To conclude, language plays one of the most crucial parts of establishing a colonial power, using it to control, influence and destroy. It has helped form a base for empires and ultimately cause their destruction.   

Ads and stereotypes

Today’s advertisements, in spite of its creativity and the new modern aesthetics, have all changed to something bigger but slightly less ethical and moral than the photographs we all pas everywhere in our daily lives. These are reflections of current businesses and society, as well as our unnecessary desire to flourish within what we describe a society, the “system”.

Advertisements are the result of people wanting to make money and profit, as well as to be noticed by their peers within the field. A sign of these people trying too hard may be the absurd stereotypical appeals used in ads today. Advertisers will not always listen to every voice of our society. What they call “entertaining and humorous” is only for the people under two-story houses, enjoying life, and feeling comfortable. The exact same material that some believe is funny, can be very offensive to others. What they create are not advertisements, however are bad jokes that mock and reduce the standards of the audiences. It may worsen the stereotypes among the viewers, who have not experienced them, against certain groups of people. Therefore, I believe as an international student ,that advertisers do have the moral duty to avoid making stereotypical appeals in their ads. They must not put all of their work into profit, but to make sure they are not offending anyone. Advertisements must change the method of making an effective ad , and make sure that they follow societies standards.

An Ad Analysis

Looking at this, it is easy to see that the advertisement consists of two people, one being male and the predominant figure being female. The product being advertised can be found in the bottom right corner of the image. We as the audience are looking straight at the ad, and what is easily noticed is how there is a very small amount of text, however they have used quite impactful words to influence you into buying their product. Let’s start off with the fact that the ad was made in India because of the female figure within the image. This model is a famous Bollywood actress, Anushka Sharma. The use of a famous social figure is a common within advertisements and commercials, but it is quite effective because of peoples trust, respect have in these people.  However this also sets societies standards for beauty higher, and this is where we can move on to the meaning, the purpose of this ad. This ad shows us how society thinks highly of those who are classified as beautiful, within this print ad they are focusing on female beauty. We know that this ad is focused on women, which is proven by the female model has been placed more central in the ad. She has also revealed a lot more skin to show how this product has worked and given her amazing skin. Proof of this would be the quote “for visibly smooth, and touchably soft skin”. All this makes the female model empowered, because she has been the focus of this ad.  The male model has been pushed aside, marginalized, meaning he is not as important in this ad, as the female is. This also gives us the idea that women in general should be more worried about having such wonderful skin, the reason why  is how the man has been used to “fill in the gaps”, and the women is showing us her back, which is a large area of her smooth skin. 

Reflecting on a Presentation

We have just completed our first presentation on a Pitch for advertising our product in Language and literature. Today I would like to discuss what we included within our Pitch, what went well and what could have been improved. Within the presentation we attempted to incorporate the idea of pathos, with how families would go there in tough times, or to enjoy themselves as well as the younger generation where they would enjoy themselves and make some new memories. As well as Logos due to giving information about how it was affordable, making it sound logical to eat there when you are facing financial hardship. With what we were given I believe we failed in this aspect due to our decision on context, we had been given the chance to fully choose our context, however this made it harder for our group due to the making of another decision.  We struggled in incorporating the context, which was In America during the 1980s, which would have mace the pitch slightly more interesting due to the time period. We used very few images, one of them being the Uncle Sam post which says “I want you” on it, we chose this to try and make the product relate to the American culture, and that they had just come out of a war. The other images were about the different foods which would give an example of what to expect from Cheeky Chaps Burgers. Moving on I personally believe that we as a group were clear and understandable, when presenting our information, we had tried to make, the animations were and attempt to connect our context to the Pitch, also to make the presentation more amusing. This has shown me that preparation is the key, being able to recite your speech and information without looking at a que card, and a clear understanding of your topic. I have also notice that you need to follow the rubric and what is needed from you to complete the assignment at hand.