This Is Water

"This is Water" is an essay written by American Writer David Forster Wallace. The essay covers topics like the difficulty of empathy and the importance of being well-adjusted. The overall chief moral in the story is not to consider factors about life after death, but to consciously be aware and live the life we have before death. The fundamental purpose of this essay is to encourage people to view the world we live in and the people around us with a different non self-centered perspective and take into account other people's issues and hardships.

David develops and enforces his thesis through the implementation of relatable real-life examples and situations that the majority of the working population face nowadays. David also provides a solution to the audience's everyday issues which will ultimately improve and make people's lives less miserable than they are and gives us less of an incentive to "shoot ourselves before the age of 30." David also applies an extended metaphor that runs throughout the entirety of the essay, at the very beginning David introduces a story of three fish and constantly re-assures the audience that he isn't addressing an unimportant issue with no relevance to the audience's real life situations and that they should continue reading to figure out what this essay truly is about. Once we approach the very end of the essay we figure out that the fish are compared to humans and the water around the fish (which the essay was named after) was to resemble life. "This is Water" translates to "this ls life" and this is how life is meant to be we can either learn to cope with it and live cheerful lives or if we refuse we can live miserable lives, it's all up to us to choose how we want to spend the rest of our lives as he states in the essay it's all a matter of choice.

How can literature develop empathy and emotional intelligence? How does literature help us further understand David's theory? Well, Literature further helps us understand David's theory because, most literary works portray real problems we face everyday and by reading literature we expose ourselves to such problems and ultimately become more mindful and apprehensive to other people's situations which might be worse than we think our situations actually are, therefore we will learn to appreciate the lives we had and know that no matter how hard and irritating our lives are there are always people worse off  that are still fighting and refuse to give up.

Munro Literature Reflection

What is the purpose and benefit of the study of literature?

Literature is defined as: "Written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit. A great Russian poet by the name of Boris Pasternak once said: "Literature is the art of discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people, and saying with ordinary words, something extraordinary." I believe that literature is not just important to us, it is vital to our survival in this invariably evolving world. My 6th grade teacher once told me: "reading and writing are crucial to your success later on, you will need to be able to do one in order to do the other". It's that simple! Also reading improves our communication skills, we need to communicate clearly through either writing or speaking so we can share our thoughts and ideas with one another. For example if we were approached by an individual who cannot communicate well, naturally we humans don't feel inclined to take that person seriously. Also, studying literature helps us grasp a better understanding of the world around us, since most literature speaks of issues that are still present in our society. Finally, it is very useful to learn about the way people from other nationalities think, this also helps us better relate to them.

What is women's literature and what is the value of studying it? 

Women's literature is defined as: "women-centered books that focus on women's life experiences."It is important to learn about because it allows readers to think critically about gender, sexuality, and criticism. It also helps us better understand culture at particular times and how it gradually develops and changes, and finally provides us with real-life issues that are very common around the world.

Why were themes and values of Munro's social realism so significant during the 1950s - 1980s / Although she does not identify as a feminist writer, how has Munro's work contributed to gender equality?

Munro's themes and values of social realism were significant during the 1950s all the way through to the 1980s was because there were many active movements towards gender equality all over the wolrd and in some of the most predominant countries such as France, The United Kingdom, and The U.S.A. Her work helped further convey social issues women were currently facing and also provoked many readers into supporting such movements.

Scorpions - Wind Of Change IOC

 Wind of Change is a song by German Rock Band "Scorpions" composed in 1990. The lyrics celebrate the end of the cold war and the end of socialism.

Verse 1 reads "I follow the Moskva, down to Gorky Park" The Moskva river could be used as a symbol for the nature, indicating that the end of the socialism is caused by the basic human nature (socialism constricts your freedom to enjoy yourself). The fact that his goal is Gorky Park, an entertainment park, also supports such an interpretation, because people want to have fun. "Listening to the Wind of Change" signifies the failure of the socialism had become visible, everybody could see that it would come to an end sooner or later. The wind he is listening symbolizes the end of socialism.

Verse 2 reads "The world is closing in" The world people knew, one which was separated into the capitalist west and socialist east, was coming to an end; the socialist governments took their last breaths, before finally being gone. "And did you ever think" Only a few years prior, during the prime of the Soviet Union’s Rule, such a dramatic change would not have been believed or expected. "That we could be so close, like brothers" The methaporical border between two different people, but also actual borders such as the Wall of Berlin were destroyed in that time and people could be closer to each other, families that were long separated were finally able to come back together. "The future's in the air, i can feel it everywhere" The problems and the required changes could not be hidden from the public eye by the government anymore. Therefore, the future became obvious to everybody, since many people are now talking about about it openly. "Blowing with the wind of change" The failure of the socialism had become visible, everybody could see that it would come to an end sooner or later. But now, instead of having to listen to the wind of change, the change is actually blown towards him and everybody else, marking the development of the situation as time passed.

The chorus reads, "Take me to the magic of the moment, on a glory night." He who expected the fall of the communist regimes wanted to see this event as soon as possible, considering the fact this night would be a (glorious) part of history. Where the children of tomorrow dream away, in the wind of change" In this moment, the reunion of both German countries, West and East, the life of the next generations would be changed fundamentally, an event he had expected, because of the public view and behavior.

All in all this song has been voted the song of the century, and it is the highest selling song in Germany with an outstanding 6 million records sold. Also this song is remembered as a song of German reunification and a message of hope.

Summer Blogpost

This summer was by far the worst summer i have ever experienced throughout my life time, firstly i did not travel anywhere with my family, wasted half, if not the majority of my time sleeping, the amount of IB work we were set to complete over the summer is immense, and finally Ramadan wasted literally half my summer.

Ramadan is a holy month in which Muslims all over the world practice strict fasting from dawn to sunset, since Ramadan is a month long and the summer was two months, half the summer was wasted with endless hours of sleep to make up for the time i had to fast. Not travelling anywhere and doing absolutely nothing was the biggest waste of time ever, all i did during my free time was sit at home and watch TV shows, on the bright side the intense amount of IB work given to us by school was not bad as i had so much free time on my hands that sometimes i would rather work on my university applications or my school work rather than do nothing.

All in all, i have experienced the worst summer i will ever experience in my life. The only thing i am currently looking forward to is the completion of the IB program and receiving my diploma.

Paper #2

Stories often form an important part of the culture of a people. It is through stories that ideas, moral beliefs and everyday life can be preserved most easily. In a culture with no form of written language, such as Achebe’s Igbo culture, story-telling becomes the most practical way to convey knowledge to the younger generations. In his novel Things Fall Apart, Achebe makes good use of various stories and myths of the Igbo culture to create a genuine depiction of his own culture, which in turn allows his readers to not only better understand the Igbo culture, but to entirely immerse oneself into Achebe’s fictional village of Umuofia.

Achebe shows us just how important stories are in Igbo culture by showing us a story made up by Ekwefi, who is telling it to Ezinma. Ekwefi’s story carries a moral that she intends to teach to her daughter. She uses the story as a method of education. Ekwefi then asks Ezinma to create her own story, a task which she finds to be harder than what her mother made it look like. The use of stories as a form of education and the encouragement for young members of the population to be trained in the art of making stories from a young age shows us that in Igbo culture stories are the main way of transmitting knowledge and of educating the population. Achebe also shows us that this transmission of knowledge was something more than just a mere moral lesson. It was also used to shape the Igbo society itself. This can be seen when we see that Okonkwo’s male sons are told stories by him while his daughters are only told stories by their mothers. This shows that stories were used to determine the gender roles within the Igbo society, since there would be a separation as to what stories the boys would hear and what stories the girls would hear. And as remarked by Achebe through Nwoye’s opinions of the difference between Okonkwo’s and his mother’s stories, these stories would differ in content, the male ones usually being more violent than those told by the mothers.

Another example of an Igbo legend used by Achebe, and in this case one that has a visible effect within the culture is the legend of the Ogbanje. The Ogbanje is a demon child that keeps dying young and being reborn into the womb of the same mother. In Things Fall Apart, Ezinma is considered to be an Ogbanje, since Ekwefi has had many children before her, but they have all died young, thus she was thought to be plagued by an Ogbanje for a long time. At one point in the novel, the members of the village even harass Ezinma so that she gives off the location of the small pebble that is supposed to be the link between the Ogbanje and the physical world, in order to make sure that Ekwefi would not be tortured anymore. Achebe, writing for a contemporary audience, would have known that there is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon which the Igbo mythology attributed to supernatural forces, and that his audience would have known this as well. The fact that the reader knows that this is indeed nothing more than a legend may cause some confusion or misjudgment of the Igbo culture, but Achebe tries to stay as true to the culture as possible and show his readers exactly what the culture was like. And to this end, he shows us the extreme extent that these legends would impact the behavior of the Igbo people.

Another example of a myth that would directly impact the lifestyle of the Igbo people was their belief of having a very strong connection to Ani, the earth goddess in Igbo religion. Throughout Things Fall Apart Ani is the most mentioned deity, since many of the actions taken by the people in the village have consequences that are directly related to her. An example of this can be seen when Okonkwo accidentally kills Ogbuefi Ezeudo’s son with his faulty gun. Killing a fellow clansman is considered to be an offense to Ani, and thus Okonkwo is forced into exile in order to prevent the earth goddess from doing anything too rash. Okonkwo’s house, all of his crops and his animals are also destroyed in order to please the earth goddess. This shows that the Igbo people had a very deep belief in their religion and that it heavily affected the way they lived. Achebe might have intended to make special emphasis on this aspect of the Igbo culture in order to make an indirect comparison with the Christian church, where a lot of people do not take religion as much into account during all of their lives, and thus portray the Igbo people as a culture that may be more religious than the colonizers themselves. This would have caused the western readers of the time of the novels release to question the religious aspects of their own lives.

Passage Analysis Chapter 21 (Things Fall Apart)

Summary of Chapter 21:



At this point in the story, the majority of the Umofian people are quite pleased with the changes taking place in Umofia as they have set-up trading posts and wealth as a result of that started flowing into the village. Mr. Brown (the white missionary) and Akunna (one of the clan’s elders) meet often to debate about their own cultural and religious views in attempt to convince one another to convert religions. However; that was not Mr. Brown’s sole intention, he persistently visited Akunna to acquire additional information regarding the flaws of Umofia’s religion in order to convey that the flaws of the Igbo religion are the advantages of Christianity. Using this information Mr. Brown goes on and builds a hospital and a school and argues that “strangers who can read and write will come to rule them”. His arguments are fairly effective and his hospital wins praise for its treatments.




Various power factors that impact the major events in the novel:


The missionaries seemed to acquire and provide the Umofians with advantages lacking in the Igbo culture. Firstly he provides the well-established members of Umofia with new opportunities for wealth (Trading), Secondly the impotent members find find acceptance in Christianity that they didn't experience in the so-called old ways, and finally Mr. Brown builds a school and a much-needed hospital in Umuofia; both institutions produce immediate and impressive results which attracts even more converts to side with the missionaries.

Paper #2

The Igbo people rely on success, in order to determine how well a person should be respected and recognized. Social status in Things Fall Apart plays an impacting role on the various themes originated by Achebe. It is one of the most important factors that as a result, character's actions were driven with their traits. Social status was used as a tool of characterization, as Achebe managed to relate titles character traits. In Igbo culture, a man's social status is based on merit rather than inheritance. A man is capable of gaining respect by committing to hard work, bravery and war skills. Hence, when men have a couple of titles, it means that they have earned a rather high status in their society. Achebe kept the audience updated and informed of the titles earned by characters. Okwonko has earned two titles; this signifies his physical capabilities and his hard working inflated ego. On the other hand Unoka, Okwonko's father, has not earned any titles throughout his lifetime, this is a symbol of the ideologies stating that Unoka is a lazy character and incompetent.

Ezeudu, the oldest man in the village and considered to be one of the most important clan elders and leaders, had a high status in Umofia. Because of his significant titles, “he was to be buried after dark with only a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony" (page 123). This further enriches the idea that relates titles to social status and characterization. Unoka, unlike Ezeudu, had no titles. Which resulted in him dying a rather shameful death as he was left in the evil forest to die there alone.

Those who were old were given a lot of respect by their society. This is because respect is associated with experience, wealth and social status. Assuming that old people have the most experience, and as a result they gained respect. However, the tribe valued achievement and accomplishment more than how much age was concerned. This is determined after perceiving that Okwonko was a fine young warrior in contrast with the respect he gained from his people, as he was an achiever and hardworking.

Women did not play a huge role in society and were only good at raising their husband’s children, thus men with no titles were referred to as women, as they did not play a role in society and deemed to be lazy and unworthy in terms of their social status.

"There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns, nine wives, and thirty children. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan" (page 18-19). This enhances the ideas of titles and success. The more titles an individual has, then the more respect he will earn from his tribe, showing that a character is an accomplished citizen of Umofia.

In conclusion, social status shaped the character’s actions and limited their character traits as discussed in the previous analytical response. As characters were introduced in terms of how many titles each has, then resulting in a creation of an idea surrounding the character and his actions relating to his social status.