DP Language and Literature Blog

Text and Context: Martin Luther King, through his speech “I have a dream”, targets everyone: those who subject others to racial discrimination, those who remain impassive as they watch this subjugation and above all, those who follow him in their fight for equality. As a result of powerful rhetorical language and techniques, which are cleverly manipulated in his speech, he hopes to achieve a future where he and all of his race can live in harmony with the whites, respected not for their own ethnicity but for their character: as one should, must be regarded, as is elucidated in the metaphors “The state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with heat of injustice” and “an oasis of freedom and justice”, all of which fall under his “dream”. Style and Structure:  On closer inspection of the speech, it is apparent that each and every element within it plays a salient role in its persuasiveness and in its rhetorical prowess. The speech is structured in a manner that makes understanding simp...

Upon conducting a scrutinizing inspection of ads in the line of cleaning products, it is seen that a majority of them portray happy females using the product. This fact allows one to be able to discern a great amount of what society considers a given about the genders: the gender stereotypes. The fact that the advertisements depict females conducting the house cleaning process indicates that society deems cleaning and other minor chores to be the responsibility of women. Indeed, one of the posters even goes so far as to directly chastise women by saying "This Mother’s Day, Get back to the job that really matters”. This, in by no means implicitly, states that the indisputable responsibility of women covers cleaning and general chores for the household. On the other hand, hardly any of the posters contain a male promoting a cleaning product by actually CLEANING. This, more implicitly than the other, alludes to the fact that the males are above this manner of responsibility an...

How I felt the assessment went before the feedback: I felt the assessment went reasonably well. I expected to get around a level 7 for the assessment. However, I knew that I wouldn't get a high 7 due to the fact that there were several elements that I knew I missed out on (an in depth analysis on mood, for example). These would undoubtedly lower my grade, and perhaps even lower me down to a 6. How I feel now after the assessment: After I have obtained feedback, I feel like I obtained more or less what I expected to. The gaps in my writing undoubtedly contributed to my imperfect score, as confirmed in my feedback. I hoped to get a slightly higher grade, but I missed out because I was unable to talk about everything in the given time limit. Action plan for the next written assessment: For the next assessment, I hope to address some of my weaknesses highlighted in the feedback. For instance, it was seen that my analysis on stylistic devices should have been more elaborate. I...

Left Out Bilingual. That’s me. I’m actually multilingual. I can fluently speak three languages and understand another two. But that’s not the point. But I’m only going to talk about the two that are a major part of my identity: those that I speak perfectly.. or those I try to speak. As a child, I was a little bit slow. I had difficulties learning language. I didn't speak my first word until I was two years old: almost one and a half years later than any other kid. Because of this, I was forced to learn English before my mother tongue, my birthright because of the former’s language being easier to enunciate. Since children are often able to cope with only a single language at a time, I continued learning English up to the stage when I was adjudged old enough to begin learning a second language. However, the time before this was difficult. I was often scorned, for lack of a milder word, by people around me, due to my inability to speak my mother tongue. Althoug...

EMINEM: THE MONSTER An Interview Eminem has been known as a rap sensation in the modern world. Most of his songs are themed generally on feelings he has on a daily basis. However, as Eminem himself will tell us today, he has underlying messages within each of his songs that few us even considered. Today, we will focus on “The Monster”: the song that he co-authored and performed in a duet with Rihanna. Throughout Eminem’s rise to fame and stardom, the people have followed him on his journey with their utmost support. Although he doesn't directly address racism in the majority of his music, simply becoming a success has alleviated the racism that many people face. This is because his music also appeals to white people; and they, the white people admire a black man. For this reason, most whites stopped disrespecting their opposites for they knew that they too could be successful people. Without further ado, introducing EMINEM!!! Reporter: Rap God. It is an honor to b...

BILINGUAL IDENTITY IN POETRY: AN ANALYSIS In the poems “Bilingual/Bilingüe” by Espaillat and “Bilingual Sestina” by Alvarez, both authors express different aspects of life about the nature of their bilingual identity. Through her writing, Espaillat explores the challenges of being bilingual. For instance, she uses the phrase “But who can divide the world, the word (mundo y palabra)”, showing the interchangeability and close relationship between tongues of a bilingual person. Language is often thought of as one’s identity. By being forced to use only one of your dialects at all times, it is a limit on your character, merely a shadow of your selfhood. On the other hand, Alvarez explores a different outlook of the challenges faced by a person who is bilingual: that of a person who thinks and sees beauty in only a single language. They feel more comfortable in one of them, and find it difficult to express ideas in the other. For instance, Alvarez ...