Weegal to the power of One

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Thesis Attempt #2 (tee hee hee, Nick, if you're reading this, I said number two!)

Since I had my unfortunate incident with blogger.com last night and couldn't see Ms.MacDonell's feedback, I'm trying to pull off three new paragraphs tonight. They will not be great, and they will not be final draft because I have piles of homework and don't have time to spare. I'm having quite a bit of trouble trying to pinpoint exactly how to word my statement. It is not going well, so I'll call this my sad half-attempt:

Cultural changes occured in both the Ilunjinle tribe and the Igbo tribe, however the changes in The Lion and the Jewel were brought about by the media, while Things Fall Apart had more violent changes. Some people of the Ilunjinle tribe were converted to follow alternate ways of life because of the books published by other cultures. Propaganda was introduced throughout the tribe, causing tribal values to change. Also, an uproar went through the tribe when foreign visitors showed off their new technology. In the Igbo tribe, the intrudors brought Christianity to some of the more willing members, taking away from their true culture. Resentment built up towards the Christians, and many deaths resulted. The drastic changes taking place made several in the tribe lose touch with their true roots. Some people in the Ilunjinle tribe were fascinated by the ideas conatined in the books that were spreading around.
The different ways of life of other cultures were being introduced to people in The Lion and the Jewel. This fascinated some people, who had never heard of any other way but their own. Lakunle, the schoolteacher, was a prime example of one of those people. He discovered that women were not to be married just so they could bear his children, they were to love and be loved in return. He had decided that bride-pricing was no longer the way to go, because it did not show love, it showed women as being treated as a child-bearing housekeeper. Women should be treated as the man's equal. However, not everything was modernized yet because men still believed women had very small brains and could not think as well as they. It had been unheard of not to pay the bride-price when a wedding was to be had, but these books had made Lakunle think differently, it had opened him up to explore ways of life he had never heard of before. Books were not the only type of media being spread around the village as the magazine became famous.
A magazine was published and distributed throughout the village, which in turn caused much excitement. The ladies were in awe over Sidi, whose beauty had been published in the magazine. They forgot about their "true role" in their tribe, which was to cook and clean and raise children. They became vain over this materialistic world, and wanted more than anything to be a part of it. Sidi was the most vain. Her ego grew and she cared about nothing but her looks and her fame. She wanted to be better than Bale Baroka, so she forgets her "true female duties" and tries to work herself to the top. In the end, this fails her. Her heart is no longer in the tribal life, and she is lead down a path of misery.

I am having quite a bit of trouble writing this in so short a time. I am trying to word my thesis so it includes Ilunjinle vs Igbo, modern vs traditional, and media vs violence, but I'm finding it hard to fit all of that in one concise statement. The paragraphs were poorly done, I didn't get a change to do a good, solid outline, so I will be working on all of that.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

My first paragraph

In both The Lion and the Jewel and Things Fall Apart, the sudden cultural changes were brought about by the intrusions of other cultures. The intruding factors in The Lion and the Jewel came more from the foreign propaganda that was spreading throughout the Ilujinle tribe, causing some members of the tribe to begin changing theirs beliefs. The school teacher, Lakunle, was an example of this when he began reading books and not going along with some of the tribe's traditions. Sidi, the village belle, became completely infatuated with herself when the intruding photographer put her pictures in a magazine, causing her to forget some of the old ways. The magazine itself was brought in by people foreign to Nigeria, and it caused the tribe to act in unorthdox ways. In Things Fall Apart, there were more personal intrusions, where the white men physically came to their villiage and brought Christianity to the people. Nwoye, Okonkwo's son, is an example of one of the tribe members who was converted out of the Igbo lifestyle. The foreigners caused anger among those who were not swayed by the Christian belief, and violence broke out because of this anger. Also, one of the strongest men in the tribe, Okonkwo, was driven to killing himself because of the forceful impact the missionaries had.

Also, I have a question for you Ms.MacDonell. When there are book titles in your essay, how are you supposed to write them? Do you underline them or put quotations around them or what?

Friday, March 03, 2006

Lauren Lauren bo bauren banana fana fo fauren me mi mo mauren LAUREN!

This is my blog.

This is my exclamation point: !

This is my smiley face: :)

This is my cat: CAT

This is my best friend: o+< she's very...sticky

This is my snowman: 8

Good bye