By Stanley Switalski
Task:
Write a letter to either speaker in O’Brien or Owen’s work, sharing your reactions to his narration and asking any questions you have about his experience.
Stanley Switalski
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
February 14, 2008
Dear Speaker,
I have recently read your story through your narrative “Dulce et Decorum Est” and I am quite intrigued by the peril and torture that you had to face. Although the government states that joining the army is a fantastic thing, I now know better. However, I did not know that war was so brutal. If you don’t mind, I would like to ask you some questions and compliment your bravery and honor.
I feel as though you are a very strong soldier. If I had seen one of my colleagues “plunge at me, guttering, choking, drowning,”
1 I don’t believe that I would ever be the same. Seeing him suffer would permanently destroy my life. On top of that, I do not believe that I could “limp on, blood-shot”2 with pounds of equipment on my back. It is too demanding of a task for the average person such as I. Meanwhile you are trudging through sludge fighting against gas bombs to defend “the old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.”3 It’s this that causes me to ask, how did you do it? Did you have to go through intense training? I, personally, cannot operate without sleep. Meanwhile you are defending your life and your nation with little to no sleep. Another question I would have to ask is how many battles have you faced where you had to bear with these same conditions? From the way you described putting your helmet, it doesn’t appear as though you had much experience. The final question that I have for you is if you believed “the old lie” when you first became a soldier. In other words, did you sign up to fight in the war or were you picked as part of a draft?
To conclude, I salute you. I cannot come to understand on how you fought and lived through these conditions. To be able to stay focused for hours on end and still be able to fight is beyond me. To have the courage to rush though poison gas and still fight for your country is courage I wish I possessed. To be able to stand strong while your closest friend is dying is something I could not do. I hope that you can answer these questions, as the answers will assist me in comprehending exactly how a soldier becomes so strong during a terrible time.
Sincerely
Stanley Switalski
1 Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen – Line 16
2 Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen – Line 6
3 Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen – Lines 27-28
By Stanley Switalski
Task: Give definitions for each of the following literary elements and identify each in Equiano’s narrative.
Genre- A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.
Example: The Genre of Olaudah Equiano is protest literature.
Symbolism- An object, event or person that represents a larger idea or set of ideas.
Example: The quadrant that Equiano is so curious about could symbolize his “zest for life.”
Imagery- Descriptive language that evokes one or all of the five senses.
Example: “The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration”
Plot- The chain of related events that take place in a story.
Example: The basic plot of the excerpt is as follows: First, Equiano is stolen from his native land. Second, Equiano is packed onto a cargo ship where he spends many days as he is transferred from Africa to America. Third, Equiano arrives in America and is inspected by fellow slave traders. Finally, Equiano is put on display for sale at the slave auction.
Characterization- The method used by a writer to develop a character. The author demonstrates characterization by describing the character’s: Qualities, Appearance, Actions, Beliefs, and Thoughts.
Example: From Equiano’s characterization, we know that he is a brilliant man with an iron will who is curious about everything new to him.
Setting- The time and the location in which a story takes place.
Example: The setting of Olaudah Equlano takes place during the 17th to the 19th centuries in Africa, the Atlantic Ocean and the Barbadoes.
Conflicts- A struggle between (external) or within (internal) characters.
Example: One conflict in Olaudah Equlano and that is Man vs. Man. The slaves on board, naturally, were always in conflict with the slave traders and buyers. For example, when some slaves tried to escape, they were caught and whipped by the slave traders.
Point of View- The perspective from which a story is told.
Example: The point of view of Olaudah Equlano is First Person due to the fact that Olaudah Equlano is a narrative.
By Stanley Switalski
Comprehension Check:
For what crimes were slaves punished? What was the punishment?
There were two crimes mentioned in this excerpt that the slaves committed. The first is when the ship’s crew had feasted on fish. Although there were plenty of fish left over that the crew could have given to the slaves, the crew tossed the remaining fish back into the sea. “Being pressed by hunger,” some of Equlano’s countrymen took an opportunity, when they thought no one was watching, to see if they could get some fish.
The second crime the slaves committed was trying to escape. Two of Equlano’s countrymen, chained together, somehow made it through the netting and jumped ship; they preferred death over their current conditions. A third slave, severely sick, also jumped ship after he saw the first two make it.
In both crimes, the crew was “instantly alarmed” and the slave’s punishment had been “very severe floggings.” Fortunately two of the slaves that had jumped ship were lucky and escaped.
Critical thinking:
Why does Equiano blame the illness aboard the ship on the “improvident avarice” of the traders?
Equiano has every right to blame the illness aboard the ship on the “improvident avarice” of the traders. I mean the illness aboard the ship is mainly caused by the cramped spaces, unbearable smell and lack of food. These factors are all caused by the trader’s greed and thoughtlessness. The reason the ship is so crammed is because the more slaves the traders can fit on the ship, the more pay they will receive. As for the lack of food and unbearable smell, the trader’s were completely thoughtless about how the slaves felt. All they could care about was that their stomachs were full and that their quarters were clean. Furthermore, I can completely agree with why Equiano blames the illness aboard the ship on the “improvident avarice” of the traders.
Support from the text:
How can you tell that Equiano has a great zest for life despite his assertion that he wanted to die?
Equiano has a great zest for life due to his curiosity about this “other world.” For example, he was extremely curious about the quadrant that the mariners used. Once Equiano had the privilege to examine the quadrant, he was fascinated; Equiano was only more persuaded that he was in another world and that everything about himself was magic. Furthermore, it is this curiosity and this wonder that shows the readers that Equiano has a great zest for life.
Infer:
What does this passage reveal about the author?
I feel as though this passage reveals that the author was a brilliant man with an iron will. He understood that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place and dealt with those conditions. To be honest, I do not think that I could survive the terrible stench and close quarters that Equiano had to survive.
As for why I believe the author was brilliant? It is because of his curiosity and wonder. Equiano was curious and intrigued by all the new things that this new world had to offer. However, not only was Equiano curious but he was eager to learn and experience everything that was new to him.
Draw a conclusion:
Explain what a variety of languages indicates about the slave trade.
Because there were a variety of slaves, each speaking a different language, we can conclude that the slave trade was not a one man, one town job. The slave trade had to span many different areas and incorporate many different traders. It is close to impossible for a group of 5 traders to round up such a large variety of slaves.
Thematic Focus:
When one culture dominates another what troubles might society face?
There are many troubles that a society experiences when one culture dominates another. A prime example would be the United States during the 1940’s and 1950’s. One problem was discrimination. Those who are dominated are consistently ridiculed and are not able to receive the same treatment as the dominant race. Another problem that arises are hate groups. Because the dominated culture is “naturally” discriminated against, there are a group of indviduals that go even further than basic discrimination. For example, a popular hate group in America during the 1950’s was the Ku Klux Klan. They would dehumanize, torture or even murder the dominated race. One last major issue is inequality. When one culture dominates the other, the dominant culture believes that the other culture is inferior and should be treated as thus. To conclude, when one culture dominates another, society is sharply divided and the dominant culture denies the dominated culture any rights.
Final task:
Select a scene from Olaudah Equlano and Draw the scene and narrate it in your own words.
By Stanley Switalski
"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop dead from a bough
Without ever having felt sorry for itself."
-D.H. Lawrence
I feel as though this quote holds an important meaning and that meaning is no one should ever feel sorry for himself/herself. As D.H. Lawrence stated, he never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. The key phrase in that sentence is “wild thing.” Typically, wild animals have a much harder life than most people. They have to hunt for their food and must live through some of the hardest conditions. While people always feel sorry for themselves, compared to the wild animals, we have nothing to be truly sorry about. It isn’t like we have to go out and hunt for our own food. Unlike birds, we don’t have to worry about flying thousands of miles to live once the season changes. Even a small bird that drops frozen dead will not have felt sorry for itself while people always feel sorry for themselves about the most unimportant things. In conclusion, I believe D.H. Lawrence was trying to state that humans, of all living things, have no reason to be sorry for himself/herself.
"I am nobody who are you?"
-Emily Dickinson
I believe that I am many things. I am definitely a scholar. I am constantly concerned about my schoolwork and my grades. On top of being a scholar, I am an athletic person as well. I enjoy soccer, cricket and currently hold a 171 average in bowling. I am a hard worker as well; currently I work two jobs. I work at my middle school two days a week afterschool as a computer technician and I work as a chess tournament director every Saturday. Although I work hard, I am also a typical teenager. I enjoy being with my friends and I enjoy participating in typical teenager activities, such as playing video games. Although I may not be great, I am a musician. I have been playing the guitar for three years and hope to become almost as good as my idle Jimi Hendrix. I am also a chess player. I have been playing chess ever since the fourth grade and I have traveled across the country playing in many national chess tournaments. As for my personality, I feel as though I am a kind and supportive person. I never enjoy seeing people suffer. As for my career, I hope to become a computer engineer and find a job working for Apple. Although I may currently be a “nobody,” I hope that I can someday become “somebody.”
