“We Shall Fight on the Beaches” by Winston Churchill //Paper 1\\

"We shall fight on the Beaches"

This text was presented by Winston Churchill, Great Britain’s Prime Minister on June 4th, 1940. This text is a political speech which incorporates great amounts of rhetoric devices such as euphemism, personal pronoun and anaphora while simultaneously containing flattery and a huge amount of appeal to patriotism. Winston Churchill utilises these literary techniques as a persuasive method to bring the British people together as a whole nation and to inspire them that no matter what happens in the war they will not give up. 

Considering the fact that this political speech was delivered in the House of Commons in Britain, it can be concluded that the text is targeting the British people however since it is targeting all different types of nation, it can also be considered multi-vocal. Although Churchill never directs the audience as “you” he does say “we” implying that the audience is his people, therefore the British people. Furthermore the aim of the speech is to convey the message to the British people that when war comes their way, the British will not give up. At the last paragraph Churchill says “we shall never surrender” which is the main purpose of the speech summed up in four words. Besides having the will to unify the British people, Churchill wants to prepare the nation for the war that will come their way. To further emphasise on the impact to unify the nation as the main purpose Churchill uses techniques such as appeal to patriotism which affects the British people by shifting their attention to the country as whole and forget about themselves as individuals. 

In the political speech delivered by Winston Churchill, he explained to the people how although they are doing everything to protect the people and the country, Nazi Germany might come for them and when that happens they will not give up. In addition Churchill reassures that the country is prepared to go to war and to fight in order to defend Britain by saying “We must never forget the solid assurances of sea power and those which belong to air power if it can be locally exercised”. This quote is a reference to the proud tradition and saying that Britannia rules the waves. Furthermore Churchill addresses the USA and U.S.S.R. at the end of the speech “the New World, with all its power and might, steps to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”. In this extract Churchill glorifies these two countries by indirect telling the British nation that when things come to worse, they will aid the U.K. and they will make them free again. 

The entire speech is spoken in an encouraging, persuasive and bold tone creating an intense atmosphere. In the speech Churchill utilises many rhetoric devices such as personal pronouns and euphemism in order to make the speech sophisticated however deliver the message as a unified nation. At the beginning of the speech he uses a metaphor “enemy aliens” which characterises them as the unknown therefore they cannot be predicted which is a justification for the British people to stay in alert. Then Churchill uses many personal pronouns to unify the nation and the shows a minimum sympathy for the enemy characterising Churchill as a good and considerate Prime Minister “I am very sorry for them, but we cannot, at the present time and under the present stress, draw all the distinctions which we should like to do.”.

The following paragraphs, in order to create some encouragement, Churchill flatters the British nation and says “I think that no idea is so outstanding that it should not be considered and viewed with a searching, but at the same time, I hope, with a steady eye.”. This phrase encourages people to keep in mind that Britain is trying to avoid confrontation but right now it simply cannot be an option. To further back up all that Churchill is saying he states that measures will be taken towards the country no matter what “At any rate, that is that we are going to do.” and by saying this the whole idea of the speech is strengthened. Furthermore he says “we shall not flag or fail” again emphasising that Britain will not give up and he is mentally preparing the nation to be strong and to be patient. By saying this, it reveals a lot about Churchill which is that the is determined to get Britain through this conflict. 

Sequentially the last paragraph of the speech is one of the most known and most important for encouraging the people and persuading them through the use of anaphora. Furthermore it unifies them and assures the nation to that they will fight together and that they will win. In the first 5 lines of the last paragraph of the speech “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender” there is strong use of anaphora which is utilised with the intent to stick those words and the idea to every civilian’s mind. By constantly repeating the words “we shall” he is killing two birds with one stone. Churchill unifies himself and the nation as a whole and he indulges the idea of taking action towards an issue. This is a very important and significant part of his speech which is concentrated with rhetorical and persuasive devices which aids to stick an idea in their heads. Moreover the entire speech has an interesting structure where the purpose of the speech which speaks about the inevitable fight with Germany is barely mentioned. Churchill instead of focussing on telling the people what is coming, he creates that awareness however the entire focus of the speech is to further unify the nation, because when chaos arrives they need to fight this together. 

Through the use of rhetorical and persuasive techniques Churchill unified the nation in his speech which is considered one of the most persuasive speeches in history. This is also due to the fact that it can be considered a prophecy “we shall fight on the beaches” which did happen during World War II. In addition the entire speech not only is powerful through the use of ethos because an important figure is saying it but it is powerful because he mentally prepared an entire country for war through few words. To conclude this political speech impacted the British people by unifying them as the nation they are to fight together as brothers and sisters through the simple implementation of rhetoric and persuasive devices. 

IOC

https://soundcloud.com/luiza-helena-33/ioc

Consolidation of theme of power in Coriolanus

The theme of power is a prevalent theme in the play of Coriolanus written by Shakespeare. As the play is set in 491 B.C.E., the context of the time constitutes of when the early Republican Rome had just transitioned from being ruled by a monarch to a government run by officials elected by the people of Rome. Previously, the ruling class in Rome had all the power (The Patricians) while the plebeians (the common people/citizens) had no power whatsoever and contributed towards the transition of the government but rioting in the streets. 


To summarise the play, Coriolanus a strong and respected soldier defends Rome in many battles and takes over the city of Corioles defeating his enemy Aufidius in war. Subsequently, Coriolanus decides to run for Consul however his bad reputation amongst the plebeians and the tribunes (Brutus and Sicinius) he is denied the role of Consul and is banned from Rome. Coriolanus holds a grudge towards Rome as a whole and goes to Antium seeking help from Aufidius, whom he promises to stand aside when attacking and defeating Rome. Volumnia, Coriolanus’s mother, then convinces him to spare Rome and she gets declared the “saviour of Rome” while Aufidius executes Coriolanus for treason. 

Coriolanus, Volumnia and Aufidius are essential characters whom contributed towards the development of the theme of power in the play. Coriolanus has military power because in the army whoever is the best rules. While Volumnia has influential maternal power on Coriolanus by being able to make him spare Rome knowing that he would be executed. In Addition, Aufidius’ power is balanced between military and politics as in he is the leader of the army but he also ruled the city of Antium.Furthermore Coriolanus comes from the old world, he is just like a god and his mind is stuck in the hierarchical era because he cannot accept the new governmental system. However, Volumnia and Aufidius are able to do something that Coriolanus cannot which is to sacrifice something (their pride and emotions) in order to get what they want. They are long-term oriented (patient). The nature of power within the context of evolving Rome revolves around the idea that one must be able to change and to accept input from others into their work by sacrificing pride and thinking of the greater good.  

Act I- Shakespeare's purpose in his characterization of Coriolanus

Act I starts already with a conflict, building up the rising action of the play thanks to the battle between Rome and the Volsces. The audience is firstly introduced to the audience through Menenius and the plebeians who think of him as a common enemy of the people. From the beginning of the play Shakespeare has already portrayed Caius Martius and a despised character in the eyes of the people. The plebeians refer to Martius as a "very dog to the commonality. Furthermore Martius at this stage of Act I has just been shot at with complaints and bad personality traits. 

In the first act of Coriolanus, Shakespeare introduces the audience to the main characters in an abundance of events that mainly circulates around Coriolanus. In Act I, Corionalus is known as Caius Martius since he gained his glorious name after he won the battle against the Volsces and took over the city of Corioles. Coriolanus' characterization are created through direct and indirect dialogue which implying his being as a strong, capable, extraordinary yet flawed character.

As per the genre of this play, it is a political play. The people are on the verge of going against the Council and Coriolanus ats towards the people just worsen the situation they are already in. In Act I the conflict between the plebeians with Menenius contributed to the downfall of Martius following the plot of the play. It contributes towards Corionalus downfall because normally in Roman Politics, at that time, if one wanted to gain power and be part of the government it was crucial that the people of the city liked that person. If one had the support of the people it was rather easy to rise to power. However Coriolanus as described in Act I did not care much for the people as he only cared about his mother Volumnia. The plebeians were always complaining that all he does is for his mother and Shakespeare, through Martius' dialogues shapes the way that he thinks of the people by degrading them as human beings. Therefore it can be seen during that play that this is already one of Coriolanus' weakness(the political world). Shakespeare made clear that the people's opinion was important during that time in the political world which is significant later in the play and he also managed to establish Coriolanus position in the Roman society.

Further in the Act I, when the battle between the Romans and the Volsces occurs, Shakespeare finally releases Matius good characteristics to the audience. He is seen as a warrior of great power who is a passionate fighter and a glorious leader of the Roman army. At first, when the Romans are defeated, Martius gives a persuasive and threatening speech which rises the army's morale and self-esteem up with fear who then attack the city of Corioles; “If any think brave death outweighs bad life, And that his country’s dearer than himself; Let him alone, or so many so minded, Wave this to express his disposition And follow Martius.”. Shakespeare characterizes Coriolanus as a heroic and godlike figure of Rome who was born to fight in war. Towards the end of Act I, the audience witnesses Martius take over the city of Corioles on his own which indirectly portrays his as a hero and a lonely dragon who is strong and acts alone. 

These brave demonstrations inside the war zone come interestingly with the main scene of the play, which assert Martius to be an adversary to the general population. His prosperity and better name got from guaranteeing Corioles is a vast occasion that occurs in the start of the play, to give Martius a more gallant picture to the gathering of people. Shakespeare does this stupendous occasion before all else and portrays Martius to be a supernatural legend to perform and overstate his fall towards the finish of the play, and underlines his contentions between the plebeians to show where the character's shortcomings are and additionally to anticipate the fall of Martius in later acts.

bell hooks

8. In contemporary black popular culture, rap music has become one of the spaces where black vernacular speech is used in a manner that invites dominant mainstream culture to listen—to hear—and, to some extent, be transformed. However, one of the risks of this attempt at cultural translation is that it will trivialize black vernacular speech. When young white kids imitate this speech in ways that suggest it is the speech of those who are stupid or who are only interested in entertaining or being funny, then the subversive power of this speech is undermined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2EEZKVCZ4E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cT_Ulmcrys


The bell hook's quote explains how black vernacular English has been categorized as a joke in some communities when it comes to certain occasions such as rap. Furthermore this quote can be applied to this video which is an example of the black vernacular English and turning it into a remix, devaluing the tone and mood and even the situation. The woman in the video is in distress and she just came out of a burning house. The interviewers catch this woman outside and ask her to explain what just happened, and by doing so utilizing the dialect of black vernacular English she is mocked. Her dialect was perceived as humorous due to the way she spoke and was not taken seriously.

This real life situation is a perfect example of something that was serious and concerning, however because her dialect did not emphasize on the issue with the usage of big and complex words incorporating discription to her speech as well as it could. This text's audience is broad as this is an interview in a news in the T.V. however the purpose of the interview was to inform people of an incident that happened in her house and how she managed to escape from a burning apartment, by doing so consciously warning people to be careful with things that can potentially cause fire. The main factors of her speech which are disregarded and twisted in this video is her tone and style of phrase structure. Although her tone may seem humorous while speaking about the incident, it is proven that people seem to smile when in stress and that is what she did. Furthermore incorporating her lively and expressive tone to this textual analysis depicts how by being articulate in her dialect and over expressive was taken out of context and considered as "funny". In addition, her phrase structures are not in standard English form, therefore it created a judging platform for white americans to play and splice her words and creating remixes and memes who are now famous. 

In comparison, the bell hook's quotation relates to the text chosen. Both express how Black vernacular english is taken out of context sometimes, and within that, comes the decrease of power of speech. Her conversation has be used, misused, exploited, imitated and modified with the purpose of entertainment within the media medium. 

Reconnecting to Kaingang Podcast

Speaking in Tongues

3. What is the value of preserving indigenous languages? 

Languages are extremely important within our world and it provides us with a way of communication. each language has a tradition, culture, beliefs and a story behind them. It is a brutal and fatal concept that once collapsed may bring an entire culture and history down with it. Indigenous languages are vital and each language perceives things in our world in a different way. In fact, every language has its own way of describing and addressing certain issues and concepts in our societies. For example, Aboriginal languages were pretty special and distinctive for the rich vocabularies they utilise to describe nature. The evocative imagery the language contains expresses the love an how close the Aboriginal clans are linked to the land. Furthermore aboriginal languages are one of many examples of why perceiving indigenous languages are valuable and important to us. These languages see the world and speak differently than we do, therefore translation is not sufficient enough to convey all the passion and the meaning behind certain things. Indigenous languages have a different way of expression and they have a deeper understanding of the world and of nature than the civilians who live in the city do. Indigenous people have been in the surface of this Earth long before the colonies arrived and started treating their people and their language, which establishes a closer contact with life. In conclusion, I believe that every single language should be valued to the maximum because people perceive and communicate things differently. In addition, every language has extensive and diverse vocabularies used to description which is distinctive and unique. By preserving indigenous languages, our understanding and expression can be more extensive and we can understand life more thoroughly.