English Language & Literature

Prompt --> Pride can lead to failure and self-destruction or to accomplishment and self-fulfilment. Discuss the presentation of pride and its consequences in at least two of the works you have studied.  Thesis statement: In the Thief and the Dogs, Naguib Mahfouz allegorically represents the marxist ideology through the protagonist, Said Mahran who’s hubris leads him to self-destruction. Similarly, in TFA, Chinua Achebe utilises the tragic hero archetype to represent the danger of being rigid and inflexible, in a dynamic world, which reveal Achebe’s assertion of the need for duality to successfully navigate an ever-changing world. Topic sentence 1: In both novels, the protagonist’s overwhelming pride leads them to inevitable destruction at their own hands, seen with Okonkwo’s fatalistic suicide, and Said got assassinated. Topic sentence 2: In TATD and TFA, their pride catalyses their conflict, as their moral values aren’t heavily influenced by opposition, such as the...

Chapter Four Passage: "You made me and now you reject me: Your ideas create their embodiment in my person and then you simply change them, leaving me lost –rootless, worthless, without hope—a betrayal so vile that if the whole Muqattam hill toppled over and buried it, I still would not be satisfied. I wonder if you ever admit, even to yourself, that you betrayed me. Maybe you’ve deceived yourself as much as you try to deceive others. Hasn’t your conscience bothered you even in the dark? I wish I could penetrate your soul as easily as I’ve penetrated your house, that house of mirrors and object d’art, but I suppose I’d find nothing but betrayal there: Nabawiyya disguised as Rauf, Rauf disguised as Nabawiyya, or Ilish Sidra in place of both—and betrayal would cry out to me that it was the lowest crime on earth. Their eyes behind my back must have traded anxious looks throbbing with lust, which carried them in a current crawling like death, like a cat creeping on ...

How, why, and to what effect does Mahfouz use stream-of-consciousness narration in the novel? The stream of consciousness narrative within the technique extremely elevates the themes and characters presented as it gives to contrasting perspectives. Juxtaposing the internal thoughts of the protagonist is a calm objective third person narrative which primarily provides description of the events, surroundings and characters of the novel. This provides the readers with all the external facts and details needed to interpret the story and the actions of characters. However, its seemingly calm and monotone narrative contrasts with the internal thoughts/dialogue of Said which is in italics for ease the reading and understanding of the novel. Said's thoughts present opinion, emotion and a first person perspective which is absent from the other narrative which almost entirely characterizes Said. His bursts of thought present his internal conflicts and how they are what fuel his act...