Navruzjon Djafarov
¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 Navruzjon Djafarov
¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 Eng 2850
¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 Prof. Peer
¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 November 14th, 2016
¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 5 Even though all people falls into the same category, human species, and they do, feel, and act almost similarly, they still differ from each other. According to the Tayeb Salih, author of Season of Migration to the North, people around the world are all the same, except minor differences. In his book, the unnamed character, narrator of the story who comes back to the village in Sudan after graduating from the London University where he earns a doctorate in British poetry, says to the people of his village that Europeans are “with minor differences, exactly like them.” At this moment, a thought comes to his mind, “(Europeans) just like us they born and die, and in the journey from the cradle to the grave they dream dreams some of which come true and some of which are frustrated; that they fear the unknown, search for love and seek contentment in wife and child; that some are strong and some are weak; that some have been given more that they deserve by life, while others have been deprived by it.” The author uses descriptive language to illustrate similarities between people around the world. However, he says that there are “minor differences.” People can do similar things and feel similarly, but they rarely think similarly! It is common when two people view one thing totally different. Then, they argue passionately that his or her view or thought is better than the other. However, most of the time, people who argue forget that individual’s interpretation are totally subjective and it is fine to have more than one interpretation over the same issue. People interprets, view, and look at things differently because everyone has his or her own beliefs, values, norms, culture, religions, education level, and etc. Let’s take a close look at “minor differences” that author mentioned in his book and analyze why different people who are all the same species interpret issues differently.
¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 2 European life style differs from the one that people of Wad Hammid, the narrator’s hometown, living in. It is clear from the author description of Europe’s streets and Wad Hammid that Europeans’ and villagers’ live and views of life are different. The narrator describes one of the house in Wad Hammid, his grandfather house, as “It is a chaotic house, built without method, and has acquired its present from over many years: many differently-sized rooms, some built up against one another different times, either because they were needed or because my grandfather found himself with some spare of money for which he had no other use.” This description of the house could be analyzed as a symbolism that represents the life style of his villagers. The author suggests that the villagers did not really have very organized and planned life. The line, “built without a method, and has acquired its present from over many years” suggests that the villagers were and are living more likely by the flow of life, rather than by well-prepared outline. In comprising, the narrator also describes European streets as very organized and well-planned. (Couldn’t find a text where the author describes European streets, but I’m sure there was one) The description of Europe’s street could be analyzed as a symbolism for European life style as very organized and planned. More closely analysis of the text. Then, connect this paragraph claim back to the thesis.
¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 2 There is another differences between Europe and Wad Hammid in the book. The second difference between Europeans and villagers is that how they treat and view women. The narrator’s grandfather once says that, “the woman needs someone to protect her.” This line suggests that the villagers view women as a weak gender who need males to protect them. It is obvious that the villagers believe that women cannot take care of themselves because they are physically weak, mentally incapably to make decisions, etc. However, we can see that description of European women are totally different. The narrator describes them as, “Such a woman-there are many of her type in Europe- known no fear, they accept life gaiety and courage.” The description of a European woman shows that Europeans mostly do not think that women are weak and incapable of taking care of themselves. More closely analysis of the text. Then, connect this paragraph claim back to the thesis.
¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 2 Sometimes, “minor differences” in views appear in between villagers. One of them is when Mahjoub, a friend of the narrator, tell the narrator that Hosna, a woman who would be forcefully married to old Wad Rayyes, is the only one who is responsible for the murder of Wad Rayyes and her own suicide. He says, “The thing she did wasn’t act of a human being – it was an act of a devil.” Mahjoub places the full responsibly of the incident on Hosna, even though Hosna has warned villagers that if they will force her to marry Wad Rayyes, then she will kill him and herself. However, everyone in the village ignores her sayings and refuses to prevent this marriage. The narrator disagrees and disgusted by Mahjoub because he believes that Mahjoub along with other villagers hold responsible for the incident since they did nothing to prevent it. The narrator opposes the marriage from the beginning. He says to old Wad Rayyes “She’s refused many men beside you, some of them younger. If she wants to devote herself to bringing up her children, why not to let her do as she pleases?” He tries to prevent this marriage because of Hosna’s warnings, injustice towards her, and personal pity. However, his actions would succeed and Wad Rayyes will marry Hosna. Moreover, Mahjoub also comments that Hosna’s “madness was of a kind never seen before. And if it wasn’t for the sake od decency she wouldn’t have been worth burying.” This comment would be too much to bear for the narrator and he throws himself on Mahjoub screaming “Mad! You’re mad!”
¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 2 Two friends argue whether imperialism had positive impact to colonies or not. Mansour says to Richard, “What did you (Europeans) give us except for a handful of capitalist companies that drew off our blood – and still do?” Even tough Mansour ask this rhetorical question in humorous way, he still believes that Europeans presence in colonies have not done any goods to colonies. Moreover, he thinks that they worsened their situation because now as he says “drew off our blood – and still do.” However, Richard has a completely different point of you about European’s presence in colonies. He says, “You used to complain about colonialism and when we left you created the legend of neo-colonialism. It seems that our presence, in an open or undercover form, is as indispensable to you as air and water.” Richard, on the other hand, argues that colonies did get something useful out of colonization and still do because colonies which got their independence still relies on Europeans for many reasons. Even though they both think that his answer is most correct one, in really they both right to some extent.
¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 2 After describing the grandfather’s house, the narrator claims that he feels rich when he embraces his grandfather in that house, in his own village, even though they are poor peasants based on Europeans standards. He says, “By the standards of European industrial world we are poor peasants, but when I embrace my grandfather I experience a sense of richness as though I am a note in the heartbeats of the very universe.” The narrator is suggesting that
¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 1 This is very, very ROUGH draft that has only my ideas what to write about. The body paragraphs arent connected with each other or the thesis.
[ People can do similar things and feel similarly, but they rarely think similarly]
This is a great statement. I wrote my own paper along the same lines. I feel as though you could emphasize this further to create a stronger thesis.
I’m not so sure about this. Though the quote you have selected suggests that this is true, a full reading of the novel makes this argument problematic. The narrator ends the book calling the people of his village, “mad.” That sounds like more than just a minor difference. Perhaps you might take into account the change that the narrator undergoes during the course of the novel, or make your claim a bit more circumspect – for example, rather than claiming that “According to Tayeb Salih” xyz is true, you might say that the narrator begins the story with this particular perspective on humanity.
I agree with Adam here. This is quite a powerful statement. I think you might say more about it here, and then return to it throughout your essay as a central point of your thesis. There are numerous examples of characters thinking differently about the events in the story. This would lead you to a much more nuanced position than simply saying we have “minor differences.”
I’m not sure you want to include such a long quotation in your introductory paragraph. It might be better to save it or a body paragraph, where you can analyze it in more detail. Your thesis paragraph you be laser-focused on setting out your argument in crystal clear terms.
As I said, your idea of “thinking” differently seems much more specific and engaging to me as a thesis than the general idea of “minor differences.”