Summary of Old English Literature

Old English literature

The Old English language, also called Anglo-Saxon, was the earliest form of English. It is difﬁcult to give exact dates for the rise and development of a language, because it does not change suddenly; but perhaps it is true to say that Old English was spoken from about A.D. 600 to about 1100. The greatest Old English poem is Beowulf, which belongs to the seventh century.

Introduction to Neo-Classicism

Neo-Classicism refers to a broad tendency in literature and art enduring from the early seventeenth century until around 1750. While the nature of this tendency inevitably varied accross different cultures, it was usually marked by a number of common concerns and characteristics. Most fundamentally, neo-Classicism comprised a return to the classical models, literary styles and values of ancient Greek and Roman authors. In this, the neo-Classicists were to some extent heirs of the Renaissance humanists.

Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra Plot Summary

Synopsis of the Play: It is 41 B.C. when the play starts. The setting of the play is located in Egypt and Rome. The two main protagonists of the play are Mark Anthony—the great Roman hero and conqueror—and Cleopatra—the Queen with captivating beauty of Ancient Egypt. Mark Anthony is one of the three rulers—the others being Octavius Caesar and Lepidus— of the Roman Empire.

Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra: Critical Thinking Questions by Mohamed Zayed

Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra: Critical thinking Questions

Compiled and Prepared by Mohamed Zayed

1) When asked to analyse a quotation, here is the way:

The Great Gatsby: A Definitive Guide by Mohamed Zayed

The Great Gatsby: A Concise Guide by Mohamed Zayed

PART ONE

(1) Themes of The Great Gatsby

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

(1) Theme of The American Dream as represented in the novel

In the organisation of your answer, you should bear in mind the following outline suggested by our dear doctor:

- The Definition of the American Dream.

- Criticism of the American Dream

- Is the American Dream Corrupted: (1) Importance of Work, (2) High Moral Sense, (3) Egalitarianism [equality], (4)Class [East and West egg and the Valley of Ashes and what they represent], (5) Racism [Tom’s Racism].

Richard Bean's England People Very Nice: Critical Thinking Questions & Answers
Compiled and Prepared by Mohamed Zayed, MA, Linguist and Legal Translator

1st Question:

1) Discuss the theme of multiculturalism in Richard Bean’s England People Very Nice.

Discuss how Richard Bean tackled the theme of immigration and multiculturalism in the four acts of England People Very Nice, especially how he deals with Muslims.

The Answer

First of all, multiculturalism refers to the multiplicity of nationalities in one single place and the fragmented depiction of the different ethnical groups. It can be explained as a representation of the separate yet parallel existence of the immigrants on the one hand and the native people on the other hand. The theme of multiculturalism is closely related to the theme of immigration since there would be no multiculturalism without immigration.

Search for Identity in Doris Lessing's Martha Quest by Mohamed Zayed

Search for Identity in Doris Lessing's Martha Quest

Compiled by Mohamed Zayed

NB: this article took much effort and in-depth reading; kindly cite me as your reference.

The novel tells the story of Martha Quest who enters the novel as a fifteen-year-old girl living in the Zambesia Province in Africa. Martha is represented as a rebellious character who is in constant struggle and disagreement with her parents, especially here mother. She always lends her mother a deaf ear. She never takes her mother’s advice on traditions and customs. Martha motives and actions may be interpreted and seen as a search for identity. In order to explore properly this search for identity, we need to investigate the following: (1) Martha in relation to her peers, (2) Martha and her mother,(3) Her relationship with men, (4) Religion and atheism, (5) Work and (6) Her interest in world politics.

First of all, Martha is shown as a distinct character, one who stands out from her peers. Her search for identity is proved when she tries to have a different mentality from that of her peers. For example, all her peers think about is school or getting married, e.g. Marnie. She, on the other hand, is constantly looking forward to escaping her own home and family. She sees her escape from home as an outlet to the outer world which she has yet to see. She perceives her escape as a quest for reaching and forming her own unique identity. She feels that so long as she lives in the farm that she will always be overshadowed and affected by her parent’s principles. Hence, she can never have a true identity of her own.

Doris Lessing's Martha Quest Plot Summary by Mohamed Zayed

Doris Lessing's Martha Quest Plot Summary

Compiled by Mohamed Zayed

NB: This article took much effort and in-depth reading; kindly cite me as your reference.

Doris Lessing’s novel Martha Quest (1952) follows the life of Martha Quest to middle age. The first in a five-volume, semi-autobiographical series entitled The Children of Violence, the book spans from 1934 to 1938 and takes place in Southern Rhodesia—now Zimbabwe—a former British colony in southern Africa. Lessing lived there from 1925 to 1949. Having experienced a troubled adolescence—upturned by a world war and heading toward another—Martha feels disjointed from the grand history of humans who, she observes, act in large numbers and change the narrative of history, while also getting caught up in the trivial social events of their lives.

At the opening of the novel, Martha is fifteen years old; she and her parents live on a destitute African farm. Martha is a keen observer. Early in life, she begins to notice an incongruity in the way people talk and the way they act, which makes her severely unhappy. In response, Martha seeks out literature to assuage her despair, often borrowing books from two erudite Jews who live nearby. She uses the books to build her philosophy of the way the world works, while also facing the disquieting events occurring in her own life. As a British adolescent female living in the twentieth century, Martha must deal not only with coming of age but also with issues of race, class, and women’s rights.

Racism as Major Theme in Doris Lessing's The Grass Is Singing by M. Zayed

Racism as Major Theme in Doris Lessing's The Grass Is Singing

Compiled by M. Zayed

NB this article is made exclusively, like the rest of the website, free of charge for your own benefit; please when you use it cite me as your reference; it took much effort and reading through through the whole novel in depth. Have a wonderful day.

Part one: Definition and Background of Racism

First of all, Racism is Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior or the belief that all members of a certain race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race as to distinguish it as superior to another race.

The term racism is a noun describing the state of being racist. Racism is a particular form of oppression. It stems from discrimination against a group of people based on the idea that some inherited characteristic, such as skin color, makes them inferior to their oppressors. In one of Karl Mark’s books he says: “What is a Negro slave? A man of the black race. The one explanation is as good as the other.”

The Nineteenth century was an age of emancipation, colonialism, and imperialism--all of which contributed to the growth and intensification of ideological racism in Europe. The Darwinian emphasis on "the struggle for existence" and concern for "the survival of the fittest" was conducive to the development of a new and more credible scientific racism in an era that increasingly viewed race relations as an arena for conflict rather than as a stable hierarchy.

The climax of Western imperialism in the late nineteenth century "scramble for Africa" and parts of Asia and the Pacific represented an assertion of ethnic racism that was led by the British Empire. The one racist regime that survived the Second World War and the Cold War was the South African in 1948. Racism and colonization were interrelated. Racism was used to justify colonialism. It imposed and produced the conquest of African nations.

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