The Purple Hibiscus Analysis

The Purple Hibiscus Analysis Purple hibiscus is the first novel of the writer Chimanda Ngozi Adichie. The novel was published in 2003, it got a lot of attention in terms of prestigious prizes. Chimanda used her own experiences from her childhood to fill in the plot and lives of the characters. She was born in Kambilis home town Enugu, she is also a catholic. The main character is named Kambile Achike, a school girl that does exceptional in school. She lives with her parents mama, papa and her teenage brother Jaja. The story takes place in a city in Nigeria called Enugu, the novel begins with Jaja refusing to go to church on palm Sunday. Jaja has no good excuse for missing church so papa throws his book at him. The book hits his wifes shelf containing her beloved figurines. This is the beginning of the end for the Achike family. Afterwards Kambili explains what happened before Palm Sunday and all the events, papas sister Aunty Ifeoma is liberal and has been giving Jaja and Kambili rebel thoughts. Kambili does not say much and she often has problems speaking fluently without stuttering. Her strict father has shaped her this way by his rules and way of living. Every day she is in a schedule making her unable to do much else than eat, study, sleep and pray. Kambili is a good student and one of the best in her class. Because she does not talk much the girls in her class thinks she is a snob, she also runs straight to her dads car after class. Kambili is not a snob, but her dad is shaping her and she is unable to create her own identity. Her dad is expecting too much from Kambili and she only manages to finish second in her term. Papa tells her god expects more from her. Papa is an important man in Enugu, he owns several factories. He also publishes a newspaper called the standard. He is a rich man so he donated money to his local church community and his childrens school. His newspaper always tells the truth about the countrys conditions and therefore is under a lot of pressure from the state. He is also known for his generosity in his ancestral town, Abba. In the Christmas, Kambili and her family goes to Abba. Her close family makes a feast that feeds the whole family. Papa calls his father a heathen because he still holds on to the old religious traditions of his people. He does not let Jaja and Kambili visit his father for long. His sister thinks he is treating their father wrong, but Papa refuses to support his father unless he becomes a catholic. Aunty Ifeomas university town Nsukka is different from what Jaja and Kambili are used to. Power blackouts, rising food prices and fuel shortages are normal in Nsukka. Aunty Ifeoma teaches and encourages her children to question authority. Ifeoma wanted Jaja, Kambili and her own children to get to know each other better so she persuades Papa to stay with her for a week. They end up living there for longer than that. Just like her former classmates Kambili is being looked at as a snob by Amaka. Kambili stays silent in Nsukka. Kambili meets father Amadi who tells her to say what she has on her mind. Amaka and Kambili becomes friends. Papa-Nnukwu becomes ill and Ifeoma takes her in to the apartment so he can stay there. They do not tell Papa in fear that he will have them sent back. Papa eventually finds out that Papa-Nnukwu has been staying there and he takes his kids back home he punishes them for staying with him by pouring hot water on their feet. Papa is being pressured by the state because of his newspaper. Ade Coker gets captured by soldiers again and tortured. The standard is being raided and shut down. Ade Coker is thereafter killed by the government. Papa beats Kambili and she ends up in the hospital. Kambili goes to Nsukku to stay with her aunt after being released from the hospital. Aunty Ifeoma gets fired and travels to America to teach. Papa beats Mama again and she shows up in Nnukwu. When Mama goes home she starts poisoning Papas tea, in Easter Mama calls and tells them that Papa is dead. Kambilis big brother Jaja takes the blame and goes to jail. Three years later visit Jaja in prison where he has been living under terrible conditions. Jajas lawyers are sure that they will be able to get him released. Kambili is very happy, but Jaja does not seem to believe it himself. She wants to travel and visit Aunty Ifeoma. In the end of the book Kambili says Silence hangs over us now, but it is a different kind of silence. One that lets me breathe. I have nightmares about the other kind, the silence of when Papa was alive. In my nightmares, it mixes with shame and grief and so many other things that I cannot name, and forms blue tongues of fire that rest above my head, like Pentecost, until I wake up screaming and sweating.

How Far Did Martin Luther King Further the Cause of Civil Rights Essay

Dr. Martin luther king is one of the most famous civil rights activists in America to date. However, the importance of his legacy has been debated over how important really was he to the civil rights movement. I personally his movement was a key catalyst for the acquiring of equal civil rights in America. Martin Luther King’s peculiar method of campaigning gained him a large amount of white sympathizers to the civil rights cause. This support, which included President Johnson as a supporter; proved a great asset to the success of the civil rights movement, which highlights King’s importance. His use of peaceful campaigning put the activists on a moral high ground against the police and authorities trying to physically stop them. King being a Christian Pastor, used his acquired rhetoric to communicate the moral issues of his campaigns to the largely Christian white Americans. His importance is clearly evident as had he not tried to communicate to the masses on a religious level, support for the civil rights movement would be very small outside African American community. Perhaps a more militant approach like that of the Black Panthers would have proven a possible hindrance to the success of the civil rights movement as sympathy from white people and moral justification would be eradicated. This is why the work of Martin Luther King could be considered very important to the civil rights movement. Another reason why Martin Luther King’s contributions could be considered very important is due to King’s character and personality. He was like a spokesman for the movement. His impressive oration skills granted him a large audience on which he could lay down his ideas. Civil Rights was mostly associated with him and his personality gave him connection to many people within the political spectrum. King had an inspirational factor to his speeches, as seen during the March On Washington where he delivered his famed ‘I have a dream’ speech in front of 250,000 spectators. His popularity on a national level meant the government had to change their actics in regards to civil rights as upheaval may follow. In this sense, King forced the government to speed up the laws of civil rights, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. King’s flair for words and his personality made his a valuable element to the entire civil rights movement; his popularity gave him audience with President Kennedy, who eventually supported King. This is why he could be seen as have important contributions to the civil rights movement. As far as King’s work may have lead the civil rights movement, he can still be considered not that important in the grand scheme of things. Some of his ideas and methods were not supported by some members of the civil rights movement. His peaceful methods were rejected by some African Americans – some of who were involved in the Watts Summer Riots and wished to pursue liberty through violent means. Groups such as Nation Of Islam and Black Panthers labelled King as an ‘uncle tom’- a man who worked for the white people and not his own. This hate towards King made his work less important as opposition decreases his support and gave him enemies within members of the movement itself. Furthermore, King’s speeches were heavily Christianity-based. Although they fitted the majority of citizens, who were mostly Christian, some people were not so his ideas were not understood and accepted very well. In this aspect of things, opponents of King and those who he did not represent made his contributions less important. All in all, King’s contributions largely were very significant and important in the Civil Rights movement, his borrowed methods of peaceful protest , along with his oration skills and inspirational attitude ensured his work is probably the most single significant aspect of the entire movement. Despite not representing some members from the civil rights community, his legacy is very famous. The most important aspect of his work is his use of moral defences against authorities, his pacifism gave him support from the biggest politic figureheads and therefore his work undoubtedly was very important.

Daniel Libeskind - The Jewish Museum in Berlin - 1843 Words

The success of architects is defined not so much by the problems they face as the act of their creative and practical responses. Located in once the bombarded Berlin, a new language of architecture emerged. It appears with multiple contradictions, yet not confliction, from itself to the surroundings and within its own construction. That is the Berlin Jewish Museum, submitted by the young Daniel Libeskind in a competition to provoke the unsavory history of Berlin very soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Western tradition in building museum is twisted by its expressionistic form, not merely to house the remains, the relics, the display of art, it stands by itself naked, untreated to house the ghost of German Judaism, a†¦show more content†¦The intention is to make occupants feel physically ill and all of its effects. Precast and cast in-place concrete are customized in tube-like structures which slope variably to resist lateral loads stabilizing the vertical el ements. At some strategic locations with severely angled walls, pre-stressed steel reinforced concrete is an absolute option. Steel is used to bear compressive loads as well as tensile loads. The vertical elements are tied together with beams and slabs which prevent them from cracking. The monolithic appearance and the complication in opening positions and dimensions require a high level of difficulty in pouring concrete, which make this museum become the first model project of its kind to test the new concrete-handling method. The challenge is to avoid segregation in pouring concrete. Timing is the key. The exterior walls are molded with in-situ concrete; the advantage it offers is that the apertures can be made in any shape and size, width and height. It also allows a less amount of columns used, and an expansion for larger, uninterrupted spaces. The extra strength the reinforced concrete gives grants Libeskind the ability to make the concept practical. Also, to maintain the integrity of the â€Å"object,† he eliminated conventional roof system, lightweight enclosing, and exposed framework matrix as if all structural members merge in one entity which makes theShow MoreRelatedThe Death Of The Weimar Republic1185 Words   |  5 Pages For now, I’m going to leave the Reichstag wrapped up, and move onto Libeskind’s Jewish museum. Over history it could be argued that the Jews have been the most persecuted religion. This is of course true in Germany. In German history the Jews have being accused of poisoning wells and causing the black death, despite the Jews suffering equally from the disease! The Jews were also accused for the loss of the First World War, despite the Jews having the largest proportional of any religious groupRead MoreThe Legacy Of Daniel Libeskind2248 Words   |  9 Pages Daniel Libeskind was born in Lodz, Poland on May 12, 1946, to Polish-Jewish parents the year after World War II ended. His parents were Holocaust survivors, but living in postwar Eastern Europe they found that the formal end of the Holocaust did not bring an end to Anti-Semitism violence. As Libeskind told Stanley Meisler of the Smithsonian, â€Å"Anti-Semitism is the only memory I still have of Poland. In school. On the streets. It wasn t what most people think happened after the war was over. It wasRead MoreThe Lack Of A Central Holocaust Memorial1621 Words   |  7 PagesGerman government decides that the memorial should be devoted only to Jewish victims of the Holocaust and designates a prominent location in the center of the newly-unified city of Berlin: The five-acre site will lie due south of the Brandenburg Gate, which until 1989 had divided East and West Berlin. The site is also just a few steps from the buried remains of the bunker where Adolf Hitler committed suicide. Amidst the Berlin s tremendous construction boom (which garnered it the nickname EuropeRead MoreThe Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe2474 Words   |  10 PagesThe Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial, is a monument in Berlin to commemorate the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe causes us to reflect on how the transgressive ges ture of architecture puts the issue of balance between the medium and the message into question. The memorial could have been viewed as a way to threaten the importance of remembrance. According to Elke Grenzer, â€Å"Architecture itself in a commemorativeRead MoreDigital Fabrications Architectural And Material Techniques2121 Words   |  9 Pagesand then becomes ceiling in one simple motion. Another great example of the use of folds are the wrapped metal corner panels of The Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany, by Daniel Libeskind. The titanium plates zigzag and fold throughout the faà §ade, these folds are expressed in the interior by the angled walls and underground axes. Thanks to the folding technique Libeskind is able to hide the individual floors from the outside, the crisscrossing of the windows seem therefore unsystematic and it helps create

Continental Marines Essays - 1245 Words

On November 10th, 1775, the Continental Congress passed a resolution that stated two Battalions of Marines be raised, which established the Continental Marines, and is now considered the birth date of the Marines. The newly formed Continental Marines served on both land and sea, and took part in many major engagements, which helped establish them as an important branch of the Armed Forces. The first Commandant of the Continental Marines was Captain Samuel Nicholas, who was born in Philadelphia in 1744. He was commissioned to be a â€Å"Captain of Marines† by the 2nd Continental Congress on November 5th 1775. Nicholas soon established Tun Tavern as the recruiting headquarters. Tun Tavern’s owner, Robert Mullen, was so successful at recruiting†¦show more content†¦Shortly after, Captain Samuel Nicholas is promoted to Major. In December 1776, the Marines joined Washington’s army at Trenton to help slow the progress of British Troops through New Jersey. Washington was unsure what to do with the Marines, so he added them to a brigade of Philadelphia militia. Although the Marines were unable to arrive in time to greatly affect the Battle of Trenton, they played a part in the American victories in both the Battles of Assunpink Creek and Princeton. At the end of the American Revolution in 1783, both the Continental Marines and Continental Navy were disbanded. The Alliance was sold, and the last official act of the Continental Marines was to escort a stash of French silver crowns on loan from Louis XVI from Boston to Philadelphia. Some individual Marines stayed on the few American naval vessels left, but the last Continental Marine was discharged in April. In 1798, the Marines are reformed as the Unites States Marine Corps, with William Ward Burrows as the Second Commandant. Under the Act for establishing and organizing a Marine Corps†, which was signed by President John Adams on July 11th 1798, the new Marine Corps was to be made up of a battalion of 500 privates, who would be lead by a Major and a group of Privates and NCOs. The next day, Burrows was promoted to the rank of Major. The new Marine Corps soon found itself in the middle of the Barbary Pirates War. The war was started afterShow MoreRelatedThe History Of The Airline Industry935 Words   |  4 Pageswhile other airlines have become very successful. One airline that has been able to make air travel a profitable business is Continental Airlines. Continental Airlines was founded in 1934 as a very prosperous company and over their colorful 64-year history has experienced both tremendous success and extreme difficulty. Walter Varney and Louis Mueller originally founded Continental Airlines as Varney Speed Lines. The concept of their company was to operate airmail and passenger services in the AmericanRead MoreComparing The Revolutionary War And The Modern Soldier1671 Words   |  7 Pagesarmy. The American revolutionary army came in two forms, the continental army and the militia. The continental army was trained regiments of soldiers from each state, although North Carolina was asked to provide two regiments of soldiers, which eventually turned into ten by the end of the war, they were called the North Carolina Brigade and along with the rest of the continental army were the main force against the British. The continental army soldiers were supplied with equipment equal to that ofRead MoreThe Importance of Flag Detail in the Military Essay911 Words   |  4 Pagestwo entities together as one. Without the American flag’s representation, the Army has no purpose; no means to exist. The first American flag was introduced in May of 1976 in which Betsy Ross reported her creating it. On June 14, 1977, the Continental Congress passed the Flag Act to establish the set design of the United States flag. After the delegation, the original flag consisted of thirteen, red and white alternating stripes and thirteen, white stars in a blue field which was the number ofRead MoreThe Negro in the American Revolution Essays1353 Words   |  6 Pagesdistinguished heroes at the Battle of Bunker Hill was Peter Salem who fired the shot that killed Major John Pictcarirn of the Royal Marines. But Peter Salem was not the only African American hero during the Revolutionary War. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Another African American, Salem Poor, also made a hero of himself at Bunker Hill. Several officers to the Continental Congress commended him for his bravery at the battle. This honor encouraged African Americans to take part in the war. Pomp FiskRead MoreGeorge Washington, The Great American Leader1544 Words   |  7 Pagescrossed the Delaware River on Christmas day 1776 and after. George Washington was very committed to his army. But at first it looked very irrational to transport 2,400 continental soldiers across an icy cold river through a heavy storm. But Washington’s action was â€Å"based on strategic motivation†(Lass). Washington saw that the Continental army really needed a victory after a long time of defeats and no major victories. He understood that they needed the element of surprise to defeat the Hessian mercenariesRead MoreWomen During The Revolutionary War1197 Words   |  5 Pagesserve. After trying her disguise out and not ge tting caught she enlisted, in the spring of 1781. Deborah served under Captain George Webb’s Company of Light Infantry, for seventeen months, she performed as Robert Samson. She was a member of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Deborah had a few trying times during her role as Robert. She was wounded twice during the war. In June of 1782, while leading thirty other infantrymen they became engaged, in one-on-one combat, with a band loyalistsRead MoreWhy America Still Have A Need For A Marine Corps1076 Words   |  5 Pagesaccomplish ground missions similar to the Marine Corps, then why does America still have a need for a Marine Corps. It is because Marines train for the worst possible outcomes by keeping one step in front of the enemy and the Marines act as quick reaction force capable of scaling its size to handle whatever the immediate threat presents. Why does America still have a need for a Marine Corps? Since 1775, the Nation has called upon the Army and Marines to defend its borders and protect its shoresRead MoreHistory Of The Army Corps957 Words   |  4 Pagespaper will cover the history of the Army NCO, contributions, and evolution of the Army NCO. History An NCO is referred as a military officer who is yet to earn a commission. The history of the NCO began during early 1775 after the inception of the Continental Army (Arms, 2007). The concept came about following the blueprint of the legionaries that previously served in the Roman Empire. The model of the NCO is a blend of the frameworks of the Prussian, British, and French armies. Consequently, theRead MoreA Woman’s Retrospective of the American Revolution Essay2537 Words   |  11 Pagesin the Continental Army for a period of six months or more. These acts supplanted Sarah Benjamins case because applicants no longer required disability or monetary status for approval, as well as allowing widows married at the time of the war to be eligible for full payments1. While the history of Revolutionary War pensions is quite rich and intriguing, what is most enriching over the course of the study of this document is the incredibly vivid and accurate account of life in Continental Army campsRead MoreThe American Of Canadian Foreign Relations3505 Words   |  15 PagesAnother reason why the Americans failed to Conquer Canada was because there conflict within the United States itself, and thus, operations did not always run as smoothly as George Washington had hoped for. In 1775, George Washington took over the Continental Army and tried to organize troops and forces identical to the British. This however, was a lot harder than Washington anticipated. Since the Americans distanced themselves and ultimately detached from the British control and Empire, there was a