Eltigani's English Journal

I looked down in despair, out of the wrecked window, the people below me like ants amidst the burning smoke. The confusion, while my heart raced as I thought to myself “what is left?”

As I stuck my head out of the shattered glass, I shouted for help and gasped for air. The smoke filled my lungs with all sorts of toxins. I frantically peered around and amongst me there was nothing but a few other people, from what I saw, people were still at their desks unconscious from the catastrophic shake caused. Forcefully, I covered my mouth and inhaled the last bit of oxygen before I ran hurriedly to the meeting room. Gazing for any source of comfort, all I could see was a small group of distraught people huddling around the television as they watched the first building burn. Fire and flames, there was nothing left of the building except for the tragic souls of those unfortunate lives.

The rich contaminated smell of the fire permeated the room, wisps of silver grey smoke curled and glided their way through the thick, hazy air as if excited to escape through the window for the hundreds of people to see. Slowly, the heat killed me, gradually each time; the burns would get worse, almost as if a blowtorch was directly lit onto my skin. A quick flash caught my eye as I saw something speed past the window. I ran towards the glass, gazing down past the foggy smoke, to see lifeless bodies lying on the fractured land. My eyes were glued to the building across as I saw people vaulting out of their offices and plunging to the ground. Dozens of people were jumping, some in pairs and others alone. When a person jumped they gradually got smaller and smaller until their life came to an end and their bodies struck the ground causing another ambulance checking whether there was a chance to save them.

I looked to my left and through the smoke I saw, what looked like Oliver, slowly coming towards me. I was shocked to see my best friend alive. I kept shouting “Oliver!” He limped towards me and exclaimed “Nathan!” When he reached me, I laid him on what used to be my desk; he had a severe cut on his lower thigh and blood was dripping. Endless thoughts flashed in my mind like a slideshow. What could I do to help him? Could I live with myself knowing I didn’t do anything? With nothing to assist me I had to react quickly in order to stop the waterfall of blood, so I took off my shirt and wrapped it around his excruciating wound. Oliver was dying, I tried not to believe it, it only took an hour before he gave life before my eyes. His face gradually became unconscious, his bloodshot eyes shut with tear-drops around his war torn face and his lips yearning for drops of water. Yet, I was dying myself. This moment was the only moment I could be selfish and egoistic in my life.

For a minute, my attention averted to the outer world. On a normal day, I would usually see the bright yellow taxi’s speeding past and the blasting boisterous noise of the red lights rushing to get to their destinations, the workaholic’s of New York speeding on their feet and I could even imagine how it sounded; when the city was full of life. However, today was a completely different day. As I stared down once more all my mind focused on was nothing but the smoke, along with the loud screams and cries of the hurt people. I shut out everything around me, as if I was not in the building, closed my eyes and thought about my family.

My heart ached intensely as the piercing noises of the blasts echoed in my ears. Sudden heat urged towards me and a vivid light sparked my eyes open. This was it. The first tower collapsed before my eyes, now the second tower was the new target. My nightmares were finally turning into a reality as this exact moment, no one, not even god could answer my prayers. Another plane slowly approached my window, I looked up at the smoky sky and prayed that my family would be looked after when my body would be nothing but remains.  Why god? Why us? Painful heat waved over my grazed face and that moment I realised my bones would soon turn into ash. I would soon become a part of the rubble, a part of that turmoil and a part of that disaster.

Over the last 30 years, technology has permitted us to do things that were considered unachievable and has now doubtlessly made numerous tasks far simpler. However, with this evolving, it has had many negative impacts and effects on our lives. We find ourselves living in a world where we can tell our heart rates using our phones; where driver-less cars are on the production line and online retailers are delivering via unmanned drones. We must ask ourselves, are we as humans becoming too reliant on technology?

As time passes, technology will continue to evolve and this eventually has a very negative impact on our generation and those of the future. The distressing and unacceptable truth is that with the development of new devices our IQ gradually worsen. According to my perception, we are allowing this to overtake our lives and therefore we are becoming too reliant on its power. Imagine your life without your phone. Or better yet, imagine your life without internet. Phones have now overtaken the habit of drugs and have become the worst source of addiction in our generation. It has enabled modernization and destroyed traditions whereby both females and males ignore customs and rituals rooted by their ancestors and focus solely on what the modern world has provided us with. Even the education system, has weakened as young people are now reliant on ‘the easy way out’ – why would you write an essay when you could find it online? For example, if a person spelt a word wrong, all they’d have to do is simply ‘spell check’ it. This means the person can automatically configure their mistakes but they would not be able to recall this word later on. Consequently, in my opinion, this example is pivotal in understanding the detrimental impact technology has on people.

Even though it is clear that this modernization has had a magnificent progressive achievement on science, I strongly feel that this expanding has had a destructive impact on jobs. Due to the continuously constant innovation of technology, many jobs have become far easier. Jobs such as investment banking and stock trading have become easier than ever thanks to the incredibly fast paced internet and online transactions which have allowed the people in these fields to use it for their own benefit. A longitudinal study completed in 1970 and then followed up in 2010 indicated that 89% of workers found their jobs harder in 1970 than in 2010 where technology practically does everything electronically for them? Why study so hard to end up in a job that tests their ICT capabilities rather than mental? Furthermore, factories have spent their money on new machines that have replaced many workers. Some humans are now unemployed due to these high-tech machines and this is a fine example of full-size corporations becoming reliant on technology. What happens if a machine stops working? Therefore, our dependency can sometimes result in many issues arising. As a result, I passionately believe that equipment expertise is causing a reliance on technology that is leading to negative irreversible effects on the population.

The World Health Organization director stated that ‘ people have become so dependent on computers and games that physical activity rates have decreased and obesity drastically increased, especially in the U.S where technology has overpowered everyone’s lives’. Many years ago, children used to run around and enjoy their free time outside of their houses by practising sports such as football. However, due to us becoming too reliant, children of this generation would rather sit at home watching television or play games on their PS4. As a result of this, there has been a massive decrease in grades as young people are spending more time on social media such as Facebook and Instagram rather than on physical activity. Official statistics signify that overall grades have dropped from 54% A* to C in 2005 to 43% in 2014. People will use their phone while in the gym, check their phones while eating dinner and even stay up playing consoles all night. So much things in this generation that it is almost making us less humane. We’d rather stare at a phone as a means of communication, than meet face to face and have social discussions.

In summarisation, I overpoweringly feel that humans should rely less on technology and slowly emerge to the traditional way of living. We are all so dependent on technology that a simple electricity cut can cause a disastrous outcome of a company losing all its data within seconds. What happened to pen and paper? What happened to enjoying each other’s company? What happened to going out to play in the park? All these simple life choices have been conquered by our reliance in technology. As a result, it is time to change this and prosper for the future.

I’ve recently read an article written by Isabelle Kerr where she disapproves the use of slang and criticizes those who use it. I strongly feel that she has made the wrong judgement on the way she’s interpreted slang. Overall, my main cause for disagreement would be that colloquial language is not useless and detrimental to English language. On the contrary, it is a unique format of expression that emphasises creativity. Kerr is promoting the marginalization of teenagers based on their informal writing skills. Is this fair?

Kerr begins the article by blaming the ‘young generation of today’ for their use of slang and this is exactly the reason why I feel like I am in the perfect position to respond, as I am a part of this modernized generation. She seems to argue that slang is an “invasion of bizarre, nonsensical and downright pointless words”. In fact, slang is not meaningless at all, for the simple reason that almost all slang terms have purposeful meanings. For instance, the word ‘cool’ is used almost every day and the online dictionary definition for this word is ‘A person who is fashionably attractive or impressive’. A person from my age group would use this word to praise an individual or an occurrence whereas a scientist would use it to describe the temperature. If this word is used very often by many people ranging from teenagers to parents, doesn’t that make it an appropriate word.  Especially if it is used by all age groups meaning the ‘younger generation’ cannot be blamed for universal methods of speech. This goes to demonstrate that Kerr is erroneous in arguing that slang is “downright pointless.” Therefore, I don’t believe she has the right to criticize the slang used by younger people just because her personal opinion does not concur to the use of slang.

Claiming she is “embarrassed and ashamed”, in my opinion, signifies that Kerr is trying to convey her own personal disagreement towards the usage of slang within the modern generation and this is not a general view. Furthermore, I disagree with her judgement because by using the word ‘ashamed,’ she is overstating her view and allowing your readers to develop a biased perception on slang. Nor Kerr or I can influence big corporations such as the ‘Online Oxford Dictionary,’ meaning that no one can control people’s use of slang. So then why would she feel ‘ashamed’? Kerr’s intense hyperbolic phrases over exaggerate her disapproval of slang in the dictionary. Should this change solely because of an individual’s opinion? Does the judgement of the minority overpower the majority?

Eventually, Kerr moves on to express herself on the topic of ‘twerking’ because she mentions to have watched a television programme on ‘MTV’, which diverted her attention to the sexual nature of twerking. In the dictionary the definition is ‘to dance in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance’. When expressing her feelings she says, “As a member of the younger generation, partly responsible for these linguistic calamities, I can only apologise”. I firmly dispute this statement as I do not feel responsible for any “linguistic calamities”. I feel that it’s the likes of ‘MTV’ that bolster such words and create such trends, therefore the ‘young generation’ that watch these programmes, apply this to their lives. She argues that slang is a major attribute to the young generation; yet, why is it that adults and big corporations like as ‘MTV’ set such trends and yet she doesn’t blame them?

Finally, Kerr makes a very unjustified statement when claiming “Shakespeare will be turning in his grave”. William Shakespeare was one of the best writers in his time and he was the key founder of Shakespearean English used in his plays and is still famous decades later. The creativity of his plays are renowned pieces that dominate English literature even though that format of language is hardly used in the 21st century. Why is it that Shakespeare’s plays are viewed as inspiring and modern slang is viewed as damaging? Shakespeare’s format of writing is still used today as a form of metonymy; when word association creates a metaphor. To “eyeball” a person is to stare at them and this is a slang term created by Shakespeare in which we still use today in modern society. Why can Shakespeare use ‘thou’ and we cannot use the slang term ‘sick’?

To conclude, I think that the ‘younger generation’ but also the elder generation use slang purposefully. The youth of today is not to blame, as advertisements and the media set trends in which the youth follow. So, I think it is unreasonable for Isabelle Kerr to label young people for using slang and that she should take into consideration how biased and stereotypical her article is.

Within the course of this essay I will be discussing how Shakespeare presents the flaws that characters portray in his play “Othello” and similarly how Robert Browning does the same in his poems “Porphyria’s lover” and “The Laboratory – Ancien Regime”. I will show how Othello’s pride leads to his down fall and how Shakespeare uses figurative language to illustrate downfalls as well as flaws. Also, I will express how flaws are used by Browning to give a clear structure about the poem. These two different methods often change the entire meaning and course of the pieces.

In most of Shakespeare’s tragedies, he tends to make his characters flawed to help develop the narrative. Othello is the main character in the play and his pride, mistrust and misjudgment is what leads to his downfall. A main flaw here is that Othello is too trusting, especially in the wrong person. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in Othello and this is when the audience knows something which characters in the play do not. The main reason Shakespeare does this, is so that the audience understands the characters thoughts, motivations and then predict what will happen next. Othello demands “Ocular proof” of Iago and when Iago feels threatened, he questions Othello by saying ” Is’t come to this?”. Here Iago challenges Othello about their friendship and uses it to his advantage. In this part of the play, we understand that Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to lead up to Othello’s flaw. From this we can see that Othello turns to violence in order to resolve matters when he is skeptical and by Shakespeare using dramatic irony, this supports the flow of the narrative.

In Porphyria’s Lover, the main flaw is his mental instability and this is shown not only because of the fact he killed her, but also because of the way he killed her. The entire poem is in iambic tetrameter and in one large stanza which one could be interpreted as a very rapid  thought. The narrator almost speeds over the murder claiming “No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain.”, although he mentions it repeatedly but more implicitly the other times. By the poet rushing in these few lines, it almost feels as if the character does not see that he has done a bad thing, because he does not reflect or have a second thought on his actions. There is some religious context throughout most of his poems as Robert Browning grew up to become an atheist and you could almost say that he developed his hatred for religion and this is shown where he says “And God has not said a word!”. I think the reason he says this is to have a go about the morality people have after doing something wrong and then asking God for forgiveness or maybe God punishing a person & in this case “he has not said a word!”. Most of his poems have a very dark and grim setting, which is usually a religious setting. In The Laboratory, the potion is made in a cathedral, In Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, the entire dramatic monologue is set in a monastery etc. I think Browning does this intentionally does this to portray the church in a negative aspect.

A massive flaw that has it’s part in ‘Othello’ is Jealousy and this is a central theme in the play. This is a main flaw that almost changes the whole story line because I believe if jealousy did not feature in this play then the story line would be different. One of Iago’s traits is his way of manipulating Othello without him knowing, and it’s his jealousy that motivates him. “Beware of jealousy, It is the green eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds on”. Here Shakespeare personifies jealousy and compares it to an evil creature, the “Green eyed monster” that mocks the powerless prey before it slowly kills and feeds on it. In this case Othello is the victim falling prey to Iago’s genius plan. What he’s putting into context here is that he is mocking Othello to his face and the moor does not know this. Iago is comparing jealousy to something else to convince himself that jealousy is not a flaw of his and his motives are possibly quite responsible.

As well as in ‘Othello’ In the Laboratory – Ancien Regime, Jealousy is another flaw in this poem. The character here is jealous about her lover cheating on her. She doesn’t waste time and has already started to develop a poison in the “laboratory” to kill her boyfriend. “But to light pastille and Elise with her head and her arms and her hands, Should drop dead”. Automatically the first thing that appears is the repetition of “and” and no use of punctuation. Enjambment is used here by Browning and in a poem, it can affect the pace of the text and this can change the mood of the speaker and makes the readers question to why Browning is not using punctuation.

Othello must be manipulated if Iago wants to succeed. The final flaw that I’ve noticed in Othello is Iago’s deceitful nature. This is shown as he can be both a hypocrite while he lies to Othello in his face. “Men should be what they  seem. Or those that be not , would they seem none”. The literal meaning of what Iago says is that honest people should not seem honest and this is quite outlandish coming from the “villain” in the play. Dramatic Irony is used here and this time what it does is almost makes us feel sympathetic towards Othello as we can see he is being lied to and slowly being lead do his downfall. This is Iago’s deceitful nature as a flaw being used against Othello.

Finally again in the Laboratory – Ancien Regime. “Pound at thy powder”. Browning intentionally used alliteration to emphasize the actions and this makes it sound much more sharper, making the poison sound far more worse. Assonance is used when the words ‘powder’ and ‘pound’ are used, they have repetition of vowels within words. This certainly is done purposely to attract the audience’s attention to that particular event within the poem. Conclusively from this quotation we can see the character’s flaws are anger. Browning uses this flaw to justify what she’s doing in the poem and that her anger has driven her to making this poison.

I’ve come to the conclusion that, Browning presents flaws for his characters to justify the actions the characters take in the poems and that Shakespeare presents flaws in Othello to justify the downfall of Othello and how significant these flaws are to his downfalls.

As I look down in despair, out of the broken window, the people below me like ants amidst the burning smoke, the confusion, my heart raced as I thought to myself “what is left?”

I stuck my head out of the broken window shouting for help, gasping for air, the smoke filling my lungs up with all sorts of toxins. I wave, wave and wave for help using my shirt, looked around and amongst me is nothing but a few other people, from what I see, people slumped at their desks unconscious from the catastrophic shake caused. I cover my mouth and gasp for the last bit of air before I ran hurriedly to the office television. There was a small group of distraught people gathered around the television as they watch our building that had been terrorised, burnt and shattered; there was completely nothing left of the building except for the tragic lives of us trapped in here. If there was a way to use the lift, I would use it or even the stairs, bearing in mind that my office was situated on the 78th floor, anything to save myself. On a normal day, I could usually see the bright yellow taxi’s speeding past the red lights rushing to get to their destinations, the workaholic’s of New York speeding on their feet and sometimes, I could even imagine what it sounded like down there. As I looked down once more, I saw nothing but smoke on top of cries and screams of the hurt people inside. From what I could see, the second tower looked completely the same and I imagined what was going through their heads.

I shut out everything around me, as if I wasn’t in the building, closed my eyes and ears and thought. I thought about my loved ones and friends and what they would be feeling right now. I cried and wept as I thought about my wife, daughter and son, I was dying. Not only a physical death, but with all the thoughts going through my head, I was dying a emotional death. I thanked God for everything, especially the fact that I wasn’t amongst those that were already dead because of this attack on America. I was just bewildered on the fact that, I was still alive but eventually I was going to die.