A State Of Siege, By Mahmoud Darwish

How Do Metaphor, Figurative Language, and Symbolic Imagery Contribute to Prose Fiction? [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institute] Introduction

One particularly interesting perspective is his opinion on how the conflict has somewhat freed the identity of Palestinians from a shared land, and that for some Palestinians that can escape the occupation, there is a the creation of a transnational, transgressive life. (Suleiman, 2003, 73) Thus exists multiple outcomes from one identity. He further supports this by commenting that Palestine does not have borders, does not actually exist in the sense of geography, but it still has a sense of space. The Palestinian people are this space, and the people are how we define what is, and what is not Palestine. People are separated geographically, but defined by identity and community, and this creates a unique sense of freedom outside of a defined nation-state. (Suleiman, 2000, 96) This lets the definition of this identity be more fluid. He says that in his work he purposefully moves away from a centralized view of Palestinian identity and uses cinema to present the differences in viewpoint, perception, and narration that exist within this conflict. Not only between Israelis and Palestinian's but between all Palestinian's. (Suleiman, 2000, 97) He purposefully moves away from a singular form of Palestinian identity and states “My films are Palestinian because I am Palestinian.” (Suleiman, 2000, 99) This movement from a

The essay States, by Edward Said, describes the trouble for Palestinians to find their identity due to the loss of their homeland. He also describes the situation of the Palestinians and the isolation that they feel through photographs that he had taken. Said has many different pictures throughout this essay and each of them play a part in supporting the main point of this essay. Said believes that, without a homeland, the Palestinians cannot have an identity and the Palestinians should not be content with being exiles forever. So the purpose of the pictures is to support and further strengthen this idea. The photographer wants the viewer to understand the struggle that the Palestinians are going through.

Israel and Palestine have been battling over territory, dominance, and political freedom for many years. After the Second World War, Israeli forces occupied Palestinian territory, ridding the land of Arabs. In response, the Palestinian people demanded control over their historic land, but the Israelis refused to relinquish power over the territory. In a matter of six days, the Jewish Israeli people conquered the West Bank all the way through to the Sinai Peninsula. After the war, the Israeli forces continued to take over Palestinian land by putting pressure on them to abandon their nation. Due to this ongoing conflict, Sahar Khalifeh utilizes violence and social constraints to explore the lives of Israeli and Palestinian men through vivid diction and descriptive imagery in the 1985 novel Wild Thorns.

Writings on terrorism and inter-state violence have never been so relevant, given the large Middle Eastern conflict and global impact of ISIS. I had knowledge of previous Middle Eastern conflict from A Level History when I investigated oil as a weapon in the region. A Level English language and literature also contributed to my interest in politics, through stories that emphasised the human and emotional impact of policies. Having studied ‘The Crucible’ as well as ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and the Cold War in history, I appreciate the politics within this topic in a more nuanced way. Literature sparks my political passions and is a source for my political investigations.

‘Wild Thorns’ by Sahar Khalifeh is an insightful commentary that brings to life the Palestinian struggle under the Israeli Occupation and embodies this conflict through the different perspectives brought forth by the contrasting characters. We are primarily shown this strife through the eyes of the principal character, the expatriate Usama, as well as the foil character of his cousin, Adil. Khalifeh skillfully uses literary devices such as emotive language, allusions and positive and negative connotations to highlight life under the Occupation. As the audience, these techniques help encourage us to consider the struggle more in depth, and due to the wide variety of characters, invite us to relate to them.

The book A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah portrays seamlessly what the human condition should be. Human condition is the “characteristics, key events, and situations which grow the essentials of human existence, such as birth, growth, emotionality, aspiration, everyday conflict, problem solving, and mortality.” Additionally human nature refers to specific characteristics such as morals, attitudes, feelings, thoughts and actions. After reading A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, we have been left with the question, what precisely does Ishmael 's experiences tell us about the human condition? What does this exactly mean to be human? To truly understand this, we have to understand what he was capable of

In his book All the Shah’s Men, Stephen Kinzer tells the story behind the coup that took place in Iran in 1953 and how US-Iranian relations were impacted as a result. To give a full picture of the events that transpired before the coup, Kinzer goes above and beyond and recounts the history of Persia going back to the founding of the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC, giving the reader an excellent overview of the long history of the region. He then goes on to recount the root causes and events that led up to the coup and then covers the coup itself. Kinzer then devotes the last 40 pages going over the events that happened after the coup and the consequences that both nations have suffered for it. Kinzer’s point of view on this subject was obvious

“War is Hell!” These three words have stood the test of time and numerous wars. These words uttered by General William Sherman, a unionist Civil War Veteran, perfectly describe the hardships faced by all soldiers, from the American Revolutionist to the modern day soldier in Afghanistan. Tim O’Brien served in the Vietnam Conflict from 1968 to 1970, (O’Brien 1131) during some of the most intense fighting known as the Tet Offensive (Durkin). During the conflict 58,202 Americans were killed in action (Durkin) and hundreds of thousands, more were left with not only the physical scars of war but the emotional ones too. In the short story “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien uses symbolism and conflict to show that soldiers often carry more weight than what is on their backs.

As a normal American citizen, we are not accustomed to being forced out of our homes and having to live as nomads like the people of Syria have been living like since the Arab spring of 2011 the event that started what is now known as The Syrian Civil War. This war has literally been tearing apart Syria and displacing 6.3 million people (Mercy corps). This crisis affects a lot of Syrian individuals including one Doaa Al Zamel. In the book “A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea” we get a firsthand account of what life was like before the start of the war and also a view during the civil war and gives insight to life in the current state of Syria. Doaa’s life in “A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea” had her moving around the Middle East for most of her early adulthood. Throughout her moves to different parts of the Middle East she had many experiences both good and bad. The government, daily life in the Middle East, and family problems that arose during the moves affected Doaa’s life greatly.

Ever since, Palestinians have had to adapt to new places and cultures in order to survive, which makes it more difficult for them to preserve their own. Said presents several examples of transculturation throughout the essay. For instance, the use of the Mercedes, even though Said describes it in negative terms, the use of the Mercedes has come in handy for Palestinians. Enduring one disaster after another, Palestinian identity is arduous to preserve in exile. It is a struggle of having no country. Our country is a big part of who we are. As we are born, we are destined to become a part of it. It becomes part of our identity. Things that we grew up with meant something to us. We usually treasure things that became part of our lives. Even unconsciously, we take hold of it. Home brings us memories, memories that we want to hold on up to our last breath.

Terrorist and Freedom fighter can be separated through there definition, but not through there synonyms that clarify an unjust distinction. It is a mentality that majority of American’s apply whether they realize it or not. Individuals according to Steven Handel believes that we implement “The Us vs. Them Mentality” by extension elaborates the mentality that individuals for instance, Americans, give people who are different than us through race, gender, age, nationality, culture, religion, or socioeconomic status. In his article, The Us vs. Them Mentality: How Group Thinking Can Irrationally Divide Us, Handel maintains that “We see it all the time in politics (Republicans vs. Democrats)” in other words these two groups act irrationally and uncooperative. Consequently this causes the two groups to be blind and fail to recognize other people’s interests and values. Do we as American’s also fail to recognize the interest or values of a terrorist or do we just assume that they are pure evil? I believe that we fail to recognize a terrorist interests and values. The ends justify the means but American’s should not ignore these common differences. Americans should be super mindful of the group that we identify ourselves in and the way we view other people because it might have a negative effect.

In the essay “Award-Winning Photo Puts Subjects on Defensive” by freelance journalist Gert Van Langendonck discusses a photograph that was initially misinterpreted by the photographer, and the world. The photo, taken by war photographer Spencer Platt, won the 2006 World Press Photo of the Year award, after the photo was published by Parris Match in September of 2006. The photo was taken on August 15th, only two days after the ceasefire of what is known as the 2006 Lebanon War. Van Langendonck discusses Platt’s thoughts leading up to the photo, as he was attempting to photograph the southern suburbs of Beirut, which had endured the brunt of Israel’s bombing, and document the various relief efforts along with the diverse refugee populations.

According to Postman a metaphor is something that enables us to understand the world around us by changing the perception we have of something. He states “metaphors classify the world around us, sequence it, frame it, enlarge it, reduce it, color it, argue a case for what the world is like.” A

Some of the basic human rights we see as children of the United States are not guaranteed everywhere. One example of this would be the oppressing of children in Uganda. As more and more children were enslaved by the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, the Invisible Children was founded to raise awareness through their campaign of “Kony 2012.” After eight years of campaigning against the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Invisible Children posted a video titled “Kony 2012.” It began as an experiment, but with over 100 million views in only six days, the infamous Joseph Kony went from an obscure villain to world known criminal. The campaign reached its goal in April of 2012, when President Barack Obama announced that he would reignite the United State’s mission to help the African Union in stopping LRA violence.