Slavery - the diary entries of Kunta Kinte

7th May 1765 Dear diary, My name is Kunta Kinte and at the moment I am fifteen years old, I am a Muslim and will always be a Muslim, I was born in the year 1750. Now at home my mother likes me to do jobs around the house and the village, I do jobs such as looking after the goats, and collecting fire wood. I always carry my bag/pouch on me which has a sling-shot in, some small stones and a knife which my father gave to me. Many people of the village tell me many valuable lessons such as respect towards people and about dangerous animals. My father is called Omaro, he is the leader of the Mandinka tribe and he is a respected member of the village. My father always wears a bag/pouch around his neck which is a symbol he is in the Mandinka tribe, what's more is that all men of the Mandinka carry a knife at all times to protect himself and his family. Many men, only wear what they have to wear which is a cloth wrapped around his waist and inner thighs. By the way all the people of our village are Muslims which mean that they worship the great Allah, the impressive Allah, and the noble Allah. My grand-father has built the hut that I have lived in all of my life and hopefully one day my father will make me a hut to bring my family up in and I will make a hut to bring up their family up in. Here in my home village of Jufureh we don't wear anything on our feet (shoes) as there is no

  • Word count: 5699
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Poems from Other Cultures and Traditions

Poems from Other Cultures and Traditions Introduction In the Anthology, poets from other cultures and traditions are contrasted with those in the English literary heritage. The writers in this section may live in the UK as members of ethnic minority groups or may live overseas. All the poems in this section are written largely or wholly in English, but in several you will find non-standard varieties of English, while several make use of other languages. One even has text in Gujarati. Sujata Bhatt: from Search for My Tongue This poem (or rather extract from a long poem) explores a familiar ambiguity in English - "tongue" refers both to the physical organ we use for speech, and the language we speak with it. (Saying "tongue" for "speech" is an example of metonymy). In the poem Sujata Bhatt writes about the "tongue" in both ways at once. To lose your tongue normally means not knowing what to say, but Ms. Bhatt suggests that one can lose one's tongue in another sense. The speaker in this poem is obviously the poet herself, but she speaks for many who fear they may have lost their ability to speak for themselves and their culture. She explains this with the image of two tongues - a mother tongue (one's first language) and a second tongue (the language of the place where you live). She argues that you cannot use both together. She suggests, further, that if you live in a

  • Word count: 5694
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Writing to narrate - Not What It Seems.

Kushal Shah GCSE English: Writing to narrate Not What It Seems People aren't what other people think they are. Take my 'new stepfather, a white man. My mum is half Indian and half Italian. Me, well I thought myself to be Italian. A Mafioso. I dreamt I would be gangster, be sent to jail but still run a black market business. I would have been the baron of the jail; people would look up to me. But I tell you now it wasn't what it was cracked up to be or at least what I imagined. This is how I know... My new 'father', Bill was his name, Bill Hopkins. I don't know what my mum saw in him. I mean a white man, someone who took over India. Although I acted like an Italian, I was a lot like that. I mean, I was historical, someone who didn't forget his background, even if I did live in Southall. My mum had been like that too. Always telling me stories of the British reign and how her father rebelled against them. He was a true Indian, a freedom fighter and then came my mother. He'll not be too proud of her O.K., so even he married an Italian woman. But she was different. She learnt the language, the cuisine and she was my grandma. This is my mother and I don't think Billy Willy is going to do what my grandma did. Anyway back to Bill and how he wasn't what he seemed to be, to others at ^" least, but not me. I saw through him. The first time he came to pick my mum up for a date.

  • Word count: 5690
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Should cannabis be legalised?

Should cannabis be legalised? For the past year cannabis (marijuana, blow, dope) has frequently been in the news headlines in the UK, and it was recently announced that the legal status of the drug is to be reviewed. This may come as welcome news to the many people who use the drug either for medicinal or recreational reasons. Cannabis can be smoked, usually with tobacco, eaten, drunk in a 'tea' or snorted as a snuff. Cannabis contains more than 400 chemicals, including 'cannabidiolic acid' - an antibiotic with similar properties to penicillin. However, the main psychoactive ingredient is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC. To simplify a very long and complicated story, THC mimics the actions of receptors in the brain called 'neurotransmitters' and interferes with normal functions. The cannabis smoke is inhaled into the lungs, where the THC is filtered into the bloodstream. Chemicals called cannabinoids block certain electrical signals inside the brain, interfering with the short term memory and co-ordination. Sounds may become distorted or hearing heightened. Pressure inside the eye decreases, causing the eyes to redden and the eyelids to become puffy. The air passage to the lungs expands and the mouth stops producing saliva, leaving a dry mouth. Cannabis increases the cardiovascular action of the heart. Blood pressure is altered and the pulse rate

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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War Peotry

Compare and contrast the poems by Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke that you have studied. Comment on the poets' different attitudes to war and the effectiveness of their poetry in conveying their ideas and feelings. The First World War began with flag-waving, parades and writers stimulated by theoretical morals. Additionally, this war commenced with heroism by the notion that 'it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country'. And everyone thought that it was never going to last, as 'over by Christmas' was the national slogan. However, it shortly revealed to be a general failure to understand the true purpose of warfare. For many, the war came as an awakening to the full horror of what the twentieth century came to know as 'the great war'. "We must remember not only that the battle casualties of World War I were many times greater than those of World War II, wiping out virtually a whole generation of young men and shattering so many illusions and ideals; but also that people were wholly unprepared for the horrors of modern trench warfare. World War I broke out on a largely innocent world, a world that still associated warfare with glorious cavalry charges and the noble pursuit of heroic ideals. Those poets who were involved on the front, however romantically they may have felt about the war when they first joined up, soon realized its full horror, and this realization

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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A christmas carol

The novel "A Christmas carol" was written in 1843 when celebrating Christmas was hard, by a famous author who goes by the name of Charles Dickens. A young man during that time who knew how to enjoy Christmas even when having to work in a warehouse and, watching his father being sentenced to prison for being poor and in debt. A man with a tough childhood but, unbelievable techniques when it came to language and writing. He was very depressed in the three months that he spent apart from his family. He disliked his job. Once he was released from prison, Charles went back to school, later becoming a law clerk. At the age of 25, he completed his first novel and years later he wrote the very popular novel, A Christmas Carol. In this novel written by Dickens, his language is often over exaggerated and descriptive, Scrooge is the main character. A rich, cold hearted selfish man who feels no sympathy towards the poor and hates the time of Christmas. 'What's Christmas to you but a time for paying bills without money...every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas" on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!' An old man who feels Christmas is a fraud. A character that only has a mind for money and thinks Christmas is a drug that addicts people into spending their savings on pathetic gifts and items. A character

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Romeo and Juliet

What is then the dramatic impact of Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet and how does it influence what follows? Dramatic impact is drama used to make the audience feel an emotion such as joy, anger, fear, tension, etc. this could be because of what we see, hear or imagine on stage, noting contrasts and interaction. It is created by what people do (which is the use of body language, facial expressions, their gestures and movements and the way that they set them selves out on stage.) What people say and how they say it (which includes their tone of voice, sarcasm, emphasis, recreation, imagery, hesitation confidence, pauses and the change of topic.) How the play itself is related to the plot and the theme. Whether dramatic impact would also depend on if the play moves the plot forward or if it is related to themes such as hatred or deception. If it ties up any loose ends, or if there are any surprises. It is necessary to have dramatic impact on plays because if you don't use it then it will make it difficult for the audience to suspend their disbelief, which means that the audience pretends that the whole play itself is actually real and put all their beliefs to one side. They suspend their disbelief because they want to make the play more interesting to watch. If the play doesn't have any dramatic impact, then it will make it difficult for the audience to suspend their belief.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparison of Broadsheet and Tabloid

A detailed study and comparison of the front pages and two articles of a broadsheet paper and a tabloid A newspaper is a publication devoted chiefly to presenting and commenting on the news. Newspapers provide an excellent means of keeping the reader well informed on current events. They come out on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, with up to date information. They also play a vital role in shaping public opinion. There are two main types of newspapers, one a tabloid the other a broadsheet. In order for me to analyse and compare two newspapers, I have carefully studied the two types of newspapers. The first newspaper is called 'The Guardian', which is the broadsheet. Professional and business classes mainly read this type of newspaper. This is because there are more wide-ranging and complex words used in the text. Heading in the opposite direction, the other newspaper is named the 'Daily Mirror', which is the tabloid. This, contrasting to the broadsheet, is read pre-dominantly by the working class and blue-collar workers; people who never needed a qualification in order to achieve their job. This explains the use of simple constructed sentences and minimal language in the articles. As a fact, the 'Daily Mirror's mass working class readership has made it the United Kingdom's best selling daily tabloid newspaper, according to wikipedia.com. Clearly, you could tell that it is

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In my essay I will be comparing the two poems nothings changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika and still Ill rise by Maya Angelou. My main aim in this essay is to discover how the two poets describe and express their feelings.

In my essay I will be comparing the two poems "nothings changed" by Tatamkhulu Afrika and "still I'll rise" by Maya Angelou. My main aim in this essay is to discover how the two poets describe and express their feelings. I will do this by focusing on their use of linguistic techniques and what effect this has given on the reader. Moreover, I will concentrated one how the poets have structured the poem, by carefully analyzing it. Maya Angelou Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned and influential voice of our time. She has many titles such as memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. She was born on the 4th April 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. At the age of 26 Angelou studied modern dance and poetry; however her studies did not stop there. She traveled to Cairo, Ghana, New York and in this time she had mastered French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Fanti. In 1993 she composed a poem at Bill Clinton's inauguration; it was watched live on air all around the world. Stanza 1 "You may write me down in history, with your bitter twisted lies you may trod me in very dirt but still like dust ill rise" in his opening verse of the poem, the reader automatically senses Maya's attitude towards the reader and I felt as though she was spearing the reader with these words by saying "your bitter" by doing this I thought

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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I loved my job on board the Titanic, I was so proud to be part of the crew for such an amazing boat but the pantry always gave me terrible headaches due to it being so small. I felt cramped in there, confined, and imprisoned even

A Night To Remember It was a bitterly cold night, and the freezing air was piercing my uniform and stinging my numb flesh like darts. I nervously glanced around making sure that I could not be seen by anyone, as I was worried that I might be caught. I was not supposed to be on this deck let alone to be even seen by a passenger but I had to get out of the pantry. I loved my job on board the Titanic, I was so proud to be part of the crew for such an amazing boat but the pantry always gave me terrible headaches due to it being so small. I felt cramped in there, confined, and imprisoned even, it was a horrid feeling, and what made it even was that the pantry was below sea level. It was terrible in the little pantry there was no room to breath and the unbearable heat made it even worse. It felt like we were going to suffocate if we didn't get out. The pantry made me feel like my head was spinning and with the unbearable sounds of the side of the boat creaking with the pressure of the water on the other side. It was almost unthinkable that on the other side of that piece of metal was the water of the largest and coldest ocean in the world. As I was standing there taking in the night sky and the calm waters I could hear the sound of the huge engines powering away beneath me, shaking the deck that I was standing on. The engines seemed to roar with authority and power, like a lion

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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