William Shakespeare.

In Stratford-upon-Avon on the 26^th of April 1564, William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. Out of eight children, William was third for his parents and the only eldest surviving son. At the young age of 18, William married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. During the years they had three children, Susanna and the twins Hamnet and Judith in the case being male and female respectively.

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. In England he is known as the Bard of Avon. His surviving works include some collaborations which consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems.  Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Some of the plays he wrote are: Romeo and Juliet, Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Julius Caesar.   When writing his plays, William Shakespeare writes them in his own conventional style.  He wrote them in a stylised language that does not always spring naturally from the needs of the characters or the drama. The poetry depends on extended, sometimes elaborate metaphors and conceits, and the language is often rhetorical—written for actors to declaim rather than speak.

Letter to the Editor.

BROTHER MAN'S ATTACK

Dear Editor

                       I write this letter to you as i feel ashamed and hurt to talk about the incident that took place in Orange Lane among the people in society that i live with. It hurts me so to talk about the attack that took place with Brother Man before my very eyes. Brother Man is know as the Christian, a generous pleaser , a saint, a healer who has the ability to cure the sick and injured that he comes around. The fact that some of these people whom he have helped in the past turned on him all because of a false rumor that was spread. They chanted at him saying, "Down de old Ras Tafarite! Murderers dem...." "Nutt'n but chop man an' rape woman, and scuffle an' pass bad money, an' t'ief!", as he walked down the lane the night he was attacked.
                     I felt that what they did to him was very cruel. They beat him up because they thought he was a rasta because he had a long beard and lox. I felt hurt that an innocent man had to suffer for what he didn't do. He was just simple walking down the road all calm and at peace to the world as he always is when the villagers from the lane started to attack him. 

Questions on Brother Man.

1.       Some conflicts in Brother Man are:

2.       Internal Conflict

Inner conflict occurs when one is confronted with a problem that presents difficult choices. One must make a decision one way or another. Think about the events in your life and try to recall a time when you experienced an inner conflict.

 External Conflict

External conflict occurs when one faces someone else or some situation that is working against one's own desires or goals.

3.       Three types of irony are:

o   Verbal Irony - This is the contrast between what is said and what is meant.

o   Dramatic Irony - This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we (the reader) know to be true.

o   Situational Irony - It is the contrast between what happens and what was expected (or what would seem appropriate).

Brother Man Assignment on Narrative Techniques....

1.       Some of the narrative techniques that Roger Mais uses in Brother Man are:

o   Point of View

o   Theme

o   Setting

o   Foreshadowing

o   Characterization

o   Plot

2.       Roger Mais develops characterization by

3.       The setting took place in the slums of West Kingston Jamaica in the late 50’s.

4.       Some themes found in the novel Brother Man are:

o   Betrayal

o   Poverty

o   Greed

o   Abuse

o   Love

o   Religion

o   Infidelity

o   Jealousy 

The religious aspects in regards to Rastafarianism.

The Rastafari movement is a "messianic religio-political movement"  that began in the Jamaican slums in the 1920s and 30s. The most famous Rastafari is Bob Marley, whose reggae music gained the Jamaican movement international recognition. There is significant variation within the Rastafari movement and no formal organization. Some Rastafarians see Rasta more as a way of life than a religion. But uniting the diverse movement is belief in the divinity and/or messiahship of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, the influence of Jamaican culture, resistance of oppression, and pride in African heritage.

Rastafarians believe in the Judeo-Christian God, whom they call Jah. In general, Rastafarian beliefs are based in Judaism and Christianity, with an emphasis on Old Testament laws and prophecies and the Book of Revelation. Allegorical meaning is often sought in the Holy Piby.

Rastafarians do not believe in an afterlife,  but instead look to Africa (called "Zion") as a heaven on earth. True Rastas are believed to be immortal, both physically and spiritually, a concept called "everliving."

An important Rastafarian concept is "I and I," which is said instead of "you and I." It emphasizes the oneness between humanity and God as well as the equality of all humans. The Rastafarian lifestyle usually includes ritual use of marijuana, avoidance of alcohol, the wearing of one's hair in dreadlocks, and vegetarianism.

What critics say about the novel "Brother Man".

Some critics say that it’s very interesting to read Brother Man today, when Rastas and things Rastafarian have acquired such cultural charisma that their image, carried abroad by stars such as Bob Marley and other dreadlocked musicians, is now routinely used to advertise Jamaica as a tourist destination. Brother Man recently reissued by Macmillan (the original publishers of many of Mais’s books) to mark its 50th anniversary was the first Jamaican novel to portray a Rastafarian protagonist in positive terms. Writing in the early 1950s, a mere 50 years ago, Roger Mais captured the way Rastas were viewed then.

In addition others view it as being the best writing in the book. Especially in the scenes between Girlie and Papacita, capturing the quarrelsome passion between them, her jealousy and his lust, culminating in an episode of violent sexual struggle between two untamed creatures, a kind of consensual rape.

Furthermore it is grasped as the protagonist’s greeting of “Peace and love”.  With its unfortunate but conventional depiction of obeah as a negative force, and its stilted speech, Brother Man stops short of being a book for all seasons; it is, however, a narrative well worth engaging with, from one of the most interesting literary figures the Caribbean has produced.

Roger Mais Biography.

In Kingston Jamaica on August 11^th, 1905, Roger Mais was born. He was a journalist, playwright, novelist and a poet. He also wrote several plays, reviews and short stories for the newspaper Focus and the Jamaica Daily Gleaner, focusing his articles on social injustice and inequality.

Being raised into a middle-class family with full access to cultured traditions, Mais often incorporated a romantic idea into his writing. He drew from his Western education inspirations that lead to his use of tragic, visionary and poetic elements with books and plays. His belief in individualism and the writer’s freedom to pursue imagination are reflected in many of his early works. Mais had won ten first prizes in West Indian literature competitions. His integral role in the development of political and cultural nationalism is evidenced in his being awarded the high honor of the Order of Jamaica in 1978. Mais launched his career as a journalist and contributor for the weekly newspaper, Public Opinion from 1939 to 1952. He used this approach to reach his local audience and to primarily push for a national identity and anti-colonialism.

Unfortunately for Roger Mais, he died at somewhat a young age of 49 years from cancer.

Literature Definitions.

Forms of Prose Fiction

• ·         Novel – A novel is a long narrative in literature prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella..
• ·         Novella – (also called a short story) is a write, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel.
• ·         Short Story – Is a work of fiction that is usually in prose, often in the narrative format.

Elements of Prose

• ·         Narrative Techniques – The method involved in telling a story.
• ·         Point of View – Refers to the way in which a narrative approaches his/her material (characters, action, setting, ex.) and the audience.
• ·         Characters – The way in which a writer creates characters in a narrative so as to attract or repel our sympathy.
• ·         Settings – The time or place in which a play takes place.
• ·         Theme – A theme is the main idea, or message, of an essay, paragraph, or a book. The message may be about life, society, or human nature.
• ·         Plot - The plan of a literary work, especially of drama and novels.
• ·         Style – The characteristics manner in which a writer expresses him/herself or the particular manner of an individual literary work.
• ·         Imagery – Is used in literature to refer to descriptions, languages that evokes scenery experiences.
• ·         Symbol – A symbol is something which represents something else, often an idea or quality, by analogy or association.
• ·         Irony – A manner of speaking or writing that is dispersed through all kinds of literature, irony consists of saying one thing while you mean the other.
• ·         Satire – Literature which inhibits or examines vice and folly and makes them appear ridiculous or contemptible.
• ·         Allusion – A figure of speech that makes a reference to or representation of a place event, literary work, myth of, work of art either directly or by implication.

Structural Devices

• ·         Stream of Consciousness – The attempts to convey all the contents of a characters mind, memory, sense perception, feeling, intuition, thoughts. In relation to the stream of experience as it passes by, often at random.
• ·         Interior Monologue – An attempt to convey in words the process of consciousness or thought has a mean of narrating a story.
• ·         Flashback – A sudden jump backwards in time to an earlier episode or scene in a story of a novel, play or film.
• ·         Fore Shadowing – The technique of suggesting or prefiguring a development in a literary work before it occurs.
• ·         Time Frame – A given interval of time especially in relation to a particular event or process.
• ·         Motif – A significant word, description, idea or image that is repeated throughout a literary work and is related to its theme.
• ·         Monologue – A passage of writing, presenting a character’s inner thoughts and emotions in a direct, sometime disjointed or fragmentary manner.
• ·         Juxta Position – An act or instance of placing close together or side by side especially for comparison or contrast.

Literature Contents

• ·         Social- Of or having to do with human beings living together, as a group in a situation in which their dealing with one another affect their common welfare.
• ·         Political – Of or concerned with government, the statement of politics.
• ·         Religious – Characterized by adherence to religious or a religion, devout, pious, gladly.
• ·         Ethnic -Referring to the origin, classification, characteristics, etc., of such groups.
• ·         Moral - Is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event.
• ·         Intellectual - A person who uses intelligence (thought and reason) and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity. 
• ·         Cultural - An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning.