Details - Barnard does an excellent job of describing all of the major events surrounding the announcements of the Libyan transitional government. From the descriptions of their attire, the " council members who were dressed mainly in civilian clothes", represents the governments attempt to relate with the people and move towards a normal functioning system. Describing the direction the new government is going in as "people, for a moderate Islam", serves to downplay fears held primarily by western countries that radical groups will take hold of the nation, resulting in an even more volatile situation than before. The Rans Lanuf attack has been seen as a resurgence in anti-revolutionary power. Abduhlraman Busin calms the people's fears by setting the record straight and assuring the people that the force "had not come into direct contact with the guards, a very important detail in order to keep up morale and prevent fears of a massive ground assault from spreading.
Diction - Barnard's use of terms like "Oscar-winning actor" in regards to Abdel-Jalil's speech reflect the magnitude of his position and provide a quick and easy way for an American reader to connect with the moment. A comment by a speaker, calling the city of Misurata "the Stalingrad of Libya" is also an impressive multiple tiered analogy. It connects Qaddafi to Adolf Hitler, a universally excepted figure of evil, creating an even higher level of anti-Qaddafi sentiment. Furthermore Stalingrad was a result of a broken pact between the Soviets and the Nazis, it was the bloody battle that shattered Hitler's attempts in Russia, the same type of scenario occurred in Libya. The government broke a "pact" it had with the people to carry out their best interests, and when it was not carried out the came together and after a bloody conflict came out victorious.
Imagery - As with the other aspects of the article, imagery is set in two layers. The imagery set forth by the writer of the article, and the imagery set forth by the speakers at the square. Barnard's imagery focuses on the members of the surrounding crowd; "Women held babies aloft dressed in the red, black and green of the revolution, and ranks of militia members stood below a stage full of council members", this produces an image of a an enthusiastic and prosperous new system. Abdel-Jalil used imagery to inspire the masses and give the crowd an idea of what was to come, statements such as "women will be ambassadors" give that crucial demographic a vision of the future and also creates and image that flies into the face of common stereotypes held by westerners about a woman's role in Islamic society.
Original Article : http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/world/africa/13libya.html?hp
Hey Lucas,
ReplyDeleteYour Diction and Imagery is pretty good, you did a nice job analyzing those two parts, but it would be nice to see a stronger reason for why you think the detail was good. And it would be great if you incorporated language and syntax to this too.
Good analysis of the effects of certain details. Try to elaborate more on the significance of pleasing Western fears. You mention it a lot so i think its worth your time to delve into the significance of pleasing people on the other side of the globe (economic and political implications). Also discuss the fact that Stalingrad was the turning point in WW2 on the Russian (bloodiest side of ww2. Then connect that to Libya and how the journalist is implying changing status quos in Libya. Overall really sophisticated and complex. good work.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent analysis of the work. The details you quoted effectively showed how the author uses them to make a point. I think the "Stalingrad of Libya" quote in diction was very interesting. It definitely has intentionally negative connotations. Revolution and war images tend to be very strong, and I like your analysis of them here. Imagery always helps strengthen a work in my mind. Good job on this! Very interesting.
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