For this course, we are using two different books to guide our learning throughout the semester. One of the books is Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary. The other book used in this course is The Modern Middle East: A History by James Gelvin. Both of these books tell the history of the Middle East. Although these books discuss the similar subjects, they are written and tell the history in different ways. This paper will create a comparison between these two books by showing the differences between them. To start with, the authors come from extremely different backgrounds. For The Modern Middle East, Gelvin is a History Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Besides being a professor, Gelvin is also a published author of many works about Middle Eastern History. In contrast, Ansary is not a professor instead, he is a writer with many published works and has helped co-write …show more content…
An author’s voice is their individual writing style. An author’s voice is what makes there writing unique. In the two books we use for this class, the authors’ voices are completely different from each other. In Destiny Disrupted, Ansary writes in a casual and story-like voice. This voice makes the nonfiction book read more like a fiction story. Additionally, Ansary voice has a hint of humor. The voice Ansary uses makes his book an enjoyable, yet information packed book for his readers. In contrast, Gelvin uses a more concise and factual voice in his book The Modern Middle East: A History. Gelvin’s voice in his book is consistent with most historical nonfiction books that are written. Using this voice can make the reading harder. Even though these books use contrasting voices, it does not mean that either of them present the information better than the other. Instead, it is up to the reader to decide what type of voice they appreciate reading
Explore the way authors use character voice in both 'Jasper Jones' and 'Town' using the following passages as the basis for your response.
Samuelson’s writing style is very informative, but he delivers his information in a brusque, rough way that makes the facts difficult to absorb. Samuelson writes the way others argue or yell- practically shouting the information, as if
Cobb, Paul. "Introduction." Ibn Munqidh, Usama. Book of Contemplation Islam and the Crusades. New York: Penguin Books, 2008. xv-xlii.
Butler, Octavia. “Speech Sounds.” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susun X Day, and Robert Funk. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2008. 408-417. Print.
Updike, John. “A&P.” Literature Craft and Voice. Ed. Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw, 2013. 141-145. Print.
Print. Doak, Robin. Empire of the Islamic World. Rev. ed.
David Foster Wallace, author of the essay “Authority and American Usage*,” praises and advocates for “good” writers who have a strong rhetorical ability, which he defines as “the persuasive use of language to influence the thoughts and actions of an audience” (Wallace 628). To have a strong rhetorical ability, an author needs to be aware of whom their audience is, in order to present their information in a way that will be influential on their audience. Wallace recognizes that an author who applies a strong rhetorical ability will be able to connect with the audience so that they respond “not just to [their] utterance but also to [them]” (Wallace 641). An author needs to take into consideration not just content, syntax and grammatical structure (their “utterance”) but also how their character will be perceived by their audience. A positive tone will make the author seem more pleasant and relatable, whereas a negative tone connotes arrogance and pretentiousness. That is why it is crucial for an author to recognize that an audience will respond to “them” and not just their “utterance,” as an author’s appearance to their readers can also shape how impactful their writing is.
The Middle East has since time immemorial been on the global scope because of its explosive disposition. The Arab Israeli conflict has not been an exception as it has stood out to be one of the major endless conflicts not only in the region but also in the world. Its impact continues to be felt all over the world while a satisfying solution still remains intangible. A lot has also been said and written on the conflict, both factual and fallacious with some allegations being obviously evocative. All these allegations offer an array of disparate views on the conflict. This essay presents an overview of some of the major literature on the controversial conflict by offering precise and clear insights into the cause, nature, evolution and future of the Israel Arab conflict.
In a well written paragraph, analyze which genre, historical fiction or informational text, better develops their ‘characters’. Choose one character to focus on and provide text evidence. Make sure you include evidence from both works to support your reasoning.
Hilāl, ʻAlī Al-Dīn. Islamic Resurgence in the Arab World. New York, NY: Praeger, 1982. Print.
The author exposes how the American and Arabs cultures met and interacted. It is clear that the Arab people did not comprehend the changes they would face. Furthermore, the Americans had to adapt but somehow still overcome religion and tradition. Consequently, the beginning of the oil era brought financial wealth but for the greater part brought painful changes to Arab societies. It is difficult to understand how oil wealth did not completely modernize the Middle East for a greater good. Instead we know about the real situation in both the novel and the real Arab culture and how oil money paired with retroactive empires, old religious beliefs and self-absorbed Western governments took over.
Critics have already begun a heated debate over the success of the book that has addressed both its strengths and weaknesses. The debate may rage for a few years but it will eventually fizzle out as the success of the novel sustains. The characters, plot, emotional appeal, and easily relatable situations are too strong for this book to crumble. The internal characteristics have provided a strong base to withstand the petty attacks on underdeveloped metaphors and transparent descriptions. The novel does not need confrontations with the Middle East to remain a staple in modern reading, it can hold its own based on its life lessons that anyone can use.
Maynes, Charles. "The Middle East in the Twenty-First Century." Middle East Journal 52.1 (1998): 9-16. JSTOR. Web. 6 June 2011.
Ross, Steven M. ""Voice" in Narrative Texts: The Example of As I Lay Dying." PMLA94.2 (1979): 300-10. JSTOR. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
For my first paper I'll talk about voice, and how it affects the conversations that we have with other people, and how we perceive certain voices to sound in stories, and other works that we read. I think that in general voice is a type of mystery, and that it is one of those things that we really can't understand. When looking at a piece of writing I think that a clear and concise voice is one of the things that makes a piece work. This is my own feeling, and it might not agree with others, but when I'm reading a story, and it is full of good stuff like conversation, and heart felt feelings, I feel that the author is able to tell me what he/she is trying to say, I think that it has a better impact on the reader compared to the writing that goes on about nothing, and seems to only have one monotone voice.