Blog posts specifically discussing academic concepts/thoughts. Includes essays, writing, philosophic ramblings.
Would our society be better if most of us were altruistic (did things genuinely for the benefit of others) or egoistic (put our own needs and wants first)? And further, what about our own well-being? What’s the best way to live your own life? University…
My high school philosophy class once touched briefly upon a paradox whose name I don’t remember but whose topic intrigued me. The question was: are we the same person all our lives? Is “Ioana” (that’s me!) a consistently defined entity? You might instinctively shout yes,…
In Blood Wedding, Federico Garcia Lorca constructs an environment that is heavily weighed down by cultural expectations. As both a playwright and an accomplished theatre director, Lorca’s command of dialogue, musical drama, and stage direction is used with purpose to create this tense, eerie atmosphere.…
There’s a very good reason the most widely published books in history were works of fiction, chronicling the tales of ordinary men locked in an often fatal battle with a fellow man or a supernatural monster. Fiction captures the nuances of those ideas and imbues…
Not all works of literature use para-textual features in the same way – or even at all – but Maya Angelou’s prologue in her autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, is a feature of the text which should not be overlooked, for it…
I think a lot (often introspectively, like how I’m perceived and what I’m doing and how it’s looking and why I’m doing it), and this is one thing I’ve been thinking about lately. Hope you enjoy and hopefully it helps you a bit too!
The ultimate coming-of-age story that doesn’t shy away from even the more difficult topics, Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is immensely honest and vulnerable. Her experience being sent from mother and father to grandmother several times throughout her life is a…
The passage from pages 52 to 55 of the book “Mad Shadows” by Marie-Claire Blais presents a turning point within the novel. It is in these four pages that the deterioration of the characters and superficial relationships begins to occur. An aura of sickness and…
The circumstances of our births are instrumental in determining who we are to become. However, to what degree do they cement our fates and make up who we are as people? The question of whether our innate human nature or the conditions of our nurturing…