American Research Journal of English and Literature

Acheoah John Emike

This study proposes a phonological variety of Nigerian English – Career Nigerian English (CNE). It is a variety spoken by those whose career-driven inclinations and latent talents have improved their spoken English in spite of their low level of education. The scope of this investigation is Nigeria’s entertainment industry. Recorded conversations of twenty interactants in television interview were assessed (analyzed) to ascertain their prowess in discrete components of skills in spoken English. Hinging on Electicism and Communication Accommodation Theory, this study concludes that so long as some interactants with less educational qualification performed better than those with higher educational qualification, the educational qualification of speakers of Nigerian English is not a reliable parameter for determining the standard variety as far as phonology is concerned.

A.K.M. Aminur Rashid

This paper draws on the story of Eben Cabot’s love and revenge from a well-known American play, Desire under the Elms with a critique from the Freudian psychological interpretation of love and of revenge drive. The essay brings out the traumatic manifestation of vengeance and horror when Eben’s love for his mother turns him into an avenger for taking a revenge on his father, Ephraim Cabot. As Eben thinks his mother is killed by his father, he gives his father a severe penalty by removing him with disowning his two elder brothers. In addition, he succeeds wooing her newly married step-mother, Abbie Putnam; and manages to sleep with her. After she gives birth to a baby, she herself smothers it only for Eben. When Abbie leaves the Cabot House and rushes with Eben, Eben’s father feels utterly disgraced while Eben feels he avenges finally.  

Md Nurul Anwar

The article reviews the deeply embedded imperialistic history in the language teaching and learning landscape. It critically looks into two identical articles yet thematically quite disparate angles that reveal the most pressing and talked about concerns around the imperialist institutions since the incipience of the idea of linguistic imperialism as well as subconscious subscriptions to secret following of the colonizers’ cultural nuances by non-native teachers and learners through teaching and learning materials made available by the UK and USA. It concentrates its focus on age long topics such as the tendency among no-native learners and teachers towards perfecting and prioritizing phonology, near-native proficiency, and inclusion of native culture in their conversation, teaching, and reading. Finally, the wilful evasion of the admission by non-native speaker teachers and students alike to the consequences of being subtly inculcated into western culture due to the West’s strategic launching of discipline like TESOL to silently avoid thewatch of non-native speakers is discussed with much greater profoundness. 

Georgina Brookman-Andoh1, Martin Gyekye-Ampofo2

The research looked at the relevance of the indigenous African educated woman in contemporary African society: A case of Chimamanda Adeche’s Purple Hibiscus. The purpose of the study was to use Adeche’s Purple Hibiscus to showcase the position of the educated indigenous African educated woman in contemporary Africa. A qualitative approach was employed to look at views related to the indigenous African woman and her means of asserting herself through education and also adopted the traditional library research approach through the use of books, articles, journals and publications in as much as they contribute to the worth of the study. It was informed by the Feminist theory. The main findings of the study indicate that there have been positive changes in the roles of women over the years. This change has come about as a result of women’s quest to assert themselves through education and contribute towards freeing their families from cultural and societal dogmas in which women were treated to subjugation and marginalization. A remarkable observation was the intentionality of ascribing to female characters more respectable roles in novels by various writers as the years go by. A conclusion drawn from the study is that education is still a major weapon of enhancing assertiveness in women but it is not the ultimate.

Acheoah, John Emike (PhD), Olaleye, Joel Iyiola (PhD)

This paper examines meaning in language. It is therefore a study in semantics. Semantics is the study of meaning in terms of the linguistics. Semantics begins from the stopping point of syntax and ends from where pragmatics begins. A separate discipline in the study of language, semantics has existed for decades. The term semantics was first used by Breal in 1987 and it does not suggest that there had never been speculations about the nature of meaning (Ogbulogo (2005). Words, phrases and sentences are used to convey messages in natural languages. Semantics is the study of meaning systems in language. If meaning is a system, then language is systematic in nature. In this paper, we investigate the nature of meaning to locate the significance of semantics in contemporary linguistics. Frege, cited in Sandt (1988:1) rightly notes that “… [If] anything is asserted there is always an obvious presupposition that the simple or compound proper names used have reference.” Hinging on different submissions in the literature, we conclude that meaning is: socio-cultural, dynamic, grammar-driven, conventional, representative (referential), individualistic (non-conventional) and is not exhaustive.

Kadhim Hatem Kaibr*, Guo Jingjing

Albee was one of the first American playwrights who introduced the American audience to the theater of the absurd, which was spearheaded in Europe by Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett. His literary works showed his ingenious ability to “Americanize” the theater of absurdity which was made famous by European playwrights. The aim of this paper is attempting to analyze one of Albee’s most prominent plays, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Which mainly focuses on the conflict between reality and illusion as reflected in one of its main characters, Martha. This paper also will touch upon the themes of materialist marriage, social hypocrisy complexities of motherhood, frustration, and self-delusion. These conflicts were in turn ascribed to the psychological distress and sense of loss felt by Martha. As well as, this paper will explore Albee’s message to his audience about the right foundation on which marital relations should be based

E. A. Gamini Fonseka

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) wrote “Hills like White Elephants” in 1927. The short story showcases most of his originality as a writer in the use of imagery, symbolism, irony, rhythmic language, dialogue, implicature, etc. Considering his genius as noticed in the narrative of less than 1,500 words in length that covers a period less than forty-minutes of the association between the two central characters, an American and his girlfriend, this paper analyses the style of Hemingway along with his treatment of the burning social issue emerging from pregnancy resulted in by love-making and the ways in which the two parties concerned reflect on it from their respective domains. The conflict over the foetus the girl is carrying within herself, for which the American is partly responsible, is temporarily interrupted by the affairs of daily life but is likely to remerge whenever they are to meet in peace. The implication is that they have no peace until the foetus is aborted or the child is born. The title suggests that the American’s attempt to dissuade the girl from having a child tends to increase her determination to have it as a result of the resilience she cultivates in her attempt to resist it. The story continues with a paradox growing from the contradictory exchanges the two make from their respective domains. Yet it remains a question whether the girl’s resilience will last until she becomes a mother. Hemingway leaves it in the air for the sake of the aesthetic quality of his short story. In a ten-part analysis of the story text carried out underten sub-topics coherently knitted together, are demonstrated Hemingway’s achievements in imagery, symbolism, and rhythmic language that are crucial for him as a thought-provoking storyteller.

Md. Saiful Alam

 This paper deals with two affecting family issues: (1) “parental favoritism” and (2) “hypocrisy of family love” represented in one of Mansfield’s best-known stories i.e., “New Dresses” (1912). The analysis of the issues is based on a couple of psychological considerations; i.e., “favoritism” and “hypocrisy of love” of parents. Parent-child relationship is a paramount exhibition in New Dresses. This study encompasses two basic questions: (1) how the themes of parental favoritism and hypocrisy of love are depicted in the story, (2) what consequences of these categories of stances of parents have in the family relationships. The present analysis comes up with a finding that Helen is a much -less favored child. But, her little brother, very affectionately called ‘Boy,’ and her younger sister, Rose, are her parents’ favorites. Helen’s parents show some sort of dislike towards Helen, and they justify it by pointing to a few of her flaws. However, Helen’s parents’ justification, at any rate, does not make sense to her grandmother. With a feeling of astonishment and shock, she observes that Henry and Anne, the parents, cause Helen’s mental destruction by making unjustifiable excuses. Favoritism and hypocrisy of love of her parents result in a hostility between Helen and her parents. Consequently, this leads Helen to go to seek surrogate parents; e.g., her grandmother and Dr. Malcolm. Mansfield’s attention towards her depiction of such issues as parental favoritism and parent-child relationships may have derived from her psychological tension about the contemporary parenting model; it may also have derived from her personal experience of the treatment that she received as a child from her parents. Ergo, this paper, too, briefly focuses on Mansfield’s biographical facts, and often links them with Helen’s scenario.

Dr. Galia Hirsch

 The goal of this paper is to investigate the purposes and implications of the pragmatic choice of the plural first person for narrations, instead of the more common use of the singular. The results of this analysis indicate the use of the plural form contributes to the creativity and innovativeness of the voice of the three novels analyzed: Hayinu He’atid (Ne’eman, 2011), The Wives of Los Alamos (Nesbit, 2014) and Shotgun Lovesongs (Butler, 2014). I argue that this choice is significant for the formation and depiction of the communities in these literary works; and that the changes of footing (Goffman, 1981) – the switches at some points to the first person singular – present the individuals’ complex relationship with the community described.

Md. Nazmul Haque1, Md. Amirul Islam2, Mst. Ummay Tohfa3

This paper’s grave concern revolves around the different sorts of conflictual ideologies- conflicts between faith and doubt, moral values and materialistic views and freedoms and restrictions- of Victorian novels and poetry. This paper examines how scientific advancement, the rapid growth of industrialization, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and the concept of communism of Victorian age result in uncertainty, confusion, class distinction and of course dissatisfaction with life that exert a tremendous effect on Victorian people and consign lots of ideological contradictions to Victorian novels and poetry. This is because, this paper dissects Victorian conflicts of faith and doubt in consideration of Victorian people’s approaches with respect to scientific prosperity, values and materialistic attitudes in view of social norms and freedom and restrictions in the light of sex. As the esoteric philosophy to the life of Victorian literary writings divides Victorian poets and novelists into different ideological worlds, some Victorian writers’ principles center around faith, moral values, and restrictions and the other groups are in the favor of doubt, materialism and freedom and the rest are in between.