Zaat Blog Assignment #3

1) Here is an image I found of an open sewer in Alexandria.
http://madeinmaadi.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-defining-aspects-of-urban-egyptian.html

2) See Vocab Entry: Attrition

3) How has your understanding of the word "transmission" changed as the book progresses? Has the meaning of the word in its application evolved?

Vocab Entry: Attrition

Attrition: the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure.

Zaat pg 80: "For El Shanqeety had found in the video an opportunity to compensate for some of the deprivation he had been suffering in his war of attrition, by way of theose films whose visual content is so explicit that it does away with the need for the spoken word."

In this instance, attrition allows the reader to understand that El Shanqeety's deprivation has been a long drawn out process, rather than a short period of time.

Okay, so now where is the irony in Zaat?

Now that we've reviewed the types of irony, let's take a look at Zaat and locate some lovely examples of this literary device.

(pgs 66-67)
"President Mubarak: 'I challenge anyone to say that Egypt does not have a will of her own.'

Dr. Mahmoud Abdallah, Undersecretary of State for Agriculture and member of the People's Assembly: ' All thanks to the providers of aid to Egypt and to every aid representative working in Egypt. Would a person bit the hand that is held out to him?'

An economist: 'American aid is nothing more than loans to Egyptian companies so they can buy American products'"

In this case, we as the reader have a more developed understanding of the entire situation being discussed because we have read information from a variety of sources. Because of our understanding of the complete situation, we find it humorous when President Mubarak denies Egypt's lack of free will; we know very well form the other news clippings that Egypt has been making special accommodations for the US government, military and corporations. This is dramatic irony.

Wow, you may be saying, what a fascinating example of well-employed irony! Could there possibly be more exciting irony in one novel? You're in luck my friend, because there's more!

(pgs 91-92) There is a crash between a school bus and a train that kills seventy children on the bus. Zaat's child was supposed to be on the bus, but was home sick that day. Upon learning of the accident Zaat begins crying fiercely. One would expect this be from a mixture of relief that her child was not on the bus and also out of sympathy for the mothers who did lose their children. This is not the case though:

"Zaat announced that her howling was not out of solidarity with the mothers of the victims, but because she herself was supposed to have been one of them. And who was responsible for that? Abdel Maguid, of course, because he had left his daughters to the government schools rather than putting them in language schools, which would forever deprive them of the opportunities that the children of [Zaat's relatives] would enjoy."

Clearly, this is situational irony. Zaat completely defies the reader's expectations by blaming her husband for putting her children in the situation to potentially have died in the bus crash, rather than weeping for grief or "solidarity for the mothers." This characterizes Zaat in a new light, by showing her actions contradicting expectations, paralleling the other aspects of her personality that also run contradictory to the societal norms.

That's all the irony for now folks. (Situational irony at work here because you all thought there was going to be an example of verbal irony coming, but there isn't, haha.)

Let's look at irony again...

Irony plays a HUGE role in this text, though it manifests itself in many different ways. 
There are three main types of irony: situational, dramatic, and verbal. All three come into play in Zaat though it is not always easy to identify which category some examples or irony fall into. Here is a quick review of the three main types of irony before we delve into categorizing the irony at play in Zaat.


Situational Irony- actions have an effect opposite from what was intended; the outcome is contrary to the expectation



Dramatic Irony- the audience’s or reader’s knowledge of events or individuals surpasses that of the characters


Verbal Irony-words are used to convey a meaning opposite of their literal meaning

Vocab Entry: Initiatory

Initiatory-constituting a beginning
Zaat pg1 "Zaat's life was full of such initiatory moments, all of which were associated with shocks no less traumatic than that first slap on the backside."

In this case, initiatory is used to describe any of the moments in Zaat's life that could be used to open/begin the story.

Zaat Blog Assignment #1

1) I think Ibrahim includes this scene early on to establish several clear understanding between himself and the audience, namely: although he is Egyptian, he does not condone all the customs, this book will tackle uncomfortable issues in a matter of fact way, he is able to remove himself from the events in his story and provide third party commentary. The scene is described in an almost humorous tone, despite the horrendous events being described. Ibrahim recognizes this disconnect between subject matter and tone and employs it to illustrate to the audience how the Egyptian culture trivializes such practices in the way they use language to address them.

2) One way in which Ibrahim explores the concept of insider versus outsider is in the point of view he uses to narrate the book. The third person perspective creates a barrier between the audience and the character they are trying to understand. However, Ibrahim still delves into the emotions of Zaat and her internal workings using this third person. The overall effect is one where the audience feels almost like intruders in Zaat's personal life, allowing the audience to understand the strict customs of privacy in the Middle East, and how traditionally, women's personal thoughts are not deemed decent to be listening to.

3) On pages 12 and 13, "transmissions" are the snippets of news that would go into the newspaper. On page 13 it's stated that editors held meetings for the transmission the paper wasn't allowed to publish. I wonder if the snippets from the news that make up chapter two are the transmissions the newspaper is not allowed to publish? If so, they would offer valuable insight into the society Zaat is living in, and what information is being withheld from the citizens.

Literary Feature 3: Foil

Foil: a character who provides distinct contrast to another character, consequently emphasizing qualities of the other character

Ex: The characters of Black Mole and Rabbit (seen on page 17) serve as foils for Zaat, emphasizing her timid, modest nature with their garish, arrogant ones.

Ye olde citation: Ibrāhīm, Sonallah. "Chapter 1." Zaat. Cairo: American U in Cairo, 2001. 17. Print.

Oh Boy! More Literary Features! Literary Feature 2: Ambiguity

Ambiguity: the expression of an idea in vague language so as to create many potential meanings and leave the actual meaning unclear

Ex: pg 3 of Zaat
"For by placing a cushion on her knees, it was possible for Zaat to sit back on the sofa as she wished without revealing what it was not yet the right time to reveal."

Ah yes, no post would be complete without an MLA citation....
Ibrāhīm, Sonallah. "Chapter 1." Zaat. Cairo: American U in Cairo, 2001. 3. Print.

Literary Feature 1: Irony

Irony: a surprising, amusing, or interesting contrast between reality and expectation

Ex:  Does anyone else find it ironic that the tri-school play for the Catholic high schools is "Diary of Anne Frank?"
 

Beginning "Zaat"....it's pronounced "fet"

Yes, contrary to popular belief, once you enter IB English, the letters Z, A, A, and T, when strung together make the same sound as when you try to say "fat" with a mouthful of sandwich. Regardless of how one pronounces it, those of us in Mrs. Rutigliano's IB English have begun reading Zaat by award winning (but not award accepting) author Sonallah Ibrahim.

This blog will be mostly consisting of literary features posts about the book, but I imagine a couple vocab entries will sneak in, just to ensure life is being lived on the edge.