English Language Research Papers/Topics

RACISM AND OPPRESSION IN BLACK AMERICAN LITERATURE: AN EXAMPLE OF RICHARD WRIGHT’S BLACK BOY

ABSTRACTIt is known fact that racism and oppression are one of the major issues in Black American literature. This study will attempt to make readers realize these themes in Richard Wright’s Black Boy by analyzing the concept of racial segregation of Black in America. We will examine the historical perspective of Black writing narrative and the effects of racism and oppression, which include poverty, hunger assault etc. and the ways through which the blacks reacted to racism. We can claim t...

REVOLUTIONARY AESTHETICS IN NGUGI AND MUGO’S THE TRIAL OF DEDAN KIMATHI AND HUSSEIN’S KINJEKETILE

ABSTRACT The attempt in this study is to examine two notable East African plays, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi and Kinjeketile, against the background of revolutionary aesthetics as a means of socio-literary engagement. The work is comparative in nature. The realist dimensions in the realization of the theme of revolution are carefully examined including other major themes like oppression, exploitation, poverty, and so on. Copious inferences were drawn from the examination of the selected works....

RHETORIC OF POWER; POWER OF RHETORIC: DISCOURSE IMPLICATION OF MASS MEDIA JINGLES ON HIV/AIDS

ABSTRACT      Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a theory of language study that deals with how language relates to the social structure in term of power and dominance. It also investigates how ideological messages are passed on to the people through texts. This work has focused on the analysis of four selected media jingles (Couch Couples, Gender Equity Campaign, Peer Pressure and Stigma) using CDA with the aim of discovering how the media jingles influence HIV awareness and eradication...

SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ALIENATION IN HELON HABILA’S WAITING FOR AN ANGEL

ABSTRACT  Most African writers direct their literary efforts towards the arousal of Socio-political and economic awareness. Marxism, in its pursuit of socio-political change attempts to redefine human existence through class. Alienation, one of the theories of Marxism has been chosen for this research using Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel.   The novel has been analyzed by focusing on three features of alienation; social, political and economic alienation. From this work, we found tha...

SYMBOLS AND IMAGES AS POETIC TECHNIQUES IN SOUTH AFRICAN POETRY, THE EXAMPLE OF DENNIS BRUTUS AND OSWALD MBUYISENI MTSHALI

ABSTRACT  This study examines the use of symbols and images as poetic techniques in South African poetic writing. The poems seek to address the issues of socio-political injustice, apartheid, oppression and man’s inhumanity to man in the society, a kind of counter – attacking the apartheid system of the  South African society, which allows for inequalities and abject  poverty of a section of the society while the other section thrives in affluence. At the end  we discover how Dennis B...

SYMBOLS OF DECADENCE IN AYI KWEI ARMAH’S THE BEAUTIFUL ONES ARE NOT YET BORN

ABSTRACT This work introduces the major variable in this research topic as well as gives a brief background of the text adopted for critical analysis. The text selected for the study, therefore will focus on the concept of symbol and decadence as well as its relevance to the novel. This research examines symbols of Decadence in this novel: Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born.  This work focuses on the theory of Marxism. The theory will then focus on the thematic concern of...

THE INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ON OUR NIGERIAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES: EXAMPLES OF BORROWING FROM ENGLISH INTO YORUBA BY UNILORIN UNDERGRADUATES

ABSTRACT Generally speaking, it seems unlikely that English will cease to be used elaborately in Nigeria in a foreseeable future. This research work therefore will find out if students in the University of Ilorin borrow words from English in to Yoruba in their day to day interaction and if they do to identify this borrowings. The sample population used in this work is 80 (Eighty) students of the University of Ilorin and these students were randomly chosen from four faculties in this Universi...

THE POLITICAL RHYTHM IN THE POETRY OF JACK MAPANJE THE CHATTERING WAGTAIL OF MIKUYU PRISON AND OF CHAMELEONS AND GODS: THE SOUTH AFRICAN EXPERIENCE

ABSTRACT This work seeks to showcase the prevalent political situation in apartheid South Africa. The study examines two primary tests - The Chattering Wagtail of Mikuyu Prison and Of Chameleons and Gods written by Jack Mapanje. The project work brings to fore the rigorous pain and torture which the people of South Africa and political freedom writers went through during their incarceration.      TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page          i Certification         ii Dedication       ...

THE ROMANTIC PHILOSOPHY IN THE POETRY OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AND SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

ABSTRACTThis research work focuses on “The Romantic Philosophy in the poetry of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’’. The Romantics focus on landscape because of its natural essence and its spiritual composition. The Romantics aim at fighting for the masses and educating the public on how nature can be better treated and appreciated. They present the beauty and enjoyment of life in which they find themselves as imaginary and visionary. This work examined the theory of romant...

A LEXICO-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SPEECHES OF IS-HAQ OLOYEDE

ABSTRACT  Effective language use is a basis for communication. Language is a system of symbols which includes words and words make up sentences that in turn form a discourse. Each word and sentence exhibit different form, nature, element and meaning. Thus, lexico – semantic level of language analysis deals with the study of word and meaning. This study examined the use of word and sentence, word group, meaning relations and cohesive devices in five selected speeches of Is-haq Oloyede, the...

A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL INTERVIEWS IN A SELECTED DAILY NEWSPAPER. THE PUNCH

ABSTRACT       Language is an integral part of our socio-cultural heritage that serves as the primary medium of communication for mankind.  Pragmatics evolved to drill out meanings and to give interpretations to utterances beyond what is literarily said.  This research work was carried out in order to give light to political interviews and to bring out meanings that are embedded in utterances made by politicians.  One of the Nigerian daily newspapers was used, THE PUNCH, and 8 interview...

A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ATHOL FUGARD’S SIZWE BANSI IS DEAD

TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page          i Certification          ii Dedication           iii Acknowledgments         iv  Table of Contents        v Abstract            ix CHAPTER ONE:  1.0 Introduction         1 1.1 Background to the study      1 1.2 Purpose of the study        3 1.3 Justification for the study       4 1.4 Scope and delimitation of the study     4 1.5 A review of the play-let       4 1.6 Biography of the author       5 CHA...

A LEXICO-SEMATIC ANALYSIS OF OLU OBAFEMI’S NAIRA HAS NO GENDER

ABSTRACTThis work focuses on the Lexico-semantic variation of the Nigerian English using Olu Obafemi’s text Naira Has No Gender. The aim of this work is to highlight meaning change according to context and environment. Element of Lexico-semantic variation in Nigerian English which are Transfer, Analogy, Acronyms, Semantic Shift and Extension and Coinages or Neologism identified by Adegbija (1989) are used to analyse data collected from Olu Obafemi’s Naira Has No Gender. In this analysis w...

A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN’S INAUGURAL SPEECH, NIGERIA: OUR NATION IN MOURNING

ABSTRACT   Given the fact that communication is chiefly achieved through language, it is therefore important to study and account for how speakers encode their utterances and how meanings are decoded from the utterances during communication. This has made us to attempt a pragmatic analysis of President Goodluck Jonathan’s inaugural speech, Nigeria: Our Nation in Mourning, because of its socio-political importance with a view to accounting for how the president has encoded his utterances an...

A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF SOME SELECTED POLITICAL POSTERS

ABSTRACTThis long essay focuses on the pragmatics study of selected political posters imprinted in the pages of selected newspapers. It seeks to identify the influence of pragmatic elements on encoded texts or utterance; it analyse the thought provoking influence of such political posters; the rules of pragmatics governing the use of language in this aspect. The data of choice were randomly selected (from the pages of THE NATION, THE SUN and THE VANGUARD newspapers) and the pragmatic elements...


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