Think Piece

NAME: ALIYAH ALI

STUDENT ID: 814000671

TUTOUR: CHARISA-MARIE ALEXIS

TUTORIAL DATE: MONDAY

TUTORIAL TIME: 11 – 12

Name: Aliyah Ali

Tutor: Charisa-Marie Alexis

FOUND 1101: Caribbean Civilisation

12th September, 2014

Tanti at the Oval – Think Piece ( Draft)

In the extract taken from Paul Keens Douglas’, “Tanti at the Oval,” the narrator divulges his experience of taking Tanti Merle to the Oval, to look at an important cricket match between Trinidad and the Combined Islands. Douglas engages his audience in a Caribbean experience, gives a glimpse into Caribbean history and highlights the importance of cricket to a West Indian, through his use of language, humour, and characterisation.

Douglas uses Creole dialect and colloquial language throughout the narration of the extract. His use of Creole dialect may be seen as a sign that the persona is illiterate to most, however in my opinion it show that the person has a sense of pride of where he comes from. He is from the Caribbean and speaks with a Caribbean tongue. The conversational tone created by the use of colloquial language allows the audience to have a Caribbean experience since most people of the Caribbean speak in this manner

His use of language also gives the audience a background of the character, Tanti Merle, when he uses the word ‘parasol.’ The word parasol originates from the early 17th century: from the French.( The Italian parasole, from para- 'protecting against' + sole 'sun') (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/parasol). Tanti Merle is from St. Vincent; once a French colony and the use of the word parasol show that she was still tied to her colonial past. Beside diction and allegory, Douglas uses characterisation to paint a vivid picture of Tanti Merle, a proud, patriotic, independent woman.

Her pride is seen in her choice of taxi, she didn’t want to travel with every and any car since some looked like they had no insurance and others had low class people in them. Her...