Jamal Nafi | Al-Quds University (original) (raw)
Papers by Jamal Nafi
European Centre for Research Training and Development UK, May 4, 2018
The main objective of this study is to provide a descriptive account of the nature and way of Mar... more The main objective of this study is to provide a descriptive account of the nature and way of Mark Twain’s handling of humor and satire used in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). The study also aims to shed light on whether Twain intended his novel to be humorous, or the humor was unconscious and unrealistic. The researcher sheds light on some major characters and scenes that exhibit the different types of humor and satire. The novel is a classic work of humor that becomes blended with satire, in which Twain became skeptic and agnostic and turned against mankind for its inhumanity. The story arouses humor in different means such as lies, deceptions, machinations of plot, prevarications of Huck and Tom, and through the superstitious beliefs of the primitive character, Jim. The study found out that the novel is a masterpiece of fun, farce and satire. The humor borders on farce; it is low and realistic. The researcher concluded that the novel is doubtlessly picaresqu...
This paper aims at exploring John Milton’s poetic style in his epic poem Paradise Lost, and the i... more This paper aims at exploring John Milton’s poetic style in his epic poem Paradise Lost, and the internal and external influences that shaped it. The ingredients of the grand style generally are: the greatness of the conception which inspires the poem; the exercise of a rich imagination; the employment of dignified words arranged in an impressive and harmonious order; and the use of certain technical devices which add to the interest and the dignity of the language employed. The grand style produces an impression of bigness, or enormity, or vastness, or loftiness in the reader’s mind. And all these characteristics can be applied to Milton’s style in the writing of Paradise Lost. The researcher adopts the analytical approach by examining the first two book of the poem: Books I and II. The researcher finds out that Milton’s style in Paradise Lost, whether attaining grandeur or overwhelming us with its weight and sublimity, or not, has never been, and never will be a “popular” style. It...
European Journal of Education Studies, 2016
This study aims to identify the nature of students’ difficulties in written expression in the Dep... more This study aims to identify the nature of students’ difficulties in written expression in the Departments of English and Arabic at Al-Quds University. It also aims to identify the impact of each of the variables gender, level, department and achievement on the degree of students’ writing difficulties in both departments. To achieve the objective of the study, a questionnaire was designed comprising 32 items applied to the study sample which consisted of 128 students from the Departments of Arabic and English at Al-Quds University in Palestine. The results of the study showed that students’ difficulties in written expression were fain in degree; they also revealed statistically significant differences in the averages of students’ difficulties in written expression due to gender in favor of females, and the presence of statistically significant differences in the averages of the difficulties in written expression due to level, and in favor of third and fourth year students; there were...
Journal of Education and Practice, 2016
The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of Palestinian undergraduate students t... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of Palestinian undergraduate students towards native and non-native English language teachers and their relation to students' listening ability. To achieve this purpose and to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses, the researchers adopted both the descriptive and inferential approaches. For collecting data, a questionnaire and a listening test were designed and distributed among 120 Palestinian undergraduate students to find out their attitudes towards both their NES and NNES and their relation to students' listening ability. After the statistical analysis, the major findings of the study revealed that attitudes of Palestinian undergraduate students towards Native and Non-Native English language teachers were moderate in all items and sections, except for the teaching culture which was found to be with low attitudes for native teachers. The findings also pointed out that the listening ability of Palest...
Through a close reading of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India (1924), this paper seeks to expose t... more Through a close reading of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India (1924), this paper seeks to expose the various personal relationships depicted in the novel. It also sheds light on the two nations described, the colonizer, represented by the British, and the colonized, represented by the Indians, and their attitudes towards each other. The analytical approach will be adopted throughout the paper. The paper tries to answer a vital question, posed by some Indian characters at the beginning of the narrative: Whether the British and the Indians can be friends. To achieve this end and to answer this question, the main focus will be on the exploration of different relationships developed throughout the text. Some critics have remarked that Forster was over-critical in his portrayal of the Anglo-Indians. Many Englishmen were annoyed and even offended with Forster for writing such a book. But impartial people never take such criticism seriously. A Passage to India is a superbly realistic novel ...
This study aims to investigate the effect of using the inductive and deductive methods on 7th gra... more This study aims to investigate the effect of using the inductive and deductive methods on 7th grade students’ achievement in grammar in Bethlehem District and their attitudes toward EFL. To achieve the purpose of the study, the researchers applied the instruments to a purposeful sample from 7th grade students at two schools, one for boys and the other for girls. Two groups, the experimental and the control ones were used in this study. The experimental group was taught by the inductive and deductive methods, and the control group was taught by the traditional method. To answer the main research question whether the inductive and deductive methods are more effective in teaching grammar rather than the traditional way, the researchers used a pre and post-tests to measure students' achievement in grammar. The researchers also designed a questionnaire to measure students' attitudes toward English as foreign language (EFL). In this study, the researchers used the quasi-experiment...
Journal of Education and Practice, 2016
The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of faculty’s use and stimulation of critical... more The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of faculty’s use and stimulation of critical thinking skills in the English Department at Al-Quds University. To achieve the objective of the study, a questionnaire consisting of 21 items was designed and applied to the study sample, consisting of 95 students in the English Department at Al-Quds University in Palestine. In addition to that, 11 students from the same department were interviewed. The results of the study showed that the degree of faculty’s use and stimulation of critical thinking skills in the English Department were medium, and that there were no statistically significant differences in the degree of the faculty’s use and stimulation of critical thinking due to gender and performance, and the presence of significant differences was due to level and in favor of third year English majors. The results of the students’ interview also showed that there were skills that teachers used largely as the skill of interpretatio...
The study aims to investigate and realize the degree of faculty's use of authentic assessment too... more The study aims to investigate and realize the degree of faculty's use of authentic assessment tools at Al-Quds University and their relation to their attitudes towards them. To achieve the purpose of the study, a sample of (99) faculty members at the university was selected in the academic year 2016/2017. Two instruments were developed by the researchers, a questionnaire to measure the degree of faculty's use of authentic assessment tools, and another questionnaire to measure their attitudes towards authentic assessment. And the reliability of the two instruments was reached. The results of the study showed that the use of authentic assessment tolls by the faculty at Al-Quds University is moderate, and there were statistically significant differences at (.0.0 ≥ α) in the mean score and in favor of gender and academic rank. And there were no statistically significant differences with regard to experience. The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences in the mean score of the faculty's attitudes towards authentic assessment which reached (.0.0 ≥ α) and was too high, and in favor of academic rank, and there were no significant differences with regard to gender and experience. The study concluded that there is a small positive relationship between the faculty's use of authentic assessment tools and their attitudes towards it. In light of the above results, the study recommends conducting other research about the obstacle that stand on the way of using authentic assessment tools, and carrying out training courses for the faculty about the importance and need of using authentic assessment tools.
The study aimed at investigating the effect of using the “SQP2RS via WTL” strategy through scienc... more The study aimed at investigating the effect of using the “SQP2RS via WTL” strategy through science context to 10 th graders’ reading comprehension in English in Bethlehem district in Palestine. The study has been applied on a purposeful sample of 10 th grade students at public schools in Bethlehem district in the academic year 2015/2016. The sample included (139) students (61 males and 78 females) at AL-Awda Basic School for Girls, Bethlehem Secondary Boys’ School. Students were assigned to experimental and control groups, the experimental group was taught by using the “SQP2RS via WTL” strategy, while the control group was taught by the traditional method. The researchers have prepared a reading comprehension achievement test. Content validity and reliability were established for the test. The experiment has lasted three months, a pre-test and post-test were performed using the reading comprehension achievement test to measure the effect of using the “SQP2RS via WTL” strategy. The m...
International Journal of Language and Literature, 2018
The dramatists of ancient Greece fixed the character and features of tragedy, and the Greek philo... more The dramatists of ancient Greece fixed the character and features of tragedy, and the Greek philosopher Aristotle analyzed and defined its nature. But Shakespeare, as a romantic playwright in Elizabethan England, violated the rules set and propagated by the classics for the sake of being truer to nature. Shakespeare"s concept of tragedy may be illustrated from three main points of views, which distinguish him as a dramatist, they are: Tragic Hero, Tragic Action (Tragic Plot) and Tragic Appeal (Tragic Catharsis), aspects which this paper attempts to stress and analyze. Through critical analysis of Shakespeare"s four major tragedies, this paper attempts also to highlight the features that constitute a Shakespearean tragedy. The paper also tries to show how a Shakespearean tragedy is different from the classical tragedy of ancient Greece. The researcher concluded that a Shakespearean tragedy moves on several plans all at once. It reflects the contradictions of social life during the Renaissance culture; it anticipates the development of realism and romanticism in the nineteenth century, and it reveals the hidden depths of the human mind unknown to literature before. Thus it is of universal appeal. Above all, it is the finest evidence of Shakespeare"s humanism which shows such a profound understanding of the human soul in pain.
Epiphany, 2019
This paper is an attempt to analyze the poetry of Miss Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) in order to re... more This paper is an attempt to analyze the poetry of Miss Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) in order to reveal the extent of mysticism in it, and it focuses on the concept of "theology." Mysticism involves a deep, almost obsessive, concern with such problems as death, the existence of the soul, immortality, the existence of God and heaven, salvation or redemption, etc. The critical approach was used to analyze some of Dickinson's major poems. A glance at her poetry reveals that it shows an extreme preoccupation with the effect of death and explores various themes such as the nature of the soul, the problem of immortality, the possibility of faith and the reality of God. The researchers also tried to reveal the internal and external influences that shaped Dickinson's poetry. The paper concluded that the theme of death was inexhaustible for her. If her poetry seldom became "lyrical," seldom departed from the colorless sobriety of its bare iambics and toneless assonance, it did so most of all when the subject was death. Although Dickinson's poetry contains some mystical elements, mystical poetry, in the traditional sense, at least, is not her special poetic gift.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
There has been so much controversy about the inclusion of a sub-plot in Shakespeare's play King L... more There has been so much controversy about the inclusion of a sub-plot in Shakespeare's play King Lear. Some critics think that having a secondary story, woven within the main story, is a defect and lessens the dramatic effect of the main plot in particulars, and the whole story in general, while others believe that it is an advantage and it enhances the dramatic effect of the main story. To come up with a clear idea and to answer the research question, which is, whether Shakespeare should have included a sub-plot in his tragedy, and in order to account for this intuition, and to substantiate the assumption that the sub-plot adversely affects the main plot, the drama's form and structure have been thoroughly analyzed and critiqued through analyzing and examining the plot of the play. The research concluded that including a secondary story within the main story is an advantage, and that the two plots (the Lear story and the Gloucester story) greatly resemble each other, in so far as in both cases an infatuated father proves to be blind towards his goodhearted and well-meaning child, Lear in the case of the main plot, and Gloucester in the case of the sub-plot, while the unnatural child, whom he prefers, causes the ruin of all his father's happiness. The paper also concluded that the two stories support each other, and that the sub-plot enhances the main plot's tragic or dramatic effect rather than weakens it.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015
This paper investigates the development of Paul's personality and the influences that shaped it i... more This paper investigates the development of Paul's personality and the influences that shaped it in D.H. Lawrence's major novel Sons and Lovers. The study has approached the novel from psychological perspective, particularly, emphasizing the protagonist's various attempts to manipulate the three women characters he came in contact with, in order to create a personality for his own self, and it also reveals Lawrence's treatment of women through the delineation of their characters and their relationship to Paul Morel. The qualitative research paradigm is adopted focusing on textual data analysis of the novel. The findings of the study revealed that what Lawrence actually wrote about was the relationship between man and a series of female stereotypes, for women characters were treated unfairly by the author, who seems to blame them for their attempts to absorb the character of Paul. And that a healthy and successful relationship between men and women is a dream that is difficult to achieve. This can be seen through Paul's failure to establish a successful and healthy relationship with all of the three women characters in the novel. At the end of the novel, Paul decides to free himself and go on alone. Freedom is what he has been looking for, and that kind of free life cannot be achieved unless he runs away from the women he came to know.
British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science, 2016
English Language and Literature Studies, 2016
This article is an attempt to explore the inclusion and the use of superstitious elements in Mark... more This article is an attempt to explore the inclusion and the use of superstitious elements in Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) and Shakespeare's play Macbeth (1611). Superstition involves a deep belief in the magic and the occult, to almost to an extent of obsession, which is contrary to realism. Through the analytical and psychological approaches, this paper tries to shed light on Twain's and Shakespeare's use of supernaturalism in their respective stories, and the extent the main characters are influenced by it. A glance at both stories reveals that characters are highly affected by superstitions, more than they are influenced by their religious beliefs, or other social factors and values. The researcher also tries to explore the role played by superstition, represented by fate and the supernatural in determining the course of actions characters undertake in both dramas. The paper concluded that the people who lived in the past were superstitious to an extent of letting magic, omens; signs, etc. affect and determine their lives; actions and future decisions. They determine their destiny and make it very difficult for them to avoid it, alter it or think rationally and independently. And that, man's actions are not isolated, but closely connected to the various forces operating in the universe.
Studies in Literature and Language, Mar 26, 2015
The present study aims to examine David Herbert Lawrence's novel Women in Love in terms of form a... more The present study aims to examine David Herbert Lawrence's novel Women in Love in terms of form and structure. Lawrence was quite impatient of the conventional demands of a rigid and coherent plot construction made of a novelist. The novel bears witness of Lawrence as a narrator and as a sturcturalist, and Women in Love aren't without a form. In his later novels, Lawrence perfected the form that bears his distinct mark. The form, which he has evolved by combining myths, allegories and symbols, has been perfected in his second phase of writing, and Women in Love is one of them. He was attempting in his fiction what others before him had never been done. The analytical approach will be adopted throughout the paper. The novel discussed in this paper bears enough evidence to justify the hypothesis that although themes were what Lawrence was interested in, form and structure were his important concerns.
International Journal of Literature and Arts, 2015
This paper examines the question whether Satan is really the hero of John Milton's great epic poe... more This paper examines the question whether Satan is really the hero of John Milton's great epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). There are controversial debates over this issue, and most critics believe that, although Satan acts and speaks heroically, God is the real hero of the poem, not Satan. The paper adopts the analytical approach. The findings of the paper reveal that the central character Satan is a devil that acts for his own self-interests, and cannot do good, even to his followers, the fallen angels. The paper finally shows that, every impulse in Satan towards good has died out. The element of nobility that redeemed his character at the outset from absolute baseness has been killed. Hardly therefore shall we believe that Milton meant us to see in the fallen and ever falling archangel the hero of his poem. That position surely belongs to Adam.
English Language and Literature Studies, 2015
The aim of this paper is to examine Wordsworth's poem The Prelude in the sense of being autobiogr... more The aim of this paper is to examine Wordsworth's poem The Prelude in the sense of being autobiographical. The poem is considered as the longest, noblest and most fruitful illustration of the spiritual frugality of Wordsworth and a handsome anticipation of the modern concept of autobiography. The poem indicates that the autobiographer projects himself in his own literary work and renders his psyche, truthfully and realistically. Through analytical study, this paper tries to shed some light on the autobiographical elements in the poem, and to show how the poem outlines the growth of the poet's mind throughout the different stages of his life. The study discovers that The Prelude is not an autobiography in the usual sense from the holy pen of the high priest of nature. In it, we have the faithful record of his inner life and emotional experiences enabling us to have a glimpse of the innermost recesses of the poet's soul. So we may unhesitatingly call it a spiritual or poetical autobiography.
Socialism and Democracy, 2007
To understand the current hardships of Al Quds University and other Palestinian educational insti... more To understand the current hardships of Al Quds University and other Palestinian educational institutions, it is necessary to explore the geography of Israeli occupation. This particular geography is the outcome of four decades of iron-fisted Israeli colonial rule in the West ...
European Centre for Research Training and Development UK, May 4, 2018
The main objective of this study is to provide a descriptive account of the nature and way of Mar... more The main objective of this study is to provide a descriptive account of the nature and way of Mark Twain’s handling of humor and satire used in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). The study also aims to shed light on whether Twain intended his novel to be humorous, or the humor was unconscious and unrealistic. The researcher sheds light on some major characters and scenes that exhibit the different types of humor and satire. The novel is a classic work of humor that becomes blended with satire, in which Twain became skeptic and agnostic and turned against mankind for its inhumanity. The story arouses humor in different means such as lies, deceptions, machinations of plot, prevarications of Huck and Tom, and through the superstitious beliefs of the primitive character, Jim. The study found out that the novel is a masterpiece of fun, farce and satire. The humor borders on farce; it is low and realistic. The researcher concluded that the novel is doubtlessly picaresqu...
This paper aims at exploring John Milton’s poetic style in his epic poem Paradise Lost, and the i... more This paper aims at exploring John Milton’s poetic style in his epic poem Paradise Lost, and the internal and external influences that shaped it. The ingredients of the grand style generally are: the greatness of the conception which inspires the poem; the exercise of a rich imagination; the employment of dignified words arranged in an impressive and harmonious order; and the use of certain technical devices which add to the interest and the dignity of the language employed. The grand style produces an impression of bigness, or enormity, or vastness, or loftiness in the reader’s mind. And all these characteristics can be applied to Milton’s style in the writing of Paradise Lost. The researcher adopts the analytical approach by examining the first two book of the poem: Books I and II. The researcher finds out that Milton’s style in Paradise Lost, whether attaining grandeur or overwhelming us with its weight and sublimity, or not, has never been, and never will be a “popular” style. It...
European Journal of Education Studies, 2016
This study aims to identify the nature of students’ difficulties in written expression in the Dep... more This study aims to identify the nature of students’ difficulties in written expression in the Departments of English and Arabic at Al-Quds University. It also aims to identify the impact of each of the variables gender, level, department and achievement on the degree of students’ writing difficulties in both departments. To achieve the objective of the study, a questionnaire was designed comprising 32 items applied to the study sample which consisted of 128 students from the Departments of Arabic and English at Al-Quds University in Palestine. The results of the study showed that students’ difficulties in written expression were fain in degree; they also revealed statistically significant differences in the averages of students’ difficulties in written expression due to gender in favor of females, and the presence of statistically significant differences in the averages of the difficulties in written expression due to level, and in favor of third and fourth year students; there were...
Journal of Education and Practice, 2016
The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of Palestinian undergraduate students t... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of Palestinian undergraduate students towards native and non-native English language teachers and their relation to students' listening ability. To achieve this purpose and to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses, the researchers adopted both the descriptive and inferential approaches. For collecting data, a questionnaire and a listening test were designed and distributed among 120 Palestinian undergraduate students to find out their attitudes towards both their NES and NNES and their relation to students' listening ability. After the statistical analysis, the major findings of the study revealed that attitudes of Palestinian undergraduate students towards Native and Non-Native English language teachers were moderate in all items and sections, except for the teaching culture which was found to be with low attitudes for native teachers. The findings also pointed out that the listening ability of Palest...
Through a close reading of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India (1924), this paper seeks to expose t... more Through a close reading of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India (1924), this paper seeks to expose the various personal relationships depicted in the novel. It also sheds light on the two nations described, the colonizer, represented by the British, and the colonized, represented by the Indians, and their attitudes towards each other. The analytical approach will be adopted throughout the paper. The paper tries to answer a vital question, posed by some Indian characters at the beginning of the narrative: Whether the British and the Indians can be friends. To achieve this end and to answer this question, the main focus will be on the exploration of different relationships developed throughout the text. Some critics have remarked that Forster was over-critical in his portrayal of the Anglo-Indians. Many Englishmen were annoyed and even offended with Forster for writing such a book. But impartial people never take such criticism seriously. A Passage to India is a superbly realistic novel ...
This study aims to investigate the effect of using the inductive and deductive methods on 7th gra... more This study aims to investigate the effect of using the inductive and deductive methods on 7th grade students’ achievement in grammar in Bethlehem District and their attitudes toward EFL. To achieve the purpose of the study, the researchers applied the instruments to a purposeful sample from 7th grade students at two schools, one for boys and the other for girls. Two groups, the experimental and the control ones were used in this study. The experimental group was taught by the inductive and deductive methods, and the control group was taught by the traditional method. To answer the main research question whether the inductive and deductive methods are more effective in teaching grammar rather than the traditional way, the researchers used a pre and post-tests to measure students' achievement in grammar. The researchers also designed a questionnaire to measure students' attitudes toward English as foreign language (EFL). In this study, the researchers used the quasi-experiment...
Journal of Education and Practice, 2016
The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of faculty’s use and stimulation of critical... more The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of faculty’s use and stimulation of critical thinking skills in the English Department at Al-Quds University. To achieve the objective of the study, a questionnaire consisting of 21 items was designed and applied to the study sample, consisting of 95 students in the English Department at Al-Quds University in Palestine. In addition to that, 11 students from the same department were interviewed. The results of the study showed that the degree of faculty’s use and stimulation of critical thinking skills in the English Department were medium, and that there were no statistically significant differences in the degree of the faculty’s use and stimulation of critical thinking due to gender and performance, and the presence of significant differences was due to level and in favor of third year English majors. The results of the students’ interview also showed that there were skills that teachers used largely as the skill of interpretatio...
The study aims to investigate and realize the degree of faculty's use of authentic assessment too... more The study aims to investigate and realize the degree of faculty's use of authentic assessment tools at Al-Quds University and their relation to their attitudes towards them. To achieve the purpose of the study, a sample of (99) faculty members at the university was selected in the academic year 2016/2017. Two instruments were developed by the researchers, a questionnaire to measure the degree of faculty's use of authentic assessment tools, and another questionnaire to measure their attitudes towards authentic assessment. And the reliability of the two instruments was reached. The results of the study showed that the use of authentic assessment tolls by the faculty at Al-Quds University is moderate, and there were statistically significant differences at (.0.0 ≥ α) in the mean score and in favor of gender and academic rank. And there were no statistically significant differences with regard to experience. The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences in the mean score of the faculty's attitudes towards authentic assessment which reached (.0.0 ≥ α) and was too high, and in favor of academic rank, and there were no significant differences with regard to gender and experience. The study concluded that there is a small positive relationship between the faculty's use of authentic assessment tools and their attitudes towards it. In light of the above results, the study recommends conducting other research about the obstacle that stand on the way of using authentic assessment tools, and carrying out training courses for the faculty about the importance and need of using authentic assessment tools.
The study aimed at investigating the effect of using the “SQP2RS via WTL” strategy through scienc... more The study aimed at investigating the effect of using the “SQP2RS via WTL” strategy through science context to 10 th graders’ reading comprehension in English in Bethlehem district in Palestine. The study has been applied on a purposeful sample of 10 th grade students at public schools in Bethlehem district in the academic year 2015/2016. The sample included (139) students (61 males and 78 females) at AL-Awda Basic School for Girls, Bethlehem Secondary Boys’ School. Students were assigned to experimental and control groups, the experimental group was taught by using the “SQP2RS via WTL” strategy, while the control group was taught by the traditional method. The researchers have prepared a reading comprehension achievement test. Content validity and reliability were established for the test. The experiment has lasted three months, a pre-test and post-test were performed using the reading comprehension achievement test to measure the effect of using the “SQP2RS via WTL” strategy. The m...
International Journal of Language and Literature, 2018
The dramatists of ancient Greece fixed the character and features of tragedy, and the Greek philo... more The dramatists of ancient Greece fixed the character and features of tragedy, and the Greek philosopher Aristotle analyzed and defined its nature. But Shakespeare, as a romantic playwright in Elizabethan England, violated the rules set and propagated by the classics for the sake of being truer to nature. Shakespeare"s concept of tragedy may be illustrated from three main points of views, which distinguish him as a dramatist, they are: Tragic Hero, Tragic Action (Tragic Plot) and Tragic Appeal (Tragic Catharsis), aspects which this paper attempts to stress and analyze. Through critical analysis of Shakespeare"s four major tragedies, this paper attempts also to highlight the features that constitute a Shakespearean tragedy. The paper also tries to show how a Shakespearean tragedy is different from the classical tragedy of ancient Greece. The researcher concluded that a Shakespearean tragedy moves on several plans all at once. It reflects the contradictions of social life during the Renaissance culture; it anticipates the development of realism and romanticism in the nineteenth century, and it reveals the hidden depths of the human mind unknown to literature before. Thus it is of universal appeal. Above all, it is the finest evidence of Shakespeare"s humanism which shows such a profound understanding of the human soul in pain.
Epiphany, 2019
This paper is an attempt to analyze the poetry of Miss Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) in order to re... more This paper is an attempt to analyze the poetry of Miss Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) in order to reveal the extent of mysticism in it, and it focuses on the concept of "theology." Mysticism involves a deep, almost obsessive, concern with such problems as death, the existence of the soul, immortality, the existence of God and heaven, salvation or redemption, etc. The critical approach was used to analyze some of Dickinson's major poems. A glance at her poetry reveals that it shows an extreme preoccupation with the effect of death and explores various themes such as the nature of the soul, the problem of immortality, the possibility of faith and the reality of God. The researchers also tried to reveal the internal and external influences that shaped Dickinson's poetry. The paper concluded that the theme of death was inexhaustible for her. If her poetry seldom became "lyrical," seldom departed from the colorless sobriety of its bare iambics and toneless assonance, it did so most of all when the subject was death. Although Dickinson's poetry contains some mystical elements, mystical poetry, in the traditional sense, at least, is not her special poetic gift.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
There has been so much controversy about the inclusion of a sub-plot in Shakespeare's play King L... more There has been so much controversy about the inclusion of a sub-plot in Shakespeare's play King Lear. Some critics think that having a secondary story, woven within the main story, is a defect and lessens the dramatic effect of the main plot in particulars, and the whole story in general, while others believe that it is an advantage and it enhances the dramatic effect of the main story. To come up with a clear idea and to answer the research question, which is, whether Shakespeare should have included a sub-plot in his tragedy, and in order to account for this intuition, and to substantiate the assumption that the sub-plot adversely affects the main plot, the drama's form and structure have been thoroughly analyzed and critiqued through analyzing and examining the plot of the play. The research concluded that including a secondary story within the main story is an advantage, and that the two plots (the Lear story and the Gloucester story) greatly resemble each other, in so far as in both cases an infatuated father proves to be blind towards his goodhearted and well-meaning child, Lear in the case of the main plot, and Gloucester in the case of the sub-plot, while the unnatural child, whom he prefers, causes the ruin of all his father's happiness. The paper also concluded that the two stories support each other, and that the sub-plot enhances the main plot's tragic or dramatic effect rather than weakens it.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015
This paper investigates the development of Paul's personality and the influences that shaped it i... more This paper investigates the development of Paul's personality and the influences that shaped it in D.H. Lawrence's major novel Sons and Lovers. The study has approached the novel from psychological perspective, particularly, emphasizing the protagonist's various attempts to manipulate the three women characters he came in contact with, in order to create a personality for his own self, and it also reveals Lawrence's treatment of women through the delineation of their characters and their relationship to Paul Morel. The qualitative research paradigm is adopted focusing on textual data analysis of the novel. The findings of the study revealed that what Lawrence actually wrote about was the relationship between man and a series of female stereotypes, for women characters were treated unfairly by the author, who seems to blame them for their attempts to absorb the character of Paul. And that a healthy and successful relationship between men and women is a dream that is difficult to achieve. This can be seen through Paul's failure to establish a successful and healthy relationship with all of the three women characters in the novel. At the end of the novel, Paul decides to free himself and go on alone. Freedom is what he has been looking for, and that kind of free life cannot be achieved unless he runs away from the women he came to know.
British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science, 2016
English Language and Literature Studies, 2016
This article is an attempt to explore the inclusion and the use of superstitious elements in Mark... more This article is an attempt to explore the inclusion and the use of superstitious elements in Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) and Shakespeare's play Macbeth (1611). Superstition involves a deep belief in the magic and the occult, to almost to an extent of obsession, which is contrary to realism. Through the analytical and psychological approaches, this paper tries to shed light on Twain's and Shakespeare's use of supernaturalism in their respective stories, and the extent the main characters are influenced by it. A glance at both stories reveals that characters are highly affected by superstitions, more than they are influenced by their religious beliefs, or other social factors and values. The researcher also tries to explore the role played by superstition, represented by fate and the supernatural in determining the course of actions characters undertake in both dramas. The paper concluded that the people who lived in the past were superstitious to an extent of letting magic, omens; signs, etc. affect and determine their lives; actions and future decisions. They determine their destiny and make it very difficult for them to avoid it, alter it or think rationally and independently. And that, man's actions are not isolated, but closely connected to the various forces operating in the universe.
Studies in Literature and Language, Mar 26, 2015
The present study aims to examine David Herbert Lawrence's novel Women in Love in terms of form a... more The present study aims to examine David Herbert Lawrence's novel Women in Love in terms of form and structure. Lawrence was quite impatient of the conventional demands of a rigid and coherent plot construction made of a novelist. The novel bears witness of Lawrence as a narrator and as a sturcturalist, and Women in Love aren't without a form. In his later novels, Lawrence perfected the form that bears his distinct mark. The form, which he has evolved by combining myths, allegories and symbols, has been perfected in his second phase of writing, and Women in Love is one of them. He was attempting in his fiction what others before him had never been done. The analytical approach will be adopted throughout the paper. The novel discussed in this paper bears enough evidence to justify the hypothesis that although themes were what Lawrence was interested in, form and structure were his important concerns.
International Journal of Literature and Arts, 2015
This paper examines the question whether Satan is really the hero of John Milton's great epic poe... more This paper examines the question whether Satan is really the hero of John Milton's great epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). There are controversial debates over this issue, and most critics believe that, although Satan acts and speaks heroically, God is the real hero of the poem, not Satan. The paper adopts the analytical approach. The findings of the paper reveal that the central character Satan is a devil that acts for his own self-interests, and cannot do good, even to his followers, the fallen angels. The paper finally shows that, every impulse in Satan towards good has died out. The element of nobility that redeemed his character at the outset from absolute baseness has been killed. Hardly therefore shall we believe that Milton meant us to see in the fallen and ever falling archangel the hero of his poem. That position surely belongs to Adam.
English Language and Literature Studies, 2015
The aim of this paper is to examine Wordsworth's poem The Prelude in the sense of being autobiogr... more The aim of this paper is to examine Wordsworth's poem The Prelude in the sense of being autobiographical. The poem is considered as the longest, noblest and most fruitful illustration of the spiritual frugality of Wordsworth and a handsome anticipation of the modern concept of autobiography. The poem indicates that the autobiographer projects himself in his own literary work and renders his psyche, truthfully and realistically. Through analytical study, this paper tries to shed some light on the autobiographical elements in the poem, and to show how the poem outlines the growth of the poet's mind throughout the different stages of his life. The study discovers that The Prelude is not an autobiography in the usual sense from the holy pen of the high priest of nature. In it, we have the faithful record of his inner life and emotional experiences enabling us to have a glimpse of the innermost recesses of the poet's soul. So we may unhesitatingly call it a spiritual or poetical autobiography.
Socialism and Democracy, 2007
To understand the current hardships of Al Quds University and other Palestinian educational insti... more To understand the current hardships of Al Quds University and other Palestinian educational institutions, it is necessary to explore the geography of Israeli occupation. This particular geography is the outcome of four decades of iron-fisted Israeli colonial rule in the West ...