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Rationale Written Task 1

This Written Task was based on the satirical essay How to Write About Africa by
Wainaina. It deals with the common prejudices of foreigners. Not only Africa has
to deal with such prejudices every culture is confronted with biased views from
outside. Each culture has their own traditions and these are often exaggerated by
people who are ignorant towards the culture in question. The Netherlands has to
deal with such prejudices as well. Whenever foreigners hear that I am Dutch, the
usual reaction is either ah, prostitutes and weed!, or ah, that cow-filled
country!. Few know that the Netherlands is much more than that. After the
debate on Sinterklaas, where the country received widespread criticism on this
festive holiday, I felt inspired to write this text. There are many people that are
ignorant to our culture and make assumptions based on false prejudices. In my
opinion, it was necessary to write a text in which these generalisations are
addressed. A satirical piece lends itself very well for this purpose.
In this essay, I have described the most common Dutch stereotypes. I included
the prejudices that I have encountered most often: we do not walk on clogs, we
do not only drink beer and we do not only farm. I also addressed other aspects of
our culture that are often distorted by people, inter alia, the tulips, the bicycles
and the use of stimulants. In order to imitate Wainainas style as closely as
possible, I have structured the essay in a similar manner. By using comparable
linking words, the order of the subjects in the two essays has remained as
identical as possible. By using similar sentence structures - long, with many
commas and analogous stylistic devices - many enumerations, use of irony and
sarcasm I have mimicked Wainainas writing style.
Word count
Rationale: 300
Written Task: 999

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Essay
How to Write About the Netherlands by Karen van der
Werff, published in Alphen a/d Rijn: The Magazine of New
Writing 92 (2015).
Always use the words Coffee shop or Red-light district, tulips or cows
in your title. Subtitles may include the words Weed, Drugs, Heineken,
De Wallen, Bikes, Ajax, Feyenoord, Windmills, Clogs, Small, Rain
or Rude. Other words can be Greedy, Tall and Manure.
Never have a picture of a Dutchman in an electrical vehicle in your text,
unless that Dutchman is driving a tractor. If you must include these
Villagers, make sure you have descriptions of the farm-smell.
In your text, treat the Netherlands as if it consists only of two cities:
Amsterdam and The Polder. Amsterdam is big and busy with swarming
tourists and huge herds of gangsters and pretty, thin prostitutes who are
posing behind every window of every street. The Polder is flat and green
and filled with cows. Do not forget to mention tulips too. It is very cold and
rainy with very tall, rude people who ride bikes. Dont pay too much
attention to details. The Netherlands is small: only 16 million people who
are too busy feeding their animals and riding their bikes and smoking
their weed and drinking their Heineken to read your text. The country is
full of cars, industry, companies, beaches, intellectuals and other things,
but your reader doesnt care about all that, so keep your descriptions
simple and expressive.
Make sure you show how the Dutch have a cheese-fetish deep in their
souls and eat as many potatoes as no other humans would. Do not
mention meat and bread and rice: mashed potatoes are a Dutchmans
cuisine of choice, along with mashed carrots, mashed onions, and a glass
of milk, and all other dairy products. Make sure that you show that you are
able to drink such large quantities of milk without getting ill, and describe
how you learn to gulp so much because you are open to other cultures.
Establish early on how much you love the country, despite the continuous
pestering of water. Include the endless rainfall, the soft summers and the
snowfall that disappears as quick as it comes. Be sure to mention that you
admire the Dutch for their dykes and dunes and Delta works. The
Netherlands is to be pitied. Be sure to leave the strong impression that
without your important text, the Netherlands will drown.
Taboo subjects: Sinterklaas, the beloved old white slave owner who forces
his black slaves to climb down chimneys and deliver presents to rich white

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kids, or other racist scenes that may stain the Dutch image. Remember
that your readers want to learn about the civilized, egalitarian democracy
that is called the Netherlands.
Your Dutch characters may include addicts, prostitutes, old fishermen. Or
discriminated Muslims, proud gays, angered Ajax fans, violent Feyenoord
fans and red-light district employees you have gotten to know inside out.
The Average Youngster secretly grows weed and has illegally started
drinking at age 14, but is still angry with the government for raising the
legal drinking age from 16 to 18 years. The Prime Minister is a tall man
who goes to work on his bike. The Wilders always calls himself a man of
politics and speaks controversially about foreigners. He is an enemy of
pluralism, always using his bleached hair to stress his Dutch descent
despite public doubts. He is the wildest man in the government and even
dares to tell the Prime Minister to behave, even though we are a civilized
country.
Among your characters you must always include The Farmer, who walks
around in his overall and clogs and waits to milk his cows. His children
have mud on their faces and straw in their hair, and his clothes smell of
manure. He must be utterly blunt. Also have a greedy and arrogant
student in your text who is concerned about his own image. He must wear
polo shirts and put too much gel in his hair. Just call him Berend-Jan. His
parents are rich and play hockey. Dont forget to include The Gabber who
wanders the streets in his sweatpants and Nike Airmax. When he isnt
draining his Heineken he will be dancing to traditional hardstyle and
breaking bus stops.
Broad descriptions of junks throughout are good. Avoid having
Amsterdammers be sober, or virgins, or generous. Have them talk about
De Wallen or other red-light districts. Describe in detail their joint-rolling
skills and their lack of ambition.
Bikes, on the other hand, must be treated as precious and are the sole
means of transportation. They squeak and crack and are stolen at every
corner of every street. They also have their own parking lots: how else
could so many bikes be kept? The Omafiets takes the Dutch teens
everywhere. So does the Batavus Old Dutch. Never, ever say anything
about their slow pace. Omafietsen may get a deflated tyre, lose their
kickstand or even fall apart. Always go with their speed. Gazelle bikes are
very fast and expensive. Any Dutchman who steals a bike may be
portrayed as a regular everyday person (unless they steal a Gazelle, in
which case they are pure evil).

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Make sure you mention the school system that divides the people into the
categories nerd and dumb and dumber. The nerd section is small but
valuable. Do not offend them. You need them to buy your books, they are
the only ones who actually read.
Readers will be put off if you do not mention the windmills. And the clogs,
the Dutch clogs are a must. They are always wooden and yellow. They are
always worn along with blue overalls. Extra large sizes are critical The
Netherlands is the Land of Unfashionable Farmers Clothing.
Youll also need to include the Dutch roads. They are the pride of the
country because they are plain and flat like everything else.
Always end your book with a phrase on milk. Because you are open to
other cultures.

Outline Written Task 2

Prescribed question: Which social groups are marginalized, excluded or
silenced within the text?
Title of the text for analysis: The Handmaids Tale
Part of the course to which the task refers: Part 4 Literature: a critical
study
My critical response will:
-

Identify the ways in which the Gileadean authorities silenced the female
inhabitants.
Look at how loss of rights, relationships and identity can influence
behaviour.

Word count: 999

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Written task 2
Throughout history, there have been various totalitarian states and they are still
present today the IS being one of many. Oppression has found its way in
literature as a theme, where many authors have devoted a story to it. The same
goes for Margaret Atwood and her dystopian novel The Handmaids Tale, which
was inspired by the rise of religious conservatives in the 1970s. The novel depicts
a state with a complex view on feminism the ideal of many feminists to return
to traditional values in order to counteract the sexual revolution has backfired
and turned the state into a suppressive regime. Women the Handmaids in
particular - are silenced by the authorities, through the loss of their rights,
relationships and identity.
Gileadean women were silenced, after all their rights and thus their freedom of
expression - were slowly taken away from them. It started with financial loss (all
money had been appropriated to men); however, it quickly escalated into loss of
any form of rights or power. Women had no right to vote and no right to have
proper jobs. They were left with no possessions except for the habits they were
obliged to wear. They were not allowed to read or write: even the names of shops
were painted out, because the authorities decided that even these would be too
much temptation. The Wives were given little say over the Marthas and
Handmaids, which tricked them into thinking they actually had power. This kept
them quiet, because, as Offreds mother once said, as long as there are a few
compensations, people can get used to almost anything. The sense of power
served as a compensation for the Wives. So, by taking away all the womens
rights, the authorities effectively silenced women. Every way in which a woman
could express herself was forbidden. Many conformed to the system, either
willingly - out of religious or habitual reasons - or out of fear of torture. The ones
that did risk their lives for their freedom of expression received severe
punishments not only their voice, also their lives were taken away from them.
In addition, the contact between the women and everyone they felt affection for
the Wives and their high-ranking Commanders excepted was cut off, which
made it harder for them to reach out to others and be heard. The lives of the
women were completely rearranged: they were placed in random homes and had
no way of reaching their friends and family. Offred found it hard to deal with this
and often thought about Luke and her daughter whether they were still alive
and if so, if they were in safety. In the new regime, it was hard to find out who
could be trusted and who was a true believer. The prescribed language was
religious of tone; the accepted greeting being Blessed be the fruit- May the
Lord open. By saying one word too many or in the wrong tone, one could reveal
their noncompliance to the regime and be severely persecuted. This insecurity
ensured that women would not easily talk to each other. As Offred said, they were
not supposed to form friendships among one another. By shunning the women
from their loved ones, the authorities took away their sense of familiarity and
comfort, and replaced it for loneliness and fear. The sense of uncertainty in the
unknown environment ensured that the women would not easily dare to speak
their mind.

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Lastly, the women had been deprived of their identity. A clear example that
prevailed throughout the book, was the eradication of personal names. The Wives
and Marthas were often referred to with the names of their functions, however
they still had a name (such as the Marthas Rita and Cora). Nevertheless, the
Handmaids completely lost their names. Instead, they were named after their
Commander Offred, Ofglen, etc. This showed that they were seen as
possessions of their Commanders and as nothing more. Whenever a Handmaid
had served her time at a particular posting, a new one would come, who would
go about with the same name. The Handmaids were possessions that could be
easily traded for another when they were unable to fulfil their purpose. In
addition, everyone had to wear clothes according to their function. Wives dressed
in blue, the Marthas wore green and the Handmaids had to wear red. The poor
Econowives a portmanteau of economic and wife fulfilled all three positions
and thus dressed in all three colours. There was no room for individuality they
were their function, and nothing else. This deprivation of their identity made it
hard to make a difference in a society where everyone was considered the same.
Whenever one would rebel, they would be exchanged for someone else and no
one knew what would have happened to the rebellious ones. This lack of
individuality made it difficult to track down allies and it dissuaded unbelievers
from rebelling. They realised it would be no use they would be replaced and no
one would be likely to find out what would have happened to them. So, this was
another effective method of the authorities to restrain the women especially the
Handmaids.
In conclusion, the Gileadean authorities effectively silenced the female
inhabitants. They accomplished this through three main deprivations: the women
lost their rights, friends and family, and their identity. By taking away all they had
jobs, voting rights, freedom of expression, the right to read and write the
authorities made sure they had no proper way to communicate. By ensuring that
the women had no contact with their loved ones, the authorities created a new,
unknown environment. The women had no idea who to trust and were less likely
to form alliances. Finally, by taking away their identity, the authorities dissuaded
the women from rebelling. It was hard to track down allies and rebellious
Handmaids could easily be replaced. So, these losses made sure that the women
would keep quiet and thus the authorities effectively silenced the female
Gileadeans.

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Works cited
Written task 1:
How to Write About Africa by Binyavanga Wainaina, published in Granta: The
View from Africa, issue 92.
Written task 2:
The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, published by Vintage 1996.