Sermo in circulis
est liberior.
‫دائرة‬
‫القلم‬
Issue n° 38 – March-May 2016
Journal of the Department of English
Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Beni Mellal, Morocco.
Editor: Dr. Khalid Chaouch.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Editorial: Participation is Golden...
Pedagogical Page: The Colonial and the Pastoral in William
Shakespeare‟s The Tempest …
Pen Circle Prize Winners (2015/2016)…
“Foreign Journalism in Pre-protectorate Morocco: An Overview”
by Elhoussaine AAMMARI, SLCE Master (2014-2015) …
“A Bloodless Revolution” by Mohamed EL BAKAL, SLCE Master
(2015-2016)…
“Disability Lies in One‟s Own Mind…” by Assma MOUJANE,
Semester 5 (Literary & Cultural Studies Option)…
“The Marsh” by Abdelhakim ELMOENE, Semester 5
(Linguistics Option) …
Report on the International Conference on “Shakespeare:
Critical Perspectives Past and Present” (29-30 March 2016) …
Proverbs of the Moment: Law in English Popular Wisdom …
My Pungent Quotations: Thus Spoke Noam CHOMSKY…
Crosswords N° 38...
Add Two Letters …
Clues to Crosswords N° 37…
Courses Framework of the Spring Term (Semesters 2, 4, and 6)…
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 Pen Circle
Sultan Moulay Slimane University
Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Department of English
BP. 524, Beni Mellal, Morocco.
[email protected]
https://sites.google.com/a/usms.ma/pen-circle/
Pen Circle is also available at www.flshbm.ma
Publications
Editorial Board
Dr. Mly. Lmustapha MAMAOUI, Dr. Mohamed RAKII, Dr. Redouan SAÏDI.
Pen Circle n° 38
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EDITORIAL
Participation is Golden
During the current academic year, the English Department at
the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Beni Mellal has witnessed
the organizing of various scientific and cultural activities:
- A meeting between Students of the English Department in
Beni Mellal and students from different American Universities,
organized by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Beni Mellal,
and Dar America in September 2015
- A National Conference on “The Problematic of Difference
in Language, Culture and Society”, organized by the Research
Laboratory in Culture and Communication in October 2015
- Pen Circle Prize for Mellali Writers in English (See p. 5).
- An International Conference on “Shakespeare: Critical
Perspectives Past and Present”, also organized by the Research
Laboratory in Culture and Communication in March 2016 (See
pp. 12-13 on this issue).
In all these activities, we have had the pleasure to see that
many students had a good participating feedback. The events
offered them certainly the opportunity to express themselves and
to try and exercise their own creative, communicative and
intellectual potential and skills. One of the most important goals
of such scientific and creative events was indeed to offer students
these opportunities and to help them express themselves in
English in different situations. It goes without saying that the aim
of the English Department curricula and activities is to endow
students with the necessary tools and skills to express
themselves, to communicate efficiently, and to excel in scientific,
cultural and creative domains. Landing a job in any sector will
rely heavily on the mastering of these skills and abilities.
It seems, however, that some students did not get this
message and rather showed a passive feedback. They have either
been absent or they attended activities without the least feedback.
It will be difficult to speculate on the possible reasons of the lack
of participation among some students both in in-class discussions
and in scientific and creative activities; but it is still time to
remind them of some considerations on the importance of
participation.
…/…
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In the life of students around the world, „silence is NOT
golden.‟ The very nature of this Department, which is devoted to
the mastering of English as the lingua franca of the present
world, presupposes the active and communicative feedback of
learners. There is no language learning without practicing inside
and outside class. This is a factor that is supposed to induce
students to seize any opportunity of communicating in English.
Students have the full right get their own attitudes and to
express them in class or in their creative works. English
Romantic poet once said: “I must create a system, or be enslaved
by another man's.” This can perfectly apply to many situations
including the contexts of learning and creative writing. Once you
decline your own responsibility and your fundamental right of
participation, somebody else will speak on your behalf, and you
will then assume the consequences of things and attitudes that
you didn‟t participate in making.
One of the immediate impacts of the lack of participation on
the part of some students is the negative impression that the
teachers will have on them. When assessing students, some
professors consider this passive feedback as a personal drawback
and content themselves with having a „negative impression‟ on
the learner; others may consider participation as part and parcel
of the grading system. In the latter case, the grading of leaners
will certainly be affected either positively or negatively, pending
on the degree of participation of each one of them.
To conclude, students‟ contribution in the different activities
of academia is fundamental, for without it, no activity could have
been possible.
Granted, what we have done is in no way
satisfactory; probably we should have done much more and
better. When we think about the world‟s inexorable changes and
the challenges awaiting the Moroccan University as a whole and
the English Departments in particular, we feel that there is still a
lot to be done. It is clear that all the components of our Faculty of
Arts and Humanities should put clear and purposeful programs
aiming at diversifying their scientific, pedagogical, and cultural
activities for the sake of more participation and more
involvement on the part of all students.
Khalid CHAOUCH
Pen Circle n° 38
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Pedagogical Page
The Colonial and the Pastoral in
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest
Caliban may derive his name from a simple anagram of „cannibal‟, and the
contrasts with the drunken sailors and with the corrupt Antonio reflect so
favourably upon him. Some of the nobility and generosity attributed to primitive
chieftains in war also seem to have rubbed off on Prospero. But in other aspects
Shakespeare‟s point of view is more complex…: Gonzalo‟s raptures are treated
ironically, and Caliban, in his brutality and cunning, is scarcely an idealised
representation of the savage. To Montaigne‟s comparisons between the virtues
of primitivism and the vices of civilization Shakespeare adds a series of
contrasts between the base instincts of untutored nature and the higher values of
a life ordered by reason and honour.
In Renaissance literature these ideas were particularly associated with the
pastoral convention, and Professor Kermode has argued convincingly that The
Tempest is primarily a pastoral play, composed on the theme of Nature and Art.
In this context, „Art‟ embraces all aspects of man‟s endeavour to improve on
Nature, not competing with her, but co-operating in order to sustain a life
worthy of his rational and nature. Civilisation, government, and the values of
society, breeding, education, and virtue, are achieved by Art. Thus Prospero‟s
magic powers, which Miranda calls his „art‟, are seen as the human
improvement of nature, raised to its highest level; his control over the spirits of
the earth, air, and water is derived from his learning and virtue, unlike that of
the witch Sycorax, whose powers were diabolical. Thus, too, Miranda and
Ferdinand are contrasted with Caliban, since their royal blood gives them an
innate nobility lacking in the monstrous offspring of a witch and a demon;
while, on the other hand, Antonio and Sebastian show how nobler birth may be
betrayed by unnatural vices. Caliban is uneducable, as Prospero realises, but
Antonio‟s breeding makes him the more dangerous enemy; Caliban will sue for
mercy, but Antonio remains unreconciled. By means of parallels and contrasts
of this kind the carefully balanced structure of The Tempest expresses the
traditional concern of pastoral with the antithesis of primitive and sophisticated
planes of existence. The pastoral convention itself is a product of this duality,
being essentially a highly artificial image of an ideal simplicity.
The Tempest is consequently a very subtle composition of realism and fantasy.
From one point of view it is a topical play closely related to the discovery of the
New World and to the literature of colonialism. At the same time it derives frim;
then world of folk-tale and make-believe, being a romantic story of a magician
and his daughter the princess, with the inevitable happy ending. It is both a
charming entertainment, full of music and stage-spectacle, and a serious
philosophical drama employing the concepts of its day in distinguishing virtue‟s
true simplicity from baseness and deception.
Reference: D. J. Palmer (ed.) Shakespeare, The Tempest. A Casebook. London:
Macmillan, 1968, pp. 15-16.
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Pen Circle Prize for Mellali Writers in English
List of Awardees
(2015/2016)
This year we have received a limited number of attempts, a fact that
probably shows that we haven‟t done enough efforts to raise all students‟
awareness about the possibility of expressing themselves in creative writing
and the importance of participating in this competition. It was difficult to
choose the best among the attempts we have received. They are all the best, in
fact, and each one of them makes the difference. But some choice had to be
made. The number of winners this year is four: 2 from Master studies and 2
from Semester 5 (from both „Literary & Cultural Studies‟ and „Linguistics‟
options). So the four winners of Pen Circle Prize for the current academic
year (2015/2016) are:
- Elhoussaine AAMMARI, SLCE Master (2014-2015), for his short paper
“Foreign Journalism in Pre-protectorate Morocco: An Overview” (pp. 0507 on this issue) and for his valuable contributions to Pen Circle issues.
- Mohamed EL BAKAL, SLCE Master (2015-2016), for his short story “A
Bloodless Revolution” (pp. 08-09)
- Assma MOUJANE, Semester 5 (Literary & Cultural Studies Option), for
her short story “Disability Lies in One’s Own Mind…” (pp. 10-11)
- Abdelhakim ELMOENE, Semester 5 (Linguistics Option), for his short
story “The Marsh” (p. 14)
As usual, and for creative reasons, we have reprinted the contributions as they
were submitted (except for some slight corrections).
Congratulation, winners! Good Luck to other candidates in the next prize!
--- * --- * --- * --- * --- * --- * --- * --- * ---
Foreign Journalism in Pre-protectorate Morocco:
An Overview
In his introduction to his magnum opus, Culture and Imperialism (1993),
Edward W. Said, one of the leading critics of his generation, a pundit in
Comparative Literature and a rare example of an American academician,
elucidates the intrinsic relationship between culture and empire. Said
focuses mainly on some metropolitan cultural forms such as novels and
travelogues which are quintessentially important in formulating the …/…
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attitudes, references and experiences. He dwells upon how such genres
(fictional and non-fictional) relentlessly contributed to energizing the myth
of empire during the heyday of imperialism, and how some novelists,
dramatists, travel writers and painters, etc. regard themselves as the
emissaries of civilization as a subterfuge for hegemony and empire.
In a similar vein, I will focus in this article upon the role of journalism in
enhancing and sparking off the expansion of empire in the Land of the
Sunset or the Farthest West as an outlying and peripheral territory in the
light of some Western newspapers that really granted the ideological fodder
for imperial conquest. Most of the newspapers that were published in
Morocco before the French protectorate practiced a kind of anthropological
war upon Moroccans and their culture, an approach that Jacques Derrida
renders as the “violence of the letter,” a violence “of difference, of
classification, and of the system of appellations” (Of Grammatology 176).
In his The Rhetoric of Empire, David Spurr perceives this anthropological
approach/ knowledge as leading finally to domination, becoming thus an
aspect of colonial discourse. It includes “the discourses of colonialism as
produced in such forms as imaginative literature, journalism, travel writing,
ethnographic description, historiography, political speeches, administrative
documents, and status of law” (4).
The British travel writer and historian, Budgett Meakin, believes that
without the publication of daily events, societies such as those in Western
Barbary will “consist of ignorant, stupid slaves” ( The Moorish Empire
533). He goes on to aver that the existence of the printing press is crucial in
imparting „history‟ as it is, without being extrapolated by and prone to its
receiver‟s whims:
The absence of the printing press- the absence of everything in the shape
of a newspaper- causes the history of the place to be washed away by the
waves of the time, and the only record of the place is found in the records of
passing visitors, who must necessarily tinge his story from his standpoint or
clothe his account in the borrowed colours of his informant. (The Moorish
Empire 533, emphasis original)
According to Meakin, the initiation of journalism in Morocco can be
attributed to Mr. Gregory T. Abrines, who established the first newspaper in
Morocco, Al-moghreb Al-aksa, in 1883:
To Mr. Gregory T. Abrines, originally of Gibraltar, is due the honour of
introducing the Press into this Empire. The first printing office was opened
by him in 1880s, and on January 28th, 1883, he established the first
newspaper in Morocco, Al-moghreb Al-aksa, which continues under his
direction. It was at first a Spanish weekly, but its title is the Arabic for “The
Far West,” the native name of this country. In March 1893 it was
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amalgamated with The Times of Morocco- from the direction of which the
writer then retired- and it has since appeared in English. (Ibid. 533-34)
Journalism is of paramount importance for Budgett Meakin as it is the
world compass that guides people in the world: “A century ago "a late
eloquent writer remarked that „the ancients did not, like Archimedes, want a
spot on which to fix their engines, but they wanted an engine to move the
moral world.‟ The press is that engine!”(533, emphasis in origin). With the
press established, notably by only French, British, and Spanish nationals
acting hypothetically in the interests of Moroccans, “a better state
exists…and through its means the outside world is learning of the immense
natural advantages possessed by Morocco and of the great disadvantages
under which it labours”(The Moorish Empire 533).
The following newspapers are the commonest in the Preprotectorate
Morocco, and which underpinned and buttressed the mechanisms of empire.
 The first printing office was opened by Gregory T. Abrines in 1880s,
and on January 28th, 1883, he established the first newspaper in Morocco,
Al-moghreb Al-aksa, which continued under his direction. This newspaper
was first a Spanish weekly. In March 1893, it was fused with The Times of
Morocco.
 The second paper which was set up in Moroccan territory was the
French weekly Le Réveil du Maroc in July 14th, 1883 under the edition of
the naturalized British proprietor, Levi A. Cohen.
 In the 1880s, Edward E. Meakin sojourned in Morocco in search of
the pristine and the atavistic amongst Moroccans as well as of a refuge for
his health. During his peregrination, he established a newspaper which was
entitled The Times of Morocco on July 5th, 1883. On the grounds of health
problems, Edward Meakin paved the way for his son, Budgett Meakin, to
be the manager and the editor of The Times.
 In early 1886, another newspaper under the title El Eco Mouritano, a
Spanish weekly, was set up in Tangier by the British subject, Augustin
Lugaro, in cooperation with and assistance of his colleague, Isaac Laredo.
…/…
References
Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology. Trans. Gaytari Chakravotry Spivak.
Baltimore: Johns Hobkins UP, 1976.
Meakin, Budgett. The Moorish Empire: A Historical Epitome. London: Swan
Sonnenschein & Co, LIM, 1895.
Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. London: Vintage Books, 1994.
Spurr, David. The Rhetoric of Empire: Colonial Discourse in Travel Writing and
Imperial Administration. London: Duke UP, 1993.
Elhoussaine AAMMARI
Pen Circle n° 38
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Pen Circle Prize Winners
A Bloodless Revolution
It came to pass after decades of corruption, oppression, injustice,
famines, civil wars and slow death that the people of the kingdom of
Erigolia revolted against the tyrant Suldra, the last Sulesian king. The true
revolution started with secret meetings of the Oldecia Oniahar, a group of
learned and wise young men who were known for their faithfulness to their
kingdom and their people. Alecor Justman was the leader of this
brotherhood. He was the eldest and wisest among the Oniahar as well as a
mighty warrior, but he had never favored war. They used to meet in a
secret cave deep in the mountains of Sardoron, a deserted land to the
south of Erigolia. There they would discuss the inhuman circumstances of
their miserable people and how they could make things better.
Ashtin Blackmont and Julian Dondarrion, Alecor’s lifelong best
friends, had always had the idea of revolution in their minds, but Alecor
had always been against it. The latter did not want to put innocent lives at
stake. He did not want to turn Erigolia into a battlefield. It had already
been torn apart by bloody civil wars for the past two hundred years. In fact,
a lot of brave and faithful men had rebelled before and tried to overthrow
the Sulesians, but all their struggles had been in vain since the Sulesians
were so powerful and had spies and whisperers everywhere, thwarting any
movement of resistance to their rule.
However, the absolute power of the King stemmed from the support
of the Nimala, the high priests of Hollor the alleged Creator. The Nimala
convinced the Erigolians at first that Striath first of his name and first of the
Sulesian dynasty was Hollor’s chosen one and that he had been sent from
Vorelia – heaven – to rule on the deity’s behalf. Thus Striath was given full
authority to do with the people whatsoever he wished. In fact, this was the
most deceitful fraud in the history of Ardecia. Be that as it may, the people
loathed Suldra as never before. They had lost faith in Hollor long ago. All
they needed was someone brave and strong enough to draw the first blood
and spark off a rebellion, somebody to lead them to peace, justice and,
most importantly, freedom. The voice of revolution echoed in the
heartbeat of Erigolians, burning to be heard.
After much debate and controversy, the Oniahar convinced Alecor to
lead them through this ordeal. He said, “I do not favor war and bloodshed,
but I know that the path to freedom is not that easy! For my friends, my
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beloved ones and my people, I will drown the tyrant and his hounds in
blood!” Ashtin and Julian cried, «to freedom, or to death!” The Oniahar
had friends and allies who believed in their cause everywhere, they were
ready to help them free their people. Consequently, messengers were
dispatched to Kollion of Buremia to ask for support. Indeed, the Oniahar
received a positive answer and were invited to the halls of King Kollion.
The latter was an honorable and fair man; his people had so much love
and affection for him. This is why he was called Kollion the Great. He
abhorred the deceitful Suldra and his corrupt evil family. It is said that he
was Alecor’s grandfather, Antorn's disciple and that they had fought the
Seven Days Battle in the far east of Galardop side by side during the
Rilonian invasion.
Alecor and his army secretly rode to Buremia. Upon arrival, they
started the war preparations. Their plan was to besiege the stronghold of
Suldra and not waste any innocent life. They were counting on the surprise
factor. Anyhow, Alecor and the Oniahar marched to Erigolia with three
thousand fierce Buremian soldiers who could raze a fortress to the ground
in the blink of an eye. The tyrant’s terrified whisperers saw the ferocious
giant warriors coming out of the mists of Sardoron and ran to warn their
master, but it was too late. Suldra was not prepared and rebellion was the
last thing he had expected. He had two options: either escape or face the
unknown. The rebel forces besieged Suldra’s walled stronghold. His forces
offered no resistance. Goran, the commander-in-chief of the Erigolian
army, ordered his soldiers: “Let them in, and drop your weapons!” Alecor
rushed to the tyrant’s hall, kicked the golden large doors, then entered.
Ashtin and Julian followed him, they unsheathed their glittering swords; no
one was there. Suldra, the coward, had fled. Everybody started crying,
“Freedom! Freedom!” Goran bowed to Alecor and said, “Long live our
savior, Alecor Justman! I have just realized how powerless we are. We
were subdued by a coward all these years!” In fact, the Erigolian soldiers
had never been loyal to Suldra. They had simply been terrorized by his
tyranny and ill will. They loathed him more than anything else in Ardecia.
After all, the Oldecia Oniahar and the people of Erigolia wanted to crown
Alecor king, but he declined the honor at first because he was not
interested in kingship. After much insistence, Alecor yielded to the
people’s will and was declared King of Erigolia.
Mohamed EL BAKAL (SLCE Master 2015/2016)
Pen Circle n° 38
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Pen Circle Prize Winners
Disability Lies in One’s Own Mind…
Living in the bosom of her family was such a blessing. She was considered
one of the luckiest girls among her peers, the wealthiest and the prettiest, usually
being envied because of her family‟s support and assistance. But all these
advantages she had could not rescue her from being depressed, for depression
had always haunted her and put her frail spirit down. As years passed by too
quickly, she was growing and becoming more aware of her situation: a young,
beautiful girl who cannot walk, always sticking to that wheelchair. The latter was
her faithful company; it never let her down though she abhorred it profoundly.
Her parents tried by all means to make her an operation, but in vain: Her case
was pointless. After so many attempts, they gave in at last, and they, instead,
tried to compensate for her insufficiency by their devotion and money; money
helped her extremely to live her misery in a more comfy way.
That summer, when she turned eighteen, her family decided that she had to
major in a private school of art since she had always resorted to painting and
expressing through colors and pictures. Moreover, she was a sensitive person,
and she had a huge sense of art. Her parents were very much enthusiastic when
they received back a letter of approval. They were quite delighted more than her.
She was, on the one hand, careless, on the other hand, upset. She just got in the
habit of being told what to do since even moving her body was almost
impossible…
When classes started, she was not that interested. Most of the time, she kept
silent and introverted, until that day. While she was attending a Portrait-drawing‟
class, her attention was interestingly caught by her mistress. A quite old, tall and
blind woman, yet a happy, active and satisfied one! The girl was astonished by
the way her mistress entered the classroom, the way she greeted her students,
and the way she seated on her desk. She started her lesson by introducing some
general facts about drawing faces. The more she explained, the more the girl is
attracted to her. Her voice is different, her posture, and even her smile. “A
different species she is”, the girl reckoned. When the practical part of the lesson
came, the girl was more taken aback; the fact that the blind teacher could draw
them faces professionally without seeing them seemed to her the greatest
achievement! The way she moved her hands over the pictures, how smooth, how
real her movements were! At the end of the lesson, she went straight to her, she
got the adequate courage to ask her how she did it, even thought she had never
had the strength to ask people, may be because the teacher was blind; this fact
was enough for her to feel comfortable at asking. She asked her indecisively;
however, the teacher replied cheerfully, “It is all a matter of sensations, feelings,
and emotions: things that are very deep, indeed, very deep in ones‟ soul!” The
girl was quite bewildered by that statement; she was not able to grasp its
meaning fully. She winced her face out of an obvious lack of understanding, the
mistress smiled as if she saw it or felt it and added, “Well, dear student, mind
you if I draw your portrait?” At that moment she was more confused but
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reflective, “How can she paint me if she can‟t see me?!” That was, mainly, the
question that moved the girl to this state of wonder. The teacher raised her hands
firmly and with the top of her slight fingers touched the girl‟s face; eyes and
eyelids, forehead, hair, ears, nose, mouth and chin. Then she took a pen and a
white paper and started painting her smoothly, with much profession and
concentration. The girl was sitting on her wheelchair, setting her eyes on her
teacher‟s white, beautiful hands, and mediating about how talented that woman
was. It didn‟t take more than five minutes and her picture was done, a complete
reflection of her face. She couldn‟t speak for a moment, but she uttered at last,
“You are a talented teacher ma‟am.” Then she answered, “Every person has got
some talent. It is just a question of whether he is able to discover it and
investigate in it or not.” The girl bowed her head and uttered painfully, “But
sometimes there are some rough circumstances that prevent this talent from
coming into life… I used to dream to become a football player, but I couldn‟t
and I wouldn‟t!”
- “What prevented you?”
- “I am disabled; I cannot walk ma‟am!”
The mistress remained silent for a while, looking far away, and then said, “I
dreamt of being a wrestler, but I couldn‟t make it; I am a blind woman as you
can see, yet I could manage being a drawer, an artist and I could draw wrestlers!
See what I mean, there are plenty of things that keep ones alive and happy with
his life even if he cannot reach all his wishes. In addition, if you cannot change
something forget about it and focus on something that will bring you happiness.”
There was a silence then she advanced, “It is not the end of life if you cannot
walk, you still can think and imagine, right? Well, just look around you, you still
young, fresh and talented, I can feel! Your destiny is in your hands, and you are
the one who can help you!” The girl felt something that she couldn‟t understand,
but she kept looking at the woman‟s complexion, admiring her heavenly beauty,
her gracious smile and her honest words, or so she felt!
At these precious words, she said farewell to her mistress and went back to
her house. At dinner, she was quiet and thoughtful, at night, she couldn‟t sleep.
For the first time she started thinking about the reason for her living, and why
did she exist. She lighted on the lamp, leaned against her pillow gently, took a
white paper and a black pencil and started writing down the following
words: disability lies in one‟s own mind! And then went to sleep peacefully…
The following morning she was the most cheerful, excited and ready to attend
her classes. It was like a pre-existed attitude that had already lived within her
inner self, but couldn‟t be raised up until now. In fact, it was the desire of living,
the passion for succeeding, and the challenge of hardships. Those were words
she always heard but never felt their true meaning. However, now she could feel
them clearly and want to taste them badly, holding one strong voice inside her:
disability lies in one‟s own mind…
Assma MOUJANE
Semester: 5, Literary & Cultural Studies Option (2015-2016).
Pen Circle n° 38
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RLCC Activities
Report on the International Conference on
“Shakespeare: Critical Perspectives Past and Present”
(Beni Mellal, 29-30 March 2016)
On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare‟s death, the
Research Laboratory on Culture and Communication (RLCC)
organized an International Conference on “Shakespeare: Critical
Perspectives Past and Present” on 29-30 March 2016 at the Faculty of
Arts and Humanities, Beni Mellal.
The panelists, who came from England, France, and five national
universities (Casablanca, El-Jadida, Meknes, Oujda and Beni Mellal)
approached the issues of the Conference from different perspectives.
The presentations triggered heated debates and elicited pertinent
questions and comments from the audience.
Professors and researchers from the University of Sultan Moulay
Slimane, Beni Mellal, contributed to this important event with the
following papers:
Rachid ACIM:
“The Untranslatability of Shakespeare‟s Poetry on Love.”
Rachid AGLIZ:
“The Conceptualization of the Tragic Hero in Hamlet.”
Noreddine BOURIMA:
“Translating Shakespeare: Confronting Diversity.”
Khalid CHAOUCH:
“Two Cosmologies – One Shakespeare.”
Hamid MASFOUR:
“Shakespeare‟s Humanism Revisited: the Case of The Merchant of
Venice.”
Farida MOKHTARI:
“Shakespeare's Famous Quotes.”
…/…
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Laila SOUGRI:
“Hamlet‟s Madness: a Postmodern Condition.”
Mohamed Sghir SYAD:
“Charivari in The Merry Wives of Windsor.”
This International Conference was a real success, and a selection of the
presented papers will be considered for publication in the next issue of
Middle Ground, Journal of the Research Laboratory on Culture and
Communication.
English Department Activities
The Department of English at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences,
Beni Mellal, in collaboration with Dar America, Casablanca, organized in
September 2015 a meeting of cultural exchange and dialogue between
students of the English Department in Beni Mellal and students of different
Universities in the United States of America.
Intercultural Youth Dialogue
On April 8th, 2016, 23 American university Students visited Beni Mellal in
a cultural expedition organized by AMIDEAST in Rabat in collaboration
with Al Kawtar Schools in Beni Mellal. The aim of their visit was to
discover more about Moroccan culture in small cities and neighbouring
rural areas. For the purpose of exchanging ideas on cultures and experiences
in social and educational fields, the visiting American students met and
engaged in deep dialogue and debates with Moroccan students from Sultan
Moulay Slimane University and Al-Kawtar High School. Such a valuable
meeting of youth was hosted by Al-Kawtar High School in Beni Mellal and
facilitated by Collen Daley, an AMIDEAST official, with the valuable
contribution of Mr Ilmen Mohamed, the inaugurating manager of Al Kawtar
School, Mr. Abderrahman Mhirik and Mr. Jaafari – CPGE Professors of
French and English respectively.
Pen Circle n° 38
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Pen Circle Prize Winners
The Marsh
My sight fell upon the green heavenly meadow that
stretched far and below; before me lay huge rocks with steep hills
here and there. As I descended, minding carefully where I sat
foot .In and out amongst big roughly cut stones, ran a dire
passage that went steeply downhill. Amazed by the beauty of the
scene, my efforts to reach the promised land – the one where
grass is green, dinner is warm, and rights are given not taken –
seemed endless, as if it was my life I was striving to reach...
I came safely down, barely with a breath, barely with a self,
for I had consumed all strength I had; I soon lost sight and my
mind swept in the maze of what once seemed big and beautiful...
It was now paved with complexities and distracting details; A
strange feeling of remorse and regret came over me, as I began to
realize that I was deceived.
I fell in great distress to know that I was tempted to run after
false promises, that I was lured to follow a dream that was not
even mine. Suddenly, beauty turned into ugliness, cool air into
hot breeze, and I found myself in a marsh, knee-deep in black
waters and rotten leaves and plants, with their filthy seeds that
floated on the surface like millions of black stars swimming in
the space of the universe.
It seemed that every step I took was a mistake; the further I
went the deeper my feet plunged down below into the mud. I felt
paralyzed with fear that this very thought would be my last, but
deep inside I knew I had still some strength left to rise from the
ashes of the fire I myself set; I knew that whatever the reason I'm
here for, it is what should take me back home...
Abdelhakim ELMOENE,
Semester 5, Linguistics Option (2015-2016)
Pen Circle n° 38
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English Proverbs of the Moment
LAW
in English Popular Wisdom
 Ignorance of the law excuses no man.
 Everyone is held to be innocent until he is












proved guilty.
A bad custom is like a good cake, better
broken than kept.
Many lords, many laws.
Laws catch flies but let hornets go free.
Little thieves are hanged, but great ones
escape.
Where drums beat, laws are silent.
Wrong laws make short governance.
A lean agreement is better than a fat law.
Go to law for a sheep and lose your cow.
A good lawyer, an evil neighbour.
A lawyer never goes to law himself.
You cannot make people honest by an Act
of Parliament.
A penny-weight of love is worth a pound of
law.
Pen Circle n° 38
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Pungent Quotations
In this column, we present a selection of quotations by prominent figures of art,
literature, politics, history, philosophy, science, etc.
Thus Spoke … Noam CHOMSKY
Noam Chomsky (b. 1928) is a US political theorist and activist, and institute
professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Besides his work in linguistics, Chomsky is internationally recognized as one of
the most critically engaged public intellectuals alive today. Chomsky continues to
be an unapologetic critic of both American foreign policy and its ambitions for
geopolitical hegemony and the neoliberal turn of global capitalism, which he
identifies in terms of class warfare waged from above against the needs and
interests of the great majority. Chomsky is also an incisive critic of the
ideological role of the mainstream corporate mass media, which, he maintains,
“manufactures consent” toward the desirability of capitalism and the political
powers supportive of it. (Garland, 2009)
“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” [Sentence to illustrate
grammatical structure as independent of meaning.]
“If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years
ago, either the field is dead or you are.”
“If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we
despise, we don't believe in it at all.”
“The major advances in speed of communication and ability
to interact took place more than a century ago. The shift from
sailing ships to telegraph was far more radical than that from
telephone to email!”
“Everyone who is critical of Israeli policy is deluged by
crazed messages intended to flood their email system or, more
insidiously, passwords are accessed and messages sent out
under their name! I'm sure it's illegal. It's also an effort to
undermine free speech.”
“The intellectual tradition is one of servility to power, and if
I didn't betray it I'd be ashamed of myself.”
.../...
Pen Circle n° 38
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“Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well,
there's a really easy way: stop participating in it.”
“Changes and progress very rarely are gifts from above.
They come out of struggles from below.”
“Language is a process of free creation; its laws and
principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of
generation are used is free and infinitely varied. Even the
interpretation and use of words involves a process of free
creation.”
“The internet could be a very positive step towards
education, organisation and participation in a meaningful
society.”
“If there was an observer on Mars, they would probably be
amazed that we have survived this long.”
“There are very few people who are going to look into the
mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead,
they make up some construction that justifies what they do.”
“Nationalism has a way of oppressing others.”
“Free speech has been used by the Supreme Court to give
immense power to the wealthiest members of our society.”
References:
Cohen, J. M. and M. J. Cohen. The Penguin Dictionary of Modern
Quotations. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1980.
Garland, Christian. “Noam Chomsky” in International Encyclopedia of
Revolution and Protest, Immanuel Ness, ed., Blackwell Publishing,
2009. Web.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com
Selected by Khalid Chaouch.
Pen Circle n° 38
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CROSSWORDS (N° 38)
1- The Bard of Avon. 2- Post Adjutant – “The … League” is a group of famous
universities in the North Atlantic region of the USA – 60 seconds – The Almighty.
3- “One …. a day keeps the doctor away” – Double consonants – An empty space. 4Military Police – To bring a legal action against someone in a court of law – Find it
in „rein’. 5- A monosyllabic answer – Faults. 6- A model verb – A doctrine or a
theory. 7- The cruellest month of T. S. Eliot. 8- A Shakespearean play on a Roman
emperor. 9- A determinant used in negative statements, questions and conditional
clauses – A fairly shallow dish – Lots of laugh! 10- A preposition – A gymnasium.
11- A Shakespearean tragedy in which the title character is a noble Moor – Find it in
„aero’. 12- Double vowels – An offensive word formerly used to designate an AfroAmerican. 13- A Shakespearean tragedy in which the title character is a Scottish
general who is goaded by his ambitious wife and kills the king to gain the crown for
himself – Persons legally entitled to inherit. 14- A Shakespearean tragedy in which
the title character is a Danish prince who avenges the murder of his father – Any
long story of adventure or heroic deeds.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J K L M
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
A- Undesired mail – A chief or prince in India – I exist. B- Delighted or
cheerful – The humorous use of a word or words. C- Ahead of time – Technology.
D- Assassinates – Double vowels – Queen who visited King Solomon. E- Poetic
word for „evening’ – A heavy stick used as a weapon – Engineer of mines. F- Find it
in „Syria’ – Large body of salt water – Psyche or spirit – Phone. G- To set on fire –
Rest room (reversed) – Singular pronoun. H- A glowing piece of coal or wood from
fire – Any large room or hall designed for receptions. I- Indefinite article – Find it in
„oil‟ – An interjection sound expressing doubt or surprise. J- Two components of a
couplet, or four components of a quatrain – Eras or periods. K- Narcissism – North
African country. L- Find it in „coil‟ –Greek legendary city – Internet domain for
organizations and institutions. M- An addicted person – The current higher
education system in Morocco – The country of „Bafana Bafana‟.
Pen Circle n° 38
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Add Two Letters
.
.
Add two letters to each of the following words (in any place) to form a
new word. A clue is given for each word to help you:
Example: Age…Eager… Keen
1- AID………………….…fast
2- ALE………………….…part of the body
3- DOOR……………….. A profession
4- EAR……………… very exhausted
5- PAD………………….a gardening tool
6- PEER…………………..often added to foot
7- WIT……………………..another part of the body
8- RED………………….….avarice
9- LUST…………………….an insect
10- ROW…………………a weapon, often used by American Indians.
11- LAY…………………. Tall and thin
12- WON………………..erroneous
13- CASE………………… a strongly built building used for defense
14- CANE………………… used to give light a long time ago
15- PEA………………… a form of musical entertainment
16- HEAT………………… something money can‟t buy
Suggested by Elhoussaine AAMMARI,
SLCE Master Unit (2013-2015)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
Clues to ‘CROSSWORDS’ N° 37
B C D E F G H I J K L M
B
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A
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M
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S
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M
E
T
O
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W
R
O
T
E
A
N
A
A
B
U
C
S
E
D
A
R
W
A M
L
I A R
O L A
V
L
T
Y
A
R
N
A
E
Y
U
A
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L
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M
P
I T E
G
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O
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D
Pen Circle n° 38
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Sultan Moulay Slimane University
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Department of English
Beni Mellal - Morocco
Filière of English Studies – Spring Term Semesters
M08
M09
M10
M11
M12
M13
M14
Semester
Languages
Reading
Oral
Readings
Business
Comprehension Composition Grammar Communicain
Communica- II:
and Précis 2
1
2
tion
Culture
tion
Arabic
2
M21
M22
M23
M24
M25
M26
Semester
Introduction Advanced Introduction Introduction Introduction Translation
to
Composition
to
to Media
to Cultural Ar./Eng./Ar.
Literature
Linguistics
Studies
Studies
4
Semester
6
Literary
&
Cultural
Studies
Stream
M33
M34
M35
M36
M37
M38
Novel 2
Theatre
Literary
Criticism
Cultural
Theory
Research
Project
Research
Project
Semester
M33
M34
M35
M36
M37
M38
Discourse
Analysis
Semantics
and
Pragmatics
MorphoSyntax 2
English
Language
Teaching
Research
Project
Research
Project
6
Linguistics
Stream