INTRODUCTION TO GENRES OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION TO GENRES OF LITERATURE Literature for Beginners

Prose

Academic writing

Drama

Poetry Véridique Ndahayo Sixte First Edition, 2018 i

Literature for Beginners

Preliminary Literature is knowledge of letter or letters whereby a literate person is referred to as someone with ability to write and read. In a layman’s language, it can be defined as any written material. Thus, there can be different types of literature such as Medical literature, Legal literature, Political literature which mean particular writings about such subjects.

It should be noted that such writings are only referred to as literature with ‘l’ while in academics we recognize Literature as a specific branch of the Arts. This Literature as an academic study is an artistic use of language for a more directed transmission of message.

This handbook has been arranged in the way that beginners “students” of Literature can understand the three genres of Literature. In addition, in order to assist the user of the handbook in their academic situation, a section of academic writing has been introduced part of this academic work. ii

Literature for Beginners

Table of Contents

Definition of Literature....................................... 1 Reasons of studying literature ............................ 2 FORMS OF LITERATURE .................................. 5 Written Literature ............................................... 5 Oral Literature .................................................... 5 Electronic Literature ........................................... 6 Graphic Literature .............................................. 6 INTRODUCTION TO THE GENRES OF LITERATURE ....................................................... 8 FICTION AND NONFICTION LITERATURE 8 Fiction Literature............................................. 8 Nonfiction Literature..................................... 11 The three main genres of Literature ................. 12 Prose .............................................................. 13 Drama ............................................................ 13 Poetry ............................................................ 14 INTRODUCTION TO PROSE ........................... 15 iii

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Forms of narratives ........................................... 15 Written Narratives ......................................... 15 Oral Narratives .............................................. 16 Classification of Oral Narratives .................. 16 Features of Oral Narratives ........................... 18 Relevance of storytelling or oral narratives .. 22 Qualities of a good storyteller ....................... 22 KEY ASPECTS OF PROSE ............................ 23 Plot and structure .......................................... 23 Types of plots ................................................ 23 Characterization ............................................ 25 Types of characters ....................................... 25 Theme ............................................................ 28 Message ......................................................... 29 Setting ........................................................... 29 Point of view ................................................. 31 Diction ........................................................... 33 Narrative Techniques .................................... 33 The title ......................................................... 35 Assessing the understanding1 .......................... 37 iv

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INTRODUCTION TO POETRY ........................ 41 TYPES OF POETRY ....................................... 42 Lyric Poetry................................................... 42 Narrative poetry ............................................ 44 Didactic Poetry .............................................. 45 Descriptive Poetry ......................................... 45 Dramatic Poetry ............................................ 45 Characteristics of Poetry................................... 45 Elements of Poetry ........................................... 46 Tone............................................................... 46 Speaker .......................................................... 47 The language of Poetry ..................................... 47 Use of figures of speech ................................ 47 Categories of figures of Speech .................... 48 Sound patterns .................................................. 52 Rhyme ........................................................... 52 Rhythm .......................................................... 57 Alliteration .................................................... 59 Consonance ................................................... 60 Assonance ..................................................... 61 v

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Function of Assonance .................................. 63 Repetition ...................................................... 63 The effect of repetition .................................. 64 Types of repetition ........................................ 64 Categories of poems ......................................... 68 Types of Themes ........................................... 70 Relationship between Poetry and songs ........... 71 Assessing the understanding2 .......................... 71 INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA ......................... 81 Elements of Drama ........................................... 82 Plot ................................................................ 82 Act ................................................................. 82 Scene ............................................................. 82 Stage directions ............................................. 82 Dialogue ........................................................ 83 Body Language ............................................. 83 Facial expressions ......................................... 83 Props .............................................................. 83 Lighting ......................................................... 84 DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES........................... 85 vi

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Techniques for Actors and Actor Directors .. 85 KEY ASPECTS OF DRAMA .......................... 96 Setting ........................................................... 96 Characters ...................................................... 97 Plot ................................................................ 98 The Dramatic plot structure .......................... 99 Assessing the understanding3 ........................ 103 INTRODUCTION TO WRITING..................... 105 Preliminary ..................................................... 105 Descriptive Writing ........................................ 106 Characteristics of a descriptive writing....... 106 ACADEMIC WRITING ................................ 108 Academic paper .............................................. 108 Structure of an academic paper ................... 108 INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY WRITERS 113 Preliminary ..................................................... 113 FRANCIS IMBUGA ...................................... 113 Betrayal In The City .................................... 114 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ......................... 117 Romeo and Juliet ......................................... 118 vii

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CHINUA ACHEBE........................................ 124 A Man of the People ....................................... 126 NGŨGĨ WA THIONG'O................................ 130 The River Between ......................................... 132 Weep Not Child, ............................................. 134 MARIAMA BÂ ................................................. 138 So Long a Letter .......................................... 140 APPENDIX .................................................... 146 Lexicon of Literature .................................. 146 Bibliography ................................................... 153

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INTRODUCTION TO GENRES OF LITERATURE Definition of Literature According to Bwalya L. (2006) the term Literature is a Latin word ‘litera’ which means writing. People who believe that definition would exhaust the whole body of literature assign any piece of writing that contains letters to be literature, hence there exist graphic Literature. Indeed, Literature does not necessarily need to be printed material to qualify to be literature.

Literature as a proper noun refers to a whole body of knowledge of literally writing, worldwide or relating to a specific culture (Wikipedia, 2008). This definition conquers with Hancock (2006) who states that literature is a body of written works: the body of written works of a culture, language, people or a period of time. This definition means that literature is something that is written and excludes possibilities of oral literature. One’s criticism about this definition would be that any historical and factual writing qualifies to be literature.

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It is preferable to maintain Iman Ja’far al Sadiq (702-765 AD), a Muslim scholar and philosopher’ s definition that stipulates that Literature is as a garment which one puts on what they say or write so that it may appear attractive. It is also an artistic interpretation of the world according to the percipient’s point of view. Therefore, Literature is the use of language but in a more stylistic and manner.

In his own words, Chinua Achebe claimed that literature whether handed down by word of mouth or in print gives a second handle on reality. It has both social and political importance. It is more than an ornament. ‘It enables us to encounter in the safe, manageable dimensions of make-believe the very same threats to integrity that may assail the psyche in real life; and at the same time providing weapon for coping with such threats in the world around us.’

(The Novelist as Teacher, collected in ‘Morning Yet on creation Day, 1975’).

Reasons of studying literature Literature defined as a study of human behavior in their society aims at communicating human experience in space and time has a number of relevance for being a subject of study: 2

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Literature is a social discipline. This should not be confused with the control of people’s behavior using rules and punishments. It is rather a subject of study which relates to the society in a more significant way. It represents the social experience of humanity in a given time and space. It unveils social behavior, beliefs and practices of people in a society.

Literature is important and necessary. It provides growth strengthens our minds and gives us the ability to think outside the box. It helps people cope with currents threats of life and plan for the future because it is built on foundations of the past or present. Therefore, it helps to foresee the future. For example, artists especially musicians have been taken to be seers. According to Chinua Achebe, it gives a necessary critical perspective on everyday experience.

Linguistic skills and vocabulary are broadened through the study of Literature. Reading, listening and watching literary works and performances enables the audience to get acquainted with new linguistic skills. Writers become so after having read a number of books. Even though literary language can be innate, it is also acquired. In addition to this, new vocabulary is got through 3

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reading or coming across where they have been used before.

In Literature man is analyzed in his socio-cultural, political, economic and religious activities. All Literature, whether poems, essays, novels, or short stories, helps us to address human conflicts which affect others. These may be solitude versus togetherness, sadness versus happiness, morning versus merriments, courage versus discouragement, peace versus wars, poverty versus fertility, and harmony versus discord.

Studying Literature forms one to appreciate others’ culture and beliefs. It relates with other academic disciplines such as history, anthropology, economics, philosophy, Politics Sociology and Religion. The perspective of any of these subjects used in any literary work allows the readers to understand and appreciate others’ culture. In fact, with Literature one moves from their own shell to discover the universe.

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FORMS OF LITERATURE While maintain the four forms, Literature has two main forms including Oral and written Literature.

Written Literature Written Literature is referred to as all written accounts. This the most conventional known form of Literature. It includes works as novels, plays, poetry, prose and newspapers among others. In order to get information one should use the sense of sight (eyes) while for transmission one uses Hands and written materials. This is a form which is mainly based on oral stories. Before man developed writing, information about people’s culture, traditions, values and histories was passed down in the form of oral Literature.

Oral Literature Oral Literature also known as Orature seems to be the oldest form of literature. This is because the information was spoken before being put into writing. It includes, folk tales told by the firesides in the evening, poetry recitations, incantations, and chants at cultural ceremonies. Traditionally, oral stories were committed to memory and then passed 5

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from generation to generation. Even though in literate societies, written and televised media have largely replaced this method of communicating, oral storytelling remains the dominant medium of learning in some countries with low literacy rates.

Electronic Literature This is a form of Literature which is transmitted electronically. It is generally considered to exclude print literature that has been digitalized. Therefore, a book that is originally in print form but is transformed into e-book is not an example of Electronic Literature. It encompasses works created exclusively on and for digital devices such as computers, tablets, and mobile phones. Examples comprise of films, movies, radios and television programmes. What makes electronic literature different from other types of Literature is that it is able to incorporate digital elements such as photos, music, etc. along with the text, which creates an interactive experience for the reader.

Graphic Literature This Literature that is in picture form. It includes such things like artifacts, paintings, cartoons, sculpture and others. A graphic literature- novel 6

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expresses a story using words and images, in that they are inseparable because without one or another, the reader would be lost. The total amount of text contained in a graphic novel is typically less than in a standard literature. The graphic literature gives less description about the place setting. For instance, there is no need to describe a forest or a city or the interior of a submarine, because it can show these things.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE GENRES OF LITERATURE These are also known as branches of Literature. A Literary genre is a classification of literary composition. They can be determined by literary techniques, tone, content or even length. There exist two main categories separating the different genres of Literature; fiction and non-fiction.

FICTION AND NONFICTION LITERATURE Fiction Literature Fiction is a category of Literature defined as literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. It is not true. It is based on imagination and represents mainly the author’s perspective about a subject. Feelings and emotions are made use in this type of Literature.

Genres of this Literature include: Drama: Also called a play, this writing form uses dialogue to share its message and is meant to be performed in front of an audience.

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Fable: A short story that often uses talking animals as the main characters and teaches an explicit moral or lesson.

Fantasy: A story set in an imaginary world in which the characters usually have supernatural powers or abilities.

Folklore are songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a person of “folk� that was handed down by word of mouth. Folklore is a genre of Literature that is widely held, but false and based on unsubstantiated beliefs.

Fairy tales or wonder tales are a kind of folktale or fable. Sometimes the stories are about fairies or other magical creatures, usually for children.

Folktale: A story originally passed from one generation to another by word of mouth only.

Historical Fiction: A made -up story that is based on a real time and place in history, so fact is mixed with fiction.

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Humor: The quality of a literary or informative work that makes the character and/or situations seem funny, amusing, or ludicrous. It is a fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement which meant to entertain. It can be seen and contained within all genres.

Horror: an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by literature that is frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. Fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both the characters and the reader.

Myth: A traditional story intended to explain some mystery of nature, religious doctrine, or cultural belief. The gods and goddesses of mythology have supernatural powers, but the human characters usually do not.

Poetry: A literary work that uses concise, colorful, often rhythmic language to express ideas or emotions. Examples: ballad, blank verse, free verse, elegy, sonnet.

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Satire: Writing that comments humorously on human flaws, ideas, social customs, or institutions in order to change them.

Science Fiction: Writing based on real or imaginary scientific developments and often set in the future.

Short Story: Shorter than a novel, this piece of literature can usually be read in one sitting. Because of its length, it has only a few characters and focuses on one problem or conflict.

Tall Tale: A humorous, exaggerated story often based on the life of a real person. The exaggerations build until the character can accomplish impossible things.

Nonfiction Literature A narrative Nonfiction is an information based on fact that is presented in a format which tells a story.

It is a direct opposite of narrative fiction Literature.

Types of nonfiction are such works as: Essays are a short literary composition that reflects the author’s outlook or point. It is also a short literary composition on a particular’s theme or 11

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subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretive.

A Biography is a written account of another person’s life.

An autobiography gives the history of a person’s life, written or told by that person. Often written in narrative form of their person’s life.

Speech is the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; ability to express one’s thoughts and emotions by speech, sounds, and gestures.

Generally delivered in the form of an address or discourse.

Note that some scholars suggest that there is the general genre of nonfiction. This is an informational text dealing with an actual, real-life subject. This genre of Literature offers opinions or conjectures on facts and reality. It includes Biographies and autobiographies and is distinguished from fiction genres of Literature like poetry, drama.

The three main genres of Literature While historically the branches were quite distinct, modern literary works from the 20th century and beyond increasingly feature combinations of these different forms into three main branches: Prose, Poetry and Drama.

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Prose Prose is typically presented in the form of novels, novella or short stories. It is a genre characterized by strict respecting of grammatical rules of writing involving standards syntax and punctuation as opposed to poetry and drama. Prose uses sentences and paragraphs to form long texts containing a story.

It is the most conventional form of writing.

In literary language prose refers to any fiction or nonfiction accounts of events that uses stylistic devices in order to communicate. The language used in prose is different from other factual sciences.

Drama Drama is enactment of human experience or a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue. It is typically designed for theatrical performance. From the word Drama two important concepts are to be mentioned: dramatic literature-plays and dramatic representation as an art or profession -performance.

Drama is a genre that is deliberately written for performance. The audience’s understanding of the characters and plot depends on the skill of the writer, the actors and director whose task it is to bring those words on the page, to life.

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Poetry Poetry is a literary work that uses concise, colorful, often rhythmic language to express ideas or emotions. It is an outpouring of emotions or feelings a careful and artistic or aesthetic use of words.

Poetry can be read or recited. Examples: ballad, blank verse, free verse, elegy, sonnet.

Poetry is the art of creating poems or poems collectively while poem is the end result composition in verse. It contains lines rather sentences and stanzas rather paragraphs.

Further study of these concepts will be analyzed later.

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INTRODUCTION TO PROSE In Literature, prose is a style of writing in which such works such as novels, or novellas as well as short stories are found. Therefore, we will have a whole section on how to write in prose rm. It is a technique used for academic papers mostly in artsHistory, Religion, philosophy, Sociology, etc.

However, in this chapter we will discuss Novel as the main cause of studying prose as a genre of Literature.

Indeed, when the Italian writer Giovani Boccaccio first used the term novella during the Renaissance period (14th-17th century), he referred to short narratives in his “Ten Days�. The term Novel was later used in English to refer to narratives. These narratives can be analyzed independently in oral and written narratives.

Forms of narratives Written Narratives These are accounts of fiction or nonfiction transmitted on printed material. They are an examples of prose writing. They are shorter than 15

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novels and novella. They are rather short stories that initially conveyed messages by word of mouth.

Oral Narratives A narrative is a kind of retelling a story of something that happened. The narrative is not the story itself but rather the telling of the story which is either oral or written. Oral narratives are handed from generations to generations by word of mouth.

Classification of Oral Narratives These are sometimes denoted as genres of oral narratives. They include: aetiological narratives, dilemma narratives, fables, Legends, myths, monster or ogre tales, trickster tales, among others.

Aetiological tales: These are stories which explain reasons why natural phenomena happen the way they do. Familiar examples include why the tortoise move slowly, why the leopard has spotted skin and why cats always chase rats.

Dilemma tales: such are stories that provide the audience with a difficult situation that requires a choice between two unpleasant choices. Characters face critical cases that require them to think deeply in other to act. They teach moral lesson, and sometimes they leave audience into suspense.

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Fable: this is a literary device that can be defined as a concise and brief story intended to provide a moral lesson. It is a short tale told using animal characters or inanimate characters. The most known fables in different languages is The Fox and The crow by Aesop. This give a moral of not trusting flatterers., Legends: They are stories about characters whose deeds are worth memorable. Such stories present heroic peoples from particular societies. Most legends are fighters who led nations to win diverse wars. Examples include: Gisa Rwigema in Rwanda, Kenyatta in Kenya, Julius Nyerere in Tanzania, Patrice Lumumba in The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Myths: these are stories that attempt to explain the origin of people, communities and natural phenomena like death, races and languages. They are most often stories based on religious beliefs and practices. For example, a popular myth in Rwanda is about Gihanga the founder of the nation. A similar belief is in the Agikuyu people in Kenya where The first man Gikuyu and Mumbi were created by their god Ngai and begot nine daughters.

Trickster Tales: These are stories in which a character uses tricks to cheat the other in order to gain. Trickster stories in East African communities 17

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use Hare as the most cunning and hyena as the most stupid animal. Even though animals are common characters in Trickster tales, they give lesson to the audience.

Monster tales: They are referred to as stories about ogres. Ogres are imaginary creatures which are scary, grotesque and cannibalistic. They invade human space, threaten them always. The moral from such stories is mainly to be brave and wise in life before tough situations.

Features of Oral Narratives Characters: These may be human or non-human beings used to convey a message. They are usually imaginative even though they are used to play real events’ roles. Examples of Human Characters used in Literary works can be; Mulili from Imbuga’ Betrayal in the City, Waiyaki from Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between or Okonkwo from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

On the other hand, Non-human characters include Hare, Hyena, Crocodile, Lion, Soongoora, among others.

Setting: This is the place or location of a story and the time in which it occurs. It provides the listener 18

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with information on the physical, economic, social and political activities of the community.

Plot: This is referred to as a storyline. The story’s events unfold as the characters try to solve the problem they are confronted with.

Moral: This a lesson that audience gets from a given literary work. In this context, the listener should get a moral teaching. Any literary genre should be analyzed thoroughly in order to exhaust all the moral conveyed through it.

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An example of a fable:

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Example of a Nigerian Folktale:

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Relevance of storytelling or oral narratives Storytelling has a number of implications: It develops confidence as one must stand before an audience and narrate a given story.

It sharpens memory since someone must strive to remember the story they may have heard years back.

Storytelling shapes effective oral communication skills.

It increases morality as it conveys moral values.

It teaches us about culture because stories are formulated from the society from which we live.

It is also used to entertain.

Qualities of a good storyteller He has a good memory He recreates the story a fresh Has a good memory He has a good imagination and employs a lot of creativity.

He is audible and confident He is open minded He involves the audience in the storytelling process He employs dramatization and other paralinguistic features to enhance the performance.

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KEY ASPECTS OF PROSE These are also described by some scholars as literary elements of Novels:

Plot and structure Plot is an organization of events of a given story. It is defined as the sequence of incidents or events through which an author constructs a story. It should be noted that plot is not a story itself, rather the way actions are arranged by a playwright.

Generally, a plot comprises of important elements including: Conflict, protagonist and antagonist and suspense.

Types of plots Episodic plotIt involves distinct episodes that are related but can be read individually. There is a strong bond between events, in that even if one is skipped, the reader can still follow the story.

Complex plotIt has more than one major character or storyline.

They generally involve sub-plots that run alongside 23

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the main plot. It involves more than one story and are all intertwined.

Character plotIt is a plot that focuses on a character or characters rather than anything else. For example; in Camara Laye’s “The African Child” which was initially written in French with the title “L’Enfant Noir” focuses on the life of Camara. It is actually experiences of characters feeling s and perceptions.

Logical and chronological plotIt is where the effects of one event can be seen in the next immediately. There is a cause-effect relationship. This is the type which is preferred to others because it follows one storyline and readers understand the message more easily than from other types.

Linear plotThis is a type of plots whereby events are arranged in the five-act plot structure. It shows more explicitly the five Elements-Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Resolution; that will be explained in the Freytag’s Pyramid. It has clear beginning and end unlike the circular plot.

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Circular PlotThis involves the use of spherical move of events.

Events end where they started and sometimes there is no clear solution provided in the story. It seems a vain succession of events because characters struggle but to find themselves where the departed from.

Characterization This is an art of assigning diverse roles to characters.

Characters are presented in different ways depending on the message intended to be conveyed.

Sometimes, the reader is told straight out what a character is like, or their actions, thus by their behavior. However, types of characters can be identified from a literary work:

Types of characters Character is an individual, animal or object mainly imaginary who plays a role in a literary work.

Major These are characters whose influence is felt throughout the script. He is sometimes form the core of the story. He is referred to as the central character which out whom the story would not take place.

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Minor These are characters which play a support or secondary role. Some minor characters play a passive role in the text or are simply used to juxtapose the main character. Thus the antagonist can be viewed as a minor character, as he juxtaposes the central character.

Protagonist This is the central figure who forms the core of the story. He is the main character who is sometimes the hero, but not always.

Antagonist This is a character or a group of characters who stand in opposition to the protagonist. The term antagonist comes from a Greek word “antagonistḗs� which means opponent, competitor or rival. This can be a human, non-human or even ideas which tend to be obstacle to the actions of the central character defined as protagonist.

Static and dynamic Static characters are those which are unchanging throughout the story while dynamic characters are capable of changing.

For example; In Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona is a

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major character, but one who is static. Othello is a major character who is dynamic, exhibiting an ability to change.

Flat Character Flat characters in a play are often, but not always, relatively simple minor characters. They tend to be presented though particular and limited traits; hence they become stereotypes. For example, the selfish son, the pure woman, the lazy child, the dumb blonde, etc. These characters do not change in the course of a play.

Round Character A round character is depicted with such psychological depth and detail that they have qualities of real people. The round character contrasts with the flat character who serves a specific or minor literary function in a text, and who may be a stock character or simplified stereotype.

A Complex character, Also known as a Dynamic character or a Round character displays the following characteristics: He or she undergoes an important change as the plot unfolds; The changes he or she experiences occur because of his or her actions or experiences in the 27

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story; Changes in the character may be good or bad; The character is highly developed and complex, meaning they have a variety of traits and different sides to their personality; Some of their character traits may create conflict in the character.

Stock Character A recognizable character type found in many plays. Such characters appear most often in fiction works and the reader can identify them right away. They have stock characters as the miserly father, the beautiful but naĂŻve girl, the trickster servant. They are flat.

Foil Character A secondary character whose situation often parallels that of the main character while his behavior or response or character contrasts with that of the main character, throwing light on that particular character’s specific temperament.

Theme This is a general concern that reflects human experience in the society. It is usually universal in nature regardless of belief, culture, language or race.

Theme is a general principle. It is big stuff. Themes include social issues such as; betrayal, conflict, justice, joy, love, mercy, peace, suffering, unity, etc.

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It should be noted that a theme is neither moral nor message. Thus, the role of the playwright is not to state the theme of the literary work. It is rather to describe in their own perspective and cannot rely upon invented facts.

Message This is a specific example of a theme in action. It is found in the specific story that proves the thematic principles. Your message is your story’s theme in action.

When your character is working through his character arc, headed away from his Lie and toward the new Truth of the theme, the plot events that act upon him and force him to take action are where we find the message.

Setting This is referred to as the time, space and context of a story. These elements of any given setting are intrinsically introduced at the beginning of the literary work. The context of a story is its overall settings:

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Cultural setting This is a kind of setting which involves social practices, beliefs, morals and philosophies of a group of people. For example; East African Literature does not present same issues as West Africa when it comes to cultural practices and beliefs.

Physical setting This can be looked at in terms of geographical location. Authors chose geographical milieu which match with the theme and message they wish to convey in a literary work. In Ngugi’ s “The River Between�, Ridges and River are used to explain what can separate people even though these geographical are not the most important element to focus on in the work.

Time Setting This includes time in all its dimensions. The time centrality in a literary work helps readers to understand what happened during a given timeyear, period which is specifically different from other period. For instance, African cultures during pre-colonial and post-colonial eras displayed different cultural activities.

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Political setting This is a type of setting which analyses political divisions and structures of a society. It focuses on administrative issues and leadership systems and their effects on the people. Francis Imbuga’ s “Betrayal in the City” explores problems of independence and freedom in the post-colonial African states caused by a group of leaders who own the nation as their own selfish interests.

Point of view This is a perspective from which a writer tells a story. It can also be viewed as who tells a story and their perspective towards actions of a character.

There exist different points of view:

Omniscient point of View This point of View assumes the knowledge of the narrator about everything about events and characters in the story. Sequences are presented as if the narrator was present when the story took place.

In addition, the omniscient Point of View gives the narrator the knowledge of what happens in the mind of characters. This may influence readers to believe him fully and fail to make their own analysis.

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Third person Limited Point of View This point of view is only limited to the character’s perceptions and shows no direct knowledge of what other characters are thinking, feeling, or doing. As in the omniscient Point of View, the story is narrated by a voice which is not part of the story.

First person Point of View A character narrates the story using the pronouns “I and We”. They are part of the story. The author makes deliberately one of the character mainly one of the major ones to account for what happens. It is hard to differentiate the narrator from the author.

Writings such as autobiographies are an example of the use of the first person Point of View.

Second Person of View Point of View A rarely used Point of View which uses the pronoun “you”

Multiple Point of View Chinua Achebe used such a technique in his “Anthills of the Savannah” whereby both first person and third person Point of View can be identified. This makes a reader to get information from different perspectives.

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Diction This the main element of style. It comprises of the three main components: Vocabulary-This is the choice of word to be used.

One may choose to employ Simple, Complex, Abstract or Concrete words.

Syntax-This is a branch of Linguistics which studies arrangement of words to form sentences. It is also known as the study of sentence structures.

Rhythm-This is the flow and movement created by the choice of words, length, and arrangement of sentences. This style is rarely considered in the analysis of narrative styles.

In Literature diction serves a number of functions: To reveal character, imply attitudes, convey action, identify themes, and suggest values. We can speak of the diction particular to a character.

Narrative Techniques It refers to the devices that a writer employs to tell their story. They are numerous and scholars look at them with different understanding. I prefer to group them into three:

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Techniques relevant to style They include; figures of speech of comparison such as metaphor, simile, allusion, symbolism and soliloquy. Figures of speech of exaggeration such hyperbole, understatement, apostrophe and personification. Figures of speech of contrast such as irony, paradox, satire, sarcasm among others.

These include figures of speech which will be discussed later.

Techniques relevant to narrative perspective These consist of who is telling the story. These techniques use different points of View as we saw their meaning earlier.

Techniques relevant to plot These techniques comprise of different ways of presenting events in the story. Authors may choose an episodic, character, complex or chronological plot of presenting sequences. Definitions of these types of plots have been discussed earlier. Other techniques include: backstory, flashback, flashforward and foreshowing.

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Backstory It is used when the author feels it is important for the reader to know something that had happened prior to the actual events described in the narrative.

Flashback It is used when the narrator takes the story back in time, and events go back and forth between the past and the present.

Foreshadowing This technique is used when the writer begins with providing some sort of clue about the future events.

It informs something important that will later unfold.

Flash-forward This is seen when the writer allows the reader to see future events. This might be something experienced before by a character, or could happen.

The title This is a significant element in narratives. It gives general understanding of the text. Authors prefer to use any of the three types of titles:

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Character titles This type of titles is named after one of the characters. For instance, in the William Shakespeare’s work Romeo and Juliet are titles and characters at the same time. The Trials of Brother Jero by Wole Soyinka provides a character title since Jero is a character whose name is used in the title.

Thematic titles These titles are based on themes of a literary work.

Only major themes provide these type of titles. For instance; Chinua Achebe uses “Things Fall Apart” as a title which presents the theme of the novel.

Family disintegration equals the title- “Things Fall Apart” and is the main reason of writing the book as a result of the White Man.

Symbolic titles This requires a literary interpretation in order to understand the content of the book. One needs to read and compare the content and the title. This kind of titles, when well analyzed it provides a good relationship with the content. Ayi Kwei Armah uses the title “The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born” as a symbolic title.

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Assessing the understanding1 1. Explain the following terms used in Literature a) Script b) Exposition c) Prose 2. a) Differentiate between Fiction and Nonfiction Literature 3. a) Describe any two types of setting that exist in Literature b) Give and explain any four types of characters 4. There can never be a literary work which does not have a conflict. Discuss this statement.

5. Clearly explain the difference between political and Chronological settings 6. a) What is a flashback? b) Read the following Folktale and answer the question bellow: WHY THE CAT KILLS RATS: Nigerian Folktale Ansa was King of Calabar for fifty years. He had a very faithful cat as a housekeeper, and a rat was his 37

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house-boy. The king was an obstinate, headstrong man, but was very fond of the cat, who had been in his store for many years.

The rat, who was very poor, fell in love with one of the king's servant girls, but was unable to give her any presents, as he had no money.

At last he thought of the king's store, so in the nighttime, being quite small, he had little difficulty, having made a hole in the roof, in getting into the store. He then stole corn and native pears, and presented them to his sweetheart.

At the end of the month, when the cat had to render her account of the things in the store to the king, it was found that a lot of corn and native pears were missing. The king was very angry at this, and asked the cat for an explanation. But the cat could not account for the loss, until one of her friends told her that the rat had been stealing the corn and giving it to the girl.

When the cat told the king, he called the girl before him and had her flogged. The rat he handed over to the cat to deal with, and dismissed them both from his service. The cat was so angry at this that she killed and ate the rat, and ever since that time whenever a cat sees a rat she kills and eats it.

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a. What is a folktale? b. What do you understand by narrative? c. This is a short story not a novel. Explain the difference between a short story and a novel. d. Explain the characters found in this folktale and their relevance in the story. e. Do you find any moral lesson in this folktale?

Justify your answer.

7. a) What is the climax of a story? b) What do you understand by Circular plot? c) Explain any three types of conflicts that can be found in Literary works.

8. a) Describe the key aspects of prose b) Give and explain any four reasons why we should study literature. (8marks) 9. State the two main forms of Literature (4 marks) 10.Oral literature seems to be the oldest form of Literature. With illustrations, justify this statement (8 marks).

11.Write a short story of one page with three characters.

12.After your secondary school education, give clear and convincing reasons that would 39

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make you apply for a scholarship to go to Oxford University to study Literature and not Civil engineering.

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INTRODUCTION TO POETRY The French writer Voltaire once said, “Poetry is the music of the soul, and, above all, of great and feeling souls.” It is a genre of Literature that follows specific forms to create a big message using few and condensed words.

For life’s love’s safety Just leave to live loving life For loved life’s long lived.

This is an example of Haiku Poems.

A Haiku Poem is a kind of poem which contains seventeen syllables and three lines. The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables and the last contains five as well. The Haiku poem does not rhyme. More examples are shown below: Butterflies are cool In the big huge green forest The fly up so high.

A fat bee stings me It hurts very badly but I do not cry though.

The bee flies quickly 41

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It turns around and stings me Then falls to the ground.

Before I met you I was me but not the me I knew I could be.

TYPES OF POETRY Types of poetry analyzed in this book are based on the development-form-length and content of any poem. Two general distinctions are based on analysis the Literary critics; Abrams (1999) and Preminger et al (1993) who argue that these should be grouped into two: Lyric poetry and narrative poetry.

Lyric Poetry For Greek writers the lyric was a song accompanied by the lyre. Thus, it is often musical. Lyric poetry retains some elements of song which is said to be its origin. In addition, a lyric poem is comparatively short. Mainly, the speaker’s personal thoughts and feelings are revealed in this type of poetry.

Subcategories of Lyric poetry These can be numerous and some examples are: 42

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Elegy: This is a formal lament for the death of a particular person. Sometimes, this term is used to refer to solemn meditations, often on questions of death. The purpose of this kind of poem is to express feelings rather than tell a story. Note that Eulogy is the speech at a funeral.

Ode: This is defined as a long lyric poem with a serious subject written in an elevated style. It is often ceremonious and addresses and celebrates a person, place, thing or idea. Its stanza forms vary.

An example is Wordsworth’s “Hymn to Duty” The sonnet: It was originally a love poem which dealt with a lover’s sufferings and hopes. It is made of fourteen lines. It originated from Italy and became popular in England. Some Italian sonnets can be traced up to date but the sonnet form we are most familiar with is the Shakespearean.

Dramatic monologue: In this subcategory a speaker who is explicitly someone other than the author makes a speech to a silent auditor in a specific situation and at a critical moment.

Occasional poetry: This is a type of poetry written for occasional events; wedding (epithalamion), separation, return of a king from exile, etc.

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Narrative poetry This classification of poetry gives a verbal representation, in verse, of a sequence or connected events. It is always told by a narrator.

Subcategories of Narrative poetry Epic: This is a type of poetry which operates on a large scale, both in length and topic. It presents feats of a deity or demigod (heroic epic) or other legendary or traditional hero. It uses a more elevated style of language.

Mock-epic: Also called Mock-heroic or heroiccomic is a form of satire that adapts the elevated heroic style of the classical epic poem to trivial subject. In other words, it aims at mocking common classical stereotypes of heroes and heroic literature.

Ballad: This is a song which was originally transmitted orally to tell a story. It is any light, simple composition especially one of the sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody. A ballad is able to complete more a full picture of what is going on.

There can be other classes of poetry known as Descriptive, Didactic and dramatic poetry.

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Didactic Poetry This is a form of verse that aim at exciting less the reader but instruct more their mind and improve their perspective towards life in the society. It contains warning message and plays instructive roles. Songs are best examples used for didactic poetry.

Descriptive Poetry Both lyric and narrative poetry can contain lengthy and detailed descriptions. Whenever a poem presents such features, it is referred to as a descriptive poem.

Dramatic Poetry This type of poetry has a persona engaged in some kind of conflict or debate. Conflicts involved can be person to person or person to society whereby the answer is not explicitly stated. It leaves the audience into suspense to know “what should be done and how should it be done�

Characteristics of Poetry Poetry uses a language in economic way; it uses fewer words than other genres.

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It expresses expressions.

strong

feelings

and

emotional

Poems and songs are arranged in stanzas and lines rather than paragraphs and sentences Poetry creates musicality through the use of sound patterns such as rhyme, rhythm, assonance and consonance.

In poetry there is use of figurative language that makes specifically different from other genres.

Elements of Poetry The number of these elements vary from scholars to others. In this book, I chose to present only four of them. These include: Speaker or Persona, Tone, Sound and Language.

Tone This is used to convey the speaker’s implied attitude toward the poem’s subject or audience. For example; in a poem of praise, the tone should approval, in a satire, one feels irony, it can be humorous, playful, regretful, and so on. Tone is an abstraction we make from the details of a poem’s language. The tone can change as the poem goes on.

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Speaker The speaker also known as Persona in literary terms refers to the narrator, or the voice used by an author to transmit their message. The persona is different from the author. He should be treated as a fictional creation made by the writer to say what his mind to the public. Thus the “I” in Literary works does not relate to the author, rather to the persona.

The language of Poetry There exist two different expressions while speaking: The Literal and Figurative. Literal statements mean exactly what they say. For instance; “this greenhouse is mine”. Figurative statements on the other hand, have another meaning beyond the literal one. For example; “I met a thief who stole my heart.

A statement becomes figurative when it contains one of these figures of speech: metaphor, simile, allusion, symbolism, personification, hyperbole, understatement, apostrophe, paradox, antithesis, irony among others.

Use of figures of speech They create images that make abstract statements appear real.

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They communicate more concretely and vividly.

They convey judgments.

They communicate feelings so as to influence our attitude towards the subject.

Figures of speech are sometimes referred to as figurative language, imagery, styles or stylistic devices. They can be grouped into three types.

Categories of figures of Speech It is probable that scholars could find many categories or other ways of grouping these stylistic devices. In this booklet, I have grouped them into three categories: comparison, contrast and exaggeration imagery.

Imagery is simply the representation of events, actions, feelings or ideas using objects, gestures or actions which appeal to human senses. It is an author’s use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to their work. In other words, imagery is the image created in the mind of the audience through the use of objects or gestures which appeal to human senses.

Imagery of comparison Metaphor: This is a comparison made between two dissimilar things by attributing the name, attribute 48

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of one directly to the other. It says that “A” is “B”.

It requires one to make a critical analysis of the meaning of the statement because it is an indirect comparison.

The metaphorical expression “Jesus is my shepherd” is familiar to us.

Simile: A simile is like a metaphor except that it uses words “like” or “as” in comparing otherwise dissimilar things. As such simile is a direct companion. They are used in the poem they add mood.

The expression “You are as pretty as a princess” is an example of simile.

Allusion: This is a reference to a well-known person, place or idea. Allusion makes a comparison between what is being spoken about and what is being referred to. It assumes the knowledge between the speaker and reader.

“For You will I sing songs of Solomon” is a biblical allusion.

Symbolism: A symbol is an object that represents an idea. In addition, actions, events or even gestures may mean more than themselves.

For example; “Light symbolizes hope, a white dove represents peace, waving at some body is a salutation”.

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Metonymy: This the exchange of names between things related. It is founded, not on resemblance, but on the relation of one expression used, to the idea.

When someone says: “Senior Two B is quiet”, they refer to the members of that class, they are using metonymy.

Synecdoche: Synecdoche is using the name of a part for that of the whole, the name of the whole for that of a part, or a definite number of indefinite.

For instance; “the mayor of this district is gray, but not from age”

Imagery of contrast Antithesis: this is a contrast consisting of placing opposites in juxtaposition, for the purpose of heightening their effect by contrast. For example: “a good man obtaineth favor of the lord; but a man of wicked devices will He condemn”. The book Proverbs,10-15 provides examples of antithesis.

Irony: This is a figure of speech that uses words that imply the opposite of what they seem to say. When irony is used, it is contract because you say one thing and mean another. For example; after being slapped unjustly his son said: “thank you”!

Paradox: This is a statement which appears selfcontradictory and absurd and that cannot literally 50

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happen. However, it expresses some truth when it is examined well.

The statement “my mother is a man” means that my mother has qualities of a man yet she is female. It is thus paradox since it can never happen. Another example can be: “some students are in class, yet they are not there”.

Imagery of exaggeration To exaggerate is to make something greater or minor than it actually is. There exist a number of imagery of exaggeration: Apostrophe: An apostrophe is an exaggeration imagery where dead, absent people or objects are addressed as though they were alive and would respond. It serves to console someone and allow them to come back to terms with their loss. In the poem Garissa Gone, the author uses an apostrophe when he says: “Garissa, you are dead, Gone but in us still alive”!

Hyperbole: Also known as Overstatement. This a literary style where something is exaggerated or given more weight than it deserves. Examples: “The last born’ s all night screaming reached even the neighbors”, “I called you a million time and you could not pick the phone”.

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Personification: This is an exaggeration that attributes human qualities to a non-human being or inanimate objects with the effect that the personified thing is brought close to human experience and therefore more familiar. For instance: “the rain carried a lot of mud as it rolled down the valley” Understatement: This is the opposite of hyperbole.

In understatement, something is stated in a lighter way than it should be. Examples include: “This man is a child”, shouted supporters. “How do you call Rooney a player? Even our school cannot buy him”.

Sound patterns People who come across poetry are attracted by different aspects of it. Sounds play a very important role in the transmission of a message in poetry. Even though every word uttered has a meaning, the sound associated to it may alter that meaning. Indeed, sound patterns can fascinate people or repel themselves from poems. Only a few of example of sound patterns are discussed below:

Rhyme This is a popular literary device which consists of repeating sounds at the end of verse lines. It is only about sounds not the spelling of words. For 52

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example; “fair and player”, “piece and peace”, “brought and thought” are rhyming pairs.

Rhyme Scheme Rhyme Scheme is also known as rhyme pattern.

This is a poet’s deliberate pattern of lines that rhyme with other lines in a poem or a stanza. It can be identified by giving end words that rhyme with each other the same letter.

For example; in her poem, Jane Taylor (1806) uses a rhyme scheme that can be identified easily as in the following words: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky.

The ending words of the first and second lines “star and are” are rhyming in the sound /ɑ:r/, thus the lines are rhyming and can be labelled with AA. “A” means that we have identified the first sound at the end of a line. Any other line that shall have the same sound will also be labelled “A”.

The ending words of the third and fourth lines “high and sky” are rhyming in the sound /aI/, thus the lines are rhyming and can be labelled with BB. The new 53

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letter “B” is introduced because words which are used in this lines are not rhyming with the first two lines.

With this excerpt of Poetry, the rhyme scheme is identified as AABB. This means that the first line and the second rhyme while the third and fourth rhyme.

Rhyme Scheme in Sonnets In Shakespearean sonnets there is a deliberate rhyme scheme that must be used: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. An example from the sonnet number 18.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (A) Thou art more lovely and more temperate. (B) Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (A) And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. (B) Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (C) And often is his gold complexion dimmed; (D) And every fair from fair sometime declines, (C) By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; (D) But thy eternal summer shall not fade, (E) Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, (F) Nor shall death brag thou wand’est in his shade, (E) When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. (F) So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, (G) 54

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So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (G) Example two GARISSA GONE

By Ndahayo Veridik Dreadfully felt I in the heart That had the thing happened And all and I felt quiet hurt When was all your hope crashed We really all shed tears in the hut.

Hollow hell really held opened!

You’re but not enough to defeat it.

You’re now in the morgue laid.

You’ve for good gone in the dark Where men have voyaged before Was ever one seen come back?

He’s expired really he’s no more.

Garissa, you are dead, Gone but in us still alive.

This poem is a sonnet though it does not fulfil the Shakespearean condition of having the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCDEFEFGG.

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Note that a word does not rhyme with itself. When such a case occurs it is referred to as repetition. Any rhyme can be either regular or irregular: A rhyme is known as regular when it is consistently sustained.

For example; AABBCCDD, ABABCDCD, ABCDABCD and so on. This can be observed in the excerpt below: Take, take those lips away (A) That so sweetly were foresworn (B) And those eyes, the break of day (A) Light that do mislead the worn. (B) This pattern suggest that the next stanzas would be “CDCD�. Thus it is predictable even though it is not always the case.

When the rhyme pattern is not sustained, it is known as irregular rhyme scheme. The following excerpt is an example: The menu reflected its importance (A) Gold Bell beer with small talk, (B) Then fried chicken with niceties (C) Wine to fill the hollowness of the laughs (D) Ice-scream to cover the stereotype jokes (E) Coffee to keep the PS awake on the return journey.

(F)

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From this poem “Building he Nation” by Heny Barlow, the rhyme scheme “ABCDEF” is irregular since it unpredictable for next part of it.

Rhythm Rhythm is a sound pattern created by alteration. It is a consistent flow of the beat in a poem or song. For example a poem can have a pattern like; 12345 12345 12345 12345. This pattern shows that a digit used to represent a single unit of beat to appear, then disappear and reappears at a regular interval.

Example of Rhythm in a poem: THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

By Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear 57

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Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden back Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the less travelled by And that has made all the difference.

While in the rhyme scheme, we use letters to label sounds that create rhyme, Rhythm uses numbers to mark that similarity. According to this poem, the rhyme pattern for the rhythm can be described as; 12112 in Stanza 1, 34334 in stanza 2, 56556 in stanza 3, and 78778 in stanza 4. In reading these numbers repeatedly we realize the rhythm in the poem. Thus, since rhythm is a consistent flow of a beat, it is predictable for other possible stanzas.

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Alliteration This is a repetition of a consonantal sound or a kind of repetition where two or more words in a line or sentence begin with the same letter. This does not necessarily have to be among words which are closer to each other. However, a word does not alliterate with itself. For instance; “Will Walter warm water”?

“Said sung a sad song” “Three grey geese in a green field grazing”.

Sometimes we find: Alliteration Tongue twisters such as; Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

A good cook could cook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies.

Alliteration in Names: Chuckee Cheese’s Coca-Cola Mickey mouse Porky Pig Sano Sandra Shema Sharif 59

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Using alliteration helps a poem to have a destructive tone, musicality, memorability and makes it interesting.

Consonance It refers to repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase or in poems.

Typically, this repetition occurs at the end of the words, but may also be found within a word or at the beginning.

Example of Pairs of Consonance: Blank and think Sent and went Caught and brought Far and jar Borrow and sorrow Examples of consonance in sentences: Come and live with me my love Toss the glass, boss!

I wish you would mash maize on my dish.

Example of consonance in a poem: Great, or good, or kind, or fair, I will ne’er the more despair; If she love me, this believe, 60

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I will die ere she shall grieve; If she slight me when I woo, I can scorn and let her go; For if she be not for me, What care I for whom she be? Shall I Wasting in Despair by George Wither

Assonance It is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.

It is used to reinforce the meanings of words or to set the mood. The words have to be close enough for the repetition to be noticeable. The words do share the same vowel sounds, but start with different consonant sounds – unlike alliteration, which involves repetition of the same consonant sounds.

Below are a few assonance examples that are common. Some Examples: We light fire on the mountain.

I feel depressed and restle Go and mow the lawn.

Johnny went here and there and everywhe The engineer held the steering to steer the vehicle.

Brief Examples of Assonance: 61

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“If I bleat when I speak it’s because I just got . . . flee” — Deadwood, by Al Swearengin “I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless.”

— With Love, by Thin Lizzy Example of Assonance in Literature: Assonance is primarily used in poetry, in order to add rhythm and music, by adding an internal rhyme to a poem. Let us look at some examples of assonance from literature: He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dar and deep.

But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost The underlined bold letters in the above extract are vowels that are repeated to create assonance.

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Function of Assonance Similar to any other literary device, assonance has a very important role to play in both poetry and prose.

Writers use it as a tool to enhance a musical effect in the text by using it for creating internal rhyme.

This consequently enhances the pleasure of reading a literary piece. In addition, it helps writers to develop a particular mood in the text that corresponds with its subject matter.

Repetition Repetition is defined as a literary device used to reiterate a word, phrase or sentence as well as a line of a poem to make an idea memorable and clearer.

Not only in Poetry but also in our colloquial interactions, repetition is used a tool of communication. In Linguistics, repetition is when words or phrases are reiterated in a literary work.

Examples of Repetition in Poetry American poet Edgar Allan Poe wrote a poem famous for its repetition. 'The Bells' uses repetition to imitate the continual ringing of bells: 'To the swinging and the ringing of the bells, bells, bellsOf the bells, bells, bells, bells 63

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Bells, bells, bellsTo the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!'

The effect of repetition Repetition is often used in poetry or songs, to create rhythm and bring attention to an utterance.

Repetition is a powerful force in fiction. It can stress setting, highlight a character trait, and make outstanding a seemingly minor detail.

Repeated words, repeated information, and repeated sentence familiarize audience's attitude towards the author’s insights.

In addition, repetition is used to emphasize a feeling or idea, and/or develop a sense of urgency.

Types of repetition These are numerous, only some which are usually used in our communication in both Literature and daily discourses are discussed in this handbook:

Anadiplosis This is a repetition of the last word in a line or clause. For example: Baby boy will be brought, I know.

Both flute and trumpets be played all you know 64

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But would it be a Baby girl, she know, Beat of drums to boom boom, we know, Beni’s bulls and beers’re booked you know Berlinda Beni Veridik’s her name, they know!

Anaphora Repetition on words at the start of clauses or verses.

Many people can be identified with their anaphoric expressions: You see, can you hear me? Listen! Then; when these expressions are repeatedly used at the start of clauses, they are referred to as anaphora.

Example of an anaphora: I will win the race tomorrow. I will win I know well.

I will win no matter happens!

Good morning to the old, good morning to the young, good morning to each and every one present!

Epimone Repetition of a phrase usually a question to stress a point.

“All his brains are in the nape of his neck, Simon Dedalus says. Welts of flesh behind on him. Fat 65

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folds of neck, fat, neck, fat, neck.” (James Joyce, Ulysses, 1922) “Mr. Dick shook his head, as utterly renouncing the suggestion; and having replied a great many times, and with great confidence, 'No beggar, no beggar, no beggar, sir!”(Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1850) “We forget all too soon the things we thought we could ever forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were.” (Joan Didion, "Keeping a Notebook," 1968) “Put money in thy purse; follow thou the wars; defeat thy favor with a usurped beard; I say, put money in thy purse. It cannot be that Desdemona should long continue her love to the Moor- put money in thy purse- nor he his to her: it was a violent commencement, and thou shalt see an answerable sequestration: put the money in thy purse.” Epimone in Shakespeare's Othello

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Epiphora Repetition of the same word at the end of each clause.

“Where now? Who now? When now?”

(Samuel Beckett, The Unnamable, 1953) “[T]here is only one thing about which I am certain, and this is that there is very little about which one can be certain.” (W. Somerset Maugham, quoted by Laurence Brander in Somerset Maugham: A Guide.

Oliver & Boyd, 1963) "Take whatever idiot they have at the top of whatever agency and give me a better idiot. Give me a caring idiot. Give me a sensitive idiot. Just don’t give me the same idiot.” (Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, speaking about FEMA Chief Michael Brown, September 6, 2005)

Symploce A combination of anaphora and epiphora, in which repetition is both at the beginning and at the end.

Examples of Symploce: "The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost 67

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everything except his Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 1908)

reason."

(G.K.

"In the years after World War I my mother had put pennies for Grace [Cathedral] in her mite box but Grace would never be finished. In the years after World War II I would put pennies for Grace in my mite box but Grace would never be finished." (Joan Didion, "California Republic." The White Album.

Simon & Schuster, 1979) "For want of a nail the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe the horse was lost.

For want of a horse the rider was lost.

For want of a rider the battle was lost.

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail."

(Attributed to Benjamin Franklin and others)

Categories of poems Poems can be classified into different categories: i. ii. iii. iv. v.

Love Praise Mockery Political Sacred or Religious 68

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vi.

Death or Loss vii. Wedding or Marriage viii. Nature or Environment among others.

Certain categorization of poems can fall into more than one category. This categorization depends on the subject matter.

Subject matter: The topic of the poem, what it is about or rather the factual reality.

Theme: This is the main realization, feeling or thought which the poet wants us to get from the poem; i.e.: the point which the poem makes about the factual reality. In other words, it is the poet’s opinion or perspective about a certain issue in society.

Message: This is what a poet wishes the society to know from his poem. It is like the lesson that the reader gets from reading poems. For example; from the Awoonor’s message is that Africans need to have their own culture, and they should not cling to foreign cultures.

Structure: This is the way a poet chooses his words, the way he organizes them and the way he structures his lines. For example; they can choose to use long lines, sentences or short or a mixture of long and short sentences.

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There can be external and internal structures: External structure refers to the actual visible shape of a poem while internal structure is the orderly development of a poem. This aspect gives the poem significance and suggest the poet’s intention. It is the internal structure that makes us able to identify the facts, feelings and ideas which the poet wishes to communicate. The main feelings or idea is called a Theme.

Types of Themes Hidden theme: This when the main social concern is encoded in an artistic language whereby the reader needs thorough interpretation to understand the meaning. It is known as an implied message.

Kofi Awoonor uses a hidden message in his “The Weaver Bird” Fully stated theme: This is when the reader can understand the meaning of the poem without engaging themselves in a deeper analysis. For example; in his popular “I Love My Gentle One”, Ralph Bitamazire uses a fully stated theme. He makes a fully stated theme of Love.

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Relationship between Poetry and songs Generally, there seems to be no relationship between songs and poetry, but some lyrics used in songs have been taken from poetry. Indeed, Songs are poetry, but poems are not songs.

For illustration, the Star-Spangled Banner, is the National Anthem of the United States whose lyrics were actually derived from “Defense of Fort M, Henry�, a poem written on September14, 1814, by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key. Both poetry and songs are literary poems that deal with the emotions of a particular individual, regarding a particular instance or situation.

Assessing the understanding2 1. a) Give the difference between a fully stated theme and a hidden theme in Poetry.

2. Explain the following terms: i.

Persona ii.

Rhyme iii. Hyperbole iv.

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3. Poem1 I thank you mother Your back I wet When I leaked Like a broken gourd Your breast I sought Like a blind bat On your back I swung like a little vagabond But you said It’s my vagabond. (Julius Chingono) Questions i.

Suggest a title to this poem! ii.

Who do you think is talking in this poem? iii. Identify images used in this poem. iv.

What is the message in this poem? v.

Do you like the poem? Yes, or No; justify your answer.

4. Poem 2 A FREEDOM SONG by Marjorie Oludhe Mcgoye Atieno washes dishes, Atieno plucks the chicken, Atieno gets up early, 72

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Beds her sacks down in the kitchen, Atieno eight years old, Atieno yo.

Since she is my sister’s’ child Atieno needs no pay.

While she works my wife can sit, Sewing every sunny day: With the earnings I support Atieno yo.

Since she is my sister’s child Atieno needs no pay.

While she works my wife can sit Sewing every sunny day: With the earnings I support Atieno yo.

Atieno’s sly and jealous, Bad example to the kids Since she minds them, like a schoolgirl Wants their dresses, shoes and beads, Atieno ten years old, Atieno yo.

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Atieno is less free.

Don’t I keep her, school my own one?

Pay the party, union fee, All for progress! Aren’t you grateful Atieno yo?

Visitors need much attention, All the more when I work night.

That girl spends too long at market.

Who will teach her what is right?

Atieno rising fourteen, Atieno yo.

Atieno’s had a baby So we know that she is bad.

Fifty fifty it may live And repeat the life she had Ending in post-partum bleeding, Atieno yo.

Atieno’s soon replaced; Meat and sugar more than all She ate in such a narrow life Were lavished at her funeral.

Atieno yo.

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a) From the poem, identify: i) Repetition ii) Simile iii) Metaphor iv) Hyperbole b) What do you think is the importance of these figures of speech? c) Who do you think Atieno symbolizes? d) In a short paragraph, describe what is happening in the poem. e) What do you think should happen to the narrator and his wife? f) What is the theme of this poem? g) What is the message in this poem?

5. Poem 3 I LOVE YOU MY GENTLE ONE by Bitamazire Ralph I love you my gentle one My love is the fresh milk in the Rubindi Which you drank on the wedding day My love is the butter we were smeared with To seal fidelity into our hearts You are the cattle-bird’s egg 75

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For those who saw you are wealthy.

You are the papyrus reed of the lake Which they pull with both hands And I sing for you with tears Because you possess my heart: I love you my gentle one.

Questions i) What type of the poem is this? ii) Who do you think is speaking in this poem? Justify iii) What evidence is there to show that the persona is passionately in love 6. Poem 4 SMILE by Mark Chetambe They say she smiled at me I will not slaughter my only cock I will not throw a party I will not bring down my flute I will not compose a song I will not change my walking style I will not go to the barber for a box haircut On my potato shaped head 76

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I will not read song of Solomon I will not sell my father’s land I will not buy any deodorant I will not wash my shirt in the detergent I will not buy herbal toothpaste I will not dig out the virility roots I will not join a fitness club It was not her first smile, Nor the last.

Nowadays, girls smile all the time.

Questions 1. What is poetry?

2. Which group of words in the poem is used repetitively?

3. Identify the persona in the poem by gender and justify your answer 4. What is the meaning of the following lines? i. « I will not throw a party » ii. « I will not read song of Solomon » 5. Discuss the meaning of the following line as used by Mark Chetambe: « Nowadays, girls smile all the time ».

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6. Poem 5 THE ROAD NOT TAKEN by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden back Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I 78

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I took the less travelled by And that has made all the difference.

Questions 1. a) b) c) d)

Identify from the second stanza any use of: Simile Alliteration Assonance The rhyme scheme

2. a) Is the message hidden or fully stated in this poem? b) Identify any five rhyming pairs from this poem. c) How many stanzas and lines are in this poem?

3. a) Consonance is bigger than Assonance. Discuss. b) Analyze this poem and show the rhyme pattern for the rhythm.

4. a) Give any three categories of poems b) Discuss the relationship between songs and poems. c) Differentiate between protagonist and antagonists 5. Explain the following terms: 79

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a) Rhyme b) Describe a line length in a poem c) Explain to a primary school pupil the meaning of Rhythm.

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INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA Drama is a composition in verse or prose intended to portray life or character or to tell a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue and typically designed for theatrical performance. From the word Drama two important concepts are to be mentioned: dramatic literature plays and dramatic representation as an art or profession -performance.

Drama is a genre that is deliberately written for performance. The audience’s understanding of the characters and plot depends on the skill of the writer, the actors and director whose task it is to bring those words on the page, to life.

There is enormous difference between reading a script and reading a novel: Reading is usually a private activity but a play is written to be performed. While a novel will typically include plenty of descriptions to stir the readers’ imagination, enabling them to ‘see’ the events a play contains mainly dialogue and very little description.

It is opposite to a novel, the audience can see what is happening but the reader cannot.

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Elements of Drama Elements of Drama include:

Plot This is the arrangement of events in a piece of literature, setting that describes the time, place and context of the story and Characters who are used to exhibit the story written by the playwright. However key Elements of Drama are more specifically stated:

Act This a major division of a play. Most acts have more than one scene. Nevertheless, an act can contain only one scene. This cannot happen to a play; since mainly a play has between three to five acts.

Therefore, a scene is a small division of an act.

Scene It is introduced by introduction of a new character in the group. In other words; if one character joins the group, a new scene is introduced.

Stage directions These are excerpts such as (standing still by the table, moving slowly, opening widely eyes for surprise, etc.) By definition, stage directions are 82

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descriptions which are made by the playwright to indicate the actions of the character or to describe the setting. They help us realize the right mood for each scene.

Stage directions are usually written in the brackets.

It is nearly impossible to stage a play without stage directions.

Dialogue This is an exchange of speeches among characters.

This can be done by many or few character according to the choice of the playwright.

Body Language This include: Facial expressions, gestures, stamping a foot or shaking a fist, can communicate emotions and thoughts in the same way as an adjective does in a narrative.

Facial expressions These are always included deliberately and never randomly included as part of the set. will be discussed later They.

Props Short form of properties. They are any material thing used on stage during performance but which 83

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is only useful during the action. They can include tables, chairs, flasks, glasses, and so on. They are meaningful and may also be a part of the script.

Lighting A light system established in traditional theatres.

They help directors to set different periods of the day such as evening, noon, evening or night with use of different lights. Note that the day light is different from the night’s. So it is very important. It is often considered to be another actor. It is an integral part of every theatrical production. It sets the mood.

Theatre refers to a building where performing plays and other performance are done.

A playwright is a person who writes a play or a piece of drama An audience refers to the people who watch a play when it is being acted performed.

A script refers to the written text of a play.

Remember that drama can be experienced in two ways: it can be read as a scripted text or watched during performed.

An actor is a person who represents one of the characters in a play. He or she performs the actions of that character on stage.

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Usually, the playwright provides a list of characters in a play- this is called cast of characters. He or she also says who they are.

DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES Techniques for Actors and Actor Directors Monologue: A speech by a single character without another character's response. The character however, is speaking to someone else or even a group of people.

Soliloquy: A speech meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage (as opposed to a monologue which addresses someone who does not respond). In a soliloquy only the audience can hear the private thoughts of the characters.

Prologue: In original Greek tragedy, the prologue is either the action or a set of introductory speeches before the first entry of the chorus. Here, a single actor's monologue or a dialogue between two actors would establish the play's background events. In later literature, the prologue serves as explicit exposition introducing material before the first scene begins.

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Gesture: The physical movement of a character during a play. Gesture is used to reveal character, and may include facial expressions as well as movements of other parts of an actor's body.

Flashback: An interruption of a play's chronology (timeline) to describe or present an incident that occurred prior to the main time-frame of the play's action.

Aside: Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience, but not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play.

Point of View: Perspective from which the story is told. This has been studied previously under the elements of Prose.

Facial Expressions: The following are a large selection of facial expressions reflecting emotions and mental situations. Any serious actor is recommended to learn and master these expressions through training all his/her face muscles effectively and recording him/ herself: Happiness (laughing, smiling), Sadness, Anger, Fear, Surprise, Pain, Mockery, Doubt, Excitement, Pity, Interest, Worry, Stupidity, etc. These paralinguistic clues complement the spoken words in order to make communication effective. Thus, actors should learn to use them accordingly. It 86

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should be noted that even if some seem more universal, others are less nuanced depending on the diversity of cultures.

The following are the ten Facial Expressions suggested by Hope July 5, 2013:

1. Confusion

An expression of confusion is often determined by the nose and forehead scrunched up, sometimes with one eyebrow raised higher than the other. Lips are typically pursed together as well, although the expression of confusion tends to be most accentuated around the eyes and nose.

2. Shame 87

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A look of shame is an easily and universally recognized expression. It typically includes eyes averted downward with a saddened or worried appearance. The head is also often positioned to face down with a frowning or neutral mouth. Shame is closely related to submission or not meeting expectations that you set for yourself, or failing to meet the standards that others have set for you.

3. Surprise

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A look of surprise is easily identified by its widened eyes and gaping mouth. The emotion of surprise or shock is a close relative of fear. The surprised face is one of the most instinctual faces we make. Most of the time we do not consciously make the face— it is an instantaneous reaction to something.

4. Focus

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A focused or concentrated facial expression can vary based on the situation. If the person is focused on a particular task, their eyes will be fixed on it. If one is focused on a thought or idea on the other hand, they may be looking upward or with eyes averted to the side. There is also typically less blinking.

5. Exhaustion

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An obvious factor indicating that someone is exhausted are half-open eyelids. Eyebrows are also frequently raised in an attempt to stay awake. A look of fatigue serves as a benefit to the opposing party because they appear to be less threatening. By roughly indicating the amount of energy we have, others can also be aware of our capabilities.

6. Seduction

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A seductive facial expression tends to vary greatly: Eyes are fixed with a look of intensity at the other person, or the attention-grabbers in any given situation. Adding a look of intensity is typically attractive to the opposite party. Accentuating the lips and neck highlight areas that most find attractive and sensual. When combined with increased blinking and the occasional faint smile, a seductive appearance and behavior is achieved.

7. Anger

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It is believed that Anger is universal across cultures.

To get angry is unmistakable to all. Anger is always associated with unpleasant, irritating, or frustrating situations. The tenseness of the face is usually coupled with similar body language to send a clear indicator of the emotion to surrounding people.

8. Fear

The facial expression of fear is characterized by widened eyes and eyebrows slanted upward. The 93

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mouth is usually open to some degree as well. Fear, like surprise, is closely rooted to instinct and indicates a desire to avoid or escape something. This facial expression is actually quite practical and aids the individual in avoiding a situation by increasing the capacity of the senses.

9. Sadness

Sadness is coupled with feelings of loss and helplessness. The face is often displayed by those who are withdrawn. The origin or reason for this expression is rather simple: The features that indicate sadness are reduced forms of one’s facial features. It is an indication of defeat as well, a sense 94

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of giving up or a lack of attempt to engage with others.

10.

Happiness

Happiness is considered the most universal facial expression with virtually the same meaning across all cultures. Unlike most of our other expressions, our smile does not have the same meaning as the “mouth smile� of other great apes, who use that expression for intimidation.

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KEY ASPECTS OF DRAMA These are referred to as the elements without which drama would not take place. They include: Plot, Characters and setting.

Setting In addition to the stage directions, setting is also an important element in setting. It can be looked at in terms of three angles: time, space, and context. It should be noted that context is more important than other elements. This is because setting is the social context of events within a literary work. Types of settings were discussed prior in the elements of prose.

In a play, setting is established in several ways: Notes from the playwright. These can be enough to clearly state the setting.

Through the character’s dialogue, costume and behavior. Characters can inform the audience about where and what should be done in given milieu of the story.

The stage setting itself is very important in determining what the story is all about. This is in line with the place in where actors are placed to perform their roles. Props and theatre equipment can 96

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reveal what actions are intended to communicate to the audience.

Finally, through the stage directions. These are descriptions used to tell what is supposed to be done and how they should be done.

There can be different types of setting used by playwrights to present their literary work. They can be: cultural, political, physical and chronological.

Characters Character: An imaginary person that inhabits a literary work. Dramatic characters may be major or minor, static (unchanging) or dynamic (capable of change).

Example: In Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona is a major character, but one who is static. Othello is a major character who is dynamic, exhibiting an ability to change.

Flat Characters: Flat characters in a play are often, but not always, relatively simple minor characters.

They tend to be presented though particular and limited traits; hence they become stereotypes. For example, the selfish son, the pure woman, the lazy child, the dumb blonde, etc. These characters do not change in the course of a play.

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Foil: A secondary character whose situation often parallels that of the main character while his behavior or response or character contrasts with that of the main character, throwing light on that particular character’s specific temperament.

Round Characters: A round character is depicted with such psychological depth and detail that he or she seems like a "real" person. The round character contrasts with the flat character who serves a specific or minor literary function in a text, and who may be a stock character or simplified stereotype.

Stock Character: A recognizable character type found in many plays. Comedies have traditionally relied on such stock characters as the miserly father, the beautiful but naĂŻve girl, the trickster servant.

Plot As it has been mentioned earlier, plot is an arrangement of events. It is mainly in a cause-effect structure, though not always. In Drama, a plot is developed through a dialogue; that is why we can define drama as a long dialogue made to be performed before an audience. The dramatic plot used as model is the one of Freytag which contains the five elements: Exposition, Rising Action, 98

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Climax, Falling Action and Resolution. We shall study these elements in the diagram bellow:

The Dramatic plot structure

This is also referred to as Plot Patterns or Dramatic Plot Structure.

Exposition

This is the introduction part of events in a script. It provides audience with the preview of the story by giving the main characters, setting (in terms of time, 99

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place and context), and sometimes some hints of what is likely to happen on the cause of the story.

Some scholars use the term Introduction to mean Exposition in the plot.

Rising action

This is a part of the story in which the action rises.

In fact, the action here means conflicts which can be of different types according to the intention of the playwright.

Types of conflicts Conflict is a problem or struggle between two opposing forces in a story. There are a number of such struggles in human life. Here, I chose four of them which seem to be elementary:

Person Against PersonIndividuals have always cases of disagreements on different issues in life. When such problems arise in a literary work, they are referred to as example of the “person against person” conflicts.

Person Against SelfThis is a struggle that takes place in the mind of a character’s mind. Sometimes, we saw or heard someone asking themselves whether they should act or not on a particular issue. That uncertainty 100

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occurring in the mind that can be expressed through words or gestures is an example of “person against self” conflict.

Person Against SocietyIt is a problem between a character and society- a large group of people who live in the same locality who share some principles, interests and goals.

Thus, a character may be involved in a conflict against their social milieu such as: school, church, working place, team, cooperative, etc.

Person Against NatureSome elements of nature like storms, heavy rains, a mountain climb, drought among others may form obstruction to achievement of a character’s activities. What if it rained while Miss Amata had dressed her white robe for the birthday party and she had planned to have a walk in the streets of Nyamata? That would be an example of “person against nature” conflict.

It should be noted that rising action is sometimes referred to as complication, development or conflict.

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Climax Climax is the third step in the dramatic plot known as crisis. It is the culmination of the pay’s conflicts and complications. It is at this level where the character makes a decision to solve their problem.

Serious actions are taken that affect other characters or bring the audience to the highest turning point.

Examples can include: divorce, death, theft setting fire on a building, etc.

Falling Action This is the stage that leads to the conclusion, but it is not the conclusion itself. Characters are hopeless after the crisis that befell them in the climax. There is total dismount of ideas to start afresh or look for new ways of coping with life. Events are moving to the end of the story.

Resolution Two other terms are associated to this word; denouement and conclusion. The conflict is resolved. Life can continue as the play ends. Even if some playwrights end their works in suspense, when analyzed well we find that the conflict has been resolved.

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Assessing the understanding3 1. Explain the following terms used in Literature a) Script b) Exposition c) Props d) Drama 2. a) Describe any two types of setting that exist in Literature b) Give and explain any two types of characters 3. a) Describe the key aspects of Drama b) Is there any difference between play and playwright?

4. a) What is the climax of a story? b) What do you understand by Character plot? c) Explain any three types of conflicts that can be found in literary works.

5. a) What is the role of facial expressions in drama presentation? b) What is props? c) Clearly differentiate between cultural setting and political setting 103

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7. Give the elements of the dramatic plot according to Freytag’s Pyramid (1863)/5mks 8. There is no drama without play. Justify this statement

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INTRODUCTION TO WRITING Preliminary The Bloom’s Taxonomy used in assessment classifies questions in two levels; Lower and High levels of thinking. Many learners find hard to tackle the high level thinking questions because they lack basic techniques relevant to that skill. Here, we want to learn how to answer through writing.

Writing is not only combining words to form sentences and sentences to form paragraphs, or joining many paragraphs to form texts that when compiled can make books we find in Libraries.

Knowing how to do it well, is a skill that is acquired.

In this chapter, we shall see why some academic papers are liked while others are not.

The choice of words appropriate to the subject is one of the key skills that make a work enticing to many.

Even if some people have ideas, it is not always easy to organize and present them in writing. This chapter will help people learn how to write.

English scholars suggest categorizing types of writing into four groups: Argumentative, Expository, Descriptive and Narrative. For the purpose of academic proficiency, in this document 105

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we shall study the Descriptive writing used in academic writing in the department of Humanities/Arts. In addition, this chapter will contribute into how to answer effectively questions of High level of understanding. How, Explain, Describe, Justify, Discuss, Explicate‌.

Descriptive Writing This is a kind of conveying a message through explanation about a person, an event, a place, a concept or a process of something in a way that its picture is formed in the mind of the reader. This form of writing is also used in essay compositions.

Characteristics of a descriptive writing Good descriptive writing includes many vivid sensory details that paint a picture and appeals to all of the reader’s senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste when appropriate. It can also appeal to the feelings of the reader.

Good descriptive writing often makes use of figurative language such as analogies, similes and metaphor to convey the message more effectively.

Not only imagery of comparison, but also exaggeration and contrast can be of relevance.

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There should be a precise language. General adjectives, nouns, and passive verbs do not have a place in good descriptive writing. Only specific wording of actions should be used.

The organization matters. The setting of your works should be clear enough. Inform the reader about where, when and what takes place, as well as who does what happens. Sometimes, use the omniscient point of view to facilitate the understanding.

In order to prove authenticity of the work, there should be evidences such as testimony, examples, authority, logical or statistical findings related to the topic in action.

The grammar use contributes a lot in conveying a given message. The writer should respect morphosyntactic rules that guide the language medium of the communication. These may include: a) b) c) d) e)

Spelling Verbs and Tenses Punctuation Sentence formation Singular and plural forms, etc.

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ACADEMIC WRITING This is kind of information conveyance on written material for academic achievement. It is known as essay form or prose form of writing. Any of the following terms; paper, thesis, dissertation or composition mean the same as Essay.

Academic paper This a large linguistic unit made up of different but connected linguistic expressions. It is more than one paragraph. However, even any effective paragraph follows essay writing techniques.

Structure of an academic paper An essay or paper contains three fundamental parts: introduction, body and conclusion.

Introduction

An introduction is a preliminary part of a writing that informs the reader about the main ideas developed in the text. It gives the main purposes and thesis statement (saying the intention of the literary work). In addition, it sets limits to not drift from the key ideas under the controlling sentence known as “thesis statement�.

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Functions of an introduction i. ii. iii.

It establishes a smooth link between itself and the rest of the essay (the body).

It gives the general preview of the work and the main components of the topic.

It wins the reader’s attention. Thus, it should be eye-catching to the intended recipient.

Approaches to introduce Funnel approach: this is a technique which starts from the broad towards the specific topic of discussion. For example, in order to talk about a given school, one may start with the Ministry of Education, the Rwanda Education Board (REB) and end with the specific topic of the discussion. The writer must be keen in introducing their work because from a bad introduction, it is not easy to present a good development.

Rhetoric question: this is when the writer asks a question but which does not really need an answer from anyone. This serves to alert the reader towards the written material. Indeed, the paragraph when read entirely, it provides an answer to the question posed. For example: “Should people study 109

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Literature in Ordinary level?� This question cannot be answered in -yes or no- only. Rather, a deeper explanation to exhaust all possible points of view.

Anecdote: this is a story told in humorous way to draw the readers’ mind towards the point of discussion. It should be well connected to the topic statement to avoid any disorientation to the audience.

Captivating sentence, quote or fact: this should be a verifiable evidence that is relevant to topic and its context.

The Body-Paragraphs A paragraph is a part of the text that contain a single idea. It is a group of sentences that develop one single idea or a specific part of the larger topic. An effective paragraph should have between five to nine lines and at least three sentences. In fact, a paragraph neither be too long nor too short.

The body of an academic paper should have different paragraphs all connecting to the topic even though, each one of them, develops a single idea.

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Structure of a paragraph Topic sentenceIt is often the first sentence that indicates the main idea of the paragraph. It contains a general idea of the paragraph. It contains one or more controlling concepts.

Supporting sentencesThese are sentences that develop ideas presented in the topic sentence. They give evidences whose role is to provide the main idea with authority to prove the argument to have been researched on.

There must be unity between supporting sentences as well as the topic sentence. It is the connection between the main idea of the paragraph and the topic sentence. This helps the paragraph to be strong and clear.

Types of evidences are numerous. Some of them are; Authority, statistical (use of reliable figures to prove a point), empirical (what can be observed) or logical (conclusions drawn from premises).

Concluding sentencesThese are last sentences used in paragraphs to give closing notes about a work. They are normally introduced by concluding signals.

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The purpose of concluding sentences a) To echo the main point developed by the body sentences b) To signal the reader that this is the end of the paragraph. c) To draw a conclusion based on the information set forth in the paragraph. d) To offer a final observation about the controlling idea.

Concluding clues include: as a result, all in all, hence, hence forth, in brief, in other words, thus, therefore, so, in short, among others.

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INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY WRITERS Preliminary This section introduces some of the writers who contributed to the world of Literature. Their works have got a renomĂŠe due to the social issues they addressed in the society. Reading their literary works and knowing about their biography can lead people to write so that Literature may be sustained.

This section will present some of Literary writers and some of their novels or plays.

FRANCIS IMBUGA Professor Francis Davis Imbuga (1947 – November 18, 2012) was a Kenyan playwright and literature scholar whose works, including Aminata and Betrayal in the City, have become staples in the study of literature schools in Kenya and Eastern Africa at large . His works have consistently dealt with issues such as the clashes of modernity and tradition in the social organization of African communities.

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He also taught literature at Kenyatta University, holding the posts of Dean of the Literature Department, Dean of Arts and Director of Quality Assurance. He died on the night of Sunday 18 November 2012, after suffering a stroke in his house in Nairobi.

Betrayal In The City “Betrayal in the City” is a powerful play by African playwright Francis Imbuga. It was first published in 1976, and addresses the troublesome effects of freedom and independence in post-colonial African nations. These nations have been either repressed or reduced to everyday violence for so long that their inhabitants are left to wonder if they even have a say in their country’s future. This repression and/or 114

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violence often involves politics, with the very real giants being those who hold power at the highest levels.

Though Africa is riddled with corrupt politicians, Imbuga’s play is careful not to name anyone in particular, thus keeping him safe from retaliation. In fact, Imbuga’s play is set in a fictional country, known as Kafira, and its characters not only have generic names, such as Boss, Tumbo and Mosese, but many have generic traits, allowing them to be anyone, from any country. Imbuga’s generic characters and setting work twofold in this way: they not only allow him to critique corrupt politicians and systems of government in Africa, they also transcend Africa due to their generic nature, thus pointing an accusatory finger at corrupt politicians and systems of government around the world.

The play itself begins by addressing the unambiguous differences between African culture and inherited cultural systems in post-colonial Africa. These observations then shift to the dilemma of leadership positions in such a confused state of government and social identity. This observation includes the differences between those in power and those who follow these leaders, the so-called 115

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masses. What motivates both groups is the source of the play’s storyline and, on a larger scale, explains how these corrupt systems of government can operate in real life.

The play begins with two characters, Nina and Doga, who are in mourning. Their child has been killed in an organized demonstration against dictatorship and corruption. From the trouble of Nina and Doga, the reader is then introduced to other characters that must face their bleak realities in a corrupt system of government, including Jusper and Mosese. Another character is Mulili, who is an illiterate soldier that has somehow become a highranking official now. Along with other partners of the government, Mulili causes pain and sorrow for the people of Kafira.

More than anything, Imbuga’s play shows how Kafira is a country that devours its own people. No one really makes it out alive. Though materialism and patronage systems, such as nepotism, are rampant, even corrupt officials like Mulili are prone to infighting and desperate attempts to climb higher up the political ladder. Meanwhile, characters like Nina and Doga suffer and lose loved ones, not to mention the many nameless characters, such as the 116

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student body that has no voice due to government sanctions.

“Betrayal in the City” is powerful in its reach and subject matter, as well as its bleak portrayal of social and political diseases that rot from the top down.

Indeed, by showing how complex the problem of corrupt government is, Imbuga’s play rightly positions itself as a strong voice in the continuous struggle for freedom, in Africa and other suffering countries.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE William Shakespeare is an English poet, playwright and actor who was born in 1564 and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the

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Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's

Men. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been repeatedly adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

Romeo and Juliet In the streets of Verona another brawl breaks out between the servants of the feuding noble families of Capulet and Montague. Benvolio, a Montague, tries to stop the fighting, but is himself confused 118

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when the rash Capulet, Tybalt, arrives on the scene.

After citizens annoyed by the constant violence beat back the warring groups, Prince Escalus, the ruler of Verona, attempts to prevent any further conflicts between the families by decreeing death for any individual who disturbs the peace in the future.

Romeo, the son of Montague, runs into his cousin Benvolio, who had earlier seen Romeo moping in a grove of sycamores. After some urging by Benvolio, Romeo confides that he is in love with Rosaline, a woman who does not return his affections. Benvolio counsels him to forget this woman and find another, more beautiful one, but Romeo remains downhearted.

Meanwhile, Paris, a kinsman of the Prince, seeks Juliet’s hand in marriage. Her father Capulet, though happy at the match, asks Paris to wait two years, since Juliet is not yet even fourteen. Capulet dispatches a servant with a list of people to invite to a masquerade and feast he traditionally holds. He invites Paris to the feast, hoping that Paris will begin to win Juliet’s heart.

Romeo and Benvolio, still discussing Rosaline, encounter the Capulet servant bearing the list of invitations. Benvolio suggests that they attend, since that will allow Romeo to compare his beloved to 119

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other beautiful women of Verona. Romeo agrees to go with Benvolio to the feast, but only because Rosaline, whose name he reads on the list, will be there.

In Capulet’s household, young Juliet talks with her mother, Lady Capulet, and her nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris. Juliet has not yet considered marriage, but agrees to look at Paris during the feast to see if she thinks she might fall in love with him.

The feast begins. A melancholy Romeo follows Benvolio and their humorous friend Mercutio to Capulet’s house. Once inside, Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and instantly falls in love with her; he forgets about Rosaline completely. As Romeo watches Juliet, absorbed, a young Capulet, Tybalt, recognizes him, and is enraged that a Montague would sneak into a Capulet feast. He prepares to attack, but Capulet holds him back. Soon, Romeo speaks to Juliet, and the two experience a profound attraction. They kiss, not even knowing each other’s names. When he finds out from Juliet’s nurse that she is the daughter of Capulet—his family’s enemy—he becomes worried. When Juliet learns that the young man she has just kissed is the son of Montague, she grows equally upset.

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As Mercutio and Benvolio leave the Capulet estate, Romeo leaps over the plantation wall into the garden, unable to leave Juliet behind. From his hiding place, he sees Juliet in a window above the plantation and hears her speak his name. He calls out to her, and they exchange vows of love.

Romeo hurries to see his friend and confessor Friar Lawrence, who, though shocked at the sudden turn of Romeo’s heart, agrees to marry the young lovers in secret since he sees in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud between Capulet and Montague. The following day, Romeo and Juliet meet at Friar Lawrence’s cell and are married. The Nurse, who is in the know to the secret, procures a ladder, which Romeo will use to climb into Juliet’s window for their wedding night.

The next day, Benvolio and Mercutio encounter Tybalt—Juliet’s cousin—who, still enraged that Romeo attended Capulet’s feast, has challenged Romeo to a duel. Romeo appears. Now Tybalt’s kinsman by marriage, Romeo begs the Capulet to hold off the duel until he understands why Romeo does not want to fight. Disgusted with this plea for peace, Mercutio says that he will fight Tybalt himself. The two begin to duel. Romeo tries to stop them by leaping between the combatants. Tybalt 121

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stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm, and Mercutio dies. Romeo, in a rage, kills Tybalt. Romeo flees from the scene. Soon after, the Prince declares him forever banished from Verona for his crime. Friar Lawrence arranges for Romeo to spend his wedding night with Juliet before he has to leave for Mantua the following morning.

In her room, Juliet awaits the arrival of her new husband. The Nurse enters, and, after some confusion, tells Juliet that Romeo has killed Tybalt.

Distraught, Juliet suddenly finds herself married to a man who has killed her kinsman. But she resettles herself, and realizes that her duty belongs with her love: to Romeo.

Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room that night, and at last they consummate their marriage and their love.

Morning comes, and the lovers bid farewell, unsure when they will see each other again. Juliet learns that her father, affected by the recent events, now intends for her to marry Paris in just three days.

Unsure of how to proceed—unable to reveal to her parents that she is married to Romeo, but unwilling to marry Paris now that she is Romeo’s wife—Juliet asks her nurse for advice. She counsels Juliet to proceed as if Romeo were dead and to marry Paris, who is a better match anyway. Disgusted with the 122

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Nurse’s disloyalty, Juliet disregards her advice and hurries to Friar Lawrence. He concocts a plan to reunite Juliet with Romeo in Mantua. The night before her wedding to Paris, Juliet must drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest in the family’s crypt, the Friar and Romeo will secretly retrieve her, and she will be free to live with Romeo, away from their parents’ feuding.

Juliet returns home to discover the wedding has been moved ahead one day, and she is to be married tomorrow. That night, Juliet drinks the potion, and the Nurse discovers her, apparently dead, the next morning. The Capulets grieve, and Juliet is entombed according to plan. But Friar Lawrence’s message explaining the plan to Romeo never reaches Mantua. Its bearer, Friar John, gets confined to a isolated house. Romeo hears only that Juliet is dead.

Romeo learns only of Juliet’s death and decides to kill himself rather than live without her. He buys a vial of poison from a reluctant Apothecary, then speeds back to Verona to take his own life at Juliet’s tomb. Outside the Capulet tomb, Romeo comes upon Paris, who is scattering flowers on Juliet’s grave. They fight, and Romeo kills Paris. He enters 123

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the tomb, sees Juliet’s inanimate body, drinks the poison, and dies by her side. Just then, Friar Lawrence enters and realizes that Romeo has killed Paris and himself. At the same time, Juliet awakes.

Friar Lawrence hears the coming of the watch.

When Juliet refuses to leave with him, he flees alone. Juliet sees her beloved Romeo and realizes he has killed himself with poison. She kisses his poisoned lips, and when that does not kill her, buries his dagger in her chest, falling dead upon his body.

The watch arrives, followed closely by the Prince, the Capulets, and Montague. Montague declares that Lady Montague has died of grief over Romeo’s exile. Seeing their children’s bodies, Capulet and Montague agree to end their long-standing feud and to raise gold statues of their children side-by-side in a newly peaceful Verona.

CHINUA ACHEBE Chinua Achebe born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; (16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. His first novel Things Fall Apart (1958), often considered his best is the most widely read book in 124

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modern African literature. He won the Man Booker International Prize in 2007.

Raised by his parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria, Achebe excelled at school and won a scholarship to study medicine, but changed his studies to English literature at University College (now the University of Ibadan). He became fascinated with world religions and traditional African cultures, and began writing stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) and soon moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention for his novel Things Fall Apart 125

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in the late 1950s; his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987).

Achebe wrote his novels in English and defended the use of English, a "language of colonizers", in African literature.

A Man of the People Written in 1966, A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe is a story of warlords, mentorship, and even revenge and romance. It begins with the narrator, Odili, who is a teacher in a small African village, central to a corrupt and debased government. Odili receives a letter one day from his mentor and former teacher Mr. Nanga, who has risen in the ranks of government and has become the Minister of Culture in their unnamed African country – he now goes mainly by Chief Nanga. The letter informs Odili of Chief Nanga’s arrival to his home village, where they meet and Odili is offered a chance to come back with Nanga to the capital city, where Nanga will help him leave the village and study abroad.

Odili agrees to visit Chief Nanga’s city, and as they become friendlier, Odili learns more about his mentor’s part in the African government. Although he finds himself entranced by his old teacher’s 126

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charisma, he despises what he stands for politically, and especially dislikes the corrupt ways he achieved his status. Odili also learns that despite being a Minister of Culture, Chief Nanga knows nothing about the culture, and is only residing in this position because of the extravagant living comforts that come with it. As they spend more time together, Odili finds himself captivated with Edna, a woman who travels with Chief Nanga, and is betrothed to be his second wife. This causes Odili to find his own woman, Elise, who he seduces and brings back with him to Nanga’s home, to stay with her during the night, however Chief Nanga ends up spending the night with her instead. Odili is both hurt and furious because of this, and sets his sights on Nanga’s fiancée, Edna.

Along with pursuing Edna, Odili agrees to join an opposition party against Chief Nanga’s organization, despite his hate for politics, however revenge is now more important to him, and begins to work towards taking Chief Nanga’s position away from him. To counter his distaste for government, Odili decides on running an honest organization, however he finds it more difficult than he had first thought, as every other official is only after filling their pockets, and the people of this 127

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African country are both used to and have accepted corruption as the status quo. This jaded view of the village people also contributes to the fact that Odili is unable to smear the current government, because the people have lost complete faith in the concept as a whole, and he is unable to gain the upper hand.

Other issues Odili has to deal with are considering taking a large sum of money to drop out of the political race, trying to prove that the current government is corrupt and taking bribes to the unreceptive people, and having his family and his village threatened as well as being intimidated into stepping down.

Along with all these political struggles, Odili slowly discovers that his plan to seduce Edna to hurt the chief has failed, because Odili finds himself in love with her, and he desires her; however, she feels forced to marry Chief Nanga because he had paid her father a great deal of money. Odili, growing more frustrated with his opponent, attends Nanga’s campaign party, where is recognized as the rival candidate, and is beaten to an inch of his life, and is forced to spend weeks in the hospital.

During Odili’s recovery he remains out of action, causing Chief Nanga’s party to gain the electoral victory, which naturally thrills Chief Nanga, 128

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however the residents of the African country are furious, and start a military coup in which Nanga’s government is overthrown, causing more people to come forward and discuss their hatred for the government that they were under all these years.

The book really pushes the satire by highlighting the types of people in this world – how people are never satisfied and often angered by their own decisions, like how the countrymen voted for Chief Nanga, but then were unhappy when he won, and how no one wanted to step up when it mattered except Odili, and even when he did, he suffered greatly for it. A Man of the People had grown in popularity since its publication, mostly because many other authors have hailed it and Chinua Achebe as being a form of premonition, since all the fictional events happened in different African countries under the rule of monstrous dictators.

Near the end, Edna stays by Odili’s side the entire time, helping him heal, revealing her love for him, and their families make arrangements and help the couple stay together, and eventually Odili and Edna marry. Odili discovers much loss at the end of the book, like losing the election, having the countrymen resort to chaos and violence to bring down the government that they themselves elected, 129

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and having lost many people in the war, including one of his closest friends who was killed by a government official. Despite that, he feels that at least he had won the heart of the woman he loves, and that now his country lies in ruins, but at least he tried.

NGŨGĨ WA THIONG'O Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o born 5 January 1938 is a Kenyan writer, formerly working in English and now working in Gikuyu. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature.

He is the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri.

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In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of theatre in his native Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances. His project sought to "demystify" the theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation that produces a gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which, according to Ngũgĩ, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although Ngaahika Ndeenda was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening.

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Ngũgĩ was subsequently imprisoned for over a year.

Adopted as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, the artist was released from prison, and fled Kenya. In the United States, he taught at Yale University for some years, and has since also taught at New York University, with a dual professorship in Comparative Literature and Performance Studies, and at the University of California, Irvine. Ngũgĩ has frequently been regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. His son is the author Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ.

The River Between In The River Between, Waiyaki tries to educate his people without destroying their traditions. He was born in Kenya to the Kikuyu people, but was educated by Christian missionaries. In the end, he fails to preserve his people's traditions, and his dream of providing an education to the Kikuyu dies.

Waiyaki's father wants him to become a leader of the Kikuyu people. There's a prophecy that a man from the hills will bring salvation to his people.

Christian missionaries bring division to the Kikuyu.

Waiyaki goes to the Mission for his education, but never forgets his traditions. Waiyaki falls in love 132

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with the daughter of a Christian convert, Joshua.

He's put on trial for appearing to betray his people's traditions. In the end, his dream of bringing education to the Kikuyu dies.

The River Between was published in 1965 following his novel Weep Not, Child, which was then followed by the critical success of A Grain of Wheat.

Ngugi’s The River Between focuses on the lost heritage of Eastern Africans through the characters of Waiyaki and his tribe. Ngugi was the first English-educated African writer to develop fiction portraying the Kikuyu view of the colonial war, the Mau Mau Emergency or Rebellion, which was a violent uprising by the Kikuyu people against British control. This event put the region even the country in a state of emergency in the 1960’s (1952 to 1960). This had an effect on many of the countries in East Africa.

The novel focuses on the conflict between Christian missionaries and the indigenous tribes. It also explores the long-lasting effects of colonialism and its consequences.

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Western literature’s image of Africa, by offsetting the perspective of writers such as Joseph Conrad in his Heart of Darkness. Ngugi’s work occupies the category of contemporary African fiction that began with Amos Tutuola’s Palm Wine Drunkard and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

Ngugi’s initial works were written in English, not the language of his own people. In the 1960s, he wove the stories and folk traditions of his culture and restated historical legends for a country that was less than a decade old. His later work is written in Gikuyu, the language of his tribe, as he seeks a more authentic literature and voice. His work represents the tenuous balance of cultures, languages, and nations that continues to be present in news headlines into the twenty-first century.

Weep Not Child, “Weep not child”, Ngugi wa Thiong’o 1964’s novel, centers around the interactions between British colonists in Kenya and the native people. This book takes place during the Mau Mau Uprising, an eightyear struggle in British-controlled colonial Kenya.

During this 1950s uprising, the British killed somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 African 134

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rebels. The success of the British Empire can be attributed to their “divide and rule” practice, a political tactic first utilized by the ancient Greeks.

This practice makes it difficult or impossible for smaller groups of people to band together and revolt—and that is exactly what happened during the Mau Mau Uprising. Ngugi’s works, including Weep Not Child, are piercingly critical of British rule.

This book begins with Njoroge, whose mother wants him to go to be the first in their family to attend school. They live on Jacobo’s land—Jacobo being an African who deals with the white settlers in order to to make his fortune. Among those settlers is Mr. Howlands, who owns much of the land in the area. Njoroge has two brothers, Kamau and Boro.

Kamau is apprenticed to a carpenter. Boro was forced to fight in World War II and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Njoroge’s father, Ngotho, farms on Mr. Howlands’ lands. He is a man who prizes the land and its care above money.

When local African workers strike for better pay, Ngotho fears losing his job if he participates. Yet, he attends a strike meeting despite both of his wives’ disapproval. At the meeting, Jacobo tries to end the 135

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strike before it can begin, prompting Ngotho to attack him. A riot begins. Two people are killed during the riot and Jacobo promises to exact revenge. Ngotho loses his job and must move his family; Njoroge’s brothers fund his education so that he can go to school.

Njoroge transfers school because of his father’s loss of employment and is separated from his friend Mwihaki, Jacobo’s daughter. She and Njoroge were once classmates and close friends, but she now attends a boarding school for girls. Njoroge is embarrassed about his father’s attack against Jacobo, and so he is grateful for the distance between Mwihaki and himself.

Meanwhile, in the Mau Mau Uprising, one of the leaders—Jomo Kenyatta—is about to stand trial.

While many of the native Kenyans think he will be their savior from British rule, he loses at trial and faces imprisonment. On the Kenyan side, there are more protests. The British colonists take actions to further suppress and oppress them.

The uprising touches Njoroge’s family when Jacobo accuses Ngotho of leading the Mau Mau. Jacobo hopes that the whole family will be imprisoned. The situation for the Kenyans is, overall, getting worse.

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with the Mau Mau out of their homes and execute them.

While the situation in the country is deteriorating, Njoroge is succeeding in school. He passes a rigorous high school entrance exam, and his village, proud of his scholastic success, collects money to fund his tuition. He and Mwihaki encounter one another again and this time, Njoroge does not find their fathers’ differences to be a hurdle in their friendship.

However, Njoroge’s life is not free from the Mau Mau Uprising for long. One day, Jacobo is found murdered. Njoroge is pulled out of school by Mr. Howlands and questioned, and both he and his father Ngotho are beaten nearly to death before being released. The reader soon discovers that Njoroge’s brothers killed Jacobo, and that Boro is a Mau Mau leader. Their father dies from his injuries and Njoroge learns that his father was only protecting Kamau and Boro, despite the fact that they lost respect for him after he lost his job. When Kamau is imprisoned, Njoroge must provide for both of his mothers. He is forced to abandon both school and his faith.

Njoroge has fallen in love with Mwihaki, and professes his love to her, asking her to leave with 137

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him. She refuses because she feels compelled to remain in Kenya and with her mother now that Jacobo is dead. Njoroge attempts to hang himself.

He is stopped by his mother but descends into hopelessness and shame.

In addition to the theme of families torn apart by British rule, Njoroge’s fate shows how systemic oppression affects the individual. As a child, Njoroge has a hopeful future. His father is successful and he excels at school. Then, his family and those around him become involved—willingly or not—in the Mau Mau Uprising. The harsh actions of the British army and those who benefit from their rule tear apart Njoroge’s family and strip him of his faith in God and will to live.

MARIAMA BÂ Mariama Bâ (April 17, 1929 – August 17, 1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist, who wrote in French. Born in Dakar, she was raised a Muslim. At an early age she came to criticize what she perceived as inequalities between the sexes resulting from African traditions. Raised by her traditional grandparents, she had to struggle even to gain an education, because they did not believe that girls 138

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should be taught. Bâ later married a Senegalese Member of Parliament, Obèye Diop-Tall, but divorced him and was left to care for their nine children.

Her frustration with the fate of African women—as well as her ultimate acceptance of it—is expressed in her first novel, So Long a Letter. In it she depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife. Abiola Irele called it "the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction". This short book was awarded the first Noma Prize for Publishing in Africa in 1980.

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Bâ died a year later after a prolonged illness, before the publication of her second novel, Scarlet Song, which is a love story between two star-crossed lovers from different ethical backgrounds fighting the tyranny of tradition.

So Long a Letter So Long a Letter, a novel originally written in French, follows the story of two women from Senegal, Ramatoulaye and Aissatou. The two are childhood friends, but their paths diverge in adulthood, as Aissatou immigrates to America, leaving Ramatoulaye behind in Senegal. The novel is told through the epistolary style—that is, it is structured as a very long letter, written by Ramatoulaye to her friend, recounting the latest events of her life while recalling their shared childhood and adolescence.

The novel begins with Ramatoulaye composing her letter as she sits through her tenge, the isolation period required in Muslim Senegal after the death of one’s husband. Modou, Ramatoulaye’s husband, has recently died of a heart attack, and she describes the funeral rituals to Aissatou, who has been divorced for many years. Rama is irked that equal 140

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status has been given to her and her husband’s new, second wife, who gave him only five children to Rama’s twelve. The family gathers to divide the estate, and Modou’s wives learn that he was heavily in debt. Rama reflects on the pain she felt when Modou took another wife after 25 years of happy marriage.

In the next chapters, Rama recalls her years at the teachers’ training college with Aissatou. It is there she meets Modou, who is handsome and romantic.

She chooses to marry him over a wealthier suitor her parents prefer, eschewing the traditional lavish wedding and customary dowry for a simple ceremony. Aissatou, meanwhile, dates a friend of Modou’s, Mawdo. Though Mawdo is of a higher class than Aissatou, being the son of a princess, the two marry in defiance of caste traditions.

Now married, the two friends experience the joys and discomforts of married life. Rama’s mother-inlaw is pushy and overbearing, whereas Aissatou’s mother-in-law is openly contemptuous of her daughter-in-law, thinking Aissatou beneath her.

Rama and Aissatou work as teachers, fulfilled by their careers and their youthful love. Meanwhile, Aissatou’s mother-in-law, Aunty Nabou, devises a plan to take revenge on Aissatou. She adopts a little 141

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girl whom she renames Nabou. After years of patience, young Nabou grows into a beautiful young woman. Aunty Nabou offers her adopted daughter to her son, Mwado, and declares she will never recover if he refuses the proposal. Mwado agrees despite Aissatou’s objections, spending every other night with young Nabou. Betrayed, Aissatou divorces Mwado and pursues her education with a vengeance, ultimately being appointed to the Senegalese Embassy in the U.S. and permanently immigrating.

Three years later, Rama’s husband decides to take a second wife of his own free will. He chooses Binetou, a poor girl whose entire family will benefit from the match. He does not tell Rama of his plans until the day of the wedding, when he sends his best friend, his brother, and the local Imam to break the news. Rama’s heart breaks, but outwardly, she maintains composure and grace towards her husband. Rama debates whether to leave Modou, but ultimately stays, to the horror of her children.

Modou ignores his first family, focusing his attentions of Binetou. Rama takes on the work of running a household by herself, learning to fix leaks and pay bills. She entertains herself by talking with her twelve children and going to see shows and 142

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movies, but is deeply lonely. She wonders if she will ever meet another man, but fears her many children and her lack of a true divorce would be impediments. At Aissatou’s encouragement, she learns to drive, opening up a newfound sense of independence.

Back in the present, Rama continues her ritual isolation after Modou’s death. She has forgiven him and now prays for him every day. Modou’s brother, Tasmir, arrives at Rama’s house and tells her she will now marry him. Enraged, Rama yells at Tasmir, accusing him of trying to steal his brother’s wife.

Tasmir has three wives already, she reminds him, none of whom he can financially support. She refuses to marry him and Tasmir leaves, defeated.

Next, Rama is visited by Daouda Dieng, the suitor from her youth, now a married man. They discuss politics and the lack of female representation in Senegal’s government. Daouda proposes marriage.

After days of careful consideration, Rama concludes that she respects and admires Daouda, she doesn’t love him. She writes a letter of explanation, telling Daouda that she also feels uncomfortable coming between him and her first wife, a pain she knows firsthand. He never speaks to her again.

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Having heard that Aissatou will be coming back to Senegal to visit, Rama tells her friend about her children, some now adults themselves. Rama muses on the perils of modern parenting, how she has allowed her girls to wear pants, travel freely, and have male friends. Yet, her oldest girls have taken up smoking and partying, and she wonders if she should have been less permissive. One daughter, named Aissatou, has just revealed she is pregnant by a young law student. Though Rama is horrified by the out-of-wedlock pregnancy, she supports her daughter. The baby’s father, Iba, seeks Rama’s permission to marry young Aissatou, which she grants. Rama fumes at how Aissatou is expelled from school for getting pregnant, but boys never suffer such consequences. Determined not to let the same thing happen to her younger daughters, Rama educates them on sexual protection.

As she prepares for her friend Aissatou’s arrival the next day, Rama wonders what her friend will look like, after so many years in America. Will she be wearing pants? Will she insist on American furniture and utensils, like chairs and forks? Rama, for her part, will insist on keeping with tradition.

She will spread out a traditional mat, and the two friends will sit and talk, just as they once did.

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In So Long a Letter, author Mariama Ba grapples with changing social climates and the role women play in them, paying particularly attention to the ways in which education allows women to lift themselves up, while a lack of education leaves them stunted and with few options. Through Rama and Aissatou’s shared past and divergent adult lives, Ba shapes a narrative of the many ways women can buck tradition and create new spaces and roles for themselves and their daughters.

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APPENDIX Lexicon of Literature This Glossary is in alphabetical order.

Act: A major division in a play. An act can be subdivided into scenes. Greek plays were not divided into acts. The five act structure was originally introduced in Roman times and became the convention in Shakespeare’s period.

Antagonist: A character or force against which another character struggles.

Apron: The part of a proscenium stage that sticks out into the audience in front of the proscenium arch.

Aside: Words spoken by an actor directly to the audience, but not "heard" by the other characters on stage during a play.

Blocking: Movement patterns of actors on the stage. Usually planned by the director to create meaningful stage pictures.

Catharsis: The purging of the feelings of pity and fear. According to Aristotle the audience should experience catharsis at the end of a tragedy.

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Character: An imaginary person that inhabits a literary work. Dramatic characters may be major or minor, static or dynamic.

Chorus: A traditional chorus in Greek tragedy is a group of characters who comment on the action of a play without participating in it. A modern chorus serves a similar function but has taken a different form; it consists of a character/narrator coming on stage and giving a prologue or explicit background information or themes.

Climax: The turning point of the action in the plot of a play and the point of greatest tension in the work. (See Freytag’s Pyramid) Denouement / Resolution: Literally the action of untying. A denouement (or resolution) is the final outcome of the main complication in a play. Usually the denouement occurs AFTER the climax (the turning point or "crisis"). (See Freytag’s Pyramid) Dialogue: The conversation of characters in a literary work. In plays, characters' speech is preceded by their names. (See Appendix 2 for discussion on what is dialogue in dramatic terms.)

Diction: According to the Cambridge Dictionary, diction is “the manner in which words are pronounced.”

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Diction, however, is more than that: it is a style of speaking.

Exodos: The final scene and exit of the characters and chorus in a classical Greek play.

Exposition: “The first stage of a fictional or dramatic plot, in which necessary background information is provided” (See Freytag’s Pyramid).

Falling Action: This is when the events and complications begin to resolve themselves and tension is released. We learn whether the conflict has or been resolved or not.

Flashback: An interruption of a play's chronology (timeline) to describe or present an incident that occurred prior to the main time-frame of the play's action.

Foil: A secondary character whose situation often parallels that of the main character while his behavior or response or character contrasts with that of the main character, throwing light on that particular character’s specific temperament.

Fourth Wall: The imaginary wall that separates the spectator/audience from the action taking place on stage.

Gesture: The physical movement of a character during a play. Gesture is used to reveal character, 148

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and may include facial expressions as well as movements of other parts of an actor's body.

Linear Plot: A traditional plot sequence in which the incidents in the drama progress chronologically; in other words, all of the events build upon one another and there are no flashbacks. Linear plots are usually based on causality (that is, one event "causes" another to happen) occur more commonly in comedy than in other forms.

Monologue: A speech by a single character without another character's response. The character however, is speaking to someone else or even a group of people.

Motivation: The thought(s) or desire(s) that drives a character to actively pursue a want or need. This want or need is called the objective. A character generally has an overall objective or long-term goal in a drama but may change his or her objective, and hence motivation, from scene to scene when confronted with various obstacles.

Plot: The sequence of events that make up a story.

According to Aristotle, “The plot must be ‘a whole’ with a beginning, middle, and end” (Poetics, Part VII).

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Prologue: In original Greek tragedy, the prologue is either the action or a set of introductory speeches before the first entry of the chorus.

Props: Articles or objects that appear on stage during a play. Props can also take on a significant or even symbolic meaning.

Protagonist: The main character of a literary work.

Repertory: A system of producing plays in which a company of actors is assembled to stage a number of plays during a specific period of time.

Resolution: The sorting out or unraveling of a plot at the end of a play, novel, or story. (See Freytag’s Pyramid) Reversal or Peripeteia: The point at which the action of the plot turns in an unexpected direction for the protagonist- from failure to success or success to failure.

Rising Action: An event, conflict or crisis or set of conflicts and crises that constitute the part of a play's plot leading up to the climax. (See Freytag’s Pyramid) Satire: A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies.

Scene: A traditional segment in a play. Scenes are used to indicate a change in time a change in 150

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location, provides a jump from one subplot to another, introduces new characters rearrange the actors on the stage.

Scenery: The physical representation of the play's setting (location and time period). It also emphasizes the aesthetic concept or atmosphere of the play.

Soliloquy A speech meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage (as opposed to a monologue which addresses someone who does not respond).

Stage Direction: A playwright's descriptive or interpretive comments that provide readers (as well as actors and directors) with information about the dialogue, setting, and action of a play.

Staging: The spectacle a play presents in performance, including the position of actors on stage, the scenic background, the props and costumes, and the lighting and sound effects.

Subplot: A subsidiary or subordinate or parallel plot that coexists with the main plot.

Theatre of the Absurd: A type of drama and performance that conveys a sense of life as devoid of meaning and purpose.

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Tragedy: A type of drama in which the characters’ experience reversal of fortune, usually for the worse. In tragedy, suffering awaits many of the characters, especially the hero.

Tragic flaw: A weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero.

Tragic hero: A privileged, exalted character of high repute, who, by virtue of a tragic flaw and/or fate, suffers a fall from a higher station in life into suffering.

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Bibliography Anderson, M. (2011). Master Class in Drama Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning.

New York; Continuum International Publishing Group.

Bwalya, L. (2005) Oral Literature: Study Material.

UNZA. Carroll, H. (2013). English Course; English 103: Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. Retrieved fromhttp://educationportal.com/academy/course/an alyzing-and-interpreting-literature.html Carthy, T. (1997). Teaching Literary Elements: Easy strategies and activities to help kids Explore and enrich their experiences with Literature. USA, Penguin Books. Inc. Chetambe, M. (2016). Literature in English for Rwandan schools, student’s book. Senior 1. Kigali, East African Publishers Rwanda Ltd. Davids M. (1983) Understanding Literature.

Michigan press.

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Dowdy, K. &Kaplan, S. (2011). Teaching Drama in the classroom: A textbox for Teachers. Sense Publishers AW Rotterdam.

Encarta (2009).

Hanconck P (2006) What is Literature. Sydney: Australia http:// www.Wikipedia.free online encyclopedia http://highered.mcgrawl.com/sites/0072405228/stu dent_view0/drama_glossary . http://study.com/academy/lesson/narrativetechiniques http://www.genresofliterature.com/ http://www.wwnorton.com) http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nadram a/content/review/glossary/welcome.aspx) http://www2.anglistik.unifreiburg.de/englishbasics/ PoetryTypes01.htm https://literarydevices.net https://literarydevices.net/assonance/ https://literarydevices.net/epiphora/ 154

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Kempe, A & Ashwell, M. (2000). Progression in Secondary Drama. Great Britain; Heinemann Educational Publishers.

Lazar, G. (1993). Literature and Language Teaching for Teachers and Trainers. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.

Lynn, W. (1995). Cambridge critical workshop: Literary criticism. UK; Cambridge University Press.

Mbao, R. (2014). The Pedagogy of Oral Literature in Urban Secondary Schools in Kenya. Nairobi; Marist International University CollegeUnpublished document.

Ndahayo, S (2015). Methods used to teach drama in secondary schools in Kenya. Nairobi; Marist International University College-Unpublished.

Ogula,P. (1999). Principles and Practice of Teaching and Learning: A Handbook for Teachers and Educators. Nairobi: New Kemit Publishers.

Parohinog, N. (2012). Drama: Teaching of Literature Drama.

Retrieved form http://www.slideshare.net 155

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The Literature Network Forums (2010). Retrieved from http://www.online-literature.com Wallis, M. & Sheperd, S. (2010). Studying Plays.

London; Bloomsbury Soho square.

West, K. (2011). Inspired Drama Teaching: A practical guide for teaching. USA; Bloomsbury Publishing plc.

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