Tati-Loutard Poetry Reflection

Our assignment for this class was to read a collection of poems by Jean-Baptiste Tati-Loutard. I found his anthology and the poems to have a lot in common with one another. For the most part, all of his poems dealt in some way with nature. They all used adjectives and nouns that highlighted both the power and beauty of the natural world. He particularly had an interest with the sea, as evidenced by poems such as End of Flight, Letter to Edouard Maunick, and Submarine Tombs. Every one of these poems, and several other in the anthology deal with the beauty and the power of the sea. Tati-Loutard also heavily uses personification in his poem, giving human like qualities to inhuman objects. For example, he uses lines like "fields opened themselves", "baobab took aim", and "footsteps which sang"in his poem News of My Mother. None of his poems used rhyme as a literary technique, and I failed to notice any poetic types such as sonnets or haikus which his poems deal with. His poems also have a large amount of pronouns and don't have a large number of similes. He mainly writes in metaphors as a literary devise.
     Tati-Loutard is very effective in his use of imagery. Through his words, he is able to paint a vivid picture of what he is intending to describe. Phrases such as "camps of death flowered with cotton" and "The sea still describes infinity" in Pilgramage to Loango Strand demonstrate the poets effectiveness in imagery. Finally, the poets diction largely deals with harsh adjectives and dark nouns. The topics of his poetry tend to be fairly morbid. Several of these poems deal with death, and the majority of his poems have dark pessimistic undertones. Poems such as Pilgrimage to Loango Strand, Submarine Tombs, and End of Flight show the poets fascination with death.

Poetry Norms

Similies: Comparison using like or as
Metaphor: Comparison not using like or as
Hyperbole: Exageration for dramatic purposes
Alteration: words that follow one another and begin with the same consonant
Consonance/Assonance
Meter: Where the emphasis is on the poetry
Denotation: What it says
Connotation: What it implies
Allusion: A reference
Poet/Speaker: Poet = author, speaker = narrator
Vulta: A shift in energy in the poetry
Repition: Repeating for effect
Rhyme: Two words that rhyme
Personification: Giving human like qualities to a non-human object
Onomatopoeia: A sound that sounds like the word
Stanza: A collection of lines of poetry
Hiku: Three lined poem
Limerick:i.e. there once
Sonnet:
Prose:

Nii Parkes Reflection

A few classes ago, we had author Nii Parkes come into our class to give a lecture/discussion on his book Tail of the Blue Bird. Before he came, we as a class had read and discussed his book over the period of a few weeks. I thought having the author come in to discuss a book we had studied during our class was an extremely informative and cool experience. It is an incredible thing to be able to hear from the actual author why he wrote what he wrote and his own interpretation of his work. I can't remember ever having an experience like the one with Mr. Parkes, and I hope I will be able to do it again in the future. While for obvious reasons most authors cannot come to discuss their books, I thought it was great to have. Details like his scientific background and his interpretation of Kayo's choice completely altered the way that I viewed the text. I found the experience similar to last year when I read Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. After reading the novel, we as a class read a long interview of Faulkner himself, part of which described his interpretation of the text. In the interview, he said that the novel was based on a singular mental image of three brothers looking at their sister's "muddy drawers" while she was up in a tree. From that image, he was able to construct the complicated, four part novel. Before reading the interview, I did not fully appreciate the importance of that scene. After, I was able to re-read the text with a greater level of understanding. Knowing why an author wrote something can be very useful.
     On another note, in relation to our discussion last class, I think that how Faulkner wrote The Sound and the Fury is how many authors write short stories. Before writing anything, the author gets a picture of a single event or scene in their mind, and the rest of the story is fleshing out that one image by providing background and possibly a conclusion. For example, A Conversation From the Third Floor is the image of a women with a baby talking to her husband in prison. The Coffee-Cart Girl is the image of a women selling coffee during a labor strike. Papa, Snake & I is the image of a boy watching a snake bite two dogs. I believe that most short stories are essentially responses to the prompt of a mental image. With the image of a boy watching the snake, one will ask who is the boy? Why doesn't he do anything? Who are the dogs? By answering these questions, the author fleshes out the story and the characters. As with the Papa, Snake & I the image can lead to a conclusion, or as with A Conversation From the Third Floor, the story can exist entirely within the image. This does not work for all short stories, but it is how I view most of them.

Short Stories Reflection

The story that I have enjoyed the most so far in our reading has been B.L Honwana's Papa, Snake & I. The plot revolves around an unnamed male son and his day on his families farm. The stories primary characters are the boy, Sartina (a female worker for the family), the mother, the father, a snake, Toto (the family dog), and Wolf (another dog). There are several reasons why this story was the one that I have enjoyed the most, the first being the complexity. Even though the story is relatively short, there are many interesting plot devices being used by the author. The relationship between Sartina and the protagonist, the jealousy when the other man arrives and flirts with her, the dynamic between the two dogs, the relationship between the dogs and the snake, the lack of action from our protagonist, the dynamic between the father and son, the role of the mother, and the neighbor and fathers interaction all provide a deep and interesting text. This story did a great job of fleshing out all of these relationships and plot points in a relatively small window. For example, the line "For some unknown reason the war sensation of Sartina's body flowed through my senses. I managed to cling to her almost physical presence for a few minutes, and I wanted to fall asleep with her so as not to dream of dogs and snakes," (114). Those few lines completely change the readers perception of the narrator and the role of Sartina in the story. Because of its position at the end of the story, I can't help but wonder if the writer intended the dog and snake as the primary plot point at all.
      Another interesting dynamic is between the father and the neighbor. Contrary to the relationship between the two dogs, the two masters seem to have a different power shift. The father seemed more submissive, while conversely Toto was by far the more aggressive of the two dogs. The dog vs dog relationship compared to the master vs master creates for an interesting literary dynamic.
      The final literary technique that I liked was using one character to convey the message. In the dialogue between the father and the son, the father gives a speech about hope, saying "My son, one must have a hope. When one comes to the end of a day, and one knows that tomorrow will be another day just like it, and that things will always be the same, we have got to find the strength to keep on smiling, and keep on saying 'That is not important'" (113). With this speech, the author is able to bring his point across to the reader via one of the characters.
      The story does a great job of fleshing out many characters, introducing a complex plot, and conveying the message of the story all in a very short time period. It is because of the authors effectiveness in these areas that I enjoyed his story the most

Other Voice

Hiya, I'll give you a quick lesson on cooking Blognese pasta. It's pretty easy. Here are the steps:

1.  Go out and buy the needed ingredients
2.  Get out the food (Easy enough)
3.  Preheat the pan and make your sauce
3.  Start cooking.

Now its time to start talking about raking leaves . . . Don't ask me, I just do what I'm told. It seems like a pretty self explanatory thing: When you have leaves on your lawn, you rake them. I don't really know how I'm going to elaborate on this, but I still have a few minutes left. A rake is a long piece of wood attached to a plastic shape with prongs on the end. You pull it towards you, creating piles of leaves which you then put into garbage bags. Then you throw out the garbage bags? I'm kind of at a loss here. Just follow these steps and you'll be alright. Got it? Have fun!

Anowa Homework Post II

In our last class, we read Phase II of the Anowa. I thought that the second phase was interesting, and many of the key conflicts in the plot arose during this time. Anowa and her husband, Kofi Ako, are now somewhat prosperous. They have managed to accumulate wealth through some kind of trade. One of the main conflicts that has arisen in the story is how they deal with this new wealth in relation to the purchase of slaves. While Anowa is strongly opposed to human bondage, Kofi Ako sees it as a way to become more successful. As demonstrated by Anowa's parents and the old man and women, slavery was an accepted norm at the time, and it is Anowa who is acting in opposition to the standard of society. A second primary conflict emerges in Anowa's request to Kofi Ako that he marries more women. Here is where Kofi Ako differs form the social norm and Anowa maintains it. I found this to be an interesting contradiction that together they both embody social norms of modern society, yet oppose the other. They offer an interesting balance of both being for society in some ways, and against it in others. Oddly enough, they seem split on almost every issue, yet it is evident that Kofi Ako sincerely cares for Anowa. From the text, I can't help but feel that Anowa is somewhat more detatched in their relationship than Kofi Ako is. Compared to Okonkwo, Kofi Ako is a great husband to Anowa. I wonder how the two will continue to hold together in the future. 

Anowa Homework Post

In our last class, we discussed the first scene/section of the play Anowa. The story is about a young women and her two parents, discussing the daughters decision to marry Kofi Ako. Her two parents represent oddly mirror the two "narrators", whom the author dubs "the-mouth-that-eats-salt-and-pepper" Compared to the other three works that we have read, Anowa seems to have a more modern, western feel to me. It is the first novel that has solely highlighted domestic, family troubles without emphasis on the westernization of Africa. Apart from a few lines in the introduction, the play seems to be entirely focused on a characters decision to marry.  Anowa as a character has been an interesting combination of somewhat understandable on the stage, yet viewed by both the narrator and her parents as being somewhat of a loose cannon. A question arises as to which characters are reliable in the story-telling, and which are meant to be the bias. I can't help to think that after reading this chapter that Anowa in the future may do something that will be considered reckless.

Harkness Reflection II

Sept 27 - I spoke around average.
Sept 29 - I spoke more than most in the class
Oct 17 -I spoke slightly below average.
Oct 19 -  The sheet says I didn't make any points, but I remember talking in that class twice. Regardless, a below average participation.
Oct 21 -In this class I spoke slightly above average.
Oct 27 -  I spoke more than most in the class.
Nov 3 -  In this discussion I spoke a slightly above average number of times for a slightly above average amount.
    In this unit, I have tried my best to limit the comments I make to be substantive, text-based points and responses. I feel that I have been able to speak this unit with relevant and constructive points without drowning out the other students. While my participation did dip down for one class, overall I have participated a fairly high amount. I do, however, make an effort to step back and let others comment, absorbing the thoughts and interpretations of my class mates. In the future, I will try to do a better job of starting new trains of thoughts instead of expanding on those of my classmates.
Grade: 19/20

Mysticism in Tail of the Blue Bird

At the end of Tail of the Blue Bird, we are in a way left without a concrete answer to the mystery of the murder. It is said by the characters in the village that Kofi Atta died because of the curse, and consequently aging backwards. This may just be the cold-hearted cynic in me, but I have a hard time accepting this mystical solution to the investigation. Instead, I view Kayo's acceptance as more of a symbolic shift from his scientific approach to a more intuition based method. To me this is similar to the moment in mysterious detective stories in which the investigator considers that there may indeed be a non-logical solution. While most stories go on to the detective reasoning out the true, rational cause, Tail of the Blue Bird stops there. For stories such as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, the suspension of disbelief in necessary in order to understand the plot. I believe that belief can only be suspended, however, in the creation of the perimeters of the story. For example, in Harry Potter belief is suspended in that we believe that within the story, there is a wizarding world.  Within that world, however, there is still parameters that cannot be broken. If Voldemort suddenly turned good, I would have a hard time suspending my disbelief. That is how I feel about the ending to The Tail of the Blue Bird. I feel that within the parameters of that world, the conclusion that many in the class drew exists too far out of the realm of possibility. Consequently, I view Kayo's acceptance as more of a symbolic departure from reason, instead of the actual cause of death.

Tail of the Blue Bird

Yaw Poku is the first narrator of Nii Ayikwei Parkes' novel, Tail of the Blue Bird. Poku narrates the novel in an interesting way: he uses a combination of English and the Ghanan language to describe what is going on in his village. In his narrating, it is clear that he lives in a very isolated village, and would not be what we consider today to be "modern". One quote of his that I found intriguing was "The tale English man calls history is mostly lies written in fine dye," (Parks, 2). I thought that it was an interesting take, and reveals the almost non-linear perspective of this narrator. He is clearly a man of tradition, when he describes the umbilical cord on page 2, and when he is upset with the policemen for not showing the proper respect. He talks in jointed sentences, for example when he addresses the policeman, saying "OK, listen. I no get plenty time. I dey house for Accra wey I get call say some woman find something for here wey e dey smell. You know something for the matter?" His superstition is further revealed when he sees the after-birth like mess, saying"I was not meant to see what I saw.. no one without the right powers was supposed to see it" I think Yaw Polu is going to be a very important character in the novel.
     The majority of the works we have read this year have had to do with the westernization of Africa. So far in the course, I believe we have yet to see a character as unwesternized as Yaw Poku. He is clearly an older man, and at this point in the novel I believe the story will focus around the coming of the European ideals into this small village. Yaw Poku, as an older superstitious member of the village, will most likely have an interesting reaction to these new ideas. He also provides a good contrast to the other narrator in the novel right now, Kayo. Kayo is a forensic chemist, and is a foil to Yaw Poku as a hunter. The two professions are complete opposites. The two are also opposites in there names. Together, these two narrators should provide an interesting viewpoint into the story that is about to unfold. So far in the story, there has also been an interesting combination of English language and the native langauge of Yaw Poku. This may be some literary technique used by the author. It will be interesting to find out why he used tese two languages together from him when he comes to visit us.

Nervous Conditions Final Reactions

     The ending of Nervous Conditions was very interesting. One topic that I found to be particularly of note was the presence of the westerners. It is clear from Nyasha's state at the end of the book that the presence of western thought has not necessarily been kind to her. I wonder if that in the long run Tambu will regret the western influence on her or be proud of being a combination of Africa and the west. It seems like for the most part she was unhappy when she was subordinate to men, which was the case early in the book, but is that better than the anorexia and mental unstableness of Nyasha?
   I was also wondering about the character of Babamukuru. Is he a good, noble character or is a sort of antagonist? He displays many interesting qualities, and seems to be a combination of a hard working, more native man and a christianity influenced character. I wonder what his presence may be for Tambu, as it has evidently been somewhat alienating towards Maiguru and Nyasha. I also find Chido's role in the novel very interesting. As a man in the family I thought it funny that he would leave with Miaguru. I also thought it was interesting when Babamukuru said that "there can only be one man in this house" it was to Nayasha instead of Chido. The perspective of the novel has been extraordinarily female, without much emphasis on characters like Chido.
I wonder whether or not Tambu will be happy in life or end uplike Maiaguru. At this point Tambu is a well educated woman from Africa, much like Tambu. I am left wondering if it is socially acceptable to be this way where she is. In the west, Tambu may feel alienated from her culture, family, and history. In Africa, she may be repressed to traditional roles of a woman and be unable to use her education. I wonder which one she prefers. Based on her reaction to her parents christian wedding, I would be surprised if she prefers the western life
"But about my escape and Lucia's: about my mother's and Maiguru's entrapment: and about Nyasha's rebellion - Nyasha, fair-minded and isolated, my uncle's daughter, whose rebellion may not in the end have been successful."
Who then is central? Why is there a lack of male perspective? Is this a purely female novel? Who isn't dealing with entrapment?

Harkness Reflection

Thus far in class, we have had four discussions tracked in the Harkness method. Below my reflections on my role in each conversation.

1. In the first discussion I participated a little above the average amount with multiple topics addressed to various people.
2. In the second discussion I participated probably a little too much, not leaving enough room for everyone to get their voice in.
3. I participated around the average number of times.
4. In the fourth discussion, I participated around the average, if not a little under. One in-text citation.

Overall, I have been involved in the discussions in class. Occasionally, I talk to much on topics I am interested in, and in the future must try to "Pull my weight, but not everybody else's." I have tried to incorporate in-text citations, however in the future, I could work on incorporating even more. In terms of listening, I try to develop thoughts entirely, and if I can find a direct citation, before speaking my thoughts.

Nervous Conditions

     In Nervous Conditions, when the protagonist arrives at her uncle's house, she gives a long description of her new surroundings. I remember feeling similarly overwhelmed when I transitioned from elementary school to middle school. My elementary school only had sixty kids in a grade (a group of students I had been with for six years). In middle school, five elementary schools were combined to make up almost 300 kids in a grade, totaling nine-hundred kids in one school. I remember being completely overwhelmed by the huge number of people I did not know. On top of the number of people, I also went from being one of the oldest in my school, to one of the youngest. I imagine Tambu felt similarly when she went to Babamukuru's house. Her cousins seemed very different: They had forgotten to speak the language and had come from England. I felt similarly different being so young, and knowing so few people. I soon, however, grew used to my surroundings and eventually came to prefer the large number of students, and existing in a community in which I did not know everyone. Similarly, I believe Tambu will eventually begin to appreciate her surroundings, and come to like Babamukuru's house.

Generalizations and Sterotypes

Just finished watching Chimanda Adichie's TED talk on the danger of a single story. I found her points made both informative and convincing. Adichie tells the story about a "servant boy" in her house when she was younger. Her mother would always tell her to be grateful for what she had, because he had nothing. When she eventually saw the boy's family, she was shocked to find one of his brothers had woven something beautiful. She went on to say how she had gotten so used to the singular perception of the people she had trouble accepting that they were capable of anything creative. She feels that this is the problem with Africa. The west has become so singularly fed information about the continent that they are unable to view the people as individuals. She believes that the way to fix this problem is to not tell the "singular story" and instead have different stories of real people. She gives the example of a student at a university saying that he feels so bad that Nigerian men abuse women (based on a character in her book). To which she responded (loosely) "I just read American Psycho, and it's such a shame American men are serial killers". The point can be summarized with the ironic statement "all generalizations are false", and I agree

Things Fall Apart Cover

     One cover I am particularly intrigued with is the crudely sketched, upside down portrait of possibly Okonkwo, with the almost fifty-fifthy split of a beige and clay cover. This cover was my favorite because I believe that it most accurately reflects the book. The upside down face in a way reflects the disorder so well described by Yeats. The colors are simple and clean like Achebe's writing style. But the most fascinating aspect of this cover for me is the style of the portrait. The book so much relies on African identity with an ever approaching western world, and I can't help but feeling this book portrays that.

Greek Heroism in Things Fall Apart

     Thirteen chapters into Things Fall Apart, I can't help seeing the novel as a story in the Ancient Greek vein of Oedipus and Antigone. To me, Okonkwo is everything that defines a Greek Hero. His character traits, and more importantly character flaws mirror those of the heroes famed heroes, namely Oedipus, Odysseus, and Achilles.
     Similarly to these characters, Okonkwo is revered for his achievements and vastly respected among his peers. These Greek worlds are filled with death, war, and harsh behavior, which can clearly also be said of the village of Igbo. The worlds they inhabit are cruel and tough, and the heroes are even more so.
   Similar to Oedipus, I believe Okonkwo is in a downward spiral, easily predicted, and caused by his own actions and character flaws. This inevitable crash is what, overall, leads me to see this tale as an Ancient Greek one.

  On an unrelated note, I can't help but see the parallels between Oknonkwo's situation, and Collin Ferrells in the 2008 film In Bruges. Do you think the writers intentionally mimicked Things Fall Apart?

Things Fall Apart: Ezinma and Okonkwo

      In Things Fall Apart, Achebe strove to give a humanity and dignity to his fictional habitants of the Igbo village.  No where is this more present than in the relationship between the central character Okonkwo and his sickly daughter Ezinma. While there do exist the cultural restraints within their relationship, it doesn't take much analysis to see the love Oknonkwo feels for his daughter. He himself says "If Ezinma had been a boy I would have been happier. She has the right spirit," (Achebe, pg. 62). While through our 21st century lens this may seem insulting, because of Oknonkwo's beliefs, wishing she was a boy because of her spirit could not be higher praise.
     The love in their relationship is further evident when Oknokwo is alerted of Ezinma's sickness. When Ezinma's mother initially disturbs Oknonkwo to inform him of the news, based on everything that had happened prior I anticipated a physical confrontation. However, when he is told he "sprang from his bed, pushed back the bolt on his door and ran into Ekwefi's hut," (Achebe, pg. 72).
     Okonkwo does his best to nurse the child back to health, but as one of his earlier children was unfortunately named, I feel that in the end "Death may please himself".

First Post!!

Hi Everyone,

My name is Matt Burke and on this blog I will be writing my thoughts on various works of African Literature. Please feel free to leave any comments below!


-Matt