GROUP 8

AFRICA CONTINUATION…

E. “Once Upon A Time” by Gabriel Okara (Nigeria)

Once Upon A Time is a free verse poem that focuses on a father's
attitude to cultural change and times past, before the incoming Western
culture affected the native African way of life.

This is a poem by the Nigerian poet Gabriel Okara, in which he

laments the lost innocence of youth. In it he condemns the hypocrisy of
adults – hemmed in and constrained by rules and conventions – adopting
masks for different occasions: for lying, cheating and betraying – whereas
childhood is portrayed as a time of honest laughter, and spontaneity.

The poet seems to be shocked by the change of lifestyle, values,

morals and the total change in the world view in the ‘new, independent
country’. He seems to be mourning for the passing away of a way of life.
Though the country is politically independent, it seems to be still
influenced by the British culture. The poet remembers the way people
used to behave and interact with each other. How the people used to do
things with their hearts and soul.

The poem describes what happens when a traditional African

culture and civilization meets with the western culture. With his nostalgic
vision, the poet recalls the golden times of the past. The purpose of the
poem is to outline the behaviour and personality of the people at the
moment. It also makes an attempt to bring back the personality of the
people who used to do things with emotion and heart.
 Gabriel Okara’s ONCE UPON A TIME is about the artificial
relationship and manners prevailing in the present world. According to the
poet, past is better than present because there was love, sincerity and
faithfulness in the past. Now in the present, everything has changed.
Hence the poet wants to relive the past.

F. “Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)

"Telephone Conversation"
The price seemed reasonable, location
Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived
Off premises. Nothing remained
But self-confession. "Madam," I warned,
"I hate a wasted journey--I am African."
Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled
Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was foully.
"HOW DARK?" . . . I had not misheard . . . "ARE YOU LIGHT
OR VERY DARK?" Button B, Button A.* Stench
Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.
Red booth. Red pillar box. Red double-tiered
Omnibus squelching tar. It was real! Shamed
By ill-mannered silence, surrender
Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification.
Considerate she was, varying the emphasis--
"ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?" Revelation came.
"You mean--like plain or milk chocolate?"
Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light
 Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted,
I chose. "West African sepia"--and as afterthought,
"Down in my passport." Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged her accent
Hard on the mouthpiece. "WHAT'S THAT?" conceding
"DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS." "Like brunette."
"THAT'S DARK, ISN'T IT?" "Not altogether.
Facially, I am brunette, but, madam, you should see
The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet
Are a peroxide blond. Friction, caused--
Foolishly, madam--by sitting down, has turned
My bottom raven black--One moment, madam!"--sensing
Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap
About my ears--"Madam," I pleaded, "wouldn't you rather
See for yourself?"

"Telephone Conversation" is a 1963 poem by the Nigerian

writer Wole Soyinka that satires racism. The poem describes a phone
call between a landlady and the speaker, who is black, about renting
an apartment. The landlady is pleasant until she learns that the
speaker is "African," at which point she demands to know how "light"
or "dark" the speaker's skin is. In response, the speaker cleverly
mocks the landlady’s ignorance and prejudice, demonstrating that
characterizing people by their skin color diminishes their humanity.
The poet can capture the essence of human interaction across racial
differences. This piece of literature becomes significant as it presents
both the attitude of the white woman towards black people and the
black man’s anger towards discrimination.
Form and Structure of Telephone Conversation
Wole Soyinka's Telephone Conversation is a lyric poem written
in free verse. The poem is a dialogue involving a black man and a
white woman. The two are indulged in a phone call throughout the
poem. The poem to a considerable extent follows the question and
answer pattern. That is, the white landlady fires away one question
after another and the black man, who is desperate for a place to stay,
patiently answers them all. Also, a major chunk of the poem is written
in the present tense.

Literary Techniques in Telephone Conversation

Although Telephone Conversation appears to be a short and
simple poem, it is layered; and therefore, complex due to the
techniques used in it. The techniques used, in terms of use of
language, make the ultimate message of the poem heard loud and
clear. It does the same without deviating from its focus and neither
does it give room to ambiguity. On one hand, for the most part,
Soyinka uses repetition for emphasizing the idea of the practice of
racism by the so-called elites. The words “dak” “light” and “red” which
are often used in the poem could be cited as examples for repetition
used for emphasizing racism. On the other hand, the use of words
describing colors and shades serves as a reminder to the prevalence of
racism in the white society where everything light and very light
represents the upper class, and everything dark and very dark
represents the lower class.

Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka is an acclaimed Nigerian poet, essayist, and
playwright. He was the recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature.
 His famous play The Lion and the Jewel is widely read and
prescribed by universities across the world.

2. Short Stories
Definition:
Short stories tend to be less complex than novels. Usually, a
short story will focus on only one incident, has a single plot, a single
setting, a limited number of characters, and covers a short period of
time.

1. A short story is a piece of prose fiction which can be read at a single

sitting.
2. It ought to combine objective matter-of-fact description with poetic
atmosphere.
3. It ought to present a unified impression of tone, colour and effect
"unity of effect" (Poe)
4. It mostly shows a decisive moment of life (which can entail a fatal
blow).
5. There is often little action, hardly any character development, but
we get a snapshot of life (slice-of-life story).
6. Its plot is not very complex (in contrast to the novel), but it creates
a unified impression and leaves us with a vivid sensation rather than a
number of remembered facts.
7. There is a close connection between the short story and the poem
as there is in both a unique union of idea and structure.
8. There is a limited set of characters, one single action and a simple
plot (often: exposition, complication, crisis, sad / happy ending).
9. A short story very often has an open / abrupt beginning and an
open or surprise ending.
 10. A short story is restricted to one setting only (fixed place and
time, social surroundings).

Five Major components of a Short Story

 PLOT
A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the
central conflict.
 SETTING
The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens.
Authors often use descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings,
seasons or weather to provide a strong sense of setting.
 CHARACTERS
A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part
in the action of a short story or other literary work.
 THEME
The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story.
 CONFLICT
The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story.
The main character is usually on one side of the central conflict.

On the other side, the main character may struggle against another
important character, against the forces of nature, against society, or
even against something inside him or her (feelings, emotions, illness).

Short Story Structure

 Create a narrative lead: show the main character in action, dialogue,
or reaction.
 Introduce the main character’s character.
  Introduce the setting: the time place, and relationships of the main
character’s life.
 Introduce and develop the problem the main character is facing.
 Develop the plot and problem toward a climax: e.g. a decision, action,
conversation or confrontation, or confrontation that shows the problem
at its height.
 Develop a change in the main character: e.g. an acknowledgement of
understanding of something, a decision, a course of action, regret.
 Develop a resolution: how does the main character come to terms – or
not – with his or her problem?

A. “Anticipation” by Mabel Dove-Danquah (Ghana)

About the author:

Mabel Dove Danquah (1905–1984) was a Gold Coast-born ,

political activist and creative writer, one of the earliest women in West
Africa to work in these fields. As Francis ElsbendKofigah notes in
relation to Ghana's literary pioneers, "before the emergence of such
strong exponents of literary feminism as Efua Sutherland and Ama Ata
Aidoo, there was Mabel Dove Danquah, the trail-blazing feminist." She
used various pseudonyms in her writing for newspapers from the
1930s: "Marjorie Mensah" in The Times of West Africa; "Dama Dumas"
in the African Morning Post; "EbunAlakija" in the Nigerian Daily Times;
and "AkosuaDzatsui" in the Accra Evening News. Entering politics in
the 1950s before Ghana's independence, she became the first woman
to be elected a member of any African legislative assembly.

Journalism

She started writing for The Times of West Africa, Ghana's first
daily newspaper, which was founded and owned by Dr J. B. Danquah
and strongly advocated fundamental human rights while denouncing
foreign domination.

After The Times of West Africa ceased to function, she went on

to write for the African Morning Post (1935–40), the Nigerian Daily
Times (1936–37), the Accra Evening News (1950–1960s) and the
Daily Graphic (1952). When in 1951 she took on the editorship of the
Accra Evening News — the paper of the Convention People's Party
(CPP), founded in 1948 — she was the second woman ever to edit a
newspaper in Ghana.

Creative writing
She was a prolific author over a period of four decades — her
published collections of short stories include:

 The Happenings of the Night (1931)

 The Adventures of the Black Girl in her Search for Mr Shaw (1934)
 Anticipation (1947)
 The Torn Veil (1947)
 Payment (1947)
 Invisible Scar (1966)
 Evidence of Passion (1969)
 Selected Writings of a Pioneer West African Feminist (edited by
Stephanie Newell and Audrey Gadzekpo). Nottingham: Trent
Editions, 2004. ISBN 1 84233 097 7.

The Element of the Story: Anticipation

The Characters
 Nana Adaku II- the Omanhene of Akwasin, and was celebrating
the twentieth anniversary of his accession to the stool of Akwasin,
the man who has 40 wives.
 Effua- One of the 40 wives of Omanhene
 Linguist- the trusted person of the Omanhene
 Men of Akwasin- They are wearing tokota sandals on their feet
and rich multi-colored velvet and gorgeous, hand-woden .
 Women of Akwasinwith golden ear-rings dangling, with golden
chains and bracelets. Looking dignified in their colorful native Attire.

Setting
 Nkwabi, the capital of Akwasin.

Conflict

 Man vs. Society- the character in this story became the victim of
its own society, of its own tradition.

Theme
 Sometimes the things that we anticipate are already there. It’s just
that we fail to appreciate them and only see them when we don't
have any options or when we simply got bored.

The Plot
 Exposition
The Omanhene was celebrating the 20th anniversary of his accession
to stool of Akwasin. He then arrived in a palanquin in the state park
where the Odwina was to be staged. As the drum beats on the women
performed the Adowa dance. One dancer capture his attention because
of its beauty, he then threw a handful of loose cash into the crowd of
dancers. The particular dancer mad no sign but instead keeps on
dancing.
 Rising Action
Realizing that he was neglected by the dancer, he turned to his trusted
linguist. He told him to get fifty pounds from the cashier and gave it to
the dancer’s relatives. The linguist then starts his investigation about
the woman.
 Climax
Nana went back to his place. He then fell asleep after he had taken a
bath. When he woke up the young woman was kneeling by his feet.
There he gave the remaining 50 gold sovereigns to Effua to complete
the offer of 100. After receiving the amount the woman gave it to his
parents and went back to the Omanhene.
 Falling action
There they talk casually inside the Omanhene’s room. Omanhene
appreciated the beauty and charm of Effua while he was playing the
ivory beads lying so snugly on her bosom.
 Denouement
 Effua stands and look in the mirror. As she came back and sit, she
then revealed that they were already married two years ago, that he
also paid her 50 pounds before.

B. “The Girl Who Can” by Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ama Ata Aidoo, in full Christina Ama Ata Aidoo, (born March
23, 1942, a Ghanaian writer whose work, written in English,
emphasized the paradoxical position of the modern African
woman.Aidoo began to write seriously while an honors student at the
University of Ghana (B.A., 1964). She won early recognition with a
problem play, The Dilemma of a Ghost (1965), in which a Ghanaian
student returning home brings his African American wife into the
traditional culture and the extended family that he now finds
restrictive. Their dilemma reflects Aidoo’s characteristic concern with
the “been-to” (African educated abroad), voiced again in her
semiautobiographical experimental first novel, Our Sister Killjoy; or
Reflections from a Black-Eyed Squint (1966).

 Ama Ata Aidoo was born in a small village in Ghana's central Fanti-
speaking region in 1942.
 Her father had opened the first school in the village and was a
strong influence on her.
 At the age of 15 she decided that she wanted to be a writer and
within just four years, she had achieved that ambition.
 She has won many literary awards including the 1992
Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Africa) for Changes.
LITERARY WORKS OF AMA AIDOO:

 The Dilemma of a Ghost (play), Longman, 1965.

 Anowa (a play based on a Ghanaian legend), Longman, 1970.
 No Sweetness Here: A Collection of Short Stories, Longman, 1970.
 Our Sister Killjoy: or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint (novel),
Longman, 1977.

SHORT STORY:

"THE GIRL WHO CAN" BY AMA ATA AIDOO

The Girl Who Can is a short story written by Ama Ata Aidoo. The
author is a feminist and the notion of feminism in the story is obvious.
The author asserts the importance of self-expression through the
narrator. Moreover, Aidoo manifests the practices of society through
the character of Nana. Nana criticizes the protagonist a lot and does
not let her speak her mind.It tells us about African women’s struggle
to find their rightful place in society. The narrator of the story is
named Adjua. She is seven years old and characterized with thin long
legs. her grandmother Nana and her mother Miami seems to be
concerned about her long legs because she may not be able to carry
children in the future. The narrator, first, depicts her environment
focusing on her grandmother then she informs us about the
conversations between her mom and Nana. Indeed, these
conversations are mostly about her legs or about her father. The
narrator Adjua exposes both external conflict and the internal ones. In
her internal conflict, she usually discusses the external issues and
wonders about them. The events of the story reach the climax when
Adjua win one of the school’s races. At this turning Point, Nana’s
 attitude Alters positively toward Adjua. She begins to realize that her
long thin legs are of use after all.

C. “Chief Sekoto Holds Court” from When the Rain Clouds Gather by
Bessie Head (South Africa/Botswana)

ALL ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bessie Emery Head (South African novelist)

Bessie Emery Head, (born July 6, 1937, Pietermaritzburg,

S.Af.— died April 17, 1986, Serowe, Botswana), African writer who
described the contradictions and shortcomings of pre- and postcolonial
African society in morally didactic novels and stories.
 Head was born of an illegal union between her white mother
(who was placed in a mental asylum during her pregnancy) and black
father (who then mysteriously disappeared). She suffered rejection
and alienation at an early age. After moving from foster parents to an
orphanage school to an early marriage, she abandoned her homeland,
her teaching job, and her husband and took her small son
to Botswana, seeking personal asylum and tranquility in simple village
life.

Head’s novels evolved from an objective, affirmative narrative of

an exile finding new meaning in his adopted village in When Rain
Clouds Gather (1969) to a more introspective account of the
acceptance won by a light-coloured San (Bushman) woman in a black-
dominated African society in Maru (1971). A Question of Power (1973)
is a frankly autobiographical account of disorientation and paranoia in
which the heroine survives by sheer force of will. The Collector of
Treasures (1977), a volume of short fiction, includes brief vignettes of
traditional Botswanana village life, macabre tales of witchcraft, and
passionate attacks on African male chauvinism.

Head said that literature must be a reflection of daily encounters

with undistinguished people. Her works reveal empathy with children,
with women treated as “dead things” in South Africa, and with
idealistic planners who meet indifference and greed at the
marketplace.

 A little bit of background about the story When Rain Clouds

Gather…
 When Rain Clouds Gather
by Bessie Head

THE LITERARY WORK

A novel set in eastern Botswana in the 1960s; published in
English in 1969.

SYNOPSIS
A young South African refugee settles in a remote village in
Botswana and, through participation in an agricultural development
project and involvement in the lives of ordinary people, attempts to
escape the psychological torture of his experience of apartheid
in South Africa.

“CHIEF SEKOTO HOLDS COURT”

an excerpt from a novel “WHEN THE RAIN CLOUDS GATHER” by Bessie Head

PLOT OF THE STORY:

Chief Sekoto was a very charming man. His charm lays not so
much in his outer appearance as in his very cheerful outlook in life.
He was so fond of the sunny side of life that he was inclined to
regard any gloomy, pessimistic person as insane and make every
effort to avoid his company.
Every weekday morning, he listened to cases brought before his
court while the afternoons were spent at leisure.
This Monday morning, a case was in session when he saw his
brother Matenge parked his car near the place where court was held.
Nothing upset him more than a visit from his brother whom he
classified as belonging of the insane part of mankind.
 He planned to delay the proceedings for the possibility of his
brother to be bored and leave, so he turned his full attention to the
case at hand.
The case has been brought in from a village called Bodibeng and
all of its people had come to witness the trial.
A woman named Mma-Baloi was charged with allegedly
practicing witchcraft and had been said to cause the sudden deaths of
a number of children in the village.
Another evidence had been presented to show that she was also
capable of the sudden death of a strange young woman who died in
her home several days ago.
Chief Sekoto was silent for some time, amazed of the never
ceasing insanity of the village people who have been threatened with
fines by the president of the court because of the burst of loud chatter.
At last, he turned to the accused old woman and said “Well,
mother, what do you have to say in defense of yourself?”
The old woman defended that she is not a witch, even though
she was called the mother of the witch. Long ago, she was taught by
the people who live in the bush how to cure ailments with herbs and
that was her business.
Chief Sekoto then ordered Mma-Baloi to let him see the contents
of the bag she had with a great show of interest.
He examined the various dried leaves, roots and berries
leisurely, taking a closer look on it, thus making the crowd silent,
puncturing in the hole of their confidence.
The old woman proceeded with her defense telling the court that
she knew nothing about the deaths of the children in their village.
She also added that she was innocent for the death of the
strange young woman who died in her home. That the woman was
grievously ill, that while they were discussing about her ailment, the
woman fell dead at her feet.
Chief Sekoto sympathetically understands Mma Baloi’s statement
and then asked the crowd who issues the certificates of death in
Bodibeng.
A doctor was fetch from the Bodibeng hospital. Although delayed
for two hours, the court remained in session.
At one stage, Chief Sekoto received an impatient note from his
brother begging him for a few moments to discuss an urgent matter.
But he replied: “Is it life or death? I am at a moment faced with
the life or death of an old woman. I cannot move.”
The doctor arrived with his brief evidence and point. Children
death in the village was caused by pneumonia and the young woman
had died for a septic womb due to having a procured abortion with an
unsterilized instrument.
After all that had happened, Chief Sekoto passed the judgment
of the case, telling the village people that they were suffering from
derangement of their brain. That their children have died from an
illness and that to shield themselves from blame, they instead accused
the poor old woman for a serious crime she even didn’t do.
A punishment had been laid upon the village ordering the people
to fine each household on beast and the money that arises out of the
sale of these beasts will be used to purchase warm clothing for the
children so that they may no longer die of pneumonia.
As for Mma-Baloi, she was told not to live with the villagers
anymore but instead, she was offered to live on Chief Sekoto’s house
for protection and also to help him treat his ailment because he was
tired of the penicillin injections and perhaps her good herbs may serve
the cure to his troubles.
REFERENCES:
E. “Once Upon A Time” by Gabriel Okara (Nigeria)
- https://thehenrybrothers-wordpress-
com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/thehenrybrothers.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/
once-upon-a-time-gabriel-okara
- https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-Once-Upon-A-Time-
by-Gabriel-Okara
- https://sahyadriliterature.blogspot.com/2018/09/poem-analysis-of-once-
upon-time-by.html?m=1
F. “Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)
- https://poemanalysis.com/wole-soyinka/telephone-conversation/

2. Short Stories
https://schools.ednet.ns.ca/avrsb/070/rsbennett/eng12/coursematerials/sho
rtstories/STSTORY%20intro.pdf
https://users.aber.ac.uk/jpm/ellsa/ellsa_elements.html

A. “Anticipation” by Mabel Dove-Danquah (Ghana)

- https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/jaysalinas2/anticipation-by-mabel-
dove-danquah
- https://peoplepill
com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/peoplepill.com/amp/people/mabel-dove-
danquah

B. “The Girl Who Can” by Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana)

- https://www.slideshare.net/AnastasiaWindy2/plot-analysis-in-the-girl-who-
can-by-ama-ata-
aidoo?fbclid=IwAR0Z_CmrHFom7enkL7ub5lT95Zmnk3MPuSiosiYfO1s3mHUr
34ekqqCzsgk#:~:text=*%20The%20Girl%20Who%20Can%20is,bear%20c
hildren%20with%20those%20legs
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ama-Ata-Aidoo
- https://www.questia.com/library/literature/poetry/poets/ama-ata-aidoo

C. “Chief Sekoto Holds Court” from When the Rain Clouds Gather by
Bessie Head (South Africa/Botswana)
- https://baixardoc.com/documents/chief-sekoto-holds-court-

5d191c31b2b88
- https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/when-rain-clouds-
gather
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bessie-Emery-Head
- https://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/short-story-tuesday-
oranges-and-lemons-by-bessie-head/

GROUP 8 MEMBERS:
Avillano, Steffany
Casipe, Laica
Montijo, Enghel Mae
Nalapo, Angelica Jean
Valeroso, Ariza
Vallo, Mariel