Analysis of Jean-Baptiste Tati-Loutard

Throughout these poems, Jean-Baptiste Tati-Loutard plays on the juxtaposition of nature and death. Specific examples of this can be found in "News of My Mother" and "Submarine Tomb". This can be best summed up in the line "And for their funerals we will dry up the sea." Funerals being the representation of death and the sea being the representation of nature. In addition Jean-Baptiste Tati-Loutard discusses different points of perspective by his constant mention of things dealing with above, and below. He continues to discuss trees, suns and stars in lines such as, "before the baobab took aim at a flight of birds" and "I am now very high upon the tree of the seasons"(News of My Mother). He references 'beneath' in his poem "Submarine Tombs" and in lines such as "May the hide of the earth split beneath my feet"("Death and Rebirth") and "beneath the feet of pachyderm tyrants"(Secret Destiny).

Poetic Terms

Metaphor
Simile
Alliteration - repetition of a sound
        Consonance (consonant)
        Assonance (vowel)
Onomatopoeia
Enjambment
Line breaks
Hyperbole
Meter
Rhythm/Beat
Imagery
Line
Stanza
Poetry Forms
Haiku
Epic
Sonnet
Limerick
Villanelle
Sestina
Terzarima
Personification
Humor
Satire
Irony
Parody
Voice
Tone
Mood
Poet/speaker
Rhyme
Repetition
Symbolism
Connotation
Denotation
Ultimate (referring to lines and stanzas)
Penultimate
Foreshadow
Juxtaposition
Oxymoron
Form vs. content
Grammar
Capitalization
Punctuation

Short story brainstorm 2

26 picked at his dry hands until he reached raw skin. His hands were always dry: cracking on his knuckles, and peeling by his nails. It was always worst in summer.The sight of blood soaking into his skin made him flinch. He still was not used to it. It was his first night back. The door was menacing. It peaked through the barricades and cast a vengeful stare at him. The coffee on his desk was still hot. As 26 took a sip, the cheap plastic numbed his hand. For the most part the pain was starting to disappear. There was a radio on the far left corner of his desk that had not moved since he'd been gone. He turned it on and stopped at the channel playing Christmas music. He loved Christmas music. Even in the summer.

Short story brainstorm

Paul liked to buy his daughter costumes at least a month in advance. He was a neurotic single financier with eight white non-iron Brooks Brothers shirts; one for each day of the week and one devoted entirely to holidays . His life ran like clockwork, and he intended to keep it that way. It was September 30 and he intended to purchase his daughter a halloween costume. She was going to be an angel.

Cynthia's lunch was packed for her every day at school. She would have her ham and cheese sandwich and her apple and her carton of milk. Her father varied the vegetables each day on a three day rotation between carrots, celery and cucumbers. She was seven and wanted to be a bunny for halloween.

Hanson was a small wiry man who lived in the back-room of his costume shop. His shop smelled of old rubber. He was comforted by the sounds of Christmas music year round. He listened to one song each month, in order to fully absorb the twelve track Christmas mixed-tape that he had received as a child. September was devoted to "....

Introduce costume shop guy:

Bring them all together:

wife = mystery....

Conflicting Values

Phase Two of Ama Ata Aidoo's Anowa conveys an increasing tension between Anowa and Kofi Ako. In Phase One, the couple reminded me a little of the classic Romeo and Juliet love story. They love each other but due to familial tension they cannot marry let alone be together. Now, in Phase Two, Anowa and Kofi Ako are together but are not able to get along. Anowa is not able to have children, not because of a problem with her womb, but because she is essentially too stressed. Anowa insists that Kofi Ako marry another woman, "as she could help us"(84). Kofi Ako refuses stating that Anowa is the only one he loves and that will not change. To eliminate the stress, Kofi Ako suggests that they hire slaves. Anowa is strongly against this idea as it goes against her morals. Anowa is strongly grounded in her morals, which contributes to her fierce independence. I am not yet sure where this tension will lead. I do not think that Kofi Ako will remarry, and I know that Anowa will not allow slaves. It seems as though they have reached somewhat of a stalemate. I feel as though something big will happen in the next phase that will end this impasse once and for all.

Words of Dependence

Whether or not they agree and love each other at this point in the novel is unclear, but it is clear that Badua is protective over her daughter Anowa. Up to this point in "Anowa" Ama Ata Aidoo makes it clear that there is a very strong sense of dependence and control built into societal customs. In phase one, there is a repeated mention of "my duties", "my daughter", "my wife" etc. The way its written, it gives the impression that they are dependent upon: those giving the duties, the father/mother, and the husband respectively.

On a separate note, in the prologue there is repeated use of words and phrases connoting consistency. Old man says, "Everything happens in moderation"(65). He goes on to say "If there be some among us that have found a common sauce-bowl"(66). Another example: the old man says, "Kofi was, is, and shall always be one of us"(67). I have not yet figured out what these mean or what the subtle message is relating to, but I expect that it will become clearer as the play progresses.

Harkness Reflection 2

Sept 28: I spoke seven times today, and although it is clear that I had a back-and-forth with Sophia, my comments for the most part were distributed evenly across the table.
Oct 6: I spent a lot of time reading and referring to to the text. I think the 'snapshot' chart is a good indicator of conversation involvement.
Oct 18: My comments were distributed very well throughout the entire conversation, and I spoke for a good length each time.
Oct 20: Absent
Oct 24: Absent
Oct 31: I spoke five times this conversation. My comments/questions were directed to many members of the table.
Nov 4: I did not speak very much today. I remember that something was bothering me and so although I did the reading and understood it, I had nothing much to say.

I continue to work on quality over quantity in my comments. I am working on making sure all of my comments pertain to the immediate conversation, and are not unrelated  ideas that I have been thinking about. As a result, I have waited until I have had something very important to say, to speak. I will continue to work on the consistency of comments, and making sure that I speak to everyone at the Harkness table.

Defying Causation

When reading the ending of Tail of the Bluebird I was surprised for two reasons: 1) I was not expecting PC Donkor to pull out a gun and point it at Kayo; 2) Nii Ayikwei Parkes did not make it seem like a big deal when this happened. Yes, as we continue to read we find out that Kayo is not shot, but I was confused as to why Nii Parkes did not emphasize the tense, suspenseful moment. It is almost as if this ending was meant to happen. I feel that nearly all of the events that occur in this novel are almost predetermined by a greater being, perhaps Onyame or any of the ancestors. It was fate that Kofi Atta's body would become younger and eventually turn into a boneless mass. It was inevitable that Kayo would be the one to investigate this. As Parkes states at the very end of the novel, "the ancestors had a plan" (170). Beyond the supernatural events that occur in this book, this 'plan' that explains all events defies, in itself, the laws of causation, breaking with the scientific truth.

Mysteries of Tail of the Blue Bird

When I began reading Tail of the Blue Bird, I was very confused with the first chapter. I had a basic idea of what was going on with the discovery of the boneless mass, but was unable to jump to any conclusions or construct a hypothesis as to what it is. I am interested in why Ni Ayikwei Parkes created such a mysterious atmosphere. Even though I was slightly lost while reading, I still was able to pick up some bird motifs: "There were two aburuburu in the the trees. I'm telling you, they flew off, making that sound like pouring water in their throats and flapping wildly as the other cars stopped near the first"(pg. 4). Also the elders say that "news is as restless as a bird"(pg. 5). In addition, Parkes first mentions the bluebird at the top of page 4, "following a blue-headed bird"(pg. 4). I do not yet know what these birds represent, but I assume that we will soon find out. One thing that I have noticed about Parkes' writing style is that he uses a lot of description in an effort to describe a physical setting including its smells, appearances and personality. We do not yet know much about the many characters that have been introduced, and I think the mystery of the characters leads to a general mysterious 'vibe' of the village.

Harkness

1) Had a conversation with Alex. Remained fairly quiet.
2) A short discussion, spoke an average amount.
3) Fairly quiet...
4) I did not have much to say, but I was talking with many different people.
5) I spread my conversations to the entire table: pretty good.
6) I spoke 4 times. I had an ongoing conversation with Sophia.
7) I spoke 5 times. Had a conversation with Alex and Sophia.

This year I have really made an effort to speak less and improve the quality of my comments. Many times, I have a clear conception of what I am trying to say, but it is often lost in translation. I am not really able to convey clearly what I am thinking, but I am making a valiant effort. I think I have greatly improved as a listener since last year, and am concentrating much more on trying to process what other people are saying in the discussion and building directly off of their statements.

Discussing Stereotypes

I do not like talking about stereotypes. In discussions of African literature, I am not the one who is being generalized. As a result, it is easy for me to adopt an elitist attitude, and 'look down' upon those being discussed. I feel that everyone involved in these discussion knows what is right and what is wrong, and in trying to make progress in the discussion, people continue to subconsciously make generalizations. However, I am not really sure how to go about fixing this. Any suggestions? I have always been confused as to how stereotypes of Africa originated. Why was it African countries being colonized by European countries and not the other way around? Surely there have been people on the African continent for just as long if not longer than there have been on continental Europe. So why did Europe develop faster and colonize Africa? I attribute these stereotypes to the media. People who know little about the world formulate opinions and judgements based on what they know, however much or indeed little that is. Forms of media depicting starving towns and naked children are common. So therefore people who know little about Africa, use these images to sum up the entire continent. Educating and providing unbiased information is the key to defeating stereotypes.

"The Danger of a Single Story"

There is a very obvious limitation of two dimensions. You can see left and right, and forwards and backwards, but there is just no way of looking up and down. Take a two dimensional creature: he has no idea of a third dimension. He is perfectly content with his two dimensions. He cannot identify the limitations of isolation in a single plane because he does not know any differently. As this creature grows up, he begins to hear frightening rumors of a third dimension through his other two dimensional friends. They do not know precisely what it is, only that it is much different and horrifying. The third dimension haunts the two dimensional creatures.  They continue to express their fear, and live in constant paranoia of one day coming into contact with this new dimension. Little do they know, the day will never come. The two dimensional creatures have built up the third dimension to be one of fear, and monstrosity.

It is too easy to say that the two dimensional creatures are narrow minded, and only following a 'single story.' They do not have the access to the real facts. They have neither witnessed the third dimension for themselves, nor come into direct contact with someone who has. The two dimensional creatures cannot deny entirely the existence of the third dimension. So what can they do to avoid the single story?

The first thing I noticed about this book was texture of the cover, and I noted how it felt/resembled a turtle's shell. It seems that it is a dry ground, however I think that both a turtle shell and a dry ground are significant. The ground represents the harsh dry growing seasons that Okonkwo must live through. They break up his face, because they are slowly making him lose interest in the things that he used to love. The turtle shell brings us back to the parable of the turtle's fall stated earlier in the story. From an aesthetic standpoint, this is the most attractive cover because the texture and the sternness of Okonkwo's face really entice the reader 

Spirits

"Everybody knew [Ekwefi] was an ogbanje. These sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind." The year of bad harvest was an omnipitent  power 'toughening Oknonkwo up', so he could "survive anything". If the spirits control what goes on amongst mortals, there would be no accidents. Then, surely there must have been a reason for Okonkwo's accidental murder of Ezeudu's son. There must have been a reason why it was Okonkwo's gun, and why it was Ezeudu who got shot and nobody else. Now that Okonkwo is in exile, big things (consequences or rewards, I don't yet know) will happen to Umuofia... And indeed big things do happen to Umuofia. The missionaries / 'alien white men' come and make a permanent impact on the village. Traditional village order breaks down and the order and structure of the church is introduced. This adds another weight to Okonkwo's sinking conscience. When Okonkwo ends up in the prison, he knows what he must do. He knows he must fight, and not let up. He must stand up against the white men and protect Umuofia. When Okonkwo kills the messenger and the village does not support him, Okonkwo knows that it is the end. Both he and his chi have been defeated.

Okonkwo's murder

I was surprised that Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna. It's as if Okonkwo's warrior instinct had kicked in. There was a 'man' on the ground dying that needed to be put out of his misery. At that moment, and only that moment, Okonkwo disregarded who this dying man was. He ignored the fact that 1) it was a child, and 2) it was his child. Okonkwo's actions haunted him later throughout the season of rest, but why was he not affected in the slightest by almost killing Ekwefi? What is the distinction between family? Yes, Ikemefuna is a child, but is there something more than that? I do not yet understand the boundaries of family in Umuofia, but I hope that as I continue to read I will. After finishing the novel, there is a shift from what Achebe describes as a family focused life to an Okonkwo-focused life. Maybe, it is not a shift but just a zooming in. Towards the end of the novel we as the reader are less concerned about Okonkwo's relationship with his family as we are about Okonkwo's steady demise and intra-personal breakdown. It is possible to look back on the death of Ikemefuna and recognize that the purpose of this tragic death was just to add another weight onto Okonkwo's heavy conscience.