African Poetry
Things to Consider:

• Negritude
• African History: Colonialism & Struggle for Independence
• Imagery
• Spirituality
• Reading Poetry Site 

** Homework Questions ** (See Q's for Part Two )
721:

• What are the characteristics of oral poetry?

722:

• What is the predominant literary motif in written African Literature?
• What is the Negritude movement?
• List a recent song by a popular artist that expresses Negritude. Explain how it does so.

Tshakatumba:
"Message to Mputu Antoinette"
726:

• Who are Damas, Mackay, Cesaire, and Senghor (2-3)?
• Explain: "Africa will be the fruit of our accord" (12).
• Explain the final line.

Lenrie Peters:
"Homecoming"
728:

• Explain: "Our sapless roots have fed / The wind-swept seedlings of another age" (9-10).
• What are "new skeletons" (16)?
• What have the "we" in this poem been doing before coming home?

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Other Discussion Questions:
African Background:
715:

• Approximately what percentage of the world's population can be found in Africa?

716:

• What two basic elements do most tribal religions have in common?
• Explain:  "Whether God created man in his own image or whether it is the other way around" (716).
• Why did Islam spread faster than Christianity in Africa?

717:

• What is the preferred form of marriage in most African societies?
• What is the central irony surrounding African literatures today?

718:

• Why is there "a lack of involvement by women as published writers until the third phase in the development of African literatures" (718)?

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Part Two:
Homework Questions:
Francesca Yetunde Pereira:
"The Paradox"
740:

• What is the paradox?
• Who are the disciples being referred to in the poem?
• Explain:  "The world is constant in its chaos" (16).
• Explain:  "The world is crumbling and all gods are silent" (17).
• Is the speaker a religious person?  Explain.

Rebekah Njau (1932-  )
Kenya 
733:

• Explain her claims "that African literature must be functional, not art for art's sake" (733).

"Prayer of  a Modern Woman"
735:

• Is this a Negritude poem?  Explain.
• Why is the speaker not fulfilled?
• What does she learn at the women's club?
• Why does she feel "shrunken" (60)?  What does that mean?

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Other Works to Consider:
Francis Parkes (1932-  )
Ghana 
"African Heaven"
730:

• How does this poem express Negritude?
• Why does the speaker want to admit spectators, both White and Black?

Leopold Senghor (1906-  )
Senegal 
742:  His name is synonymous with Negritude.

• What elements of Negritude are found in his poems?

743:
"Night of Sine"

• How can silence be "rhythmic" (6)?
• What is "the deep pulse of Africa" (10)?
• Why does the speaker want the lamp lit (23)?
• Who is Elissa (26)?
• What is the "living voice" of the Dead (33)?

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