Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts

Monday, 10 November 2025

 Introduction

Hello to you my literature fan, this post aims to simplify the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Haper Lee. Efforts have been made to note 50 vital points about "To Kill a Mockingbird".

50 Vital Points About To Kill A Mockingbird

The list goes this:

1. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a novel written by Harper Lee, published in 1960.

2. The story is set in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama.

3. The narrator is Scout Finch, a young girl who tells the story through her eyes.

4. Scout's father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer who defends a black man named Tom Robinson.

5. Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell.

6. The novel explores themes of racial injustice, moral growth, and loss of innocence.

7. Maycomb is a small, close-knit community with deep-seated prejudices.

8. The story takes place during the Great Depression, a time of economic hardship.

9. Scout is a curious and outspoken six-year-old at the beginning of the story.

10. Atticus is a moral compass and a role model for his children.

11. Jem Finch, Scout's brother, undergoes significant development throughout the novel.

12. Boo Radley is a reclusive neighbor who is the subject of local legend.

13. Tom Robinson's trial is the central event of the novel.

14. Atticus defends Tom despite knowing he'll face social backlash.

15. The trial exposes the deep racial prejudices in Maycomb.

16. Despite evidence of Tom's innocence, the all-white jury convicts him.

17. Tom is later killed while trying to escape from prison.

18. Bob Ewell, Mayella's father, is a symbol of racism and ignorance.

19. Boo Radley saves Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell's attack.

20. Boo's actions reveal his true nature and kindness.

21. Scout learns valuable lessons about empathy and understanding.

22. Jem is deeply affected by the trial's outcome.

23. Calpurnia, the Finch's housekeeper, is a strong moral presence.

24. Dill Harris is a friend of Scout and Jem's who represents childhood innocence.

25. Mayella Ewell is a complex character trapped by her circumstances.

26. Miss Maudie Atkinson is a neighbor who supports the Finch family.

27. The novel explores the loss of innocence in Scout and Jem.

28. Atticus teaches Scout and Jem about empathy and understanding.

29. The novel is a powerful exploration of racial injustice in the American South.

30. Tom Robinson is a symbol of the "mockingbird" - innocent and kind.

31. Boo Radley is also a "mockingbird" who brings goodness to the world.

32. The novel highlights the importance of doing what is right, not just what is easy.

33. Scout's narrative voice provides a unique perspective on the events.

34. The novel is set in a time of rigid social hierarchy.

35. Atticus's defense of Tom is a testament to his integrity.

36. The trial scene is a pivotal moment in the novel.

37. The novel explores the intersection of race, class, and gender.

38. Scout and Jem face prejudice and racism in their community.

39. Atticus's parenting style is progressive for the time.

40. The novel has become a classic of American literature.

41. Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel in 1961.

42. The novel has been widely taught in schools and universities.

43. The story has been adapted into a successful film.

44. The novel explores the importance of human connection and empathy.

45. Scout's relationship with Boo Radley is a highlight of the novel.

46. Jem's disillusionment with the trial's outcome is a turning point.

47. The novel critiques the racist attitudes of the time.

48. Atticus's character is a beacon of hope and integrity.

49. The novel's themes are still relevant today.

50. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a powerful exploration of humanity and justice.

Conclusively, "To Kill A Mockingbird" is written by Harper Lee_ an American novelist best known for writing the novel currently on this discussion table. He lived between 28th April, 1926 and 19th February, 2016.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a classic novel about racial injustice, tolerance, and the loss of innocence in a small Alabama town during the 1930s, told through the eyes of Scout Finch as her father defends a wrongly accused black man.

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Tuesday, 12 August 2025

This article is the analysis of freetown by Sly Cheney Coker as understood by naija poets.

Cheney-Coker picked his pen and paper to write about how Africans are trying, in every form, to change their African color and race to something else. 

As a wise African poet, he began his poetry by showering praises on Africa while accepting the fact that he had been far away from home like the biblical prodigal son by comparing himself to a wandering Fulani cow:
"Africa I have long away from you
wandering like a Fulani cow
but every night
amidst the horrors of highway deaths
and the menace of neon-eyed gods
I feel the warmth of your arms
centrifugal mother reaching out to
your sons
but all calling you mother womb of
the earth" (from line 1-8).

From line 9, Sly Cheney-Coker generalized that Africans were living with differences_ not excluding himself. Though he didn't condemn civilisation but he felt it was part of the sins, Africans had committed. 

Part of the things he complained about were that he had been fond of travelling out of Africa, African ladies and women were bleaching their black skins to white, black African men were not living the African way; he put it like this "and I think of my brothers with ”black skin and white masks” ( I myself am one heh heh heh)". The poet's heart was so heavy because he could not describe Africa, the African way:
" my heart becomes a citadel of disgust
and I am unable to write the poem of your life
my creation haunts me behind the mythical dream
my river dammed by the poisonous weeds in its bed".
If you do not understand the structure of this poem "Freetown" by Sly Cheney-Coker, then let me try and table it based on my own understanding. The poem is not broken into stanzas, it has simple dictions with more of enjambments, the setting is Freetown, as suggested by the title of the poem and the context.
 
Figuratively in the poem; the phrase "Black Englishman" is a sarcastic oxymoron, African is personification and metaphor in the poem: "I feel the warmth of your arms/ centrifugal mother reaching out to your sons/ but all calling you mother womb of the earth", "this third anniversary of my flight" symbolized travelling in airplane, "citadel of disgust" is a metaphor used by the poet to compare the feeling in his heart, "shadow of Freetown" is a metaphor as well, ( I myself am one heh heh heh) "heh heh heh" is an onomatopoeia which means laughter.

Looking at the poem, the following themes are evident:
(1) Africans and civilisation
(2) Devaluation of the African black skin

In many African poetry, the issue of Africanism and Civilisation is very common and it is no surprise that such exist in this poem. Sly Coker was so concerned with the way Africans are embracing civilisation far more than their own culture. He also stated in the poem that they were not satisfied with having a black skin.

Syl Cheney-Coker is a poet, novelist, and journalist from Freetown, Sierra Leone; he was born on 28 June 1945. He spent much of his life in exile from his native country, and wrote extensively (in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction) about the condition of exile and the view of Africa from an African abroad.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

#civilisation #poetry #africa #poet

Wednesday, 13 July 2016

[QUESTION]
Discuss any 3 poetic devices employed in Gabriel Okara's Piano And Drums (NECO JUNE/JULY 2016 LITERATURE-IN-ENGLISH)


[ANSWER]
To answer the above question, we'll choose symbolism, personification and alliteration as our desired three poetic devices from Gabriel Okara's poem "Piano And Drums"

#1) Symbolism which is the representation of a concept through symbols or underlying meanings of objects or qualities, appears in the poem from the title down to the context. "Drums" symbolizes Okara's past uncivilized ways of life while "Piano" symbolizes the poet's present and future existence in a westernized world. His symbolisms are further broadened with related musical dictions.

[You Can As Well Read Poetic Figures And Forms In The Piano And Drums By Gabriel Okara]

#2) There are instances of personifications in the poem where inanimates are given human attributes. In line 15 (groping heart/ in green leaves) actually, line 15 can also be named a synedoche. In line 4-5 "speaking of/ primal
youth and the beginning" which gives human quality to the drums. In line 17-18, the poet also personified the piano "piano/ solo speaking of complex ways"

#3) Alliterations in the poem are “the panther ready to pounce” in line 6, “leopard snarling about to leap” in line 7, “turn torrent” in line 9, “solo speaking” in line 18.

In brief, few other poetic devices are Simile in line 4 “like bleeding flesh” Assonance in line 3 "mystic rhythm" Imageries, etc.

READ MORE POETIC ANALYSIS>>>

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

Tuesday, 12 July 2016

[QUESTION]
Discuss the themes of political revolution and struggle for freedom in Gbanabom Hallowell's "The Dining Table". (NECO JUNE/JULY 2016 LITERATURE-IN-ENGLISH)


[ANSWER]
The Dining Table by Gbanabom Hallowell is a political dissention poem; no dispute about that. Such led the content of the poem to germinate the themes of political revolution and struggle for freedom.

To the best of naijapoets.com.ng ability, both themes are discussed as follows:
Political revolution always leads to chaotic atmospheric situations which is not different from Hallowell's sympathetic narration.
The revolutionary picture of the poem revealed brutality, desperate inhumanity to humans, the use of guns and harmful weapons. On top of that, the victims were placed in condition of homelessness. Victims homelessness gathered every age to the so-called “dinner table”; including the sleepless barefooted children with eyes so sharp and alert like switchblades because the effect of the war or sudden attack had taken away their peace and clipped their voices with silence.

On the side of "the struggle for freedom", the gathering as portrayed by the poet motivates the need for freedom. Common to nights of every assaults, abnormal alertness backed by fear was evident in the poem because the people gathered in an insecure place “where guerillas walk the land while crocodiles surf”; their freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom to live are totally reduced. Their highest wish would be to acquire their deprived freedom.

The poem speaker made the readers to realise how strong revenge was in his heart but the fatigue and pains the bullets have caused, made his/her revolutionary intention so impossible:
“Under the spilt
milk of the moon, I promise
to be a revolutionary, but my Nile, even
without tributaries come lazy
upon its own Nile.”

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                     READ MORE POETIC ANALYSIS >>>


Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

Naija Poets

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