Africa By Kofi Awoonor Analysis - 1040 Words

Modern World Literature: Africa â€Å"Ghana’s history is a metaphor for what occurred in the immediate aftermath of independence in Africa,† is a quote by Kofi Awoonor, Ghana’s leading literary figure and one of Africa’s most acclaimed authors. Three of his poems illustrate the hardships and trials that the Africans faced after their claim of independence from Britain. As said by Awoonor himself, â€Å"...high hopes were crushed by the greed, corruption, and lust for power†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The author uses multiple literary devices as a way to emphasize the adversities they faced. Kofi Awoonor symbolizes the downfall of Ghana after independence through the use of theme, mood, and symbolism in his Three Poems. The first literary device Awoonor uses is†¦show more content†¦The next literary device is mood. Song of War holds a very intense and demanding voice to the text. It is full of declaratives and it uses strong diction about war and their militar y. In the text, they refer to those who do not want to serve as â€Å"cowards† and claim that â€Å"they shall lose their calabashes when we come†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Another example is, â€Å"When we start, the ground shall shake†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which is meant to stress their amount of soldiers and bring fear to their opponents. The Sea Eats the Land at Home contains the mood of pity and despair. The poem greatly highlights the devastation of the people from the loss of their land and property. It can be detected in the poem how the mothers are mostly the one in desolation for the fear of her kids. An example that backs up said statement is, â€Å"With her two children shivering from the cold, her hands on her breast, weeping mournfully.† The mood contributes to the distress of the Africans from not only loss of land, but loss of hope. At the Gates holds the mood of faith and reliance. The narrator does not know where he is, but he remains dependent of God and knows that he will be alright as long as he knows he is doing it for Him. He states in the poem, â€Å"I will drink this calabash for it is god’s gift to me†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Another example is â€Å"...give me an offering that I will give to God and he will be happy.† The mood helps readers view the emotion and purpose distributed throughout the story, and symbolism is anotherShow MoreRelated The Role of Women in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay3614 Words   |  15 Pageschanging attitude towards women s roles; and 4) feminist prospects for African women. In the context of this study, the Igbo people whom Achebe describes will represent the rest of Nigeria -- and a great many of the nations of Africa. Sociocultural Background Were Nigeria and Africa oppressively masculinist? The answer is, Yes. Ghana was known to have some matrilineal societies, such as the Akans; but Nigerias traditional culture, Muslim as well as non-Muslim, had been masculine-based even beforeRead More The Women of Umuofia in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay1999 Words   |  8 Pagesdemanding equal job opportunities and voting and property rights. For African and African-American women, feminist ideology reflects specificities of race, class, and culture. It is for this reason that the former has failed to make any lasting appeal to Africa and its diaspora. Because African women do not wish to alienate men, because African women do not wish to alienate the bulk of their tradition-based sisters, because many traditional African customs and mores are worth preserving, most African feminists