English – 2nd Quarter LT
Spelling # 1
1. buckra
–
white man / person
2.
Basenji – breed of dog from
Congo
3.
gumbo – okra
4. boogie
– to
dance
5.
sambo – uncle
6.
bwana – important person,
safari leader
7.
sangoma – traditional healer
8.
mojo – charm, hex,
magical spell
9.
kwanzaa – first fruits
10. funk
–
bad body odor
African Literature
Way
of Life
-They believe in gods
- Women were only houswives
Ancient
Egypt
-Farming and trade – primary
source of living
-Social classes though no rigid,
existed in ancient society
 |
South
of the Sahara
-live in villages
-grew foods in small plots
-trade created towns that became
the seat of learning and commerce
CONTEMPORARY:
-foreign colonial rule brought
harm and benefits to the people
-resistance movements helped
most of Africa regain independence
-only few Africans had any
higher education or technical training
-most Africans live in rural
areas
-extended family structure is
evident
-women do agricultural work
-men herds or work as migrant
labourers
Traditions
and Beliefs
-after life
-recognized supreme God and
lesser gods and spirits
-Christianity came first
-Islam (because of trade and
Arab conquest)
CONTEMPORARY:
-Christianity is recognized
though most find it entirely not relevant to their lives
-Millions of people in Africa
remain loyal to their belief of other deities
-Islam stays dominant
Arts
and Entertainment
-visual art for religions,
ceremonial and everyday activities
-Ancient Egyptians – greatest
architects
-traditional music –
polyrhythmic created by beating drums, striking bells, clapping hands, stomping
-masked dances – major part of
ceremonial life
CONTEMPORARY:
-more paintings and prints
-painting on canvas
-art reflects religion
Language
and Literature
-hieroglyphics – writing
-languages have no written form
4 Families:
1. Afro-Asiatic
–
red sea to Sahara
2.
Niger-Congo – west to east
(Nile)
3.
Nilo-Saharan – north to central
to lake Victoria
4.
Khoisan – far south
-passed through oral traditions
-Book of the dead, papyrus
CONTEMPORARY:
-mixture of oral and written literature and
traditions
-Roman alphabet/ Asiatic script
-shows discontent with imperialism
Swahili Poetry
swahili =
“of the coast”
·
Traditionally
written in Arabic script
-use
verse form, with patterns of rhyme that are difficult to reproduce in
translation
·
Due
to influence of Islamic literature, Swahili writing is devoted to religious
themes
·
Writes
about secular topics (love & current events)
·
Swahili
love poems come in the form of songs
Love Does Not Know Secrets
-Anonymous
Love
knows no secret,
When
it is hidden it will be discovered
The
more you keep it as a secret, the more it will get discovered
Love
has no choice;
When
it seizes a man,
He
will confess everything,
Everything
that was not done.
Love
has no pity,
Even
an old man may be put to shame,
Love
does not return to a thing it desires.
When
it pursues a man,
He
turns mad.
Love
can turn a person into a good one or a bad one.
Love
humbles a man,
His
body becomes emaciated;
When a
friend of ours is humiliated
It is
not fair to laugh at him.
A man
does not have the stamina
to put
love aside.
Love
never agrees
To
share (a man’s attention) with anything.
When
a person is in love, he gets easily distracted by the thoughts about that
special someone.
If you
irritate love,
You
melt away at once.
Love
is a disease, a malignant, incurable disease.
You
cannot easily forget love once you felt it.
Life in Benin
-written by Olaudah Equiano
-translated
by Paul Edwards
-from
Equiano’s Travels
OLAUDAH
EQUIANO
-1745 –
March 1797
-came from a large family in
Benin
-11 yrs old – kidnapped and sold
into slavery
- was brought to
the west Indies, then to Virginia (British naval officer purchased him)
-travelled as a seaman
-20 yrs old – saved enough money
for freedom
- settled in London
-involved in efforts to abolish
slave trade
-1789 – “The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”
-1792 – married an English woman
- had 2
daughters
-was able to leave a fairly
large estate because of his book sales
- 52 yrs old – died
The
Kingdom of Benin
o
Powerful
West African Kingdom
o
13th
– 19th century
o
West
of Niger River (Southern Nigeria)
o
Profited
from trade with European countries
o
Artists
became famous for metal sculptures and carvings in wood and ivory
o
“oba”
(king)
– in charge of all political, economic and religious activities
o
Europeans
who visited the city were impressed by the oba’s public rituals and large
palace, which housed hundreds of wives
MANNERS ARE SIMPLE;
LUXURIES ARE FEW
ü Dress of both sexes
are almost the same
-
Long
piece of calico / muslin (blue)
-
Golden
ornaments for women in distinction
ü Blue
–
favourite color
-
Extracted
from a berry
ü Spinning and weaving
cotton & making garments ; manufacturing earthen vessels and tobacco pipes
– occupation of women not employed with men in tillage
MANNER OF LIVING IS
PLAIN
ü Natives are
unacquainted with refinements in cookery
ü Bullock, goats,
poultry – greatest part of their food
-
Flesh
is stewed in a pan added with spices (salt from wood ashes)
ü Plantain, eadas,
yams, beans, Indian corn – vegetables
ü Eating Habits:
-
Head
of the family eats alone
-
Wives
and slaves have separate tables
-
Wash
hands before eating
-
Liberation – after washing
-pouring a small
portion of drink on the floor
-tossing a small
quantity of food in a certain place for the spirits (preside over their safety)
-palm wine – principal beverage
- from a tree (tap it at the top and
fasten a large gourd to it = 3-4 gallons in a night) (produces nuts & oil)
- sweet when fresh; spirituous flavour
after a few days
-
Perfumes – principal luxury
-odoriferous wood of
delicious fragrance
-kind of earth, a
small portion of which thrown into fire (diffuses a powerful odor)
-beat wood into
powder and mix with palm oil
CONVENIENCE OVER
ORNAMENT
ü Each family has a
large square piece of ground surrounded by a fence
ü Village – when
numerous
ü Principal building
–in the middle; for the master and his family
-2
apartments
Reception
– left part; for friends
Distinct
apartment – for sleeping with his male children
Apartments
– for each wives ; separate day and night houses
ü Buildings never
exceeded one story in height
-built
of wood or stake driven to the ground
-roof
is thatched with reeds
-walls
and floors are covered with mats
-beds
have platforms (3-4 ft from ground)
- have laid skins and different
parts of the sponge tree (plantain)
-seats
are made of wood
-benches
are perfumed for the strangers (greater part of household furniture)
ü Dayhouses are left
open at the sides
ü Nighthouses (where
they sleep) are always covered & plastered with a composition mixed with
cow-dung (to keep off insects)
ü They work together
to build the house. They have a feast afterwards
LAND ARE RICH
ü Produce all kinds of
vegetables
ü Crops: Indian corn,
cotton, tobacco, pineapples (grow without culture), spices (pepper), gums,
honey, fruits
ü Agriculture
is
their chief employment. Everyone is engaged in it.
ü No beggars
TILLAGE
ü Exercised in a large
plain
ü They don’t use
beasts of husbandry
ü Instruments: axes,
hoes, shovels, beaks, pointed iron
ü Locusts destroy
their harvest = famine
-after
RELIGION
ü There is only one
Creator
-he
lives in the sun
-girded
with belt
-cannot
eat or drink
-smokes
pipe (favourite luxury)
-governs
events (deaths and captivity)
ü Transmigration of
souls
ü Not transmigrated Spirits
of friends a relatives guard them from bad spirits
ü They put small
portion of meat and drink on the ground for the spirits before eating
ü Make oblations of
the blood of beats or fouls at their graves
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