Topic- Politicians: Good exemplars?

FOLLOW DE LEADER

I could not believe meh ears when I hear mi mada and dem talking bout
dem big men we does write bout in Social Studies. Oh, Panday dis and
Manning dat, Rowley dis and Sharma dat! D fus time I hear de tory, was
when dem parlimentarians was havin a tea party or something of d sort.

I remember playin tea party wid me cousin. Dat was d time when we had
steal Old Nenen porcelain tea cups. She used to ha dem on d sacred
table; d one we cuda never touch. If we had only gone too close to it, old
nenen wuda show up from no where and spank we bad bad and say,
“alyuh lil gremlins….how much time ah go tell yuh to leave meh table
be?” But it had a day when Nenen had to go to d market. So yuh know,
no Nenen was dey to stop we dis time. Only mami was dey but she was
fast asleep. Dem tea cup dey, was likkle likkle and pree-ty. They used to
shine and had likkle lines and paintings on dem. So small, only me
thumb cuda fit in it. So yuh know wat take place dat evening? Is play we
play wid Old Nenen likkle tea cups. Me and meh cousin tip-i-toe to d
likkle table and gently pick up d tea set, then tip-i-toe, we walk out d
room so we would’t wake mami.

When d coast clear, we start to play. I was d queen and she was my
servant. “Some more tea please”, I wud say every time I took a sip from d
cup. Well, meh cousin get vex-vex when ah keep callin she for more tea.
So I say, “fine we go switch roles”. Meh cousin sit down dey all dolls up
feelin she is a bite up shillin waiting for she tea. I’s put wata in d likkle
ting and ah spit in it. I walk ova to her and ah give she it and bow down .
“Only the finest tea for my lady the queen”, I say. When meh cousin hold
de likkle cup to she mouth with she pinky finger stikin out in d air like if
she real loyalty, I burst out laughin in tears. ‘Wa so funny dey’ she ask
meh, forgetting bout all she proper English and ting and all I cud do is
laugh harder. Meh gul look in d cup and see my spit bubbles still in d
cup. Well is fling she fling d ting at meh and is break Old Nenen tea cup
break. Well boy, if ah never pee meh panty before is then eh pee-pee it,
cause ah know iz a dread cuttail ah goin get. Ah start tuh cry. D kinda
snatty runny nose cry and mi mada wake up. When she see d broken tea
cup on d ground she tun and walk off.

D dogs start barkin now, and is Old Nenen dat come home. Mami bring
she straight to d crime scene and is bawl me and meh cousin start to
bawl. Old Nenen bend down by d tea cup and pick up d pieces. She eh
say a word. Well is den self I geh more scared. Two days after, my cousin
and I received d beating ah we life.

So is when I hear dem big people talking bout d tea cup pelting in d
parliament I get vex-vex. I think to meself, Nenen should go beat dem
propa too! But no, I hear dey case get dismis. You mean to tell me, is
nutin happen to dem so?

In social studies class they teach us bout these men, our leaders and
how dey incharge of we country. Well boy, I tun macko when I hear dem
big people dem talki. You know, d same big man dem…Mr. so and so, is
pelt dey pelt d tea cup? All d ball up and licks me and me lil cousin get
fuh playin wid Old Nenen tea cup, d leaders, dem big men doin it too? So
why I get licks and not he?
Well I geh mad-mad. I say, “mami, next time I eh takin no licks fo no tea
cup and I walk inside d room pick up one ah d remaning teas cups and
pelt it at Old Nenen. Leh me see wa she goin and do me now na? You
know, mi mada hit me too good slap and tell me I outa place. Well I walk
of more vex. Is not pelt I just hear dem sayin d man pelt d tea cup? So
why I ca pelt d tea cup? My teacher tell me I shud look up to d leaders of
society and is pelt I shud pelt when I vex!

Danielle Ami Ali

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Please note that this example seeks to highlight how all 4 areas
can be used for analysis; therefore, the word count should not be
taken into consideration as you are only required to use to areas
of analysis.

Analytical
“Follow De Leader” highlights the fact that little children follow the
actions of the adults in society. It is an exaggerated version of the truth,
used to highlight the repercussions of the behaviour of prominent figures
in Trinidadian society on children. The protagonist tells the story using
Creole English (CE); some of the orthography being influenced through
technology. Both the protagonist and her cousin code switches to
Standard English (SE) when assuming the role of the Queen. Certainly
register, dialectal variation, attitude to language and communicative
behaviour plays a major role with the authenticity of this Trinidadian
short story.
It is quite fitting that a child understands the appropriateness of
language use. Within the Trinidadian context the protagonist through
her display of language use satisfies the critics’ question of validity.
Within this context, society dictates that formal situations utilize SE and
informal or casual utilize CE. Set within the confines of the child’s home
CE is used throughout. Except for role play, where the protagonist
automatically changes her language to one appropriate for the formal
register. She assumes the role of the Queen of England and as a result is
no longer in an informal setting, but rather a setting that required her
use of the formal register.

Keeping in line with the question of register, is the notion of dialectal

variation. The narrative introduces two clear cut varieties of English; that
of SE and CE. Both having distinct markers and one can clearly highlight
the differences. One clear example within this narrative is on the level of
phonology. The CE tendency to echo pronunciation via orthography
makes it easy to highlight this difference. Throughout the story one
would note ‘de’ or ‘d’ as the definite article in CE. This can be compared
to ‘the’ which was also used as the definite article in SE. This
phonological variation definitely highlights the notion that dialectal
variation occurs in Trinidad and Tobago. A side note would be the
influence of technology upon the orthography of CE. CE orthography has
not been standardized and so it is still open to individual representation.

The notion of a standard language is one that has created quite a stir
throughout history but has proven itself to be useful in terms of the
transfer of knowledge. The characters in this narrative are very
comfortable with their own language. One must note however that the
protagonist did say, “…forgetting bout all she proper English and ting…”
The word ‘proper’ within that phrase questions the protagonist’s real
underlying attitude to her own language. Judging from her use of
language throughout the piece, one may assume that she merely
parroted a phrase commonly used within the Trinidadian context,
without really believing in such a thing as a ‘proper’ language. She may
have been referring the ‘proper’ or right variety to be used within the
context of role play.

The protagonist’s treatment of language compared to the use of the

phrase ‘proper English’ is a very good example of communicative
behaviors. Her language choice throughout the narrative reflects her
comfort with it, however the statement she made may not have
complimented the reader’s assumptions. When the cousin held the cup
with her pinky finger sticking out in the air, she communicated that she
was high class and sophisticated. When the protagonist chose to use SE
as she was now playing the role of the Queen, she communicated that
she was now a person of high class and power. What one does and what
one says always work together to tell the story in its entirety.

An analytical approach as to the language use throughout this narrative

clearly places it within the Trinidadian literary world. The treatment of
register, dialectal variation, attitudes to language and communicative
behaviour all hold true to the sociolinguistic expectations within a
Trinidadian context.