Hazel Mae S.

Olanio
12-STEM Zara
HOMEWORK
1. What is unique about African culture that is shown in the myths you have read?

What I find interesting and unique about African Culture, based on the mythological stories, is how
deeply connected it is to nature.

2. How can you show heroism today?

In our current society, one cannot simply match such acts of heroism performed by older
generations. Today, we do not need to show our heroism through dying for others but that doesn’t
mean we can’t be heroes. Heroism can still be applied and appreciated to this very day, through the
powerful act of kindness. Things like helping someone in need, saying ‘thank you’, and sometimes
just by smiling - we brighten or lessen the burdens of people who are just barely getting by.

Areas to Answer The Clever Young Man and the Monster

Structure

Exposition A long time ago in East Africa, an ogre-like monster named

Shing’weng’we ate all the people along with all the domestic animals.
Except for a pregnant woman who hid under a pile of chaff. This
woman soon gave birth and named the child ‘Masala Kulangwa’ - which
translates into: the smart person who understands quickly.

Rising Action As the child grew up, he wandered where most people went and why
he and his mother were the only humans inhabiting the earth. His
mother told him that all people and all their relatives were swallowed
by the monster Shing’weng’we. Since that day, Masala Kulangwa has
set his mind on defeating the monster.

Climax One day, Masala Kulangwa came home with a grasshopper, telling his
mother that he had finally killed the monster. But his mom just
dismissed him and said that it was only a grasshopper. So, Masala
Kulangwa continued his search. Thrice he came home and brought two
animals much larger than the last one - a bird, a tiny gazelle, and an
antelope. However, those were just wild animals. Until one day, he had
finally found his long sought for opponent - the monster
Shing’weng’we.

Falling Action Masala Kulangwa overcame the monster and saved all people and
relatives who were trapped inside the ogre’s stomach. While fighting
though, he had accidentally cut off an old woman’s ear. The woman,
who had prowess in sorcery tried to curse and bewitch Masala
 Kulangwa but then he found the medicine to heal her.

Denouement All the people declared Masala Kulangwa as the chief and put him in
the seat of the chief. He became the leader of the whole world while his
mother was beside him as queen.

Plot In the land of East Africa, there was once an ogre-like monster who ate
all living things that walked upon earth — the name was
Shing’weng’we. He devoured all people and animals, except for one
pregnant woman who was hiding under a pile of chaff. The woman
soon gave birth and raised a curious little boy named Masala Kulangwa
who wondered where all his family and relatives went. The woman
told his son about the monster and how they were the only people
living in the world, since then, Masala Kulangwa began the journey in
finding and slaying Shing’weng’we. On one day he killed a grasshopper,
then a bird, a gazelle, an antelope until he finally was head on with the
ogre Shing’weng’we. He overcame the beast and was declared chief of
the world ruling side-by-side with his mother who became queen.

Purpose To become a hero, one must be brave to fight monsters ahead; and be
smart to think quickly.

Areas to Answer Rawera (The Comforter) and the Monster

Structure

Exposition There was once a village named Funtu and was home to people who
loved each other, except for an arrange-married couple named
Ngu’ono and Jatu. Since they were forced by elders to be married, they
were not fond of each other. The village treated them as outcasts and
rarely invited them for feast and occasions. One day, there was a feast
in which the couple was not invited. In the middle of the banquet, they
heard screams and cries coming from the village so they went and saw
five giant monsters who swallowed all the people. Ngu’ono and Jutu
hid under a hole inside a tree and stayed until the monsters went
away. In the morning, they were greeted by a bird commanding them
to follow it — the bird led them to a beautiful place with lush greenery,
rich vegetation, and clear streams.

Rising Action The couple settled there, eventually building a family — Rawera, who
was born strong and obedient, grew up there. One day as Rawera
along with his trusty dog was hunting through the forest, he
discovered big footprints leading him to the place where the five giants
resided.

Climax As he was nearing the nest of the giants, he was stopped by a familiar
bird who helped his parents long ago. The bird warned him about the
 giants and told him how the giants ate his ancestors. Hearing that,
Rawera became determined in slaying the monsters and saving his
ancestors — the bird saw his determination and decided to help him.
The bird gave Rawera instructions to kill the beast and Rawera
followed.

Falling Action Following the bird’s strategy, Rawera was able to cut off the giant’s
ear, handicapping the beast allowing him to cut off the monster’s big
toe. The monster died, and as it did the people it ate came out from its
big toe.

Denouement The villagers were excited to be back, all of them gave thanks to
Rawera and walked to the valley where Ngu’ono and Jatu lived.
Rawera’s parents, Ngu’ono and Jatu, were happy to see the village
people once again. After listening to Rawera’s story, all people became
proud of him and declared him as Chief. His parents were now
respected and loved by the community.

Plot In the village of Funtu, everybody was filled with love — except for a
couple who were wed upon the elder’s request, Ngu’ono and Jatu. The
village loved each other, unlike the wedded pair, because of this, they
were outcasted. One day, there was a feast in the village but the pair
was not invited. Ngu’ono and Jatu heard screaming and crying nearby,
much to their curiosity, they saw five giant monsters destroying the
village and swallowing all the villagemen — quickly they hid in the
trees so they would not be eaten. The following morning, they were
woken up by a bird who led them to a valley with rich vegetation and
clear streams. There, they decided to settle and build a family —
Ngu’ono gave birth to a boy named Rawera who grew up to be strong
and obedient. One day, as Rawera was hunting in the forest with his
dog, they stumbled upon the giant’s nest. The bird who saved his
parents long ago also came to them, the bird warned Rawera about the
beasts and what the giants did to his ancestors — hearing this, Rawera
became eager to defeat the monsters. The bird saw Rawera’s
determination and decided to help him. Through the bird’s help,
Rawera was able to kill the giants and free his ancestors. The
villagemen were happy to be free and thanked Rawera, they all walked
back to the valley where Ngu’ono and Jatu resided and heard the story
of Rawera’s heroic act. Upon hearing, they were all proud of Rawera
and made him Chief, they also gave respect to Ngu’ono and Jatu.

Purpose Determination attracts people with the same goals who will help you
in succeeding.
 Areas to Answer Things Fall Apart

Structure

Exposition In the clan of Umuofia, a tribe filled with Igbo people from lower
Nigeria, there is a well known warrior named Okonkwo. He is a
wealthy and respected warrior who is strong and hardworking but
strives hard not to show any signs of weakness. Okonkwo is scarred by
the legacy left by his father, Unoka is a man who died in a cowardly
death, leaving many villages in unsettled debts. He tries to dispel all
the wrongdoings of his father, so he works hard to build wealth
entirely on his own. Okonko is shamed by his father’s weaknesses,
because of this Okonkwo grew obsessed with masculinity - any sight
of his pride being compromised gets destroyed. As a result, Okonkwo
frequently beats his wives and children and is rude to his neighbors.

Okonkwo became rich, brave, and powerful among the people in his
village which earned him the title of leader - a position he strived for
all his life. He has a son named Nwoye, a 12-year old boy who
Okonkwo thought of as lazy, he worries about him being like his late
father.

In a settlement with a nearby tribe, the elders charged Okonkwo with

taking in a 15-year old boy. The boy’s name was Ikemefuna and
became the ideal son in Okonkwo’s eyes. Nwoye also bonded with the
boy, treating him like family. Despite Okonkwo’s fondness for the
newcomer, he does not show any strong affection towards Ikemefuna.

Rising Action During a tradition called “the Week of Peace”, Okonkwo accuses his
youngest wife of negligence and beats her, breaking the peace of the
sacred week. This shocked the entire community beyond repair.

One day, the Oracle of Umuofia pronounces that Ikemefuna is to die.

Ogbuefi Ezeudu, a respected village elder, informs Okonkwo in private
that the Oracle has said that Ikemefuna must be killed. He tells
Okonkwo that because Ikemefuna calls him “father,” Okonkwo should
not take part in the boy’s death. Okonkwo lies to Ikemefuna, telling
him that they must return him to his home village. Nwoye bursts into
tears.

Climax As he walks with the men of Umuofia, Ikemefuna thinks about

seeing his mother. After several hours of walking, some of
Okonkwo’s clansmen attack the boy with machetes. Ikemefuna runs
to Okonkwo for help. But Okonkwo, who doesn’t wish to look weak
in front of his fellow tribesmen, cuts the boy down despite the
Oracle’s admonishment. When Okonkwo returns home, Nwoye
deduces that his friend is dead.
Okonkwo sinks into a depression, neither able to sleep nor eat. He
visits his friend Obierika and begins to feel revived a bit. Okonkwo’s
 daughter Ezinma falls ill, but she recovers after Okonkwo gathers
leaves for her medicine.
The death of Ogbuefi Ezeudu is announced to the surrounding
villages by means of the ekwe, a musical instrument. Okonkwo feels
guilty because the last time Ezeudu visited him was to warn him
against taking part in Ikemefuna’s death. At Ogbuefi Ezeudu’s large
and elaborate funeral, the men beat drums and fire their guns.
Tragedy compounds upon itself when Okonkwo’s gun explodes and
kills Ogbuefi Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old son.
Because killing a clansman is a crime against the earth goddess,
Okonkwo must take his family into exile for seven years in order to
atone. He gathers his most valuable belongings and takes his family
to his mother’s natal village, Mbanta. The men from Ogbuefi
Ezeudu’s quarter burn Okonkwo’s buildings and kill his animals to
cleanse the village of his sin.
Okonkwo’s kinsmen, especially his uncle, Uchendu, receive him
warmly. They help him build a new compound of huts and lend him
yam seeds to start a farm. Although he is bitterly disappointed at his
misfortune, Okonkwo reconciles himself to life in his motherland.

Falling Action During the second year of Okonkwo’s exile, Obierika brings several
bags of cowries (shells used as currency) that he has made by
selling Okonkwo’s yams. Obierika plans to continue to do so until
Okonkwo returns to the village. Obierika also brings the bad news
that Abame, another village, has been destroyed by the white man.
Soon afterward, six missionaries travel to Mbanta. Through an
interpreter named Mr. Kiaga, the missionaries’ leader, Mr. Brown,
speaks to the villagers. He tells them that their gods are false and
that worshipping more than one God is idolatrous. But the villagers
do not understand how the Holy Trinity can be accepted as one
God. Although his aim is to convert the residents of Umuofia to
Christianity, Mr. Brown does not allow his followers to antagonize
the clan.
Mr. Brown grows ill and is soon replaced by Reverend James Smith,
an intolerant and strict man. The more zealous converts are relieved
to be free of Mr. Brown’s policy of restraint. One such convert,
Enoch, dares to unmask an egwugwu during the annual ceremony
to honor the earth deity, an act equivalent to killing an ancestral
spirit. The next day, the egwugwu burn Enoch’s compound and
Reverend Smith’s church to the ground.

Denouement The District Commissioner is upset by the burning of the church and
requests that the leaders of Umuofia meet with him. Once they are
gathered, however, the leaders are handcuffed and thrown in jail,
where they suffer insults and physical abuse.
After the prisoners are released, the clansmen hold a meeting,
during which five court messengers approach and order the
 clansmen to desist. Expecting his fellow clan members to join him in
the uprising, Okonkwo kills their leader with his machete. When the
crowd allows the other messengers to escape, Okonkwo realizes
that his clan is not willing to go to war.
When the District Commissioner arrives at Okonkwo’s compound,
he finds that Okonkwo has hanged himself. Obierika and his friends
lead the commissioner to the body. Obierika explains that suicide is
a grave sin; thus, according to custom, none of Okonkwo’s
clansmen may touch his body. The commissioner, who is writing a
book about Africa, believes that the story of Okonkwo’s rebellion
and death will make for an interesting paragraph or two. He has
already chosen the book’s title: The Pacification of the Primitive
Tribes of the Lower Niger.

Plot Okonkwo is a well-respected leader in the tribe of Umuofia, home of

the Igbo people. He lives with fear of becoming his father who lived in
a bad reputation of being lazy and cowardly. Throughout his life,
Okonkwo attempted to be polar opposite to his father – from an early
age, he tried to separate his name from his father’s legacy by becoming
a precocious wrestler and a hard-working farmer; his efforts bearing
him a wealthy life with three wives. He had children, one named
Nwoye, a 12-year old boy who Okonkwo worries will become like his
father. While in a settlement treaty, Okonkwo was given charge for a
15-year old boy named Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna became a part of the
family eventually calling Okonkwo “father” and building fondness with
Nwoye. In fact, Okonkwo loved his adoptive son more than his
biological child. After three years of living with Okonkwo, the village
elders decide to tribute Ikemefuna’s life in an oracle. The tribe decides
that Ikemefuna must die but without Okonkwo taking part since he
was the boy’s “father”. However, Okonkwo framed Ikemefuma to his
death, Okonkwo’s men ambushed and eventually killed their leader’s
son. Although he technically did not kill the boy with his own hands,
Okonkwo still took part in the boy’s death. While being emotionless
outside, Okonkwo felt guilty for what he did. But since he was scared
of being weak, he came off as tough and emotionless, even alienating
himself from Nwoye, who treated Ikemefuna as his own brother. Later
on, during a funeral of a village elder, Okonkwo accidentally shoots
and kills a boy. He was exiled for seven years, leading him to take
refuge in his mother’s homeland, Mbanta. There, he learns about white
missionaries who came to spread Christianity. They convert more and
more Igbo people into Christianity until the day Okonkwo’s seven-year
ban ends; when it did end, he learned that his son, Nwoye, converted
into Christianity. Upon hearing, he was devastated and disowned his
biological son. Eventually, the Igbo attempt to talk to the missionaries,
but the Christians capture the Igbo leaders and jail them for several
days until the villagers cough up some ransom money. Contemplating
revenge, the Igbo people hold a war council and Okonkwo is one of the
biggest advocates for aggressive action. However, during the council, a
 court messenger from the missionaries arrives and tells the men to
stop the meeting. Enraged, Okonkwo kills him. Realizing that his clan
will not go to war against the white men, the proud, devastated
Okonkwo hangs himself.

Purpose The story shows how dynamic and complex life in Africa can be,
contrary to Westerners’ belief of having a simple provincial lifestyle. It
depicts social hierarchy, as well as complex tribes, treaties, traditions.

Sources:
● https://afriprov.tangaza.ac.ke/afri-story/the-clever-young-man-and-the-monster/
● https://www.scribd.com/document/481599790/Rawera
● https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/samar-state-university/bachelor-of-secondary-
education/toaz-info-the-clever-young-man/21704439
● https://afriprov.tangaza.ac.ke/afri-story/rawera-the-comforter-and-the-monsters/
● https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/things/summary/
● https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/things/plot-analysis/
● https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/things-fall-apart/book-summary
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_Fall_Apart
 SONNET XVII
Questions
1. Who is the persona talking to the poem?
2. What do roses of salt, topaz, and carnation
symbolize?
3. What do you think is the meaning of the 3rd
stanza?
4. To what sense does the second stanza appeal
to?
5. What is the central idea of the poem?
Answer/Explanation
The persona talks about a lover who made him
feel a different kind of love — a love that is far
from any other love he experienced, a love that
blooms even in the valleys of death, a love that
sees even in the blinding darkness of life.
They symbolize all the things that are loved by
people because of their beauty. But the writer
compares his love to them in a sense that all
beautiful things cannot come close to the love
he is feeling.
The poet is trying to express that love is
intangible. It is not bound by why’s, what’s, and
when’s; but is always there existing.
The second stanza talks about light and dark
which appeals to the sense of sight. It tackles
how his love is like a plant that never blooms,
but promises hidden flowers. Like love was
something contagious and unexplainable which
then lives darkly, in the depths of his soul.
The poem revolves around a love so different
from the rest - a love that opposes any natural
law or order, a love beyond beauty, a love
beyond reason. It describes the kind of love
that reaches beyond the mind and pierces
through the soul, something so intimate that
physical bodies cannot hinder such ties in the
soul.
Love and Sadism

You said it was only me and me alone

So I bit the trap and grew fonder
Like a coin tossed in a wishing well, I fell harder
It's sad to think now knowing I bit the trap but you dug your gravestone

At first I, too, was like you who was foolish and hazard-prone
Longing for the sweetness of a lover
Getting twisted and lured by a great tempter
Too bad, it's all too good to be true; clinging to something one cannot atone

Love is not for everybody, you see

Some are just playing and fooling around
Treating people like toys to discard the moment they're bored

You should get away from people like me

Strangers who teach you to swim just to watch you get drowned
Monsters that smile whenever another soul gets shattered

This poem is inspired by a song titled "Song from a Guilty Sadist", but it is written with the writer's
own thoughts in her struggle to understand how love works. The writer feels conflicted in showing
love to significant others, because in one way or another, she just finds them in pain from her love.
This poem explores her thoughts on how her love is far from what ideal love is.

The writer also wrote this piece with a question in mind: to feel loved or to be loved?

“I have been loved for all my life. Yet, I often wonder what love feels like — coming from a past
where love is hitting and shouting and fighting, it's hard to reflect a love that is kind and patient and
comforting.

This poem is for all of us, who can only love the way they were loved, but still find the bravery to try
and do better. May we heal from whatever sick ways people of the past have shown their love to us.
May we always remember that their way of love does not reflect our worth as a person being
worthy of a better love. May we love ourselves like the love we deserve.”