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Common Grammatical Mistake - Use of Both and Neither

Both is a conjunction that can be used to join two nouns,  pronouns, nominal phrases or noun clauses together when performing as either or complement of a predicate in any given sentence.

Consider:

Both the man and the woman who is standing over there belong to the same group. (Means both of them are in the same group)

In other hand, neither is also a conjunction but it is being used for negative sentence. 

Neither the man nor the woman who is standing over there belongs to the group. (Means none of them is in the group)

Noted error: Using both in negative sentence instead of neither is wrong.

Always remember that both must be changed into neither in a negative sentence.

More examples:

Don't say: Both of them have not gone for the screening exercises.

Say:  Neither of them has gone for the screening exercises.

Don't say:  Both Mark and Anderson do not like me.

Say:  Neither Mark nor Anderson likes me.

She Stoops To Conquer - Full Summary and Analysis

Literature is not all about reading or summarizing a written story but also to affect deeply the mind of the readers so as to bringing out the exact messages being preached by the writer in relation with the society and its products. One of the objectives of literature is realized when a reader indirectly criticizes himself in the cause of emphasising critically on what a character in the story being read represents. 


Through the introduction and influence of satire,  an audience is bound without escape to mock and laugh at himself when he becomes of opinion that a character doing foolishly having the similar attributes as the character.


Not only attributed to correct individual but also to unveil the stupidity of the society at large. Oliver Goldsmiths' "She Stoops To Conquer" is not left out among the plays that make efforts in correcting the ills of the societies of the World.


This fact comes about as it won't be only Hardcastles' family that outbound their children from marrying to lowly of homes because they are rich. 


This page gives summary of the play and its analysis in details.


SUMMARY OF "SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER"


She Stoops to Conquer opens with a prelude in which an on-screen character laments the dismiss of the conventional low Comedy at the consecrated place of nostalgic, "dull" show. He assumes that Dr. Goldsmith can cure this issue through the play going to be shown.

ACT ONE 

Act I is stacked with set-up for whatever is left of the play. Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle live in an old house that takes after a lodging, and they are sitting tight for the arrival of Marlow, offspring of Mr. Hardcastle 's old partner and a possible suitor to his daughter Kate. Kate is close to her father, to such a degree, to the point that she dresses clearly in the evening times (to suit his direct tastes) and capriciously in the mornings for her allies. Then, Mrs. Hardcastle's niece Constance is in the old woman's care, and has her little heritage (including some essential pearls) held until the point when the moment that she is hitched, preferably to Mrs. Hardcastle's spoilt kid hailed from a preceding marriage, Tony Lumpkin. The issue is that neither Tony nor Constance reveres the other, and in fact Constance has a dearest, will's character flying out to the house that night with Marlow. Tony's worry is also that he is a flushed and an admirer of low living, which he shows when the play developments to a bar contiguous. At whatever point Marlow and Hastings (Constance's venerated) get in contact at the bar, lost while in travel to Hardcastle's, Tony plays a feasible joke by telling the two men that there is no space at the bar and that they can find lodging at the old inn not far place (which is clearly Hardcastle's home).


ACT TWO

Act II sees the plot get jumbled. At whatever point Marlow and Hastings arrive, they are inconsiderate and impolite with Hardcastle, whom they accept is a proprietor and not a host (because of Tony's trap). Hardcastle foresees that Marlow will be an obliging youthful individual, and is paralyzed at the direct. Constance finds Hastings, and reveals to him that Tony almost certainly played a trap. Regardless, they keep reality from Marlow, in light of the way that they figure revealing it will pester him and crush the trip. They pick they will attempt to get her pearls and slip away together. Marlow has an odd tendency to converse with exaggerated aversion to "unpretentious" women, while talking in vivacious and liberal tones to women of low-class. When he has his first assembling with Kate, she is dressed well, and subsequently drives him into a crippling stupor by virtue of his feebleness to address humble women. She is regardless pulled in to him, and endeavors and draw out his real character. Tony and Hastings pick together that Tony will take the jewels for Hastings and Constance, with the objective that he can be liberated of his mother's strain to marry Constance, whom he doesn't love.


ACT THREE 

Act III opens with Hardcastle and Kate each confused for the side of Marlow they saw. Where Hardcastle is staggered at his impoliteness, Kate is confused to have seen just inconspicuousness. Kate approaches her father for the chance to show to him that Marlow is more than both acknowledge. Tony has stolen the jewels, anyway Constance doesn't know and continues imploring her nearby relative for them. Tony induces Mrs. Hardcastle to envision they were stolen to discourage Constance, a demand she vivaciously recognizes until the point that she comprehends they have truly been stolen. Meanwhile, Kate is presently wearing her plain dress and is stirred up by Marlow (who never looked her in the face in their earlier assembling) as a barmaid to whom he is pulled in. She fills the part, and they have an excited, fun discourse that terminations with him attempting to get a handle on her, a move Mr. Hardcastle watches. Kate asks for the night to exhibit that he can be both cognizant and eager.


ACT FOUR

Act IV finds the plots moderately going into decay. News has spread that Sir Charles Marlow (Hardcastle's sidekick, and father to energetic Marlow) is on the way, which will reveal Hastings' lifestyle as treasured of Constance and moreover force the subject of whether Kate and Marlow are to marry. Hastings has sent the pearls in a pine box to Marlow for supervision yet Marlow, dumbfounded, has offered them to Mrs. Hardcastle (whom in spite of all that he acknowledges is the proprietor of the lodging). Exactly when Hastings takes in this, he comprehends his expect to slip away with wealth is done, and picks he ought to induce Constance to take away speedily. Meanwhile, Marlow's discourteousness towards Hardcastle (whom he acknowledges is the proprietor) accomplishes its pinnacle, and Hardcastle demonstrates him out of the house, in the midst of which fight Marlow begins to recognize what is truly happening. He finds Kate, who directly puts on a show to be a poor association with the Hardcastles, which would make her a suitable match also as class anyway not an OK marriage to the degree wealth. Marlow is starting to love her, anyway can't look for after it since it is prohibited to his father in light of her nonappearance of weatlh, so he surrenders her. In the meantime, a letter from Hastings arrives that Mrs. Hardcastle catches, and she examines that he sits tight for Constance in the garden, arranged to take away. Incensed, she requests that she will bring Constance far away, and makes game plans for that. Marlow, Hastings and Tony go up against each other, and the shock with respect to all the confusion prompts an extraordinary conflict, settled quickly when Tony assurances to deal with the issue for Hastings.


ACT FIVE - FINAL ACT

Act V discovers reality getting to be uncovered, and everyone merry. Sir Charles has arrived, and he and Hastings laugh together completed the confusion young Marlow was in. Marlow gets in contact to apologize, and in the trade over Kate, claims he barely talked with Kate. Hardcastle points the finger at him for lying, since Hardcastle saw him get a handle on Kate (yet Marlow does not understand that was definitely Kate). Kate arrives after Marlow leaves the room and induces the more settled men she will reveal the full truth if they watch a gathering between the two from a covered vantage behind a screen. Then, Hastings holds up in the garden, per Tony's rule, and Tony gets in contact to uncover to him that he drove his mother and Constance all completed in circles, so they think they are lost far from home when as a general rule they have been left close-by. Mrs. Hardcastle, upset, arrives and is convinced she ought to keep away from a scoundrel who is moving closer. The "criminal" winds up being Mr. Hardcastle, who panics her in her disorder for quite a while by the day's end finds what is happening. Hastings and Constance, close-by, pick they won't keep running off yet rather demand to Mr. Hardcastle for generosity. Back at the house, the gathering between Kate (playing the poor association) and Marlow reveals his extremely extraordinary character, and after some exchange, everyone agrees to the match. Hastings and Constance ask for that approval marry and, since Tony is truly of age and thusly jug of his own volition pick not to marry Constance, the assent is permitted. All are playful (beside parsimonious Mrs. Hardcastle), and the "slips of a night" have been corrected.


There are two epilogs generally printed to the play, one of which depicts in similarity Goldsmith's undertaking to take parody back to its traditional roots, and the other of which proposes Tony Lumpkin has endeavors yet to be made sense of it.

Literature Definition and Explanation in Details

Do you find yourself in a situation whereby you have to explain what literature means, what it is all about? Or you find yourself in a situation where you have to give difference between Literature in English and English Literature: this content gets to open your mind to answer the questions:
- What is literature?
- What is the difference between Literature in English and English Literature?
The word "Literature" in its broaden real sense means a body of writing which we can explain as anything put into paper for the specific purpose of reading. This is the major reason why a body of writing text as including your Chemistry,  Biology,  Government, Law or the Science text book can be categorized as literature. As a result,  writings like letters,  information,  facts,  theories,  data,  propaganda,  brochures,  handouts, pamphlets,  leaflets, handbills and so on are all departmentalised as "literature".
In other hand,  literature can be said to be said to infatuated from the adjective "literate" which implies an ability to read and write at the same time.
Furtherance,  "literature as a course of study" is limited to the sphere of creative work of art either as produced from the realm of imagination or reality by a novelist,  playwright,  or poet. 
For the purpose of this article,  we are spotlighting to literature as a course of study that originally has to do with works of art mapping out by poets,  playwrights and novelists not just a writer or an author.
This type of literature is branched into three - poetry,  drama and prose generally known as the major genres of literature.
The three genres are offspring of the same mother but each of them has hallmarks that make it different from others.  Facts have come to stay that it is how accurately the writer can make use of these features that determines how interesting the work of art will be.

Beowulf, The Epic Poem - Comprehensive And Detailed Summary

This content contains a full and comprehensive summary of the historical poem, Beowulf.

The Spear-Danes two precious Kings are so extremely fiery in battles and well straight when dealing with their subjects in the mead-hall that is meant for all kinds of feast and merriments.

Between these two king is Shield Sheafson who appears to be the first one between the two. Shield is succeeded by his son, Beow who also made a great impact while ruling over his people. Beow reigns and his death helps him in handing over to his son Halfdane, a warlord who has three sons, Heorogar, Hrothgar, and Halga, and one daughter. Halfdane's daughter whose name is unknown.
Prince Hrothgar gets upper hand among his other brother and is bestowed with opportunity to serve the Danes's land as their new king after his father last breath. Hrothgar has support from a lot of people both the young and the aged that boost his chance of becoming the king. That is where his success starts from

King of the Danes in Denmark who ascends the throne after the great king Shield Sheafson, King Hrothgar is pleased over his success as a prominent ruler of the kingdom and therefore sets up a mead-hall where his subjects will be using for any feast. The hall will be a place where lords and other great people in the land will be hanging out. He called the gigantic mead-hall Heorot.
Inside the mead-hall, the king's warriors and servants always assemble to drink and eat together as well as receiving gifts from their masters. While entertainers such as storytellers, bards, and scops will also be available to render their hilarious services.


A demon that is dwelling nearby the heorot hall, in a place known as swamplands of Hrothgar’s kingdom often feels bad about the joyous noise as it considers the noise as offensive. The demon's name is Grendel. He rigidly hates seeing or hearing making merriment either by drinking or partying together like what is happening in the mead-hall everytime. The contents of the songs that are coming to his ears irritate him more as the contents are geared towards God's praise which demons dislike.

From time to time especially in every night, Grendel makes its way to the Heorot hall to cause calamity by attacking the King's warriors, kills them and sometimes takes them as its food. In the first night that Grendel appear to terrorise the Heorot, he kills and takes always thirty people. The king and his people look helpless when discover what has befell on them from the Grendel's hands.


He returns in the following night to repeat what he does previous night This horrible torment continues for many years more than twelve, while the kingdom is powerless over the demon. No one comes to the hall again as it has become centre of dismissal for anyone.

Everywhere both inside the kingdom and outside is filled with news about the King's helplessness. Storytellers and singers use the trends to boost their businesses by telling sad stories and singing about it.
No one dares to face Grendel let alone approaching him with negotiation of ransom maybe he can stop his disastrous acts against the land.

A lot of efforts are made by Hrothgar to stop the beast from attacking them. Some people lend him several pieces of advice that including opinion to use military strategies against it. Some say he should render sacrifice to pagan gods thinking that the gods can help them out of the problem. All efforts prove abortive and are wasted.


A king from a nearby country, Geats king,King Hygelac hears of the plight that is agonising the Spear-Danes and rises to rescue them. He therefore asks his warriors to get his boat ready for the journey. His warriors wish to stop him from leaving but dare not utter such word to him. They instead prepare some warriors to go on his behalf. The men and tell reason for their visitation once they set foots on the land. The Dane think the Geats is to for war but a warrior explains that he is a Geat, a follower of King Hygelac, and the son of a noble and famous warlord named Ecgtheow.


It is declared that the leader of the warriors is named Beowulf who is Ecgtheow's son who has got information about the Deans' agony and remembers a favour that Hrothgar has done for his father in the past and sails out to lend hand to safety of the Deans in Denmark.
On getting to the kingdom, Hrothgar warmly welcome Beowulf and accedes his offer to go in battle against Grendel and set the kingdom free from its tribulations. The king organises a banquet in the luminary's honour to welcome him to the land. During banquet, one of the Hrothgar's men, Unferth reveals his lack of contentment towards the honour given to the hero but later admit after when Beowulf relates with him his past achievements.


Subsequently, at night, Grendel shows up and Beowulf goes in battle against the demon. During the fight, the demon gets mortally wounded. His arm gets tore in the shoulder runs away because he cannot withstand the defeat. This later leads to his death in the wilderness.
Hrothgar and his people are extremely happy when seeing the victorious end of the battle. In order to expressive mind that understands favour, Beowulf receives gifts and treasures from the king as a mark of honour to him.

Unknown to them, the dead demon has a mother who has discovered her son's untimely death. The mother decide to take revenge against her son's murderers in wherever they are hiding. By the time the demon appears, the Danish and Beowulf are sleeping after a long time of celebration over the victory.

At that very night when they have been overjoyed and carried away, she killed many among the warriors that are in the hall including Aeschere, who happens to be Hrothgar’s most trusted adviser. She continues attacking them until when everyone wakes up. She immediately flees to hide in a cave underneath a nearby lake when detects that the people have waken up.


Beowulf along with some warriors follows her to the cave in order to have her caught. The other warriors return to the city while Beowulf only enters into the cave to fight her. The Danish warriors create a mindset that Beowulf will not return alive but the legend's followers have a contrary mind believing in their master.

The legend and the demon start fighting against each other when they meet inside the cave. Suddenly, he sights a blade in the demon's stash of treasure, seizes it and uses it to cut her head off.

Danish warriors are amazed to see him appearing holding Grendel's mother's head. For the second time, they rejoice and give more gifts and treasures to their saviour.

Hrothgar feels bad over Beowulf's departure. In fact, it is sorrowful goodbye for the king but there is no remedy nor means to retain him. He has to return with his followers to their land Geatland where King Hygelac is ruling.

As they get back home, they meet king Hygelac and his queen, Hygd and relate how victorious their journey to Denmark is being.

Not quite long, Beowulf ascends the Geatland throne after when Hygelac, Hygd and their sons get killed in a war against Shylfings. He reigns for complete fifty years. During the fifty years, his people are protected as they are free from threaten of other countries that surround them.

Everything is going well with both the young and the old of the land.
To interrupt the peace that has been order of the day in that land, someone goes and steal a goblet that belongs to a dragon. This move angers the dragon to the extent that he goes ahead destroying every village by burning them into ashes. A lot of people are killed by the dragon but still not satisfy his anger.


Regarding his love to his kingdom, Beowulf takes seven men with himself and set off to wage war against the dragon. During the fiery battle between the beast and the king, the king gets seriously wounded but manages to dismiss the beast with assistance from Wiglaf who is one of his men. He is traumatised as the monster deeply bites him in his neck. Immediately after the dragon's last breath, the king also gives up the ghost as a result of venom of the bite.

The Geats after their King's departure bring up an gigantic funeral pyre to honour him. This is done after they have fulfilled his wish that his body should be burn before getting buried. Once the pyre has burned down, they spend ten days building an enormous barrow.

The people are so terrified fearing that their King's death will be opportune time for the enemies to make their wishes accomplished over them.

Ngugi wa Thiongo "The Black Hermit" - Full Summary and Analysis

Background And Overview of The
Play

The play was first published in 1963 by Makerere University Press. The author used this play to engage in an interaction with his fellow nationalists, revolutionists, and ethnics followed by their fresh independence. Kenya was just gained their independence by the time the play was written.

After the independence there were many issues that arose facing the development of the land. People are getting oppressed and were deprived of participating in politics especially women. they were dehumanized.

Summary of Act one, Scene One

In the first scene of the play, Nyobi, Remi’s mother appears while Thoni, Remi’s wife is still sorting out beans and her mother in law is asking her if she has finished sorting out the beans when she realizes that Thoni is crying, “You have been again crying”, she asks her daughter in law.

Nyobi afterward dips into soliloquy complaining about her son who refuses to come back home to look after her, his mother and Thoni, his wife. Thoni also says she will not go to marry another husband since Remi is her second husband and getting third husband will make her looks cheap before the world. She says she will die and have the grave for before rather than marrying third husband but Nyobi scolds her and discourages from her saying such words to herself. She tells the mother that she cannot do without having a husband that will make her has a child that will be calling her mother and a man whose cloths she will be washing.

Nyobi continues sobering for her child objection to come back home. “It is not you that he hates, it is my flesh and bed”, Thoni tells her mother in law and the mother lets her know that she also hates seeing her daughter in law’s youth wearing away and asks to go ahead to get herself another husband since the world will not wait for her.

The statement makes her to describe the fortune as a curse upon her and asks God to please lift it from her. Her first husband died and the second one travels to acquire education and refuses to come back for her. She insists not to marry again but waits even if it will take Remi twenty years before coming back.

Nyobi suddenly comes up with an idea that since her son used to be a God fearing son before he leaves for city, she should go and meet a pastor or prophet to seek his aid to pray to God on her behalf to send her son back home. Before finishing talking, a knocking is hear at the door and both of them think the person at the door step will be Remi but to their disappointment, it is an Elder that comes to pay them a sudden visitation.

The Elder starts showing regret for Ngome, Nyobi’s husband who goes with white men to become a Christian. The elder describes Ngome as a strong man and choicest of their land while only feeble men are left behind.
But Nyobi continues sobering and complaining about her son attitude before the elder tells her that purpose of his visitation is to talk about Remi’s return to the village. He describes him to be husband not only to Thoni but to the entire village as well since he is an only educated person of the village that the village is looking up to as only person that will lead the way to their political victory by leading them in forming a political party.

The elder tells Nyobi that the village people send him to get her permission to attract Remi back to the tribe with help of what they called medicine. They think Nyobi may not agree with the suggestion since she has been directed her belief to Christianity. The elder talks about their diviner who has delivered a message to the village from God that a green plant in their midst will lead them to power and glory while the green on question is Remi and he must be fetched back to the tribe right from the city where he is studying.

A man will be sent to fetch him after getting parental blessing and permission from his parent. After the elder’s departure, Nyobi tells Thoni who has been absent since the conversation has been going on between Nyobi and the elder that the elders are going to the city to fetch him. She adds it that she too will go and meet a pastor to go on her behalf to the city to fetch Remi. She believes that the village medicine and Christ power should be put together.

Analysis of Act one, Scene One

The situation as portrayed in the scene clarifies that the period of the story is four years after independence in Kenya since the playwright Ngugi wa Thiongo’s is an African writer from Kenya. It can be concluded that the people have been colonized and accepted Christianity while some of them rejected the religion. Though, the whole community accepts the European idea of forming political party by agreeing to advice given by Remi they all should join the Africanist party. They also agree with western education, if not, they will not be questing for return of Remi who is only educated person of that time in the village.

Ngome, Nyobi’s husband also has gone with missionaries likewise Remi goes to the city to pursue education. With these, effects of colonization civilization in Africa and can be perceived. The civilization has brought civilized political ideology that almost all African countries had been integrated into their political system.

Western education also has been introduced and been embraced by Africans. Remi goes to the city to be educated and other villagers ready to ordain him as their political leader as a result of his education.

Instance of supernatural phenomenon also feature in the scene as the elder introduces medicine that will help them to fetch Remi back home. Nyobi too believes both in the medicine that the village elders are going to utilize and power of Christ. They subject that there are some spirits that can make him do things contrary to his intention. With the power of the medicine, the elders believe that Remi will come home. Likewise his mother belives that spiritual power of Christ will draw him back home.

Summary of Act One,  Scene Two

The second scene starts at an open place in the village where elders and their leader are assembling for discussion on issue of Remi. The leader asks if the elders and the village really want Remi to return to them and all of them shout “yes, Remi must come back home”.

The people of Marua in solidarity chase away European from their land and gain their independence as from then. Since then, they lack foods, hospital, and schools that their children can attend. They have been under the rule of Uhuru’s leadership from other city that has been composed by European and that is why they are longing that Remi as an educated man should come to their rescue. They are paying heavy tax, still, and then don’t have those necessary amenities.
The leader at the gathering tells the elders that he has chosen two elders together with himself to go to the city with the medicine offered to them by their diviner to seduce him when getting to the city. Before the leader goes, he receives confirmation that Nyobi has given her blessing to the journey.
He let the other elders and rest of people of Marua know that they must not allow Remi to fall under influence of Missionaries or his mother whenever he arrives back to the village.

Summary of Act one, Scene Three

The third scene takes place at the same place as the scene two. Nyobi sees pastor and runs after him to stop him. She tells the pastor what she has done by given her blessing to elders to go and fetch Remi. The pastor then says Remi will not come to their side if elder actually succeeded in bringing him home. He describes Remi as a lost to them and the Christ because Remi has been into politics by joining Africanist Party and has been into world by enjoying worldly pleasures. Pastor tagged that as work of Satan to claim Remi’s heart.

Nyobi tells the pastor her mind that she wants her son back and his wife too wants him back as husband. Pastor starts moving away after telling Nyobi that Remi still young for having such a relationship with lady. He describes it as wish of the flesh. She runs after him begging and he stops only to remind her of what God has done for her by given her a husband and a son.

The pastor afterwards prays to God that He should direct Remi back home in peace because he has gotten lost in the city to “Satan”.

Lastly, Nyobi urges pastor to go to the city on her behalf to bring him with belief that Remi will obey him and agree to come. The pastor agrees to go after deep thought.

Analysis of Act One, Scene Two and
Three

Gathering of elders of Marua to work on bringing Remi back home to his mother and his wife is beyond brother’s love and has been extended to expectation of the society needs. They largely depend on Remi’s return to earn their freedom and forget what they can achieve by themselves. They in unionism send colonial maters away and afterwards running after what they have left behind so as to gain their freedom from Uhuru’s oppression.

It obvious that they want to gain benefit of what they have been paying tax for. They quest for schools to educate their children, hospital to have medical treatments from, and foods to feed themselves. This shows the extent at which they have depended on Uhuru for their living.

In scene three, Nyobi finds herself guilty for following the old path or their traditional ways as brought up by elders to bring back home Remi. The way she relates the matter with pastor shows that she finds her action as stupid one. Meanwhile, that used to be traditional way of doing such thing.

Conflict within civilization can also be noted from pastor’s argument that Remi’s action for joining Africanist party indicates how clever Satan is over possessing his heart.
Meanwhile, European introduces both Christianity and political party to Africans despite that African have their own political system before their arrival. This shows how sophisticated civilization is as an African poet, Gabriel Okara has said in one of his poems “Piano and Drum”. Therefore, it is highly required of Africans to remember their roots and base by listening to the sound given by the drum.


Act Three,  Scene One

The Return  of the Hermit

The scene opens with Nyobi and Thoni when Nyobi is informing her daughter in law about her husband return to the village from the city. She is happy and her heart is thankful to hear that her husband is returning to her after she has been waiting for long time.

She is in other hands afraid that he may be different but her mother in law put her mind at rest that her son will never change and remain as a child that nourish rich of soil of the land in Marua. Since Remi has relayed his promise to come back home, rain has started falling and puts an end to the drought that has been adding to their suffering in the land.

Pastor enters and emphasizes on the son’s return and describes him as someone who hearkens to his voice when he goes to the city to fetch him. He plans with Remi’s mother what can be done to keep him away from politics and from influences of tribal elders. Nyobi does not know that elders have been to the city before the pastor but pastor informs her of this when she asks if he tells elders about Remi’s intention to come home.

Pastor is about to start praying for the family when a neighbour announces Remi arrival. Many people are with him singing, drumming and dancing to bide him welcome. Some of the villages carry branches and start singing their old war song that they have already abandoned since white-man arrival. Their songs indicate revival of the land to tribal land that eradicate taxation and earn them freedom.
Remi while elders and leaders gather introduces a friend of him from Njobe tribe and another party, national party. He blames elders, leaders and other for being responsible for spreading tribalism. He reminds them of what he has been telling them that everyone must turn to develop their land, build schools, nation, and eradicate influence of race.

He turns to pastor, mother and Thoni who have watching him and address them. Pastor on behalf of Nyobi tells Remi to behold his wife who has been waiting for him for so long. Remi’s response is that he will never be led by woman, priest or tribe but makes attempt to crush tribalism and all the shackle of custom. The response angers Thoni and she quits the place without getting noticed by anybody. Her mother lets him know that everything is not tribe and tradition. It is at that juncture that they notice Thoni’s absence and Nyobi tells them she is leaving to search for her while Remi declares that he does not want to see her any more claiming that she is someone’s else’s wife not his.

Act Three, Scene Two

In the same setting, Thoni is returning with a woman. She is bragging that she is leaving and cannot go back to the house where she finds no love. The woman is urging her to stay suggesting that Remi may change his mind and love her but she insists not to go back.

Analysis of Act Three, Scene One
and Two

The villages have succeeded in bringing back Remi to the village. They all celebrate the victory and welcome him pleasantly with songs, drum and dance. This arouse his ego that makes him misbehave and rude to them. He casts blames on the elders who have been listening to him. He rejects their custom and the tribe that he used to honour. As a result of ego, he fails to listen to pastor and his blood mother to at least honour the woman who has been waiting for him for years. Meanwhile, he has accepted to marry her initially, but when the flame of his own glory blinds him, he rejects what he has already accepted.

That makes the woman who delivers Thoni’s letter to him to give unpleasant comment about him that describes him as leader who is capable and someone who cannot succeed in politics. That nonchalant attitude makes him lose what supposed to be of value to him.

Incidences similar to this mostly occur when someone is receiving huge calls and pleads from people to do something especially for the community. People of Marua have depended on him and made him believe that no one can save them but only him.

Meanwhile, pastor and mother declare that Remi is a good son before he leaves for the city. The pastor only has idea that Remi is corrupted because of his involvement in politics and formal education but does not know what other things he is doing in the city that corrupt him. He used to go to night clubs with Jane almost all time. The kind of people he is meeting there cannot be predicted.
Act Three, Scene Three (Last Scene)
Enter Remi and his friend Omange discussing what can be done to solve problem of tribalism. A woman enters and delivers a letter from Thoni to him. He looks tremble after reading the letter. The woman who brings the letter condemns Remi has needed leader who community can depend on. She describes him as someone who cannot succeed in politics because he has habit of insulting tribes, and trampling on women but may praise himself. She asks him what he has done to the lives of many people who have been looking upon him for guidance. The woman, Thoni he despises is the best woman of the village.


Omange reminds him that he has sometimes tells him that the woman loves him but he does not agree. Remi rushes out while Omange continuing wondering why his friend can be worried over the woman he has been despising. He also wonders how much the woman loves his friend that costs her to wait for years without marrying someone else.

Nyobi who has been worrying about her daughter in law’s whereabouts enters with pastor. The pastor is pestering her that Thoni will be found. Along the way, they meet Remi who asks them where his wife is. Both mother and pastor are amaze to hear him call Nyobi his wife. The pastor asks him why he wants her now and informs him of her departure. This make him looks agitated.


Omange starts consoling him that she will come back and urge him not to blame himself since everyone is sensitive to committing mistake since he does not know she loves him. Remi disowns the condolence claiming that he has hurt her so much.

The pastor casts blames on Remi that he has not himself into politics and trusts himself beyond necessary while neglecting God. In response, Remi asks the pastor what he and his Religion have done to help people of the land apart from dividing them. Pastor once hears this goes out from their sight. Mother requests Omange to talk to him on her behalf.

At the same scene when Remi is lamenting on his mistake, accusing his mother for dishonest with him because he believes that his mother knows Thoni’s whereabouts, four men are seeing carrying Thoni’s body and approaching Remi. She has committed suicide. Remi breaks down, starts crying bitterly, lamenting his loss and confessing his love and error to her body.

Birago Diop's Vanity - Summary and Analysis with Full Text

This page consists of summary of the Vanity by Birago Doip, its detailed analysis and finally its full text so that you can be more familiar with the poem.



Vanity is a poem written by an African poet Birago Diop from Senegal, a France colonized country in Africa. He lived between 1906 and 1989. Diop as one of the venerable and praiseworthy mortals of Negritude literary movement in Senegal loved and made all possible efforts to nurture culture that belonged to traditional society of Africa. He felt extremely wretched to see African elites repudiating their ways of living so as to embrace and cleave together with foreign culture introduced by the Westerners.



Summary And Analysis



The poet persona starts the poem by asking pitiful and contemptible Africans to make known who will lend ears to them when have to tell all what they shall one day have to say even saying it gently, gently.




According to the poem, what may be interest of the Africans to tell is nature of the "torment" they may be encountered for welcoming sophisticated culture of the Westerners.



Whenever African becoming engraved as result of loss of valuable culture of theirs especially when begin to feel remorse for their stance towards the cries of their ancestors, inquiries are made rhetorically that what eyes, heart and ear will watching their large mouth, listen to their clamoring and ear their pitiful anger respectively without laughter.



The poem persona urge his fellow Africans to go back to their ways of living before it becomes too late for them. The beauty of their own culture is bright enough for Africans to embrace. The contemporary society of Africa should abstain from addressing traditional culture as barbaric, outdated or esoteric so as to avoid the punishment that may associate with such.



The poem persona made use of features of nature "air", "water" and "earth" to depict what is natural that remain intact; likewise, the abandoned culture is supposed to remain intact locking out modernization and so called civilization.



Themes of "Vanity"



Theme of Ancestors' Wisdoms Abandonment.
The poem makes it clear that Africans  have really abandoned the wisdom and knowledge that their forefathers employed to sustain their traditional culture. The generation of civilization depicts their ancestors' wisdom as barbaric and outdated and therefore neglect it completely in favour of modern heritage.
Theme of Pain and Distress.

Neglecting the wisdom which they supposed to embrace has to bring about pain and distress when it is time. At that time, they will cry in agony while no one will get ready to listen to them but mock them.



Clamoring heart, pitiful anger and large mouth are significantly products of sorrow for losing something valuable which is nothing else other than African value.




Literary Mechanise Used



Rhetorical Question: this is a question that requires demands no response from listeners despite that being asked in normal way. It is context of the question that turn it to rhetorical question. In the poem there are some rhetorical questions that meant for emphasis as a result of serious mindset of the poem persona. All the questions end with question mark. 



They are:



“Who then will hear our voices without laughter?”


“Who then will hear us without laughter?”
“What eyes will watch our large mouth?”
“What heart will listen to our clamouring?”


“What ear to our sobbing hearts?”.
- Synecdoche: this is a figure of speech that specialized in standing a part of something to represent whole of what the part belongs to. Head or hand can represent human being. In the poem therefore, "ears", "eyes", and "hearts" stand for human beings in the poem.



- Repetition: remember that this has to do with appearance of one or two lines more than a time in a poem. In Vanity, line eight " What eyes will watch our large mouths" is repeated in line ten. While line eleven " What hearts will listen to our clamoring?" is repeated in line twenty-nine.



- Simile: this is an indirect comparison of two things of conflicting or different attributes together using "like" or "as". For instance, the growing of pitiful anger is said to look like a tumor.



"What ear to our pitiful anger

"Which grows in us like a tumor".

When they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices;

Just as our ears were deaf."

"To their cries, to their wild appeals

Just as our ears were deaf."

FULL TEXT OF VANITY


Vanity
If we tell, gently, gently
All that we shall one day have to tell,
Who then will hear our voices without laughter,
Sad complaining voices of beggars
Who indeed will hear them without laughter?


If we cry roughly of our torments
Ever increasing from the start of things
What eyes will watch our large mouths
Shaped by the laughter of big children
What eyes will watch our large mouth


What hearts will listen to our clamoring?
What ear to our pitiful anger
Which grows in us like a tumor
In the black depth of our plaintive throats?


When our Dead comes with their Dead
When they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices;


Just as our ears were deaf
To their cries, to their wild appeals
Just as our ears were deaf
They have left on the earth their cries,
In the air, on the water,
where they have traced their signs for us blind deaf and unworthy Sons
Who see nothing of what they have made


In the air, on the water, where they have traced their signs


And since we did not understand the dead


Since we have never listened to their cries


If we weep, gently, gently

If we cry roughly to our torments

What heart will listen to our clamoring,

What ear to our sobbing hearts?

Analysis of Piano And Drums, A Poem By Gabriel Okara

This page deal comprehensively  with analysis of "Piano And Drums", an African poem written by Gabriel Okara.

AUTHORIAL AND TEXTUAL BACKGROUND

Gabriel Okara is prominent among African poets. He was born in 1921 and raised to be an Ijaw man at Bumadi village in Niger Delta, Nigeria. His full name is known as Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara.

Gabriel Okara as an African renowned poet is noted to be someone who fathoms African culture right from the onset. He is cognizant of the ways at which Africans are biding with their cultural orientation. In such case, he exerts an African musical instrument, drum that is peculiar to their primitive culture to make a stand for Africans and their culture in his poetic presentation. The drum is actually a symbol plied by the poet in order to make delineation for Africans.

Ordinarily, there are some other things or items that can still stand as symbols for culture of Negros.
Bringing this closer, let Yoruba entity is taken as a case study to represent the whole Africa since Yoruba is one among enormous entities in the continent.

Primarily, drum is known as an instrument that its users sometimes use to carry on communication because drum as it is has its own language that can only be understood by learned individuals. Logically, drum normally is a musical instrument that provides beats to music. It provides rhythm to music and makes dancers perform to the tune.

Notwithstanding, drum is an instrument of communication that has its own language. Wole Soyinka and D. O Fagunwa in “The Forest of a Thousand Daemons” page seven say “like the sonorous proverb do we drum agidigbo (drum), it is the wise who dance to it, and the learned who understand its language.” This ratifies that the drum has its own language and the language can only be understood by people who had experience of how drum sounds.

Take for instance in some years dated back, there would be a set of drummers that would come to the king palace early in the morning to wake the king up with the drum. Once the drum sounded, the king would understand what his drummers were trying to orate with the drumming. That is drum at the stage of performing communication function.

Likewise among the drummers themselves, they used to communicate with one another with their drums especially when they did not want common people to get an earful of what they were telling one another let alone apprehending it. Yoruba used to say that “no one knows what drum is saying exactly like the drummer”. This is given confirmation that drum as an item of African culture has a language that can be interpreted only by learned.

This is what Africans had been addicted with before the arrival of the western people who introduced their culture that included instrument among which piano was one. No one in Africa had piano until white men barged into Africa. That is why the poem personae employs the piano to represent western culture and used drum to assume the role of African culture. The effect of European cultures can be seen among African ways of life that include speaking, dressing and others. This is the apprehension of the poet Gabriel Okara as depicted in the poem “Piano and Drum”.

Therefore in the poem, the poet conducts comparison and contrast between the drum and piano that indirectly indicates comparison between African culture and western culture. He is showing how he is feeling about both cultures. That is to say, whatever he says about piano is indirectly referring to European culture brought to Africa. In other words, whatever he says about the drum is indirectly attributing to culture of Africans. He actually uses both to present conflict that exists between the two worlds.

THE POETIC COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS

In lines 1 to 5 of the poem, the poem personae deploys that the “jungle drum” has been in usage from the beginning of African existence. In line one, “When at break of day at a riverside”, it can be concluded that the culture of Africans is natural and had been existed before something else. The “riverside” denotes natural phenomenon of Africans as associated with the drum which actually indicates that drum is natural possession from the basis.
Then, when getting to line seventeen, the poet introduces other instrument “piano” to be wailing. “Then I heard a wailing piano”. This describes the coming of the piano by the time it was been introduced to Africans. Looking at the poet’s choice of words right from line 12 down to line 16; it can be noted that choice of connotative words like “simple path with no innovation”, “rugged”, “fashioned”, “green leaves”, “warmth of hurrying and grouping hearts” denote that the drum and African culture seem to be simple and less sophisticated. The culture is described to be having been addicted with Africans before the western culture arrived.

As from line 17, the poet’s choice connotative words like “complex”, “coaxing diminuendo”, “counterpoint” and “crescendo” clarifies that the piano and the new culture is highly sophisticated. Its difficulty is capable enough to cause confusion in the minds of the people but drum is straightforward.

It can be concluded that the poem personae has clearly distinguished between the two separate worlds with the help of poetic devices which are symbolism and imagery. In other words, the side where the poet himself belongs to is clear as can be noted in his choice words for each of the musical instrument.

THE STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE POEM

From the poem, it can be scrutinized that there are only four stanzas with 29 lines or verses in the poem. The first two stanzas have 16 lines together that make full description of the drum as the poet perceives it. In that, feature and peculiarities of African culture is portrayed. Whilst the other two stanzas with 13 lines describe piano and show how the poet personae perceives the culture of colonial masters. That shows the complexity and technicality of the culture.

The tone and mood atmosphere of the poem seems to be sad and displays that there is regret in the poet’s mind as a result of negligent side that Africans have turned to their culture.

A Willing Horse - Its Idiomatic Meaning Explained

"A Willing Horse" is an idiom originated from animal's behaviour as it is essential to note that there are some idiom from animals and animals' behaviours.

"A willing horse" as an idiom is indicating an attitude of being working hard with honest and sincerity without complaining.

A man or woman who works hard without giving any complaint especially when having what to show for the work can be contemplated as
a willing horse.

Examples:

♣ Mr. Smith is one of the willing
horses of the company through whom the company is attaining progress.

"Leopard Cannot Change Its Spot" Idiomatic Meaning

This page explains the idiomatic meaning of "Leopard cannot change its spot" after which examples follow.

This is an idiom taken from an animal's behavior. Leopard is an animal that also belongs to the family of cat with yellowish-brown fur with dark spot which can be located in some part of Africa and south Asia. Its female counterpart is known as leopardess.

Meaning of the idiom leopard cannot change its spot

This is indicating unchangeable habit of human being. It is used to qualify human being of a stable character that can never change for anything no matter what they pass through especially bad character.

Consider the following:

He still stole something from his neighbor's shop despite that he was just released after six months of imprisonment; indeed, his leopard cannot change its spot.

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