Common poetic forms and literary terms

Common poetic forms and literary terms

Alexandrine: A 12 syllable poetic line

Alliteration: the repetition of consonants at the beginning of words e.g. ‘the lazy languid line’. When consonant sounds are repeated within words it is called consonance e.g. ‘some mammals are clammy’

Assonance: the internal rhyming of vowel sounds e.g. ‘on a proud round cloud in white high night’ (ee cummings)

Ballad: A poetic form mostly written in four line stanzas (quatrains) of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter (four pairs of unstressed-stressed syllables) and iambic trimeter (three pairs). Usually, only the second and fourth lines are rhymed (abcb), although there is considerable variation in the form.

Examples of ballads:  The Ballad of Moll Magee, WB Yeats, Ballad of the Breadman, by Charles Causley

Blank verse: A type of poetry with a regular meter (generally iambic pentameter) but no rhyme.

Cliché: a saying, expression or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning; a stereotype.

Dramatic irony: a rhetorical device where the author causes a character to behave in a way that is contrary to the truth, or that the audience is aware is wrong.

Free verse or vers libre: A form of poetry without any regular patterns, rhymes or meters. Its form is its irregularity.

Heroic couplet:Commonly used for narrative poetry, heroic couplets are rhymed iambic pentameter pairs of lines.

Hyperbole: exaggeration

Metaphor: an analogy between two words or ideas where one stands for the other e.g. ‘his smile was the sun’ – not to be confused with the simile.

Personification – ascribing human characteristics to inanimate objects or forms

Simile – a kind of metaphor which uses the words as or like – e.g. ‘he fights like a lion’

Sonnet: A poetic form. Fourteen lines long. Can be rhymed in a number of ways, but the most common are Shakespearean andPetrarchan.  Shakespearean sonnets are rhymed in three groups of four lines rhymed alternately, followed by a couplet – i.e. abab cdcd efef gg. The closing rhyming couplet often sums up the sonnet. Petrarchan sonnets are divided into a group of eight lines, called the octave and a group of six lines called the sestet. The octave is usually rhymed abba abba, and the sestet cde cde. Usually there is a ‘turn’ or ‘volta’ - a change of direction or mood between the octave and the sestet. Traditionally, the octave put forward a proposition and the sestet offered a solution.

How to comment a poem

Guidelines for Poetry Analysis
	ELEMENTS OF ANALYSIS DESCRIPTION SUBJECT-MATTER What event, situation, or experience does the poem describe or record? Who is the speaker? Is the poet speaking in the role of another person, an animal, a thing? To whom is the speaking talking? What is the time setting - hour of day, season, era? What is the place setting? PURPOSE,THEME, OR MESSAGE What seems to be the poet's purpose in writing this - what message, ideas, issues, themes, (etc.) are communicated? EMOTION, MOOD, OR FEELING What is the poet's tone? Watch for shifts in tone especially toward the end of the poem. What is the poet's attitude toward the subject? What is the predominant emotion, or mood, of the poem? Does the mood change during the poem? What emotions or feelings does the poet seek to evoke in the reader / listener? CRAFTSMANSHIP, OR TECHNIQUE (see below) This aspect of the poem deals with specific skills the poet has used in creating his or her work of art: • Structure • Language • Imagery • Movement • Sound SUMMARY Having analysed the poem, it is important to synthesise (pull all the information together) into a summary. What is the impact of the whole poem for you? How successful is it as a work of art? Does it successfully achieve the poet's purpose or is it flawed in some serious way? Looking Closer at Craftsmanship Structure How is the poem structured? Does it have a conventional structure such as a sonnet, or an ode? Does it have stanzas with a regular number of lines, or any other interesting features of structural design? Can you identify the type of poem - sonnet, free verse, ballad, etc.? Is the poem lyric, dramatic, narrative, or a combination? How can you tell? Language How would you describe the poet's use of words - vivid, striking, effective or colourless and predictable? What visual images are brought to mind? What sensations does the poem evoke: sound, touch, smell, taste, movement, etc.? What words are used in surprising or imaginative ways? Look for puns. Are there any inverted word orders or sentences? What would be the usual order? What purpose is served by the inversion? Is the language appropriate to subject and/or theme? What effect does the language have on the poem's achievement? Imagery Are there any striking examples of figurative language used? What things are compared (similes, metaphors, personifications or symbols) in the poem? Are their analogies or conceits? What is their effect? Movement or Rhythm Does the poem have a regular (slow or fast) rhythm? What is the effect of any rhythmic qualities? Sounds Does the poem have any significant sound features? Is it musical? Does the poet use onomatopoeia, alliteration, or assonance? Does the poem rhyme? What are the effects of these features of sound on the achievement of the poem? The diagram below shows another approach you may wish to take: Sample Poems "It Was Long Ago" Eleanor Farjeon I'll tell you, shall I, something I remember? Something that still means a great deal to me. It was long ago. A dusty road in summer I remember, A mountain, and an old house, and a tree That stood, you know. Behind the house. An old woman I remember In a red shawl with a grey cat on her knee Humming under a tree. She seemed the oldest thing I can remember, But then perhaps I was not more than three. It was long ago. I dragged on the dusty road, and I remember How the old woman looked over the fence at me And seemed to know How it felt to be three, and called out, I remember 'Do you like bilberries and cream for tea?' I went under the tree And while she hummed, and the cat purred, I remember How she filled a saucer with berries and cream for me So long ago, Such berries and such cream as I remember I never had seen before, and never see To day, you know. And that is almost all I can remember, The house, the mountain, the grey cat on her knee, Her red shawl, and the tree, And the taste of the berries, the feel of the sun I remember, And the smell of everything that used to be So long ago, Till the heat on the road outside again I remember, And how the long dusty road seemed to have for me No end, you know. That is the farthest thing I can remember. It won't mean much to you. It does to me. Then I grew up, you see. Read a sample response to this poem and note how the above elements are covered. Sample Year 9 Response to Poetry:“It was a Long Time Ago”   Written Analysis Elements of Analysis "It Was Long Ago", a simple poem by Eleanor Farjeon, records the poet's earliest memory, an incident that occurred when she was around three years old. While she was walking along a dusty road, she saw an old lady sitting under a tree. The lady invited her over and gave her bilberries and cream to eat, a 'feast' that the poet recalls with pleasure. Subject-matter At first glance the poem may appear to have no serious purpose other than the, recording of an early memory, but the last lines suggest some additional significance. The poet shows that this simple, pleasant memory means much to her because, 'then I grew up, you see'. We are reminded that 'growing up' is not always so pleasant. Sadly, being an adult can sometimes dull us so that we no longer appreciate the simple pleasures of life. Purpose (Theme) The poem is gentle and nostalgic. It seeks not only to recreate the scene for the reader, but to have him or her feel the child world goodness of the incident. The poet begins by asking our permission: 'I shall tell you, shall I, something I remember?' In the manner of a small child, she regularly checks to see that we are attending, that we understand: 'You know'; 'You see'. Thus the poem has a confiding, warm feel to it. Emotion (Mood) The poem has an interesting, simple structure built around three line stanzas. Has the poet deliberately used three line stanzas as the most appropriate for a three year old? At any rate, the simple structure is certainly appropriate for the situation. Similarly the language and rhyming scheme are deliberately simple. Words are uncomplicated, tending to be single syllables, with considerable repetition of words. The first line in every stanza ends with the word 'remember', and there are only two other thyme sounds 'ee' and 'oh', used absolutely regularly throughout the poem. The rhythm is gentle and slow, appropriate to the subject matter. Such structural economy and simplicity form a very appropriate vehicle with which to recreate a childhood memory. Craftsmanship • Structure • Language • Imagery • Movement • Sounds Throughout the recreation, the poet seeks to involve our senses. She introduces concrete objects ('a mountain, an old house, and a tree'), and simple colours ('in a red shawl with a grey cat'), to help us visualise the scene. She invites us to hear the memory ('and while she hummed, and the cat purred'), to taste it ('...the taste of berries'), and feel it ('the feel of the sun I remember') as she draws upon her own sense memories. Thus, the memory is evoked for us in a much clearer way. Summary Through the pet's skill in using appropriately simple words, structure and rhythm, to recreate her earliest memory, she successfully involves us in the poem. For all its simplicity, the poem has a gentle robustness to it. We share the uncluttered goodness of the incident and are left with some wistful longings for our own childhood. Sample Poem 2 Read “The African Beggar” below and try your hand at analysing the poem. African Beggar  Raymond Tong Sprawled in the dust outside the Syrian store, a target for small children, dogs and flies, a heap of verminous rags and matted hair, he watches us with cunning, reptile eyes, his noseless, smallpoxed face creased in a sneer. Sometimes he shows his yellow stumps of teeth and whines for alms, perceiving that we bear the curse of pity; a grotesque mask of death, with hands like claws about his begging-bowl. But often he is lying all alone within the shadow of a crumbling wall, lost in the trackless jungle of his pain, clutching the pitiless red earth in vain and whimpering like a stricken animal. Compare your analysis with the sample. Sample Analysis to “The African Beggar” Tone: repulsion; dislike. Then changes to pity; sympathy Mood: futility; desolation Theme: desolation of humanity's subsistence: the utter helplessness of humanity in the face of adversity, as well as our own neglect of self and others Stanza One: Introduces beggar as a repulsive outcast; a thing. How? • "sprawled in the dust..." —› beggar is treated immediately like a thing that has been thrown out - suggests shabby, lawless being. • "target..." —› (metaphor) beggar continues to be described as a thing - a convenience for others to use; singled out as an object for attack. "Dogs" and "flies" solidly establishes sub-human existence of beggar; "flies" suggest filth, a disease. That he is a target suggests his passiveness and helplessness. • "heap of verminous rags and matted hair" —› (metaphor) image of beggar is sustained as a thing : "verminous" is associated with the "flies", "matted hair: is associated with filth, dust, neglect of physical hygiene.   "he watches with cunning reptile eyes" —› (metaphor) a dramatic contrast: how can an inhuman bag of bones be capable of subtle and crafty scheming? Likened to an image of a "reptile" - like a snake, he watches, waiting for his prey. The pronoun "he" is used to remind us that this is a person and our revulsion is emphasised, for how can a human being be like this? • "noseless, smallpoxed face creased in a sneer" —›"noseless", "smallpoxed" suggests disease, leprosy which adds to the beggars repulsiveness. "Sneer" carries suggestion of the cunning reptile. To "sneer" shows arrogance. Stanza Two: Although the poet sustains the image of the beggar as a repulsive outcast, he introduces the sub-theme - our neglect and inadequacies in dealing with the problem of human neglect. How? • "yellow stumps of teeth" —› (metaphor) physical ugliness is emphasised; "yellow" is colour of disease and decay, rotten. Image of "stumps" is more appropriate for an animal than a human being. • "whines" —› (metaphor) cringing sound associated with animals. • "perceiving that we bear the curse of pity" —› poet leaves the description of the beggar and comments on the general attitude to poverty and disease. "The curse of pity" : "curse" suggests bad; "pity" suggests "good". We don't want to know about it, but if we do we should show pity and offer our help. • "grotesque mask of death" —› (metaphor) physical deformity and sub-human existence of beggar is emphasised. How can this thing/animal be really alive? "Mask of death" symbolises the "face of death" - an image of death staring at us. • "with hands like claws about his begging bowl" —› (simile) image is of a skeleton; death-like hands clinging to his only source of existence (the begging bowl). Stanza Three: Theme of suffering. Our feelings change from repulsion to sympathy. How? • "lying all alone" —› no longer "sprawled" but "lying" on the ground. The tone here is one of quietness - "all alone" suggests that he is no longer the target for others. It is the time to be aware of his suffering. • "shadow of a crumbling wall" —› "shadow" suggests absence of light; darkness. Image of loneliness with the shadow of death near. "crumbling" suggests decay and ruin; the lack of a home. • "lost in the trackless jungle of his pain" —› (metaphor) pain racks his entire body, so much that it consumes his total energy. "Trackless jungle" suggests the amount of pain - endless - filling and crammed into every part of his body. No escape from this pain. • "clutching the pitiless red earth in vain" —› (personification) "clutching" suggests the beggar's desperation. "Red" personifies the blood of life, nourishment, energy and strength, and "earth" is the sole source of humanity's existence. Even the earth is without pity. All "in vain" - there is no solution, no help. • "whimpering like a stricken animal" —› (simile) emphasises the beggar's total suffering; his total defeat.

How to analyse a poem

American Poets of the 20th CenturyHow to Analyze Poetry

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Poetry is a compact language that expresses complex feelings. To understand the multiple meanings of a poem, readers must examine its words and phrasing from the perspectives of rhythm, sound, images, obvious meaning, and implied meaning. Readers then need to organize responses to the verse into a logical, point-by-point explanation. A good beginning involves asking questions that apply to most poetry.

Context of the Poem

Clear answers to the following questions can help establish the context of a poem and form the foundation of understanding:

• Who wrote the poem? Does the poet's life suggest any special point of view, such as a political affiliation, religious sect, career interest, musical talent, family or personal problems, travel, or handicap — for example, H. D.'s feminism, Amiri Baraka's radicalism, T. S. Eliot's conversion to Anglicanism, William Carlos Williams' career as a physician, A. R. Ammons' training in chemistry, Amy Lowell's aristocratic background, John Berryman's alcoholism, or Hart Crane's homosexuality?
• When was the poem written and in what country? Knowing something about the poet's life, times, and culture helps readers understand what's in a poem and why.
• Does the poem appear in the original language? If not, readers should consider that translation can alter the language and meaning of a poem.
• Is the poem part of a special collection or series? Examples of such series and collections include Edna St. Vincent Millay's sonnets, Carl Sandburg's Chicago Poems, or Rita Dove's triad, "Adolescence — I, II, and III."
• Does the poem belong to a particular period or literary movement? For example, does the poem relate to imagism, confessional verse, the Beat movement, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights era, the American Indian renaissance, or feminism?

Style of the Poem

Into what category does the poem fit — for example, Carl Sandburg's imagism in "Fog" or Gwendolyn Brooks' epic "The Anniad"? Readers should apply definitions of the many categories to determine which describes the poem's length and style:

• Is it an epic, a long poem about a great person or national hero?
• Is it a lyric, a short, musical verse?
• Is it a narrative, a poem that tells a story?
• Is it a haiku, an intense, lyrical three-line verse of seventeen syllables?
• Is it confessional? For example, does it examine personal memories and experiences?

Title of the Poem

• Is the title's meaning obvious? For example, does it mention a single setting and action, such as W. S. Merwin's "The Drunk in the Furnace" or James A. Wright's "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio"?
• Does it imply multiple possibilities? For example, Jean Toomer's "Georgia Dusk," which refers to a time of day as well as to dark-skinned people.
• Does it strike a balance, as in Rita Dove's "Beulah and Thomas"?
• Is there an obvious antithesis, as with Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice"?
• Is there historical significance to the title? For example, Robert Lowell's "The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket."

Repetition in the Poem

Readers should read through a poem several times, at least once aloud. If it is a long poem, such as Allen Ginsberg's Howl or Hart Crane's The Bridge, readers should concentrate on key passages and look for repetition of specific words, phrases, or verses in the poem.

• Why is there a repeated reference to the sea in Robinson Jeffers's poetry?
• Why does the pronoun "we" recur in Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool"?
• Why does Edgar Lee Masters reprise epitaphs for Spoon River Anthology?

If readers note repetition in the poem, they should decide why certain information seems to deserve the repetition.

Opening and Closing Lines of the Poem

• Does the poet place significant information or emotion in these places? For example, when reading Marianne Moore's "Poetry," readers may question the negative stance in the opening lines.
• Does the poet intend to leave a lasting impression by closing with a particular thought? For example, why does Langston Hughes' "Harlem" lead to the word "explode"?

Passage of Time in the Poem

• Can readers pin down a time frame? What details specify time?
• Does the poet name a particular month or season, as with Amy Lowell's "Patterns"?
• Is there a clear passage of time, as with the decline of the deceased woman in Denise Levertov's "Death in Mexico"?
• How long is the period of time? Are there gaps?

Speaker of the Poem

• Who is the speaker? Is the person male or female?
• Does the voice speak in first person (I, me, my, mine), for example, John Berryman's "Huffy Henry"?
• Does the speaker talk directly to a second person, as with Adrienne Rich's "Diving into the Wreck"?
• Is the voice meant to be universal — for example, applicable to either sex at any time or place?

Names of Characters

• Does the name of a character suggest extra meaning, such as Eben Flood (an alcoholic) in Edwin Arlington Robinson's "Mr. Flood's Party" and T. S. Eliot's prissy protagonist in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"?

Basic Details of the Poem

• Is the poet deliberately concealing information from the readers, as with the source of depression in Robert Lowell's "Skunk Hour"?
• Why does the poet leave out significant facts? Are readers supposed to fill in the blanks, for example, the relationship between mother and daughter in Cathy Song's "The White Porch" or the perplexity of a modern tourist in Allen Tate's "Ode to the Union Dead"?

Culture

• Does the poem stress cultural details, such as the behavior, dress, or speech habits of a particular group or a historical period or event — for instance, the death of an airline stewardess in James Dickey's "Falling"?
• Are any sections written in dialect, slang, or foreign words, as with the Deep South patois of Sterling Brown's "Ma Rainey"?

Fantasy versus Reality

• Is the poem an obvious fantasy, as is the case with the intense confrontation in Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" and the setting of Rita Dove's "Geometry"?

Mood and Tone of the Poem

• What is the mood of the poem? Is it cheerful or jolly like limericks? Is it mysterious, provocative, zany, ominous, festive, fearful, or brooding, as with Randall Jarrell's "Sad Heart at the Supermarket"? Does the mood change within the body of the work, as with Joy Harjo's "The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window"? Why does the mood shift? Where does the shift begin?
• What is the poet's tone? Is it satiric, serious, mock serious, playful, somber, brash, or teasingly humorous, as with Robert Frost's "Departmental: The End of My Ant Jerry"? Does the poet admire, agree with, ridicule, or condemn the speaker, as in the touch of mock heroic in Richard Wilbur's "The Death of a Toad"? Is there an obvious reason for the poet's attitude, as suggested by the suffering in James Dickey's "Angina"? Does the poet withhold judgment, as is the case with the epitaphs of Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology?

Themes of the Poem

Locating and identifying theme is crucial to understanding dominant ideas; theme is the poem's essence.

• Is the subject youth, loss, renewal, patriotism, nature, love? Are there several themes? How do these themes relate to each other?
• Is the poet merely teasing or entertaining or trying to teach a lesson, as do Robinson Jeffers' "Hurt Hawks" and Marianne Moore's "The Mind Is an Enchanted Thing"?
• Does the poet emphasize the theme by means of onomatopoeia, personification, or controlling images?

Rhythm of the Poem

• Is there a dominant rhythm? Does it dance, frolic, meander, slither, or march? Is it conversational, like a scene from a drama? Is it a droning monologue, as found in a journal, diary, or confessional?
• Does the rhythm relate to the prevalent theme of the poem? Or does it seem at odds with the theme?
• Does the rhythm increase or decrease in speed, as does Ezra Pound's Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: Life and Contacts? Why?

Use of the Senses in the Poem

• Does the poem stress sense impressions — for example, taste, touch, smell, sound, or sight? Are these impressions pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral?
• Does the poet concentrate on a single sense or a burst of sensation, as in Wallace Stevens's "Peter Quince at the Clavier" or Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish"?

Imagery in the Poem

• Are there concrete images or pictures that the poet wants readers to see?
• Are the pictures created by means of comparisons — for instance, metaphor or simile? Do inanimate objects take on human traits (personification)? Does the speaker talk to inanimate objects or to such abstract ideas as freedom?

Language of the Poem

• Does the poet stress certain sounds, such as pleasant sounds (euphony) or harsh letter combinations (cacophony), as demonstrated by Wendy Rose's title "Academic Squaw"?
• Are certain sounds repeated (alliteration, sibilance), as in the insistent a sounds in Amiri Baraka's "A Poem for Willie Best"?
• Are words linked by approximate rhyme, like "seem/freeze," or by real rhyme, such as "least/feast"? Is there a rhyme scheme or sound pattern at the ends of lines, as with the interlocking rhymes of Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"? Does rhyming occur within a line (internal rhyme), as in "black flak" in Randall Jarrell's "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"?
• Is there onomatopoeia, or words that make a sound that imitates their meaning, such as swoosh, ping pong, ricochet, clangor, plash, wheeze, clack, boom, tingle, slip, fumble, or clip-clop, as with the verb "soar" in Edna St. Vincent Millay's "On Thought in Harness"?

Supplemental Materials

• Has the editor included any preface, explanatory notes, or concluding comments and questions; for example, T. S. Eliot's dedication of The Waste Land or Wendy Rose's use of epigraphs?
• Are there notes and comments in a biography, poet's letters and essays, critical analyses, Web site, or anthology, such as biographical footnotes to Anne Sexton's "Sylvia's Death" and the many commentaries on Hart Crane's The Bridge?
• Is there an electronic version, such as the poet reading original verse on the Internet? Are there notes on the record jacket, cassette box, or CD booklet, as found on recordings of Adrienne Rich's feminist verse?

Drawing Conclusions

After answering the questions presented in this introduction, readers should paraphrase or restate the poem in everyday words, as though talking to someone on the telephone. A summary of the poem should emphasize a pattern of details, sounds, or rhythm. For example, do various elements of the poem lead readers to believe that the poet is describing an intense experience? Is the poet defining something, such as parenthood, risking a life, curiosity, marriage, religious faith, or aging, as in Denise Levertov's "A Woman Alone"? Is the poet telling a story event by event? Does the poet want to sway the reader's opinion, as Louise Bogan does in "Evening in the Sanitarium"?

Before reaching a conclusion about the meaning of a poem, readers should summarize their personal responses. Are they emotionally moved or touched by the poem? Are they entertained or repulsed, terrified or stirred to agree? Do words and phrases stick in their memory? How has the poet made an impression? And most important, why?

Summary Chapters 1.2.3.4.

Summary

 P.1- 6

1        The chapter starts by announcing Tambu's brother death. She describes the way in which her brother used to come back from the mission in Babamukuru's car because he didn't like traveling by bus.

2        Tambu describes the landscape of the journey that Nhamo did in his way back home from the bus terminus. 

3        She talks about the opportunity of education that Babamukuru gave to Nhamo. She also tells that her brother went home only once a year because he didn't want to work in the homestead during his vacations.

P.7-13 

1        Babamukuru pursued higher education, which resulted in his financial success.

2        Nhamo goes to live with his uncle for a few years and he becomes embarrassed       by his own family's poverty, avoiding any labor whenever he returns to the homestead. 

3        Nhamo refuses to carry his own luggage, but expects the women in his family to carry it for him.  

4        Nhamo was able to start school at the age of seven. 

5        Babamukuru lived in England with his wife,  Maiguru, and their children,  Nyasha and Chido. 

P.14-20

1        Baba didn’t t wanted to leave his family again.

2        A scholarship was given to Baba and Maiguru.

3        Baba s mother wanted his children to stay in the homestead with all the family.

4        Baba didn’t t wanted his children to experience hardship as he had lived in the homestead. Also he preferred to be with them to supervise their education and their development.

5        Nhamo was impressed of Baba s opportunity.

6        He wanted to become the same as Babamukuru.

7        Nhamo made a big effort to be the best of his class.

8        He couldn’t t go to school anymore due to the shortages of money to pay the fees.

9        Tambu s mother started to sell boiled eggs in the bus terminus. She also took vegetables.

10    She started paying Nhamo s school again.

11    Not enough money for Tambu s fees. It affected her.

12    Tambu s father told her to stay at home: clean, cook, grow vegetables and to learn how to serve her future husband.

13    Her mother comforted her “carry your burdens with strength”.

14    Tambu told her parents that she would return to the school and that she would pay her own fees.

15    She worked in the homestead, family fields and on her own plot.

16    Tambu remembered her grandmother very proudly.

17    Tambu s grandmother related the story of their family.

18    Tambu related all the hard work she made since the age of eight.

P21-27

1        Tambu compared herself to his brother, explaining his point of view (she considered very injustice women’s life) “But you can’t study… Because you are a girl”

2        Tambu expressed a big desire to get an education, so she planned to grow crops and sold them in order to pay her schools fees. But suddenly one day her crops disappeared

3        She desesperately need laugh, so she decided to go to her old school, Rutivi School, where she discovered that Nhamo stole her crops. It caused a fight, which was stopped by Mr. Matimba.

4        Tambu explained her plan, and Mr. Matimba decided to help. She took her to a White people town

5        Tambu knew a new world, Umtaly.

.

P.28-34

1        Tambu did not like the way they looked, with the skin hanging in papery folds from their bones, malignant-looking brown spots on their hands, a musty, dusty, sweetish odour clinging around the women like a haze.

2        She was worried that they could not sell any maize because that was the money which she would use for her school fees.

3        Mr. Matimba was dubious. She told her that money was a difficult thing to keep especially when it is scarce.

4        Babamukuru and his family returned from England when I was in Sub B, the year that her brother came fourth in Standard Three.

5        Jeremiah did not like to see his daughter over-absorbed in intellectual pursuits. He became very agitated after he had found her several times reading the shit of newspaper. He thought she was emulating his son, that the things she read would fill her mind with impractical ideas, making her quite useless for the real tasks of feminine living.

6        Ignoring Babamukuru’s imminent homecoming, he threatened to take Tambu out of school again. It was a thoughtless threat: how could he have done that? Not having the power, he left her alone. They co-existed in peaceful detachment.

P.35-41

The family was very happy about Babamukuru's return to the village
They were all grateful of being with Babamukuru again they thought that he was the man that can get out the squalor of the family
Her cousin was disapproving Tambu with the glance
Tambu felt that she hadn’t approved their cousins before they left. She didn't felt comfortable with them
she didn’t felt excluded any more when she started to do housework,
you can clearly appreciate the women's position in the family with this.

P.42-47

The family was dancing and celebrating the return of Babamukuru with his family. Suddenly Tambu released that her cousin weren't dancing so she invited them to dance. When she invited Nyasha she didn't answered and Nyasha's mother replayed that they didn't knew shona any more. When Tambu herd that she was very angry because not knowing the language from the city you had come means that they forget almost everything. She was disappointed. Anyway Maiguru didn't want her children to dance and they started arguing. Finally Tete Gladys told Maiguru to let her children dance and have fun with everyone but they refuse causing an awkward moment. Tambu tried to make her cousin return and dance so everyone could enjoy the night but it was with no sense. They didn't return disappointing Tambu. Babamukuru only stayed one night because he had to return to his duties. But before returning to his work he talked to his brother about one thing that got him very worried. It was his family's education. He said that there was any problem with Gladys family and Thomas family the problem was with Jeremiah's family. Nhamo was having an education and he was happy with his result at the school but at the time he also was worried because Nhamo couldn’t study while doing his homestead duties. That’s why Babamukuru proposed to Jeremiah to take Nhamo to his house provide him with food and take him to de missionary school. Jeremiah agreed with that. All the family was very great full with Babamukuru and all the things he made for them.

Pag 49-55

·                     Tambu and Nhamo were arguing. He told her she was jealous because he was going to live with Babamukuru and receive a great education.

·                     Tambu considered men grotesque except for Babamukuru. He defied poverty through hard work and determination. He did all he could for everybody.

·                     As Tambu's mother was stressed because Nhamo and Tambu did not talk to each other, she decided to call a truce with her brother.

·                     Babamukuru took Nhamo home to his home.

·                     Nyasha was a spoiled girl, as her family went to Tambu's homestead, she said she could eat and have all she wanted.

·                     When Nhamo came back, he had forgot his language, he only talked English.

·                     Babamukuru went to Jeremiah's house and told them Nhamo had died of a strange illness.

P.56-62

1        Nhamo had died, Tambu wasn’t sad for losing her brother it make her sad seeing her family suffering.

2        Quote: “seeing my father cry, my mother moan […] I was sad for them rather than anguished over any loss of mine.”(Page 56).

3        Babamukuru still wanted to help his brother’s family to improve so he decided to give take Tambu to the mission and occupy Nhamo’s place. Jeremiah agreed but Tambu’s mother wasn’t happy with the idea (pages 56-57).

4        Tambu talks about how she used to be, how she looked and started to imagine herself as a new person, she would be “genteel”, “clean”, “well-groomed” (p58-59)

5        Quote: “there was no room for what I left behind” (page 58)

6        Tambu wonders where she would sleep, she imagines she would cover herself with fleecy blankets, she remembers what she used to do every day in the homestead and how different her life would be at Babamukuru’s.

7        Quote: “I could not wait to enjoy this comforts that Nhamo had described to me […]” (page 61).

8        Tambu describes the homestead, every room it had, where every member of the family slept and she starts to describe Babamukuru’s house by saying it had a shed, a servant’s quarter, a garage and that it was painted white.

Genteel: delicate, well educated, and refined.

 Breed: to bring up a child, give a good education at home.

 Leisure: free time for pleasure.

 Sustenance: maintenance, everything you need to survive.

 Eyes smarting: itching irritated.

 Drew out: to extract.

 Coax: try to convince.

 See fit: when you consider something to be a good something.

 Regress: to go back to what you were, the opposite of progress.

 Comforting: something that makes you feels well.

 Disturbing: scares you, something that makes you feel bad.

 Strenuous: something stressing involving a lot of effort.

 Morose and taciturn: someone with no ambitions in life, with no initiative or drive.

 Fleecy: with a lot of wool.

 Entail: includes.

 Gurgled: a noise typical of water quickly coming down a pipe.

 Acquire: to get something, buy something, obtain something.

 Shed: a little construction in the garden.

 Quarters: bed-rooms.

 Reed: a plant that grows in water used to make furniture.

 To rouse: to get up, wake up.

 Grasp: to catch, to hold something firmly or to understand.

P.63-69

-Nyasha explained why the houses are painted in “pale” colors to Tambu.

- Description of Tambu’s feelings towards Babamukuru’s kindness and life style.

- Tambu was almost attack by some dogs, but Anna saved her and welcomes her to her new house.

- Description of the kitchen.

- Comparison of the new house and homestead.

Important Quotations:

* (…) it was liberation, the first of many that follow my transition to the mission. (Page 64)

* I would own a home like this one day; I would need to know how to furnish it (page 68)

P.70-77

- Tambu plans how not to lose focus on her studies with all the luxuries of Babamukuru´s house.

- She discovers the advantages of living in Babamukuru´s house (Cleaner than her house).

- Maiguru gives Tambu a warm welcome, and then they both have tea and biscuits.

- Maiguru shows Tambu the room where she and Nyasha will sleep.

- In the room Maiguru gets angry with Nyasha for reading a book that was not for her age.

- Tambu is given suitcase with new clothes.