February 4, 2020
Poetry
Grade 11
Objectives: 1. Complete an explicit reading
2. Complete an implicit analysis by
4. Answer questions based on the poem.
Please read the following tutorial to answer the questions
AFRICAN THUNDER STORM BY DAVID RUBADIRI – ANALYSIS
Poetry
Grade 11
Objectives: 1. Complete an explicit reading
2. Complete an implicit analysis by
- substantiating themes
- identifying thematic approaches (techniques) allusion, symbolism, metaphor , simile, alliteration ,imageries
- justify the writers purpose
4. Answer questions based on the poem.
Please read the following tutorial to answer the questions
- Identify
the two similes used in stanza 1.
2. Why are the clouds described as
“pregnant” in stanza 2?
3. Comment on the use of the word
“stately” in line 10.
4. Quote two consecutive words in
stanza 2 that suggest that the thunderstorm might be dangerous.
5. Explain why this thunderstorm
might not be as welcome to the villagers.
6. In line 24, alliteration is used.
Write down the line and indicate the alliteration and also comment on its
effectiveness.
AFRICAN THUNDER STORM BY DAVID RUBADIRI – ANALYSIS
Taken from https://litionaryblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/07/african-thunder-storm-by-david-rubadiri-analysis/
In other
not to lose sight of meaning, we will interpret this poem in two phases: the
way it appears and what it might mean. Why so? In as much as the poem seems to
be about African weather, there are insinuations of colonial invasion as well
as other political undertones.
Hence, for gross
intelligibility, it becomes pertinent to unleash meaningful interpretation on
the two phases so that no meaning will be lost and to prepare us for questions
that may arise from the poem.
The Poem
From the west
Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning sharply
Here and there
Like a plague of locusts
Whirling,
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.
Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning sharply
Here and there
Like a plague of locusts
Whirling,
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.
Pregnant clouds
Ride stately on its back,
Gathering to perch on hills
Like sinister dark wings;
The wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass.
Ride stately on its back,
Gathering to perch on hills
Like sinister dark wings;
The wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass.
In the village
Screams of delighted children,
Toss and turn
In the din of the whirling wind,
Women,
Babies clinging on their backs
Dart about
In and out
Madly;
The wind whistles by
Whilst trees bend to let it pass.
Screams of delighted children,
Toss and turn
In the din of the whirling wind,
Women,
Babies clinging on their backs
Dart about
In and out
Madly;
The wind whistles by
Whilst trees bend to let it pass.
Clothes wave like tattered flags
Flying off
To expose dangling breasts
As jagged blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting march of the storm.
Flying off
To expose dangling breasts
As jagged blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting march of the storm.
Definitions
- Cloud: A visible mass of water
droplets suspended in the air. Anything that makes things foggy or gloomy…
obscure from sight.
- Plague: A wide spread
affliction, calamity or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine
retribution (punishment). A great nuisance; whatever greatly irritates.
- Whirl: To rotate, revolve,
spin, or turn rapidly
- Perch(intransitive): To rest on something
- Sinister: Evil, seeming to be
evil
- Din: a loud noise
- Clinging: to hold very tightly,
as to not fall off.
- Dark: A sudden turn or fast movement
- Whilst(while): At the same time
- Jaggered: Something that is rough
and harmful
- Pelt(ing): To beat or hit,
especially repeatedly. To rain or hail heavily
Analysis
Stanza One
The poem opens with
the first line specifying where the wind is coming from. The wind in question,
which is also accompanied by the cloud, is portrayed to have speed and
strength:
“Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning
Sharply
Here and there”
In this stanza, the
wind is depicted as being destructive (line 6):
“Like plague of locust”
A plague of locust
inflicts pain and destruction wherever it visits. Take Egypt in the days of
Moses for example.
Line 9 tells the
reader that the wind is not only destructive, but it has no specific direction
or destination.
“Like a mad man chasing nothing”
A mad man has no
focus in thought, dangerous to anyone around and moves often without a specific
abode.
Stanza two
What can one make of
a “pregnant cloud”? The word, “pregnant,” added to the word, “cloud,” informs
the reader that cloud carries more things that are yet to be unleashed. It
moves in line (stately) with the wind and poses a threat (dark sinister winds).
“Gathering to perch on hills
Like Dark sinister winds”
The last two lines
of the stanza tells us that the wind make noise and forcefully subdue the
trees.
“The wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass”
Stanza three
In this stanza, the
image of a village with children and women is created in the mind of the
reader. Children appear to be screaming in joy, probably in anticipation of a
rainfall or maybe the joy is triggered by the way the wind tosses things.
Nonetheless, in line
21, the children cling to the back of women (their mothers). Looking at the
meaning of the word, cling, and the context of usage, it seems that the
children are equally afraid.
As the sound of the
wind roars and its strength forcing the trees to bend, clothes fly and fall
from ropes and even from the women’s body.
“Clothes wave like tattered flags
Flying off
To expose dangling breasts”
For better
understanding, try to imagine those windy period when the wind fling clothes
off from the ropes and hanging places.
Then, from line 30
to the end, it seems the pregnant cloud has delivered its offspring as
lightening and thunderbolts strike.
“As jaggered blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting march of the storm”
Second Analysis
Stanza one
“From the west came
the wind,” would refer to Europeans who came from the West and are often
referred to as the Westerners. The force of the wind depicts how they
forcefully invaded Africa, tossing and turning up-side-down every African
cultural value.
In this line of
interpretation, it seems like a pestilence inflicted on the land. They
authoritatively roar (whistle – this might mean firing of guns) and the
Africans out of fear bow to them and bend theirs ways to allow for the adoption
of western culture.
“Like a mad man chasing nothing”
This could mean that
they seem not to want anything in particular, but everything and to conquer
all. This kind of dominance is evident in the French assimilation principle.
Stanza two
“Pregnant Cloud”
The first line of the
stanza, shows that Africans have no idea about what will follow the Westerners’
visit, but, they know that there is more to the fierce visit of subjugation,
and whatever it is that they have in mind hidden from Africans, it falls in
line with fighting, conquering and subjugation of Africans. The line below
shows this.
“Ride stately on its
back
Gathering to perch
on hills”
There is more to the
above two lines: what is it that the colonial masters secretly comes with and
goes on to stay in the high places (kings, people of influence or something
similar).
Stanza three
This stanza tells us
that once the white with their gun fire and war enter a village, the children
are delighted to see them, but on seeing the destruction they inflict, the
children clings to their mothers. The children could mean youths who are always
the first to embrace change, and the women represents the elders.
However, they start
taking what they came for, causing move havoc on the land.
Identify the two similes used in stanza 1.
ReplyDeleteLike a plague of locust. Like a madman chasing nothing.
2. Why are the clouds described as “pregnant” in stanza 2?
A metaphor is used to compare the clouds with a pregnant woman. The cloud was seen as dark and huge. The hugeness show compares the cloud with a pregnant woman.
3. Comment on the use of the word “stately” in line 10.
“Ride Stately on its back gathering to perch on hills like dark sinister wings; the wind whistles by and trees bend to let it pass. Stately is used to show the movements of the wind.
4. Quote two consecutive words in stanza 2 that suggest that the thunderstorm might be dangerous.
“Trees bend to let it pass “. And “Like a mad man chasing nothing”.
5. Explain why this thunderstorm might not be as welcome to the villagers.
The thunderstorm maybe not be as welcome to the villagers reason been in the beginning the writer speaks about the violence and rumblings it brings.
6. In line 24, alliteration is used. Write down the line and indicate the alliteration and also comment on its effectiveness. Rumble and tremble was the two alliteration used in the end. It is used to describe the after effect of the storm.
Identify the two similes used in stanza 1.
ReplyDeleteLike a plague of locust. Like a madman chasing nothing.
2. Why are the clouds described as “pregnant” in stanza 2?
A metaphor is used to compare the clouds with a pregnant woman. The cloud was seen as dark and huge. The hugeness show compares the cloud with a pregnant woman.
3. Comment on the use of the word “stately” in line 10.
“Ride Stately on its back gathering to perch on hills like dark sinister wings; the wind whistles by and trees bend to let it pass. Stately is used to show the movements of the wind.
4. Quote two consecutive words in stanza 2 that suggest that the thunderstorm might be dangerous.
“Trees bend to let it pass “. And “Like a mad man chasing nothing”.
5. Explain why this thunderstorm might not be as welcome to the villagers.
The thunderstorm maybe not be as welcome to the villagers reason been in the beginning the writer speaks about the violence and rumblings it brings.
6. In line 24, alliteration is used. Write down the line and indicate the alliteration and also comment on its effectiveness. Rumble and tremble was the two alliteration used in the end. It is used to describe the after effect of the storm.
The implement main idea of the poem?
From the west clouds come hurrying with the wind turning sharply Here and there like a plague of locusts Whirling Tossing up things on its tail Like a madman chasing nothing. Pregnant clouds Ride stately on its back Gathering to perch on hills like dark sinister wings; The Wind whistles by and trees bend to let it pass. In the village Screams of delighted children Tossed turn In the din of whirling wind, Women–Babies clinging on their backs–Dart about In and out Madly The Wind whistles by Whilst trees bend toileted pass. Clothes wave like tattered flags flying
to expose dangling breasts As jiggered blinding flashes Rumble, tremble, and crack Amidst the smell of fired smoke And the pelting march of the storm.
Shenaldo Bailey