RIPPLES
BY: PETER PAUL ADOLINAMA
THE SETTING
The setting is in Saga, a town in Northern Ghana.

THE SUBJECT MATTER
Sayibu Mba, a wealthy man, is about to give his fourteen year old daughter, Abiba, in marriage to an older man she doesn't know. Amina, her mother, had also been married off at the same age to Sayibu Mba. Mama Adamu, Sayibu's first wife was given the responsibility of raising Abiba when Amina passed away, after delivery. Mr. Ambrose Yakubu, with his daughter Jamila, Abiba's friend, promise to rescue Abiba. The marriage ceremony takes place but on the day the in-laws come to take the bride to the groom's house, Mr. Ambrose Yakubu arrives with three Social Welfare personnel to the scene. In the tumult of confusion, Jamila calls to her friend to run away. Abiba runs for freedom.

CHARACTERS
1. Abiba or Abi
She is the main character, fourteen years and a replica of her mother. She loves school and doesn't want to marry at that tender age. She has a very strong bond with her foster mother, Mama Adamu.
2. Amina
Amina is Abia's mother. She's the onky female of six siblings born to an irresponsible father, Yaro. She's the fourth wife of Sayibu. She is very lonely and sad in the marriage. Her worst rival is Safia, the third wife. She dies at the age of sixteen during childbirth, due to immaturity of her reproductive organs.
3. Sayibu Mba
A successful man who loves marrying beautiful young girls. A mean, impatient and intolerant man. He loves to boast with is wealth.
4. Mama Adamu
She's the first wife of Sayibu. A very loving and kindhearted woman. She extends her love for Amina to her daughter, Abiba.
5. Jamila
She's Abiba's best friend. She assists her father, Mr. Ambrose Yakubu, to rescue Abiba.
6. Safia
Sayibu's third wife. She envies Amina for taking her place as the youngest wife and enjoying all the privileges therewith. She's however proven innocent in Amina's death.
7. Yaro
He's Amina's father. A very lazy and irresponsible man, unable to take care of his six children.
8. Mr. Ambrose Yakubu
He's the head teacher of Abiba's primary school. He has been fighting against child marriage in the community. He, with the help of officers from the Social Welfare Department, rescues Abiba.

CONFLICT
A. Man against society (Abiba, Mr. Ambrose and Jamila against the bad custom).

B. Man against man (Amina against Safia, Safia against Amina's family members).
THEMES
1. Child marriage is illegal.
Child marriage destroys the lives of the victims.
3. One can break away from tradition.

LITERARY DEVICES
1. Rhetorical Question
A. "Hatred? How could she hate Amina......?
B. "Could she even call a fourth marriage.....news?"
C. "Abi, which of your sons died recently, or was it your bussiness ....?"
2. Simile
A. "...she loved Amina like the sister she never had."
B. "...her family...treated Safia like an outcast."
C. "...Safia...was as nervous as a new bride."
D. "I just wish...stop staring at me as though I have suddenly..."
3.Metaphor
A."...brides deteriorated with the speed of light into old..."
B."...envied their daughter for landing such a big catch."
C."...she knew she was about to walk into destruction..."
4. Proverb
A. "...if a dog bites a man, it is not news. It is when a man bites a dog that it is news.
B. "..'.I can't live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle."
5. Oxymoron
A. "...old...young wives"
6. Idiomatic Expressions
A. "...his bark was worse than his bite."
B. "...if anyone had a hand in..."
C. "...Safia for being green with envy..."
D. "...would not mince words..."
7. Flasback
This story is about Abiba, but the author goes back in time to narrate a story about her mother, Amina. He then throws light on how the two share similar destinies.

“DESERT RIVERS”

BY: LADE WOSORNU
Deserts too have their rivers,
Entombed from birth in earth
Waters mightier than Voltas
Lie hid from glare of sun
And winds that dry.
Roofed not by sky
But rocks that do not always hold,
These run their unwitnessed course
To their unwitnessed end. Without a sound
They gush into bowels of seas
Far, far away from unaided human eyes.
If you cannot see our tears
It does not mean we do bot cry.

THE TITLE
This poem raise the question: do deserts have rivers? If so, where are they? How do they flow? Where is their source?

THE SPEAKER/TONE
The speaker is probably someone who suffers in silence or suppresses his emotions, while looking calm on the outside.

CONTENT
This poem shows that dry places like the deserts have rivers. Indeed, it says that these rivers are probably ‘mightier than the Voltas’. The only difference with the usual rivers is that they hidden from human eyes. Being underground, they have the advantage of not drying up as they are hid from the sun and wind.

STRUCTURE AND MEANING
A one stanza poem with thirteen lines. As deserts on the surface do not harbour water, but have underground water bodies, so in human life people may be passing through very traumatic situations internally but not easily seen. They may laugh and chat heartily with family and friends, while suppressing their pain and frustrations in life. Not exhibiting such emotions doesn’t mean they don’t suffer them.

THEME/LESSON
a.Do not judge people by their appearance.
b.The fact that someone doesn’t complain doesn’t mean he has no worries.

DICTION AND IMAGERY
The poet’s choice of words is simple and easy to understand. The words also create visual images and appeal to one’s sense of hearing.

LITERARY DEVICES
1.Repetition
a.far…far..
2.Metaphor
a.…rivers
entombed from birth in earth
b.…bowels of the seas
3.Onomatopoeia
a.…gush…
4.Internal Rhyme
a.…birth…earth
5.End Rhyme (Rhyme)
Lines 5,6 and 13
And winds that dry
roofed not by sky
…we do not cry
6.Alliteration
a.Far, far…from… /f/
7.Oxymoron (this is the use of two contradictory or opposite ideas together)
The title of the poem is an oxymoron. Desert suggests dryness as rivers suggests wetness.
8.Exaggeration
Comparing desert rivers to the ‘Voltas’ is an exaggeration.

DEBBIE, SANDRA AND PEPE
BY: MERRILL CORNEY

THE SETTING
The story takes place in a middle class Western European or American home and a school as well.

The SUBJECT MATTER
Two siblings, Debbie and Sandra find a baby bird near their house and decide to keep it. Debbie names it Pepe. For a home, they find an old letter box. And for food, they try worms, chocolate and others, all of which the bird refused eating. Debbie thought of the bird all night and in school the day after. Unfortunately, they return from school to meet the bird dead. Their mother earlier on expressed that birds are happier outside. Though Debbie is seen to be worried, Sandra is indifferent. Debbie is sent to turn the calendar in the kitchen and she sees a writing under the picture showing how God cares for his creations. Debbie realises she isn't the only one who cares after all.

CHARACTERS
A. Debbie
A seventeen year old sibling of Sandra. She is very emotional, sympathetic, caring and thoughtful of others.
B. Sandra
Sandra is indifferent and a little hard-hearted, but practical in analyzing issues.
C. Mrs. Atkins
Debbie's school teacher. She seems to be a disciplinarian who doesn't take kindly to her students running off with no permission.
C. The Girl's Mother
She also seem to be practical, caring and tenderhearted.
D. Pepe
The baby bird the girls found. The bird has a strong will to want to fly away, and also refuse food. It is however weak and feeble.
THEMES
A. God cares about all his creations, irrespective of their forms.
B. We shouldn't worry too much over natural incidents which we have no control over.

LITERARY DEVICES
1. Onomatopoeia
A..crooned… Debbie
B. fluttered
C. sobbing
D. sniffing
E. squabbling
F. giggled
2. Simile
A. "she wriggled her finger like a worm"
B. "it felt like a great weight on her heart"
C. "its beak...looks like yellow plastic"
3. Metaphor
A. "she craned her neck upwards"
B. "that oversize yellow plastic beak"
4. Hyperbole
A. "the blue sky above...filled with...pigeons"
B. "so many birds! Millions of them..."
C. "yellow plastic beak taking up all his face"
5. Alliteration
A. fallen from /f/
B. fluttered from /f/
C. tree tilted… /t/

“SLEEP WITHOUT WAKE’’
BY: A. A. AMOAKO
Mother's milk gave me suck
Mother's fingers soothed my skin
The night kept mother awake
When baby was sour
5 And that was me!

You vanished into the morning mist of
April's last days, 1998
Precisely how and when is
Locked up in your wooden box
10 Thus severing the Korlebu Cord between
You and me, Premier son of a Premier daughter
Abena's Pioneer child Kwabena
You put me through my infant paces
On Gold Coast's Ga Shikpon
15 Taa taa, tuu tuu, in your maternal steps,
Maame Tutuaa, condelences!

You were brought into view again after
A long chilling month, your face frozen
Into a grim Visage
20 Till you thawed somewhat
Into your familiar self but,
Still, inert, immobile like a
Sculptured bride
To the mourner's wailful gaze.

25 Your last Odumasr words to me
Only a week before were,
"Go in peace, it looks like rain"
Words as auspicious, puzzling, portentous,
Looking back.

THE TITLE
It is normal for man to sleep and wake up. When man sleeps and doesn’t wake up, that means he/she is dead. The title therefore shows that the poem is about death.
THE SPEAKER/TONE
The speaker is a son, grieving over the loss of his mother. The tone is very sorrowful.

CONTENT
In stanza one, the speaker gives account of some of the memorable moments with the mother in his infancy. He speaks of her care and nurture of him. The first part of stanza two recounts how sudden the mother death came. He then sorrowfully tells us of the lifelong bond (Korle-Bu cord) with the mother, which has suddenly been cut by her death. In the third stanza, he gives a touching and vivid description of the mother’s body from the mortuary and when it was laid in state. The speaker in stanza four, bids the mother farewell remembering her last words to him at Odumase. These words, he now finds were appropriate and prophetic.

STRUCTURE AND MEANING
It is a four stanza poem in a free verse. The poem narrates the selfless dedication of mothers to the development of their children. It reminds us of the unpredictability and suddenness of death. The separation of the dead, sent to the morgue and then into the grave, from the living is shown to be very painful and sorrowful. Much more painful is the once smiling and lively face of a mother, being frozen into a strange, cold and frightening look.

THEMES/LESSONS
1.Death is unpredictable.
2.A mother guide’s her child’s development.
3.Death brings separation.

DICTION AND IMAGERY
The diction is somewhat understandable, though few vocabularies are thrown in. The words are graphical and appeal to ones sense of sight and hearing.

LITERARY DEVICES
1.Simile
A.…immobile like a
…Sculptured bride
2.Metaphor
A.Thus severing the Korlebu Cord between
…You and me…
3.Alliteration
A.Mother’s milk…me /m/
B.…soothed…skin /s/
C.…morning mist /m/
D.…Korlebu Cord… /k/
E.…Gold…Ga… /g/
F.…face frozen /f/
G.…week…were /w/
H.…puzzling, portentous /p/
4.Repetition
a.Still, inert, immobile… (they all mean the same thing)
5.Personification
A.The night kept mother awake
6.Onomatopoeia
A.Taa taa, tuu tuu…
7.Euphemism (the use of less offensive or harsh expressions)
A.The title ‘Sleep Without Wake’ is an example
B.‘You were brought into view again after a long chilling month’ instead of ‘you were brought out of the mortuary.’
C.‘wooden box’ instead of ‘coffin.’
8.Synecdoche
A.Mother’s milk gave me suck
B.Mother’s fingers soothed my skin.
9.Apostrophe/Address
A.The speaker addresses the mother directly in the second, third and fourth stanza as if she were alive.
10.Run-on-lines
A.…morning mist of
…April’s last days
B.…how and when is
…locked up…
C.…Korlebu Cord between
…You and me
D.You were brought into view again after
Along chilling month, your face frozen
Into a grim visage
E.…immobile like a
Sculptured bride

THE OLD MAN AND HIS CHILDREN
BY: JEAN WATSON

THE SETTING
The story took place in an Eastern African village.

The Subject Matter
Old man Kamau, resting under a mugumo tree, is unable to sleep because his twin grandsons, Mwangi and Njoroge, were quarreling. When blows began flying, their mother comes in to separate and scold them. The old man then invites them and shares a story of another old man to them. In the story, seven sons were given a bundle of sticks by their father to break in turn. None of them was able to do so. However, when he gave a stick each out of the bundle to each child, they broke them easily. The old man in the story explained to his grandchildren that when sticks are tied, they are harder to break than when separated. Old man Kamau then points out to his grandsons that the same principle applies to humans. When people are together, they are strong, but when they fight among themselves they become weak.

CHARACTERS
A. Njoroge and Mwangi
They are apt to duty. Their distrust of each other leads them to quarrel often. From the story they fear or revere their father. They have respect for their grandfather as well.
B. The Children's Mother
She is strict, applying a little corporal punishment to deter the boys.
C. Old Man Kamau
He is seen to be very wise man. He carefully uses a simple story bring his grandsons to make peace. He's tolerant of the noise of the flies and his grandchildren.
D. The Boy's Father
He's seen to be a disciplinarian, revered by his sons.

THEMES
A. Unity is strength.
B. A people who fight among themselves become weak, and a people united people are strong.

CONFLICTS
A. Man against nature
The old man versus the insects
B. Man against Man
Grandpa Kamua versus the twins
Njoroge versus Mwangi

LITERARY DEVICES
.. Antithesis (the complete opposite of situations)
A. The peaceful atmosphere enjoyed by the old man and the noisy atmosphere created by his grandchildren are completely opposite.
B. The old man himself is an example of antithesis. He has a calm demeanor outside but inwardly he is disturbed by the noise around.
2. Alliteration
A. ..sat....stool...spreading.. /s/
B. ...fast...furious....forefinger /f/
3. Rhetorical Question
"How could he be at peace when...heard all over the compound?"
4. Onomatopoeia
A. "Huh!" snorted Njoroge.
B. "...shouting and whistling..."
5. Metaphor
A. "It went spinning madly away ...."
B. "...blows and insults were flying to and fro..."
6. Simile
A. "...is the same with people as with sticks..."
7. Idiomatic Expression
A. "...the last straw..."
8. Frame Story ( telling a story within a story)
The Old Man and His Children is the frame story and the other story shared by Kamau is the inner story.