ENG 212 Creative Writing 1
NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA
SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
COURSE CODE:ENG212
COURSE TITLE:CREATIVE WRITING I
ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
COURSE
GUIDE
ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
Course Team
Professor Kalu Uka (Developer/Writer) - UNIUYO
Prof. A. R. Yesufu (Editor/Prog. Leader) - NOUN
Dr. Onyeka Iwuchukwu (Coordinator) - NOUN
NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA ii ENG212
National Open University of Nigeria
Headquarters
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island
Lagos
Abuja Office
No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street
Off Aminu Kano Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja
Nigeria
e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng
URL: www.nou.edu.ng
Published By:
National Open University of Nigeria
First Printed 2010
ISBN: 978-058-524-9
All Rights Reserved
iii
CREATIVE WRITING I
ENG212
CONTENTS
CREATIVE WRITING I
PAGE
Introduction……………………………………………………..…
What you will Learn in this Course…………………………….….
Course Aims…………………………………………………….…
Course Objectives…………………………………………….……
Working through this Course……………………………….……..
Course Materials……………………………………………..…….
Study Units…………………………………………………..…….
Text Books and References…………………………………..……
Assignment File………………………………………………..…..
Presentation Schedule……………………………………………...
Assessment…………………………………………………………
Tutor-Marked Assignments………………………………………..
Final Examination and Grading…………………………………...
Course Marking Scheme……………………………………….….
Course Overview……………………………………………….….
How to Get the Most from this Course…………………………….
Tutors and Tutorials…………………………………………….….
Summary……………………………………………………..…….
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Introduction
ENG. 212: Creative Writing is a one-semester, three-credit unit course. It will be available to all students who possess a natural inclination to imaginative creativity in the genres of fiction, drama and poetry as they can be used to explore social phenomenon, philosophy of life, interaction and conflict resolution through relevant cultural characterization, situational engineering and in sighting human relationships. The course will comprise 21 units in three modules of seven units each in fiction, drama and poetry writing. These three are the “Trinity of
Literature”. In each, distinctions will be made on how to use imagination to re-order and to structure, to verbalize, and give meaning to various issues of man in his cultural milieu, his history, his political development or evolution, his psychology. The pre-requisite for this course is therefore the possession by the prospective student of the willingness to let his imagination be controllable in moulds of ordered command of words, ideas and feelings, the flair for envisioning in the social system.
What You will Learn in this Course
The overall aim of Eng. 212: Creative Writing is to introduce the student to the tools of writing, the use of those tools such that he could churn out delectable story-feeling-based explorations of life around and iv ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
even outside of himself. Fiction, drama and poetry are ‘phrases’ of the written art of the teacher, the painter, the philosopher, the historian, the mythologist and the scientist, forming a composite, like a rose, called
‘literature’. The student will learn in the process that not all literature simply tells a story. Reflectiveness, satiric exploration, jovial indictments are some of the necessary attitudes that can inform good, well-written literature.
Course Aims
Eng. 212: Creative Writing is planned to impart to the student a number of tenable procedures and disabuse his mind of the untenable assumptions about the nature of artistic writing. There were those who believed that a writer is “born”, not “made”. The student will learn that:
5.0 Ever since G. B. Shaw asserted that all creative writing, because it
involves imagination, is “ninety-nine percent hard work” and “one percent inspiration”, creative writing can be taught and can be learned.
It is a conundrum of existence.
6.0 Practical analogies illustrate how good or specialized writing could be
achieved. For instance, all two-legged tall-standing human beings, all things being equal, can walk, or run, or dance, or speak learned or mother-tongues, BUT NOT ALL PERSONS CAN DO SO WITH
SKILL and EXPERTISE. There is much difference between the
TRAINED ATHLETE in the use of body, arms, legs, head and heart, in the deliberately, result-oriented manner and the ordinary human person, whose use of the same equipment is loose and unordered. Practice leads to harmonic coordination.
7.0 Creative writing is therefore the fully developed conscious effort and
manoeuvre to “birth” a poem, or play, or novel by a mind nurtured that takes it to the level of deserving {to be} “literature”.
8.0 To borrow from Laurence Perrinne such literature must have its own
autonomy. That autonomy must be a process imbued with “structure → sound → sense” – in that order of combination, to become an
ORGANIC WHOLE.
9.0 Procedures, parameters for attaining such a feat can be acquired,
exercised upon and reproduced many times, as the varied and various written works of great writers in the world have established ever since man went from papyrus to printing and to digital reproductions.
Course Objectives v ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
The aims set out above have been fairly well objectived. So, objectified, it reduces or cuts off, the tendency for individualistic styles and approaches to writing seem to be impositions. In the unit details there specifies of each genre, included therein, will guide the student to find his own métier. “How well have I done?” should always be a question on the lips of the student as he does the exercise in each genre. “Rome” they say, “was not built in a day”. So, the intensive, but gradualist objectives of the course, to achieve the aims shall be to:
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0
15.0
be able to distinguish the ‘languages’ of fiction, drama and poetry. know the varieties of “dialogue” in the genres know what “conversation” is. know differences between “conversation” and “drama”. understand the nature of “action” and “dialogue”. be able to relate “action” to “character”. differentiate between “stories”, especially in fiction and drama. know that essentially the poem is different from the other two forms. appreciate the elements common to all the genres of literature grapple with and understand and be able to use key technical apparatuses such as “progression”, “exposition”, “informational devices”, “plausibility”, “tempo”, “naturalness”, “motivation”,
“concentration”, “rhythm”, “symbols” in words and actions.
Working through this Course
This course is completed when you have studied ALL the study units;
Read (all) the recommended books, and some miscellany. Each unit contains summaries and assessment questions and exercises. You may be required to submit a number of assignments, a minimum of two in each genre for assessment purposes.
Course Materials
The major components of the course are:
5.0 Course Guide
6.0 Study Unit
7.0 Textbooks
8.0 Assignment file
9.0 Presentation Schedule
Each student needs to possess the materials. There are bookshops in
University of Lagos for instance, that custody some of the textbooks.
AFRICANA sections of libraries have some. Foyles in London can oblige some requests online. Other access request, maybe through vi ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
IEEE’s CSDL (Computer Society Digital Library), 1730 Massachusetts
Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20036, USA.
Study Units
There are 20 study units in this course:
Module 1
Fiction
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Module 2
Preliminary Issues in Fiction Writing – Techniques
Story Selection and Projection
Setting in Situation and Environment
Structure of Plots and Plotting
Sound-Rhythm of Prose and Dialogue Flow
Charactier(ization) with Symbols and Images
Sense as Total Meaning and Import/Message.
Drama
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Preliminary Issues in Drama(tic) Composition: Devices
Thought/Idea
Plot
Character(ization)
Language: Dialogue and Action
Spectacle
Music and Dance/Sound (Effects)
Module 3
Poetry
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Preliminary Issues in Poetry Writing
What makes a Poem?
Creative Blocks: Emotion in Tranquility
Imagery and Allusion: Expanding Scope
The Material of Poems: Legend and History
The Finished Product/Glossary of Terms
Text Books and References
(Actually there cannot be any “Required” or “Compulsory” texts.
Expansive reading is necessary. Some are these)
Brooks, Cleanth. The Well Wrought Urn (N.Y., Holt & Co., 1947)
Brooks, Cleanth & R. P. Heilman: Understanding Drama (New York:
Henry Holt & Co., 1955) vii ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
Heilman, Robert B. This Great Stage (Baton Rouge: Louisiana, State U.
Press, 1948).
Perrine, Laurence: Literature: Structure-Sound-Sense (New York,
1990).
Spurgeon, Caroline, Shakespeare’s imagery.(London :Methuen, 1960)
Assignment File
In this file, you will find details of the work you must submit to your
Tutor for marking. The marks you obtain from these assignments will count towards the final marks/grade you obtain for this course. Further information on assignments will be found in the Assignment File itself and, later, in this Course Guide, in the section on Assessment.
Presentation Schedule
The presentation schedule included in your course materials gives you the important DATES for the completion of Tutor-marked Assignments and attending tutorials. Remember, you are required to SUBMIT all your assignments by the DUE DATE. You should guard against falling behind in your work.
Assessment
There are TWO aspects to the assessment of the course. First are the
Tutor-Marked Assignments. Second, there is a written examination. In tackling the assignments, you are expected to apply information and knowledge acquired during this course.
The Assignments must be submitted to your Tutor for formal assessment in accordance with the DEADLINES stated in the Assignment File. The work you submit to your Tutor for assessment will count for 30per cent of your total marks in the course.
At the end of the course, you will need to sit for a final three-hour examination. That examination – a review of theories – will count for 30 per cent of your total course marks, while the actual work, practically visible, finished work (not printed, but a typed mss of a fictive shortstory (for the novel genre) a play script (in one act) and a poem (14 lines or more) will count for the remarking 40 per cent. Total 70 per cent.
Tutor-Marked Assignments viii ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
There are nine Tutor-marked assignments, three in each module, in this course. You need to submit ALL the assignments. All count, and the total marks for nine is 30 per cent of the total course marks.
Assignment questions for the units in this course are contained in the
Assignment File. You should be able to COMPLETE your assignments from the information and materials found in the recommended sourcebooks, reading and study units. You are, however, advised further to seek and use other references in order to broaden your viewpoint and obtain deeper understanding of what the subject requires.
When you complete an assignment, SEND it, together with TutorMarked Assignment Form to your Tutor. Ensure delivery to your Tutor of every assignment on or before the deadline (date-due) prescribed in the Assignment File. If, for any acceptable reason, you cannot complete your work on time, do contact your Tutor beforehand to discuss parameters for extension.
Final Examination and Grading
The final examination in Eng. 210 will be in two parts and have a value of 70 per cent of the total course grade. Part I will be essentially a theoretical review and will attract 30 per cent. The questions will reflect the types of self-testing recall of applicable terms and concepts that a writer uses. Some of the Tutor-marked problems you encountered will be there. Part II will be the PRACTICAL packaged piece of written created work in the fiction, drama and poetry genres which you will reproduce in the exam hall, in 45 minutes per genre. All areas are assessed. You are advised to REVISE the entire course (after studying the last unit) BEFORE you sit for the examination. Review your Tutor-marked assignments and note well your Tutor comments on them before the final examination.
Course Marking Scheme
The table below shows how the actual course marking (grading is broken down into two parts)
Assessment
Marks
Assignment: 3 per 30% - Excellence in one module does not genre (9 altogether) exempt/compensate poor performance in others. Final examination 70% - Must pass in each area to obtain passing grade ix
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CREATIVE WRITING I
Total
100%
Course Overview
The next table below brings together the Units, the Number of Weeks you should take to complete them, and the assignments that follow them. Unit
Title of work
Course Guide
Module 1
Unit 1 Preliminary Issues in Fiction
Writing
Unit 2 Story Selection and Projection
Unit 3 Setting: Situation and Environment
Unit 4 Structure of Plots & Plotting
Unit 5 Sounds Rhythm of Prose and
Dialogue
Unit 6 Characterization (with Symbols)
Unit 7 Sense: Total Meaning/Writing
Module 2
Unit 1 Prelim Issues in Drama
Week’s Assessment activity (end of unit)
1
1
No assignment
1
2
3
4
Assignment 1
5
6
Assignment 3
6
No
Assignment
Assignment 4
Assignment 5
Unit 2 Plot Creation/Titling
Unit 3 Characterization
Unit 4 Thought and Idea
Unit 5 Language: Dialogue and Action
Unit 6 Spectacle
Unit 7 Music and Sound/ Dance Effects
Module 3
Unit 1 Prelim Issues in Poetry Writing
7
7
8
8
9
9
Unit 2
Unit 3
10
11
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
x
What makes a Poem?
Creative Blocks: Emotion in
Tranquility
Imagery and Allusion: Expanding
Scope
The Material of Poems: Legend and
History
The Finished Product/Literary
Terms
9
Assignment 2
Assignment 6
No
Assignment
Assignment 7
12
13
Assignment 8
14
Assignment 9
15
Revision/
Review
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CREATIVE WRITING I
How to Get the Most Out of this Course
In distance learning, the study units replace the University Lecturer.
This is a great challenge and advantage. The student can READ, and
WORK THROUGH specially designed study materials. This is done at the student’s own PACE, at a time, and at a place which suits the student best. The student must think of each study unit as if he were reading a lecture, rather than listening to a lecturer physically. As a lecturer might set some reading for the student to do, so the study unit tells the student
WHEN to read set texts/books or other material. Just as a lecturer might give an in-class exercise, so the study unit provides exercises for the student at APPROPRIATE POINTS.
Each STUDY UNIT is patterned similarly, following a common format.
The first item is introductory of the unit’s subject-matter. Then it is shown how a particular unit is integrated with other units and with the entire course. Then follows a set of LEARNING OBJECTIVES which lets the student KNOW what he should be able to achieve by the time the unit is completed. These objectives should guide study. When the units are completed, the student must return to CHECK whether objectives have been achieved. Such re-checking must become a habit in order to significantly IMPROVE on one’s chances of excelling in the course. The MAIN BODY of the unit guides the student through the
REQUIRED READING from other sources, drawn from relevant materials. Reading Section
Remember that your Tutor’s job is to HELP you. When you need help, don’t hesitate to call and ask your Tutor to provide it.
4.0.READ THIS COURSE GUIDE THOROUGHLY
5.0.ORGANIZE a study schedule. Refer to the “Course Overview” for more
details. Note the time limit for each unit and how the Assignments relate to the units. Whatever METHOD you choose to use, decide on, and write, in your own dates for working on each unit.
6.0.Once the student has created his own schedule, he must do everything
possible TO STICK TO IT. The major reason students fail is that they get behind with their course work. If there is any difficulties with the schedule made, do let the Tutor know so as to offer timely help.
7.0.Turn to Unit 1 and read the introduction and the objectives for the unit. xi ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
8.0.Assemble the study materials. Information about what you need for a
unit is given in the “OVERVIEW” at the beginning of each unit. The student will, almost always need BOTH the study unit being worked on
AND a set text book on the desk at the same time.
9.0.Work through the unit. The content of the unit itself has been arranged to provide a SEQUENCE for the student to follow. As the work through the unit progresses, the student will receive instruction on sections to read from the set textbooks, articles, or other material. Use the unit to guide reading.
10.0.Review the objectives for each study unit to confirm that you have achieved them. When the student is not sure about any of the objectives, he should go over the study material, or consult his Tutor, or both.
11.0.The student can start on the next unit after ensuring a confident grasp of the preceding unit’s objectives. He must go unit-by-unit through the course. Study must be paced so as to keep on schedule.
12.0.When an Assignment has been submitted to the Tutor for marking, the
student need not wait for its return before starting on the next unit. Keep the schedule. When the Assignment is returned, the student must pay particular attention to the Tutor’s comments, both on the Tutor-Marked
Assignment Form, and also on what is written on the Assignment. If there are questions, doubts, or other observable matter, contact your
Tutor soonest.
13.0.When the student has done the last unit, the course should be
REVIEWED, and PREPARATION for the final examination made.
Student must CHECK that he has achieved the Unit objectives as listed at the beginning of each course unit and the course objectives as listed in this Course Guide.
Tutors and Tutorials
There are 12 hours of tutorials provided in support of this course. The student will be notified of the dates, times and location of the Tutorials, together with the name and phone number of the Tutor, after the student is allocated a Tutorial Group.
The Tutor will mark and make comments on Assignments. There must be a close watch on progress, drawing attention to any difficulties or gray areas in the course by the Tutor. Tutor will then provide needed help. xii
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The student must mail Tutor-marked assignment to the Tutor promptly and well before due date. The Tutor will mark and return soonest all assignments. DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT YOUR TUTOR BY
TELEPHONE, E-mail or discussion board, when you need help. The following might be circumstances in which you would find help
NECESSARY.
16.0
When you do not understand any part of the study, units or the assigned readings.
17.0
When you have a question or problem with an assignment, with your
Tutor’s comments on an assignment, or with the grading of an assignment. Tutorials are mandatory. You must try as much as possible to attend them. There you will have a chance for a face-to-face contact with a
Tutor, to ask questions to which answers are given right there and then.
You can raise any problem emanating from the course. Always prepare a list of questions which you must bring to a Tutorial Session.
Participating in discussions in an active manner sharpens imaginations for a creative writer.
Summary
Eng. 212 is intended to introduce you to powers of creative writing in any or in all three genres of serious literature – fiction, drama and poetry. When you complete the course, you should be able, in addition to enhance self-expressiveness, conversationality, to:
18.0
know the procedures for starting to write and structure and title a good play, poem, or novel or short story.
19.0
know the art of a raconteur who can re-organise in an ordered fashion the chaos that is daily living.
20.0
discriminate between worthwhile subject-matters for a working art and frivolous superficialities.
21.0
dig down into human psychology and create memorable characters that jump out of the book page onto the social vocabulary and popular usage.
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22.0
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CREATIVE WRITING I
creative entertainment built out of human concerns, desires and hopes and need for relaxation or reflection of the meaning of life
(Not an exclusive list.)
ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
Course Code
Course Title
ENG212
Creative Writing I
Course Team:
Professor Kalu Uka (Developer/Writer) – UNIUYO
Prof. A. R. Yesufu (Editor/Prog. Leader) – NOUN
Dr. Onyeka Iwuchukwu (Coordinator) – NOUN
NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA xv ENG212
National Open University of Nigeria
Headquarters
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island
Lagos
Abuja Office
No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street
Off Aminu Kano Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja
Nigeria
e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng
URL: www.nou.edu.ng
Published By:
National Open University of Nigeria
First Printed 2010
ISBN: 978-058-524-9
All Rights Reserved
xvi
CREATIVE WRITING I
ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
CONTENTS
Module 1
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Module 2
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Module 3
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
xvii
PAGE
Fiction ........................................................................ 1
Preliminary Issues in Fiction Writing-Techniques..........
Story Selection and Project ..............................................
Setting: Situation and Environment .................................
Structure: Plots and Plotting.............................................
Sound: Rhythm of Prose, Dialogue Flow.........................
Character (ization) with Symbols and Images .................
Sense as Total Meaning and Import/Message...................
1
6
12
19
27
35
43
Drama ........................................................................ 52
Preliminary Issues in Drama (tic) Composition: Devices
Thought/Idea ...................................................................
Plot Creation/Titling..........................................................
Character (ization).............................................................
Language: Dialogue & Action..........................................
Spectacle ..........................................................................
Music and Dance/Sound (Effects)....................................
52
59
64
70
75
81
86
Poetry……………………………………………….
92
Preliminary Issues in Poetry Writing: “Atmosphere”....
What makes a Poem?.......................................................
Creative Blocks: “Emotion in Tranquility”.....................
Imagery and Allusion: Expanding Scope.........................
The Material of Poems: Legend & History......................
The Finished Product/Glossary of Terms ........................
92
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108
114
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ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
MODULE 1
FICTION
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Preliminary Issues in Fiction Writing
Story Selection and Projection
Setting: Situation and Environment
Structure: Plots & Plotting
Sound: Rhythm of Prose and Dialogue Flow
Character (ization): Symbols and Images
Sense: Total Meaning and Import/Message
UNIT 1
PRELIMINARY ISSUES IN FICTION WRITING
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
How to ‘Open’ Novel-Writing
3.2
Purpose and Method
3.3
Shaping
3.4
Tools in Hand - your Mind, Pen, Notebook, and Machines
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Creative writing is a many-sided (ad) venture. There can be many approaches to it. Indeed, one could assume that there is really no distinction between a good novel, and a good play and a good poem; that they are all ‘phases’ of one phenomenon – products of the imagination. But in fact, all writing is CRAFT. From such “crafting”, yes, a learner or reader could extract ‘knowledge’ of various kinds, from either one greater and famous writer, or from various works of many great and famous writers. Because it is “craft”, writing is a “task”, a practical task. But because the ‘practice’ of ‘describing’ an object,
‘narrating;, ‘telling’, about that one object, is different from
“dialoguing” with that object when it is a person, a character in action on a stage, which character has a specific “voice”, a particular feature, creative writing needs to be “artificially” separated into fiction (novel), drama (playwriting) and poetry (poetic composing-like music).
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2.0
CREATIVE WRITING I
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
appreciate the many-sided splendour of creative writing appreciate the need for revising and correcting the first inspired onrush of words and ideas when you start writing discuss the joy and exhilaration, or the challenges that you faced initially determine from the beginning what kind of “knowledge” or information you consciously want your reader to imbibe from your work determine the content of your work(novel, play or poem) beforehand because it is not accidental.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
How to ‘Open’ Novel-Writing
As is being emphasized all writing is purposeful. Think now of the word, “Creative”. To “Create” means to bring about by imaginative skill something purposefully new. Because the process affects the producer, the product, and the consumer (here, the reader) of the product,
“creative” now becomes an all-affective thing which envelopes all three
“stakeholders”. This is why a work of art interests the artist, appeals to the art appreciator, and remains a memorable thing with an autonomous life of its own.
3.2
Purpose and Method
Purpose and Method must then merge and drive each other along, much as the fuel in the tank of a car must be in an internally burning engine to
‘exhaust’ itself as it pulls/propels the engine along. How does a writer
“pull the reader” into his story in the first place? the first sentence in the first paragraph on the first page of the book. A reader must be “hooked”, like a fish attracted to a bait is. The fish is given an attractive reason to want to feed. That is why he sees the bait, goes for it, and gets
“hooked”. Remembers your fish need not “die”, but can be coaxed there from into an experiment, living or dying later? “Narrative Hook” as Rita
Clay Estrada and Rita Gallagher call it, must make your reader
CURIOUS, INQUISITIVE, and give him a REASON for staying on to read your novel. Method and Purpose also underline a writer’s technique. Consider the following three or four “Openers”/Methods and see the
Intent/Purpose of the author(s).
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CREATIVE WRITING I
“Metal on concrete jars my drinking lobes”
[Soyinka’s Sagoe in opening the novel, The Interpreters]
“Akwaasa!: [The lorry blew through the breeze]”
[V.C.Ike in opening the novel, Toads for Supper].
“Once upon a time a young man was savouring the pleasures of a new car”. [Nkem Nwankwo in opening the novel, My Mercedez Is Bigger Than
Yours]
“Even before my death I have become a ghost…”
[Ayi Kwei Armah in opening the novel, Why Are We so Blest?]
Some American Romance novel openers include:
“She stood alone and lonely under the dim street lamp”. and “I’m sorry, but my ad stated female, not male, to share my house”,
Joan Evans said, ignoring her instant attraction to the handsome man at the door.”
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Pick any three of these six examples of openers as intimation of method and purpose, and write down five ways in which they are good “baits” to draw a reader into the story and keep him there.
3.3
Shaping
Also, in the preliminary stage of beginning a novel, the ‘shape’ of the story is intimated. At the beginning the story rolls loosely around a number of subjects and persons. It may be around a family history, or a political event, or a police clash with a community, or a student who’s gone missing from school or village. You don’t know whether to write down a “facts or anecdotes” collection. Shape comes into your mind as you THINK and as you think, do not trust your mind to retain all of it; get a notebook, or some sheets of paper, plain sheets or ruled feint with margin; remember writing is hard work, and it needs tools to shape it, even as we use our hoes to shape mounds in the farm; or matchets to cut and clear the bush for farming; our spades to make the straight or curving ridges, etc. An unshaped written novel is an uncleared bush, full of brambles and undergrowths and wet, rotten leaves-strewn ground.
“Writing is refined thinking”, says Stephen King (2000:131), like a well-shaped form is great harvest.
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3.4
CREATIVE WRITING I
Tools in Hand - your Mind, Pen, Notebook, and Machine
Natalie Goldberg [Writing Down The Bones (Boston: Shambhala,
1986.5-7) says that since writing is an attempt to “penetrate life”, student learner-writers must begin at the beginning – that is, with their mind. I agree. The beginner’s mind embarks on a journey, a task. To shape the journey (see 3.3 above), to expedite the task, let’s lend you
Robert Olmstead’s analogy: writing, he asserts, is like driving at night.
You only have your headlights, but manage to get where you’re going.
As writers, we have our shaped novel, play, poem, short story, essay, memoir destination in mind. There are “small concerns” – tools we need. Goldberg lists these tools of concern: the pen you write with.
What kind is it? – ballpoints, pencils, felt tips… are slow. Use a fast writing pen so your thoughts are caught up with your hand. Pen must
“feel the connection and texture” with paper. You also need a notebook which is to you what “a hammer and nails are to a carpenter”) – preferably a cheap spiral note book easy to carry in a notebook size purse. The notebook may have your favourite commercial, or school, or government advert cover. Also, try out a variety of blank-lined or graphed-paged notebooks, some are hard cover, others are soft. Even when you are travelling on a bus, or in an aeroplane, and a thought you must capture turns up, use the ticket back cover. Some famous writerdoctors used their prescription pads. There was this colleague – a brother and a writer who resided in New York when we were postgraduate students-he never had a notebook. He always typed, and once on train, he had his type-writer on his laps while I played “Travel
Scrabble” with someone else beside him. Well, today, there are laptopsdo you have one? Late J. D. Ekwere always “wrote” by speaking into the reel-to-reel tape recorder in his office. But nowadays there are the handy Japanese – Chinese, or other Asian-made mini cassette/radio recorders, cheap and battery operated, so you could beat PHCN!
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Discuss the use of at least two “tools” in the prelim stages. How would they help you later?
4.0
CONCLUSION
People always come to the business of creative writing thinking that
“technique” means the actual manner in which a writer struggles to shape his material. Here we have tried to let you see that “technique” really means not just those technical details in the actual execution, but also the manner in which you set about, right at the beginning, to acquire those BASIC physical necessities – the needs of the crafts – with which the desired aim in writing will be accomplished. Thus
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knowledge of what you want to write; the shape of what you are to write; the manner in which, like great masters of writing, you want to hold your consumer of product, your basic tools, from pen to paper and machines – this knowledge is basic. With them you are prepared to
WRITE DOWN THE BONES – a strong, meaningful creative work which has MARROW!.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Why do you agree, if you do, with this conclusion?
5.0
SUMMARY
In this first unit, we have not burdened you with an overload of definitions. Writing in its process and processing defines and re-defines it. We have instead led you to appreciate how to open a novel like the old masters, why you need to shape your thinking, and why you must know your basic tools.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
In what sense or senses is creative writing a ‘task’
2.
Open a story of your own in a paragraph using any method as
“bait” for your reader.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie. (1986) Writing-Down the Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story Press Books.
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UNIT 2
STORY SELECTION AND PROJECT
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
What is “Story”?
3.2
Sources to “Select” from and Principles of Selection
3.3
“Outlines” of Stories
3.4
Projecting the Story. Defences
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Some writers believe that a good story is the best assurance of success in the final product called the novel. And so, they emphasize the need for a well selected story. In every culture the world over people thrill over to a good story. So, in this unit we shall let you into the VALUE and
PLACE of story selecting and the legal implications.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
identify what constitutes a story discuss the varieties and variations in story perspectives list sources from which to select discuss the principles basic to selecting a story project the story as if you were a camera-eye.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
What is “Story”?
Ordinarily, as any good dictionary or thesaurus can tell, a story is just the account of events or incidents whose ordering may be extremely loose, tight or disorderly but in whatever form they ultimately posses elements of human sense to an extent. We see “Stories”, more or less, in this sense in the TV news, or newspaper thrillers or sensational rendering of a killing, a theft with perpetrators breaking and entering, a
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conversion or healing of persons on a Christian crusade ground, or even church worship occasion. In fact, our everyday life is full of “stories”.
However, when it comes to creative writing, story assumes a special dimension. It becomes an “imagined” or “imaginative”, “invented” – and so, called “fictional” narrative, full of contrived intrigues so plotted as to receive a variety of names such as “Anecdote” (when full of humour and amusement), or “legend” (when couched as transmitted history of a people from their previous times), or “romance” (especially as in a cowboy adventure from America, or a science-fiction/thriller from an H.G. Wells or a Jules Verne, or a Girls’ or Womens’ chit-chat magazine, or an H. Rider Haggard ‘mystery’ in a remote African jungle) when a man and woman, or a boy and girl fall in love.
Neither still, nor every kind of fictionally imagined tale with the loveelement is a romance story. For instance, N.T.A’s “Super Story” is not romance; the series has one “heart-kicking dilemma, one life-threatening quandary or another, one fear-raising or emotional death or divorce or another as “elements”. So “Super Story” is a “soap” (opera). Other television shows such as “Desperate House Wives” is not romance, though the stories show the women “experiencing” “growth”, “new beginnings”, “raising children” (alone), ‘leaving their husbands’,
“becoming economically independent”, or even attaining worker-status for the first time.” The story is “women’s fiction”. Once creativity comes into play, however, a story is a story when well plotted and is arrestingly gripping.
So, you need to clarify to yourself, ‘ab initio’, what story you are going to tell: what it is about; how well ordered; theme, and basic idea; and premise (the road map the story follows), (Estrada & Gallagher.
1999:1-5).
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
What makes a story? Why must you select?
3.2
Sources to “Select” from & Principles of Selection
If you have understood “story” as treated above, you’ll realize immediately that there are, and can be, so many stories, and varieties and variations and that as a writer you need to select carefully and meticulously. But first, where does one select from? As can be seen, and has been foreshadowed above, everyday life is a vast source to pick stories from.
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In addition, you could pick and build on pre-existing folk-tales and communal stories. After all, as a writer you are also a researcher.
However, there are principles of selection involved here. In using everyday stories and communal folksy stories which are in the society’s common pool of available story stores, there are no copyright laws. The writer-researcher is free to take the folksy stories, re-shape them, modify the characterization, and give them new language.
In fact, this selection freedom is what the whole principle of adaptation is all about; it is what the imagination is to re-create (see Unit 1, 1.0).
However, where there is a previously told story, especially written up under a known individual’s name and title, you must respect the copyright restrictions so as to avoid going to the “Revenue Court” for plagiarism or manuscript stealing.
Armed with unrestricted materials, the writer must now “find” his/her own “story”. To find the story, you must “twist” a plot, give characters new motivations, believable behaviour, add your “invented” complications so as to give your selected story a personality, a uniqueness that will enliven the tale.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Apart from communal property folktales, and your everyday life observed sources, can you name and assess some three other sources for stories (Re: TV news, World disaster areas and the like).
3.3
“Outlines” of Stories
Someone has said that a writer, creative writer, is an architect, a cook, and farmer. He knows the concrete names of things around him. He must bring them specifically to life, give them their correct, living names, and put them in an order, in an outline. Through an outline he creates a list that may form chapters, or even chunks of the same story.
An “outline” helps you grasp and grab your ideas, and stick to them. Jot down something like these ten “ideas”. As Natalie Goldberg would:
•
Swimming
•
The stars
•
The most frightened you’ve ever been
•
Green places
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•
How you learned about sex
•
Your first sexual experience
•
The closest you ever felt to God or Nature
•
Reading and books that have changed your life
•
Physical endurance
•
A teacher you had
(Goldberg, 1986.21)
Each is concrete, not abstract; each is real stuff. In “Outlining” you are forced to be honest, to be down to earth, not a romantic dreamer, or an escapist coward. Making an outline disciplines you; forces you to avoid procrastination. Chinua Achebe says it forces you to do now, not go on proposing, “I’ll do, I’ll do”, forever like the rat without a tail that ever hoped to grow one but never did. An outline gives you the chapters; gives you the characters; defines directions and situations, sharpens your mind to see the entrances and exits for your personages, may even push you towards seeing a resolution or conclusion, an ending to your story, especially when from a well-tuned, well-directed, soul-rending conflict, you have given your characters appropriate motivations for action within their assigned personalities.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
What is an “outline”? Expand on one of the ten listed above from
Goldberg.
3.4
Projecting the Story. Defences
There is a novel, Anywhere but here, written by Mona Simpson. The story opens in a crisis, like this: “We fought. When my mother and I crossed State lines in the stolen car, I’d sit against the window and wouldn’t talk. I wouldn’t even look at her. The fights came when I thought she broke a promise. She said there’d be an Indian reservation.
She said that we’d see buffalo in Texas. My mother said a lot of things.
We were driving from Bay City, Wisconsin, to California, so I could be a child star while I was still a child.
“Talk to me,” my mother would say. “If you are upset, tell me”. But I wouldn’t. I knew how to make her suffer. I was mad. I was mad about a lot of things. Places she said
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would be there weren’t. We were running away from family. We’d left home.
Then my mother would pull to the side of the road and reach over and open my door.
“Get out, then”, she’d say, pushing me.”
Robert Olmstead has suggested that a lesson in “story projection” can be deduced by analysis this way:
This novel begins with a two-word sentence “We fought” – a subject,
“we” and verb, “fought” It (the sentence) tells what has been happening between the narrator and her mother, from the narrator’s point of view.
These two words give conditions. They create a complicated dynamic.
Yet one that is easy to understand. It is not a drama taking place before your eyes, but still a drama that was and is constant. The word, “would” maintains the past tense. ‘Would’ is the past tense of ‘will’ and indicates habitual action, in this case, the relentlessness of the fighting.
In the second sentence we find out that their car is stolen. But this information comes to us through an adjective inside a prepositional phrase inside a clause. That the car is stolen is made to be much less important than that they are fighting. Nevertheless, we are told the car is stolen and it isn’t mentioned again in this passage. Simply put, this information is revealed in an adjective, not in a statement of fact, as the fighting is.
Another statement of fact is “I was mad”. Notice how each time the narrator makes a statement of fact, she follows it with an example, reason or detail. The thinking is personal and childlike. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense. But more important, it appears to make sense. The narrator’s strength is in her thinking. This is why her mother’s behaviour in the fourth paragraph is so striking. It has consequence.
Knowing the car is stolen now comes back to haunt us. The crisis is enlarged. However dangerous we thought the situation, we find we misjudged. Look at all the italicised words and phrases, and you will agree the story and its opening crisis are concretely projected. The reader is on solid ground, the author-creator is on solid earth; the ‘personae’ of the story are solid reality.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4
Open your own imaginary story with a two-word sentence. Come up with ten possibilities. I suggest these three examples for you:
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•
“We argued…”
•
“We ran…”
•
“He cried…”
4.0
CONCLUSION
If you are, or were a javelin-throwing sportsman you would have no problem appreciating the word, “projection” “throwing-forth and far away”. The action will be full of energy, excitement, and breath-taking.
This Unit tells you just the place of “projection, “audible-visible” energy of a story that starts its narrative journey.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 5
Write in three more sentences following my own sentences, to expand your understanding of the importance of “story projection”. Or is a story better “handled” than “projected”?
5.0
SUMMARY
In this second Unit you have been given the concrete grounds for knowing what a “story” should be; for seeing how even the smallest word/phrase could energize a tale, for knowing the place of “outlines”; for knowing how to select from sources without breaking intellectual property laws.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
What is “copyright”?
2.
Discuss any difficulties or problems you had in self-Assessment
Exercise 4
3.
Give three reasons why thinking of “outlines” for your story is equivalent to evolving suitable topics for sections of your imaginative work.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie. (1986). Writing-Down the Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story Press Books
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UNIT 3
SETTING: SITUATION & ENVIRONMENT
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Setting by What You See: Vision & Space
3.2
Setting by What You Hear: Sounds & Storms
3.3
Setting by Weather and Geology: An Environment
3.4
Setting by Character: Environment & Personality
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Estrada and Gallagher insist, very correctly, that a story is not written in
‘chapters’, but rather is written in “scenes” and their “sequels”, that is in actions organized round a situation and the reaction contrary to the previous . A setting must be like a string of beads to keep a story on track. When well set out you can see a pattern that we diagram like this; and you must be able to describe and define concretely.
SCENES = ACTION
Composed of
SEQUELS = REACTION
1. Goal (direction you are going)
1. Reaction (may be opposition)
2. Conflict
2. Dilemma (Choice must be dictated now) 3. Disaster
3. Decision
Indeed, for a story to begin well, the writer must think it through first.
To think it through you must be able to know exactly which direction you are going, where exactly you are at any given stage, how you are going to reach your destination.
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2.0OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
establish a good story in the first scene you set to hold your reader in the first few pages determine what a STORY GOAL is determine what is a SCENE GOAL is decide how to end each scene in a conflict or preparation for a coming conflict, big or small decide how to adjust a story so as to balance pacing, length, emotion and actions in scenes you have set.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Setting by What You See: Vision & space
In a novel called State of Grace, Joy Williams writes a setting like this:
“… And the ground never dries. The yard is rich mud with no definition between it and the riverbank. Tiny fish swim in the marks our feet make.
The trees are tall and always look wet as though they’d been dipped in grease. Many of them are magnolias and oaks. Pods, nuts and Spanish moss hang in wide festoons.
The river is the perfect representation of a Southern river, thin and blond, swampy, sloppy and warm. It is in everyone’s geography book. I was not shocked at all when
I saw it. I was not pleased, although it is quite pretty…”
This SETTING relies on What can be seen. Olmstead avers that only a storyteller who has, and is, as a sharps teller like Williams has an eye for SURROUNDINGS, and a DISCERNING language for the particular vision can write so distinctly or clearly. The “world” this writer describes is “oozing” and “shimmering”. The movement suggests a person’s gaze crossing a landscape, moving from ground, to the tress, to the river. Each descriptive sentence is TIGHT. Each begins the same way: “…The yard… is…, the trees are…, the river is ….” with simple verbs, relating simply what is seen, what is seen is. This description defines. The trees are defined: magnolias, oaks. ‘pods, ‘Nuts and
Spanish moss hang in wide festoons’. This programme developer is reminded of an almond tree in his compound at that time of the year when it sheds its dried broad leaves and they scatter far and wide in the wind beyond the foot of the tree itself into the neighbours’ compounds and onto the streets. In this kind of setting a writer shows confidence in
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how to perceive land and environment. In the end what is seen is not just physical but begins to embody an inner, spiritual dimension that gives a setting its peculiar character(istic) and magic and attraction.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
If you think you have followed this part of the Unit, do two things now:
1.
Choose a setting you know well, be it your yard at home, a part of Lagos lagoon near you, or the stretch of highway from Abuja
International Airport into the city centre, and describe it.
2.
Use a simile/metaphor to give a “push” to five descriptive phrases of your own: e.g. “The water is rotted, smelly…” With a
“push”- “The water is rotted, smelly like a lifeless pond where no fish can live”.
3.2
Setting by What You Hear: Sounds & Storms
In a collection of short stories by Obi B. Egbuna titled Emperor of the
Sea (London: Fontana Modern Novels. 1974), we read this setting.
“…Falilah suggested we went for a walk down to the creek. The moon was out… Falilah and I sat on a log of wood, all by ourselves in the silent stillness of the night… like two birds of the air… everything peace and in accord with nature… for about two hours, no word passed between us. She just sat there, in complete silence, staring at me, with a mysterious smile on her face… like a High
Priestess in a trance… her eyes burning right through me… I began to feel uncomfortable …tried to get up and tell her it was time to leave, but… it was as if an invisible force was holding me down….. Then, suddenly, Falilah said, ‘Can I trust you?’…”
And, from the book, The Fearful Void by Geoffrey Moorhouse, we read a setting:
“…It was a child, screaming in nightmare, which woke me. As I rose from the depths of my sleep, sluggishly, like a diver surfacing from the seabed, the corridors of the hotel echoed with those pealing, terrified cries. They poured over the balcony beyond my room and filled the courtyard beneath; they streamed out into the town which was cooling itself, ankle-deep in sand under a new moon, and they were lost, plaintively, among the low dunes
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scattered to the south and to the east. I reached consciousness to the dimmer sound of a father’s voice gentling the infact terrors away, and the night became stealthy with silence again …..”
In each we observe dramatic settings. Obi Egbuna’s is a novel/short story; Moorhouse’s is a travel book. Each main character is involved in night, a strange, exotic setting. We enter the experience of nightmarism and mesmerism with the tellers. Names are concretized – “Falilah”, “I”.
They do not know what lies ahead. Sound becomes silence, and silence sound. “Down to the creek…” “Moon was out,” “silent stillness of the night…”, “no word passed…” “…mysterious smile as a High Priestess in a trance” (Obi Egbuna’s). Then, “…cries poured… filled… was cooling… ankle-deep… scattered…” (Moorhouse’s). There is innocence in both Falilah and the child. Silence gains human attribution – the ability to move as a thief or as a High Priestess in a trance. In a gripping setting what you hear may be as tough as the silence you don’t seem to hear. That kind of paradox gives strength to the setting.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Take a setting like this: “The girl and I walked on in the silence, only hearing our breathing and the crunch of sand beneath our bare feet. Then suddenly, as if determined to jar us or separate us, an eerie wind as if driven by a thousand whistling pines crashed into us…” Continue with three other sentences.
3.3
Setting by Weather and Geology: An Environment
James Lee Burke has written, in a novel, In The Electric Mist With The
Confederate Dead, like this:
“…The sky had gone black at sunset, and the storm had churned inland from the Gulf and drenched New Iberia and littered East Main with leaves and tree branches from the longcanopy of oaks that covered the street from the old brick Post Office to the drawbridge over Bayon Teche at the edge of the town. The air was cool now, laced with light rain, heavy with the fecund smell of wet humus, night blooming jasmine, roses, and new bamboo…”.
Peter K. Palangyo of Tanzania has written in the novel, Dying in the
Sun, as follows:
“…She had weighed him down to the ground and she was running her hands over his short woolly hair, kissing his
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throat and chest with tears of joy, of life rediscovered, wetting his neck and chest. He surrendered himself with his arm around her repeating slowly and inaudibly, ‘yes, yes, my darling’… They lay there… Darkness was slowly closing in but one could still see the narrow pathway that meandered in its carelessness toward the destination they were not too impatient to reach. Birds were still singing, especially the evening dove, and grasshoppers were moving around noisily in the dry grass. A few herd boys were crying goodnight to each other across the valleys. A cow too was mooing because of its overloaded udder or because it missed its calves…. Kachawanga was strikingly quiet … with birds and grasshoppers singing their praise to God…”
In these extracts, weather and environment clearly give TEXTURE to setting, to story. Thunderstorms, blizzards, hurricanes, extreme heat or cold, the narrowness of the pathway of a place the author knows well, the meandering of the path, the movement and singing of grasshoppers in the dry grass, the valleys of cows and herd boys – all these
STRENGTHEN your setting.
Men and women live in weather and coldness or heat, in darkness and twilight everyday. Weather can enhance Mood. They travel together in a story. See how oblivious the lovers in Palangyo are: she “weighing him down…”, he “surrendering…”. Detail upon detail informs the reader about what lies beneath the ground, what other lives float around, “… birds singing …grasshoppers… noisily in dry grass…” Take note of the words which describe. “…churned… drenched… littered… cool… laced… light… heavy… face and wet… blooming…” in Burke; and “… weighed… running… short woolly hair… wetting… repeating inaudibly…” in Palangyo.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
1.
Make a list of as many words as you can which describe or evoke weather, dry or rainy.
2.
Where do you live in Nigeria? Follow any of the two patterns above and write about a storm, or a lovers’ meeting scene which is descriptive and evocative of place and emotion.
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CREATIVE WRITING I
Setting by Character: Environment & Personality
Here is how Asare Konadu in the novel, Ordained By Oracle, tells us of a man who would not sleep on a bed but rather preferred a mat on the floor because he complained that the bed was too soft.
“…This man was a farmer. He had lived through most of his life on his farm, sleeping as we are doing now (on a coarse mat on a floor). Sometimes he even slept on tree trunks when hunting. Now, he had some money and wanted to see Accra…”
“…To him it was like the Moslie man from the Republic of
Mali coming to Kumasi…
“…Yes, as the Moslie proverb goes, he who does not know
Kumasi has not seen heaven. But to him the heaven was
Accra. He booked into a hotel and at night when shown into his bedroom refused to sleep in the bed… He said any time he fell asleep he found himself in a deep, deep hole and he kept dropping through a bed of feathers which fluttered round him. So he rose and slept on the carpet on the floor. It was then he had a fine sleep”.
You can see here that Konadu gives this farmer an “interior” as well as an “exterior”, with his taste for a particular kind of sleeping comfort, and imagination of what could befall him otherwise. Here is set, a character who loves to balance rural life-time exposure with the
“heaven” of cities, and for whom only one city, Accra, holds out that taste of heaven. By the last sentence you see this character is set as a man of realism, set habits, a ‘traditional’ man, rugged – “slept on tree trunks when hunting…”; a kind of adventurer, now that he has made some money. You can see how the contrast provided, even speculatively, about Accra and Kumasi makes places, towns, to shape an image of this farmer for the reader.
4.0
CONCLUSION
This Unit has elaborated for you what setting relies on in a good, gripping story. You must know your imaginary places well, be they a road, a river, some bush, or forest; be they big or small, such as seeing all of a country, like Ghana from a small hotel room. Sounds and silences give texture and concreteness to setting. They create environment; food eaten, or being prepared; a marriage planned or hoped for as in Palangyo’s work, a sense of the eerie or extraordinary,
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even a dream as in Egbuna or Moorhouse. Setting gives flesh to both situation and environment.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this third Unit, you have been exposed to the characteristics of setting in a story. You have seen the range and variety of settings. Your
“vision”, in the things you can see physically as well as the things you can imagine expands through settings; what your ears can gather, “off” and “on” stage, as it were; the kinds of weather - stormy, calm, rough and unsteady, hot or cold give your setting of a story some substance.
You can now “see”, “hear”, and “create”!
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
Invent a diagram of your own in line with suggestion in 1.0
(Introduction) to illustrate “setting as a string of beads” (You may consult your Rosary! If you have or believe in one).
2.
Which writers seem to you to make “better” settings – Africans or non-Africans? What do you regard as “better” – vocabulary and diction, or descriptiveness?
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie.(1986) Writing-Down The Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story Press Books
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UNIT 4
STRUCTURE: PLOTS AND PLOTTING
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Are Plots Necessary?
3.2
Story Inside Story
3.3
Handling Conflicts
3.4
Action as Determiner
3.5
Description Inside Structure
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Since creative writing is purposeful work, just as we have purpose in everyday life, the story needs be solid, practical and ordered. That way writing becomes vital, clear, and good. There must be a pathway of travel in the story. Structuring the story is the key to shifting into the essentials of the human experience you wish to express. Structuring gives the writer a perspective. Structure builds together the elements of the story you want to tell. Disparate as trees, the sky, the moon, the stars may be, they are bonded in structure. Embedded in the structure are the plots and subplots. These fertilize the story. Structure helps generate the ideas. Structure itself is idea in itself too. By it you know where you are going. Your mind will be ‘leaping’, because structure is metaphor.
Structure is image. Structuring helps you to slowly grapple with the positions which the pillars and pins of your human tale must take.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
As the Introduction has tried to emphasize, STRUCTURE is the basis of all design and architecture therefore.
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
36
describe fully the “architectonics” of putting a story together determine why plots are necessary decide how to plot your work without making them mechanical list the many dimensions that make up a story determine the correct handling of the intricacies of story structure list many kinds of what is called “action” in the novel
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CREATIVE WRITING I
•
•
decide how to handle action ii fiction-writing decide how to use action or actions to project the fullness and significance of the story.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Are ‘Plots’ Necessary?
Once you have decided on what you are going to write about, which normally would be something you know, and you are to tell it in truth, remembering that truth is so vital that the Lord Jesus always pointed its importance by telling his listeners, “Verily, verily… I say unto you …”, you must settle to plot it out. You must be careful here. Life itself as we lead it is not quite a “plotted” thing. You plan a trip, yes, for instance.
You plan to have a family, true. But you do not set about these mechanically. Some very serious – and successful – writers have said in interview that they do not believe in plotting, because they see “plotting and the spontaneity of real creation” as incompatible. They believe that
“stories make themselves” and that the job of the writer is to give a story
“a place to grow”, and so merely “transcribe the stories”. The real truth of course is that even if stories are “relics” one “finds” in life, as
“fossils” are found by the geologist in the ground, the writer uses “tools” from a “toolbox” deliberately to shape them or present them intact to the world. How do you use your “tools”?
Your tools are used consciously because you have an aim and a direction in which you are moving. As in our tradition, the Elders used to admonish young girls newly married and learning to prepare pounded yam (foofoo) for their beloved husbands, “pound well, and you pound inside the mortar, but pound carelessly, and you’ll crush the bones of your thighs …”. A writer of a story is a pounder. The “pestle” and
“mortar” are tools. They must be used with care, caution and deliberateness, moving on in the direction of achieving the smoothest, most appetizingly edible pounded yam. The process is not just carried on “intuitively”. We go stage-by-stage, knowing when and how much water to add, when to turn the malleable powder in the mortar right or left, when to pick up the small knife and scrape off the bits of the foofoo from the pestle. Plotting a story is like using these necessary steps.
Therefore, do not think that those who reject plotting are altogether right. Indeed, it was the case that the earlier debate we referred to (see p.
… of…) on whether creative writing can or cannot be taught hinged on this argument about the necessity of plots. A famous successful writer like Stephen King, while seeming to distrust plotting, eventually spells out the inevitability of the need to plot a story when he asserts that:
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…..Plot is a big tool… it’s clumsy, mechanical, anti-creative…. plot is… the good writer’s last resort the dullard’s first choice. The story which results from it
(plot) is apt to feel artificial and laboured … lean more heavily on intuition… because my books tend to be based on SITUATION rather on STORY….
After this, he goes on to stress that the use of the “outline” and
“notebook” – filled CHARACTER NOTES may “enslave” or “liberate” a writer’s, even produce a good plotline in a story by a device called the
Edgar Wallace Plot Wheel. A good plot helps to sustain the interest of the reader in a novel.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1.
2.
3.2
How can the “plotting” of a story be a check on the absence of control which “intuition” alone could cause in the process?
Give two differences between “SITUATION” and “STORY”.
(See further in TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT below).
Story Inside Story
When you have plotted, that is, outlined your story well, got your intuition to be controlled, and remain controllable; you may wish to tell a “story” inside the main story. The problem is how you move with grace and smoothness into that second story.
Here is how a well-known novelist/creative writing teacher once illustrated the process.
“It was with those feelings that he heard the uncle’s suddenly Solemn voice. What was this voice? This tone?
What story?.
It was in the dark afternoon on a November day of sleet, told the uncle. We waited and we waited for Louetta to get home from her trip into town. The darker it got the scareder we got”.
What does a learner writer learn from such a beginning as this? The author of the story is a man called William Goyen.
Now, see, first, how he moves both reader and listener WITHIN THE
LARGER STORY. The movement is gradual; it is inexorable. It is as
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if things are sliding under water, falling under a spell. Robert Olmstead describes this first move as that as of the ‘solemn sound of the voice’.
Then the question, “What voice”?. Then a reference to TONE, then
“What story?”, and before any answer is forthcoming, the story commences. Yet we are not sure until we too are already under its spell and read the words, “TOLD THE UNCLE…”. The story, second story, has thus already ‘Begun’! The storyteller inside your story will sound different from the narrator, will be unique within the larger story.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Write down five phrases that describe a voice. For example, “His voice
(sounded like) metal on stone”.
3.3
Handling Conflicts
You need to know what “conflict” in creative writing really means, implies. Conflict is not simply disagreement. It is not simply the tug and pull of opposites.
Take this passage from the story “Two Stories” by Bret Lott. He writes, via the narrator:
“…I used to imagine it wasn’t the flu that killed my mother, but a broken heart at the death of her beloved.
But the truth of the matter was he’d moved into a logging shack a year before he’d broke his neck, and only showed up to our house at twilight on Saturday nights to have at my mother, then to attend church the next morning, his black hair slicked back and shining with pomade”.
Here, something is happening in a mind. A soul is troubled. That is the
“conflicted mind”. The writer lets you know and feel, through the narrator, the imaging of a broken heart.’ ‘the fact of flu,’ ‘the truth of abandonment,’ ‘the reality of a broken neck’ – all in four lines! The conflict occurs in a contentious mind, a mind that has to face up to the differences between imagination and truth. The author also reveals and explores the way the imagination can still operate in the face of what it knows to be a fact.
Let us take another example in which conflict is in the minds of the characters. Here is a passage from the story, “Living through the winter” by Mary Bush. It’s a telephone talk.
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“…He was ready to hang up when she answered
‘Hello? She said
He couldn’t move. The voice went through him like ice.
He could feel it even after she stopped speaking.
‘Hello’: She said again.
He heard noise in the background, the TV going, and a man saying,
‘who is it?’ over the sound of the TV.
‘Who is this? She said
He hung up the phone gently.
He sat there for a long time, dazed, not feeling a thing…”
See the conflict: someone, a man, a young boy, whoever intends to talk, to converse with some other person – a girl, a woman. He is intimidated, somehow. The scene is full of sound. Conflicting sounds – the ‘voice’ at other end of the phone which goes through him like ice’, TV set is going in the background, like a voice through ice. Then there is a man’s voice, booming, perhaps, with ‘who is it?’ and the girl or woman on this side repeating, ‘Who is this?’ You can see the conflicts and the thwarting of the caller’s intentions – ‘dazed’, ‘not feeling a thing – the conflicts lead to a defeat, according to writer Bush.
Conflicts can be created, especially in war situations, boxing arena settings, football pitches, or even in a classroom. They must indicate a direction to solving their tangling or to reveal a commitment or disengagement, a lack of interest, timidity or stubbornness.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Make two (2) lists for phrases, like (see the one from Lot’s story) “I used to imagine …” and a second list for phrases like “He was ready to…” (from the Bush story). Do five phrases for each:
e.g “I used to imagine (think) that girls are shy, but to tell you the truth…” (5 times)
e.g “He was ready to give up the effort, but just then his big brother showed…” (3times)
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CREATIVE WRITING I
Action as Determiner
A master of the art of how novels are structured, Dwight V. Swain has been quoted as asserting as follows: “That a story tells how a character overcomes obstacles on the way to an important goal” (Estrada &
Gallagher. 1999.47). The actions of characters, especially when in conflict or in unpressing opposing views, make a story. Estrada and
Gallagher affirm that a so-called story about “happy people, in a happy house, in a happy town, in a happy country, in a happy world” is NOT A
STORY. There must be obstacles to action, or action producing challenge to what someone would want to but then cannot do.
Characters are determined by actions. That is life. In a well-written novel (romance novel, for instance), Estrada and Gallagher insist that
“love, that most basic emotion that is part of every person on this planet hurt, anger, despair and betrayed must mingle with hope, doubt, anticipation, desire, fear, disloyalty, wishes and faith” (1999:48). Action in all these is determiner of conflict. Take this passage that Robert
Olmstead uses to show how action to interior’ determines characters, from the story, “Shed of Grace” by Melissa Pritchard.
“…I will not defend myself. I was experiencing..... revenge towards my sister. But I intended this familiarity to stop; I fully intended to control its limits.
Later, when he drove onto the dirt road which led to the graveyard, saying that he had left something, I knew that my revenge had conjoined with his and that we would very soon prove uncontrolled, weakly submissive to our instincts. He parked behind the white shed, leaving the door of the truck yawning open…”
See how the mutual ambitions of the Narrator (Sister) and the Husband
(of the first woman) to betray her become one. See the ‘action in the character’s interior – what Gabriel Okara calls the inside, in the second paragraph. The action takes place as ‘thought’ – so it is not told, it is not narrated – but the use of the first person narration style carries it. The first person narrator is in alliance with the reader, thus drawing him to immediately share potential action as completed action.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4
1.
41
List phrases that show a character expressing interior action. For example, “I was experiencing …”; “I know at once that …”; “I had planned…”
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2.
In the first two lines of the passage, the narrator-character explains her. Create a small movement where one of your characters does the same thing. For example, “…I was enjoying what was happening on a Lagos beach at Xmas…” You may further refer to the opening scene of Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero.
3.5
Description Inside Structure
In 3.4 we tried to show how action can drag the reader into the heart of a story when well told. We indicated that sometimes not all action is narrated, as Pritchard demonstrates.
Now we do not mean that describing a scene or describing narratively is not necessary. After all, a story must be told. We now want to refer here to the importance of description inside the story structure - remember we are still elaborating on the phenomenon of PLOT.
Stephen King asserts (2000:173) that description is what makes the reader a SENSORY PARTICIPANT in the story (emphasis mine). Good description is a skill one must learn. You learn it by reading a lot, and writing a lot. How much must one write? Just write. Don’t be like the young female lecturer who started writing a novel, describing characters and situations six times, and then discarded all, because she said each attempt made her “sound like Achebe”, but she wanted to be different!
How? Is Chimamanda not like an Achebe in Purple Hibiscus?
In description, you fist VISUALIZE what your reader is to experience; then you TRANSLATE that vision into words inside your story.
Description must be neither thin, nor too thick.
Let us examine Elechi Amadi’s The Slave, chapter 10:
“…Olumati felt vaguely happy and wondered why. Then he remembered he was due to occupy his new house in a few days’ time. The walls were now dry and smoothly scrubbed. So were the floor and sleeping mounds. What remained was the charcoal-and-chalk decoration on the front wall. It was not really necessary, but Aleru was insisting. His house, she said, should look right, whether he was worried or not…
…As usual, Aleru called in Adiba to help. Adiba was known to be good at putting on wall decorations. Some said she took after her brother in matters of skill. Like flood waters which always collected in the same places
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after rain, skill tended to reside in certain families…” (The
Slave. 1978.83).
Here, description consists in a few well chosen details –
Olumati’s new house, … walls now dry, smoothly scrubbed,…” remaining the “charcoal-and-chalk decoration on front wall…”. The skills of the Adiba family are like “flood waters… collecting in same places after rain…” Description here too is straight. Not too thin. Not too thick. It is also a set scene.
4.0
CONCLUSION
This unit has given you all the possible main guidelines to place of plot and description or narration inside a story. The main content is that a plot is as necessary to a story as arms and legs are to a total body.
Conflict, Action and Description are those limbs.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this fourth unit of module 1, we have dealt with structure in totality.
The human anatomy, for instance, without flesh, is a gathering of bones without beauty, dry and frighteningly white. When bones of an anatomy are covered with full flesh, there is beauty of form. Structure is the beauty of a story.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
What do you understand by the “architectonics” of story-telling?
2.
Give a brief description of the lounge of a modern fast food joint in a Nigerian city of your choice as prelude to a story on a festive occasion. 3.
Name ten novels you’ve read and find descriptions in them memorable. 7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie.(1986) Writing-Down The Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements Of The Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story
Press Books.
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UNIT 5
SOUND – THE RHYTHM OF PROSE AND
DIALOGUE FLOW
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Syntax & Rhetoric – is it Important?
3.2
Language of the Word, or the Word of the Language?
3.3
Dialogue
3.4
Rhythm and Voice
3.5
“Poetic” and “Prosaic” Language
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
The English language is not the African’s native tongue/language. Both as speaker and as writer of it therefore, the African must know the rules of correct usage of the language, though he may be doing his thinking in his indigenous idioms or thought – patterns. The creative writer who is
African therefore needs a particularly careful approach to the use of
English if he is to be a successful writer. He must be master of
GRAMMAR. There is ‘grammar’ in ‘conversational’ language, there is
‘grammar’ in reading, there is ‘grammar’ in writing. For us in Nigeria, in particular, one must notice there is a difference, somewhat, between
American and British grammar, just as in oral speech, there are differences. Many of us are confused. Despite the domination of the computer and information technology language/communication systems by the American, it is suggested here that as far as possible, the creative writer to be here sticks with the British for British grammar, says
Stephen King, is more “sturdy” than the American. Whether
Americanizing, or Anglicising, any way, you need to know that Bad grammar produces bad sentences. A good novel is always written in good sentences.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
44
determine the importance of exhibiting a good knowledge of syntax in your writing distinguish between complete and ‘incomplete’ sentences
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CREATIVE WRITING I
•
•
•
make language sound ‘pliable’ create good dialogue distinguish between ‘prosaic’ and ‘poetic’ language in the novel.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Syntax & Rhetoric – Is It Important?
Natalie Goldberg does three things to illustrate the centrality of good syntax for the writer who has a good ear for language, who knows all the parts of speech of English, who can distinguish between ‘nouns’ and
‘verbs’ and ‘articles’ and ‘conjunctions’. To the writer, the good writer, words in English are not simply wooden blocks to be moved around at random. As the mind is always trying to construct a meaning, so the words must be arranged to make sense (see unit 7). To adapt the first example of the three which Natalie Goldberg uses, let us write, like this:
1.
“…I can’t write because I’m a bucket of water and my mouth goes dry and there’s nothing to say and I’d rather drink water from a cup…”
Now, if every word was equal to the other, and there was no ordering of words, and your mind cannot construct anything, you’ll have to repeat the words, something like this
2.
“Write I’m an mouth rather water say drink and nothing dry I an write say and my goes drink cup I’m an write I nothing say goes can’t because nothing cup I’d dry to and say water rather my bucket nothing there’s say.
Or, she suggests, now put in some full stops, a question mark or two, an exclamation mark, colons, or semi-colons. Do that anyhow, without thought. Don’t try to make sense. Have fun.
3.
“… Write I’m an mouth rather water. Say drink and nothing dry!
I am write rather say and; my goes drink cup because an there’s.
I’d to dry goes write can’t. Cup my bucket nothing. Rather to my water…” Here, you see clearly that the English language, British or American
(and therefore, any other brand – Nigerian – others African, Australian or Canadian) needs to be locked into a sentence – syntax of this formula:
S – V – (O) that is Subject – Verb – Object (direct or indirect). So, sentences come out as, “I see the bird” – or “Okon killed the goat”, where a “subject” acts on an object, where “I” or “Okon” is the centre of the universe. The way we think, in sentences, is the way we see.
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Philosophically, for the writer, there is a two-way traffic. “I see the bird”
– but the “bird ‘sees’ me” too “Okon killed the goat, - but the goat has an effect on him too. This philosophy, opened up, is the spread of perception, along the slide of language, for writer and reader! Natalie
Goldberg rightly insists that “the more you are aware of the syntax you move, see, and write in, the better CONTROL you have and the more you can step out of it when you need to… breaking open syntax, you often get closer to the truth of what you need to say” (Goldberg:63).
Nouns and verbs remain the “two indispensable parts of writing”; They make subject and predicate, beginning with a capital letter, and ending with a full-stop, they combine to make a COMPLETE THOUGHT which starts in the writer’s head and then “leaps to the reader’s”.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1.
2.
Name all the parts of speech in English that you know.
How important to good grammar is syntax?
3.2
Language of the Word, or the Word of the Language?
As we have seen from the section on the place and significance of syntax – that is that ordered arrangement of words in a sentence to create sense, feeling, and total meaning – words are the key to basic thinking for the creative writer. There’s the “tale” told about James
Joyce, the famous Anglo-Irish novelist who authored Ulysses and
Finnegan’s Wake, monuments of word-craft in 20thc novel-writing.
Joyce had spent a whole day in his study, supposedly writing chapter of the novel, Ulysses. Later in the day, his friend and biographer, Stuart
Gilbert, came to see him. Joyce, the story goes, looked all wan and exhausted from his exertions. Gilbert asked how many chapters Joyce had written that day. The reply was short, shocking but insightful and significant – “one word”, Joyce is said to have replied, “One word, all day?” Gilbert couldn’t believe it. “One word”, Joyce repeated, and fell silent. The “language” which a “word” speaks, then, in any good writing, tells tales and is far-reaching. Because the writer must have the ear, the mind
(intellect) and the skill, to select and select the most fitting, fitting to character, situation, plot and overall meaning!
For instance, Stephen King illustrates, emphasizing the need for brevity in style, and accuracy in choice of words, that there are two types of verbs: ACTIVE and PASSIVE, where the first does something, while with the second is being done to the subject of the sentence. “YOU
SHOULD AVOID THE PASSIVE TENSES”, because everything about
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its use is passive, unresponsive, weak, circuitous, tortuous and cold, like lawyers; Torts language!! King says, and one must agree. Write:
1.
“Freddy and Myra carried the body out of the kitchen…”
Not “The body was carried from the kitchen by Freddy and
Myra…”
2.
“The meetings is at seven…”.
Not “The meeting will be held at seven o’clock…”
3.
“My romance with Shayna began with our first kiss.”.
Not “My first kiss will always by recalled by me as how my romance with Shayna was begun!..”
4.
“The writer threw the rope…”.
Not “The rope was thrown by the writer…”
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
1.
Make three sentences using the passive tense, and another three using the active form of the verb.
2.
Give three reasons for preferring your active sentences.
3.3
Dialogue
We are still focusing on sound in the prose of the novel you are to be taught to write. Dialogue, well written, can flow, can carry humour and entertainment; can be poignant; can give insight into the colour of the soul of your characters; can not only tell the story, but also move the telling along, propel it, dig into the forward-moving action. It is important to let you know that “dialogue” is not “conversation”. Lynn
Emery asserts that “…conversations ramble on with lots of digressions.
In fiction, dialogue …serves a purpose – to increase tension, share information with the reader … move the plot along…” (Estrada: 85). So, there are four purposes of good dialogue:
(i)
to reveal information about the characters and their backgrounds, or supply back story
(ii)
to increase tension
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(iii)
to move the story forward
(iv)
to show character motivation, growth, perspective, emotion.
(Estrada.86)
Let us use Estrada and Gallagher’s illustration to show how these four purposes can be achieved.
First, a man and a woman meet. They start to “dialogue” as follows:
“You want to marry me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because I’m thinking’ we get on well together.”
“And that’s a basis for a lifetime of wedded bliss?”
“Yes, ma’am”
Here, there is a bit of characterization – the woman is a bit resistant.
There’s a bit of plot – there is a proposed marriage. But there is no description of the characters or their actions.
Now, let’s see what happens when there is some narrative, some description: Angela’s hand stilled on the tea pitcher. She stared at the man who sat on her new leather couch as if he owned it himself. As if he already belonged there.
“You want to marry me?”
“Yes, ma’am”, he said, his green eyes full of fun and mischief.
He was as handsome as always and twice as unreliable as he used to be.
Some things never changed; Rand Martin was one of those things. Her hands shook as she poured tea into a glass and filled it with ice cubes.
She couldn’t think of one logical reason for this madness.
With a voice as calm as she could make it under the circumstances, she asked the question that popped into her befuddled mind. “Why would you want to do that?”
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“Because I’m thinking’ we get on well together”. She blinked several times, absorbing his words but not really understanding his meaning.
“And that’s a basis for a lifetime of wedded bliss?”
He looked surprised at her question. “Yes ma’am.”
Here, the dialogue is unchanged. But elements of narration and description have added more to the scene – the setting is clear; the characters now have names; it is clear why the woman is resisting; she is nervous because she is attracted to the handsome Rand Martin, though he seems unreliable.
The four purposes must combine to flesh out all the robustness of the novel, build tension, show the characters’ characters (inside) and advance the story by a known pace to the resolution.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
1.
Do the man and woman speak similar dialogue?
2.
How does the “external” balance the “inside” of a character once dialogue opens?
3.4
Rhythm and Voice
Must a writer always write complete sentence each and every time?
Stephen King gives us an appropriate answer. “If your work”, he says,
“consists only of fragments and floating clauses, the Grammar Police aren’t going to come and take you away. Even William Strunk, that
Musolini of rhetoric, recognized the delicious pliability of language. ‘It is an old observation’, he writes, ‘that the best writers sometimes disregard the rules of rhetoric’. Yet he goes on to add this thought, which I urge you to consider: ‘Unless he is certain of doing well, [the writer] will probably do best to follow the rules’… If you don’t have a rudimentary grasp of how the parts of speech translate into coherent sentences, how can you be certain your are doing well? There is a comforting simplicity at the heart of the rudiments of grammar, where there need be only nouns, the words that name, and verbs, the words that act.”
In other words the rhythm and voice of the writer’s creation are embedded in an effective use of correct language. For example, “Rocks explode!”; “The Broadcaster transmits!; “McCrimon urges in Writing with a Purpose.
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3.5
CREATIVE WRITING I
“Poetic” And “Prosaic” Language
It is in the need to create, with correct, sharp sentences, and clothe up word with unusual meaning that the writer creates “poetry” and/or
“prose”. Especially, if the voice on the particular subject is expressing a deeply felt, urgent message from the heart, the passion-filled heart of a speaker. The language, for instance, of most of Martin Luther King Jnr’s speeches in the pursuit of human rights and equality of status for black people in America in the 1960’s; the speeches of Winston Churchill urging Britain on to war against a tyrannical Hitler; or the speeches of
Dr. Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe baiting the colonial masters of Nigeria in the years, 1934-1964. Even the language patterns created by today’s
Pentecostal pastors in their prayer and devotional daily manuals, one can see “poise” and “poetry” flowing together. This example may suffice; it is a prayer from Rev. (Dr.) Chris Kwakpovwe’s Our daily manna
Devotional booklet. Observe the rhetorical patterns, balances of associated sounds and phrases:
“This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it! Today, I declare and confess… all spiritual blessings…. I boldly declare… and dwell… I believe and I declare no evil, no plague ... can come near my dwelling… I believe and I declare that I shall not die, but live… Today … the Lord is my helper… Today is shall not waste my destiny… Today I declare and I declare the
Lord is my banner… Today, I hear the sound of … rain…
4.0
CONCLUSION
From the main content, it is clear that good, clear language is at the root of good, winsome writing. One does not have to be a musician to plant music into the language of a story in a novel. Emphases on selected words, each sweetened as roasted groundnut, to modify an old Irish playwright’s summary of it, will see the vision of an author gain a place on the shelf of classics.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, we have underscored and illustrated the major objectives of language usage when “prose” becomes “poetry” as the author opens his heart, whether it is in a persuasive public speech of a character, or it is in the impassioned prayer language of a devotee in the privacy of his church premises.
We’ve seen that language needs to be “pliable” – syntactically coherent and grammatically “sturdy”.
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We’ve seen how to use sentences with active verbs. So that our language ‘marches’ like a soldier in a parade, not lilt along like a wounded snake through dry grass.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
Use a good library to search out a speech from one of Martin
Luther King Jnr. of America, Sir Winston Churchill of Britain, and Dr. Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Africa, and note five language qualities of the speeches.
2.
Write a sample “speech” for a male or female character in a novel you propose to write on the consequences of exam malpractice in a tertiary institution. (See the example of Camillus Lekah’s when the wind blows).
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
See as for numbers 1 and 2 in Unit 1.
Political speeches from various sources of excellent public speakers like: America’s Malcolm X
America’s Martin Luther King, Jnr.
Nigeria’s Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, President, Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
Prayer Devotionals by top class world Evangelical Preachers such as
Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai, Rev. Dr. Chris Kwakpovwe, Reinhardt
Bonke and others.
Winston (Sir) Churchill, war-time leader of Great Britain.
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UNIT 6
CHARACTERISATION (WITH SYMBOLS AND
IMAGES)
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1 Building the Character
3.2 Character and Life
3.3 Characters as Symbols and Images
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
A novel is like a rich forest upon which human beings depend for its wealth of crop trees. The crop trees are tall oaks, deciduous and evergreen Iroko; fruit – bearing mangoes; or pear trees. The edge of the forest may be lined with climbing shrubs even sweet-smelling flower shrubs. There may even be a few tall palms – oil palms, coconut palms, date palms at the edge of the forest. Characters, men, women, children; professionals, from domestic servants, vehicle drivers, artisans, to royalty and rulers, politicians, dictators, emperors, presidents and kings occupy places at the edge, in the middle or dead-centre of the book – characters are the ‘trees’ of the novel. They have to be tall enough to be remembered; fat enough to hold certain ground; intelligent or foolish, or wicked or kind enough to move and be moved in the ‘world’ of the story being told; in the ‘universe’ of the story. Who does not recall
Achebe’s Okonkwo? Who has forgotten Elechi Amadi’s ‘Concubine’
Ifeoma? Who does not relish Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Sailor’ and even the
‘Sea’ which though watery, lives with the old man’s medal as a lively, concrete, creature? Indeed, it is in characterisation that the writer readily becomes a creator and a style maker. Ezeulu in Chinua Achebe’s
Arrow of God, for example, is so gripping in attention that the reader and interpreter of the soul of the story of a collapsing civilization can no longer even remember that he was just an ‘illiterate’ high priest of a god of a tribal setting battling the ‘civilized’ giants of a cultured and colonizing religion and commerce-driven empire! When a character is that good, the reader suspends disbelief! Real ‘drama’ resides in the character. 52
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CREATIVE WRITING I
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
create or build a character in fiction create characters based on life experiences or and the imagination alone detect the difference between character in non-fiction and character in fiction (Olmstead 14-15; Goldberg, 143;) determine what makes a character real in a real world discuss the meaning of appearance in a character determine the position of both hero and heroine – in the mesh of action called conflict discuss the development or growth of a character in fiction infuse proper motivation for your characters, whether they are protagonist or antagonist (adversary).
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Building the Character
Society is made up of a range of people. In some the people are said to be in “classes” – poor and working class; rich and leisured; they live in the countryside or cities and urban conglomerates; they work in farms or in factories. In a work of fiction, the writer draws from this range of people. The characters, that is, the personages of the action in the story, like the crop trees of a rich forest, must be built, constructed, made rich, richer, than ordinary mundane life-living people in everyday society.
Stephen King says “…the job (that is of building the character) boils down to two things; paying attention to how real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see. You may notice that your next-door neighbour picks his nose when he thinks no one is looking. This is a great detail, but noting it does you no good as a writer unless you’re willing to dump it into a story at some point” (King.189).
Let us take one illustration. Aubrey Kachingwe of Malawi (born 1926) has written a novel, No Easy Task.
“Briefly, the novel tells the story of Jo Jozeni, son of a village pastor. Jo is offered a job on a newspaper in Kawacha, the capital of a British colony in Central Africa. Although his roots are in the country, Jo gradually takes to life in the city; and through his colleagues becomes involved in politics, though always remaining a little outside the ‘inner circles’ suddenly his attitude changes: at a political rally… it is his own gentle, retiring father who emerges as a hard, and determined political fighter. Jo is faced with a difficult choice: should he identify himself
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with his father? Or take the line of least resistance, marry his girl, and settle down? Or look for something else out of life?”
I have quoted the blurb on the Heinemann African Writers Series, editorially advised by Chinua Achebe, word for word. That gives you the setting. That gives you the environment. To see how Jo Jozeni’s character is built up and merged into the circumstances in which he must make his choice, let us look at the very opening of the novel:
“I’m sorry, man. We can’t take any more passengers in the bus. It’s full”, the conductor said. He started to close the door.
“Can’t you squeeze me in, please?” I pleaded. “I have only this small suitcase. That’s all”.
“I can’t take any more”, he said firmly.” The traffic patrolmen are very strict these days. You want me to lose my job?”
He rang the bell.
“This is the last country bus for today, and I have been standing here waiting for it in this hot sun for over one hour”, I said, half to myself, “surely, you can’t leave me?” I dropped my suitcase and clung to the rails of the door of the bus. The conductor pushed me off and I almost fell under the wheels as it started to move. My suitcase was run over but I was luckier.
I stood up, dusted myself, and looked at the suitcase. It had been flattened out of shape, and was gaping half open. A little dust had got inside. It made me bitter to think that I would have to walk three miles back to the school at Makwasa, and possibly spend the night alone in an empty classroom. The place was empty now because the school was closed. I had just been there to see the principal about getting me scholarship to
England, but he had promised nothing. Now I was returning to my father at Bangwe, a little mission station thirty miles farther in the interior. I did not like to go back to that school even for a night. The principal would probably tell me to go away. Reverend John Webb and I never got on well, although he was the missionary in charge of all this area,
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including Bangwe where my father was the parish priest, and had thus known my parents years. Lately he had been my principal. Perhaps we knew each other too well.
Suddenly, I heard a car hoot. Shaken, I jumped off the road. The car pulled up, and the two men inside it laughed heartily.
I recognized the one driving. “I am very sorry for blocking the road, Mr
Dube”, I said apologetically.
“One should expect that sort of behaviour on a country road”, he said without anger. “But you are educated, Jo, and ought to know how to conduct yourself on a highway.” “I am sorry, Sir, I repeated.
“That’s all right. Jo. Only don’t do it again,” he said.
“Now, why are you here?”
“I am going to Bangwe – I was going – but the bus has left me behind,” I said. “There was no room”
“I am going there; can I give you a lift?”
“If you can, Sir, most grateful”.
“Take your bag and come in,” he said. He turned to his friend. This is Jo, the son of the Reverend Josiah Jozeni.”
“And this gentleman. Jo” he said to me, “is Mr. Zake
Lukani, a great friend of mine. We are both going to see the old man. Make yourself comfortable”
I shook hands with Mr. Zake Lukani as the car started to move…
Dan Dube was the first African to be a municipal councillor on the white-only Kawacha Town Council… an outstanding businessman and clever politician… tall and broad, at forty-five … respectably handsome… I never understood how the mysterious Dan Dube and my father were such good friends… my father was over sixty, and, because of poverty and hard work, looked much older than his age… laughed seldom, and outside his clerical work… had no ambitions. Yet the two were good friends.
(Kachingwe: No Easy Task. 1966.1-3).
In this tightly-knit, economical writing, you can see how the characters of Jo Jozeni, Dan Dube, Reverend Josiah Jozeni, Mr. Lukani, and even
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Reverend Webb have, with deft touches, been made to stand as the trees in this forest of a story!
The rest of the novel develops details that tell the reader of poverty, ambitions, politics, beliefs, views and conditions that move society.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1.
Point out how you see character build-up here.
2.
What “traits”, from the bus conductor to Dan Dube’s offer of a lift to Jo, tell you that Jo will have “no easy task”?
3.
Use a Dictionary to see how many meanings “trait” has.
3.2
Character and Life
The big question is, “Are the characters in fiction drawn directly from life?” If they are, why then do writers often disclaim the fact when they write, ‘… any resemblance to any living person here is purely coincidental and unintended … characters here are all imagined …’.
If novels are about life, if they are about society as men and women and children and families and communities, share experiences in a context, then the characters must reflect life, must come out of society.
Natalie Goldberg says, if fictional characters must do this, that is reflecting life; come out of society, the writer must follow the old adage.
“Don’t tell, but show” – that is, “don’t tell us about anger – or any of those big words like ‘honesty’, ‘truth’, ‘love’, ‘sorrow’, ‘life’, ‘justice’ – show the reader the situation “in which the character brings out the particular feeling or embodied idea. Let the character live sharp and clear and be the concrete picture you describe. For instance you can write about the nature of life from observing the birth of a child in a modern hospital: just describe WHAT you see: the mother’s face … the rush of energy as the baby finally enters the world with a piercing cry, after the nurses have urged and/or bullied the woman in her several attempts at “pushing”, the husband breathing with his wife… the reader will see characters illustrating the nature of life.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
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1.
Recall a number of “life-situations” in Nigeria, such as a traffic jam, a scuffle between two children retiring from school and struggling to pick mangoes, and do two – three sentences
“showing” of the characters involved.
2.
Describe one breath-taking incident you’ve ever experienced in no more than a paragraph.
3.3
Characters as Symbols and Images
You may wish to write an allegory, or a parable. In such seeming
“fantasy” writing, your characters are “abstract” objects personified. In
John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, in many Biblical “stories” which
Jesus used to illustrate facts and rules of life, the characters were not always “persons” as we normally think of them. Instead you may want to focus on the things around you that make you ask whether life is worth living or not, things like crime, poverty, injustice, death; or the
“things” inside each one of us, things like frustration, boredom, despair, and turn them into “living” characters. Read carefully the parable of
Jesus at Mark 4:1-10, 13-20, and you will see how an abstract of
“farmer” (“Sower”), “Seeds” on “path”, on “rocky places”, or “thorny ground”, and on “good soil” translate from abstractions to concrete features of life in “the word” of God among various experiences of people – with Satan, with superficial attitudes, with succumbing to deceits and temptations. In the end, “sower”, “seed” and “soil” become lively characters.
To further clarify how abstract, symbolic characters may be understood and created, let us look at a contrast: realistic characters created in action. Remember that all your characters are in a setting, have voices, have beliefs and concerns in their environment, do develop and evolve.
‘Abstract’ characters tend to be fixed in a situation where they exist to illustrate some idea or belief. Now, real-life characters are real.
Let us take an example of a character really created by “showing” her actions, in the famous American novel. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott
Fitzgerald, as Robert Olmstead illustrates it.
“…The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise – she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression – then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.
“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness”
She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face,
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promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker.
(I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.”
Here is a character, real, with a name; you come to know her from
WHAT she is doing: - “attempts to rise, “leans”… “laughs”…
“speaks”…
“laughs again”…” “hold hands”… looks”…”promises”…”hints”…”murmurs”…. Each action affects the story-teller because, he in turn, “…leans”, “laughs,” “listens”, “holds” her hands. Behaviour and appearance here help to further concretize the character. It is not like that in the abstract characters of the parable or allegory. SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
1.
Make a list of your own of as many movements as you can which you think a person could make to display ‘character’
2.
One character’s series of actions observed by another do affect that observer. Now, take these examples:
a)
“Ugo was crying and I started to cry too”
b)
“Nkwekwe tossed the bone in the air and the dog leapt and grabbed it in its snout”
c)
“Esther leaned toward me and I learned away”
Using one of these, develop a short scene between two characters.
4.0
CONCLUSION
Character and character creation are a big challenge to the writer. He has to build them; he has to take them from life, but not brazenly or carelessly; he has to balance various aspects and observe and use the least detail, provide them with believable motivations, or even make them abstract. Characterization produces excellent story.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4
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Do you agree that characters are the tall trees that populate the forest that a good novel is?
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, characterization, we have set facts about character-making in fiction concretely out for you:
•
Characters must be well-drawn to become memorable.
•
A notable character can be made out of any kind of social type.
•
Characters are built, develop, and are not still-pictures, but mobile and dynamic in their actions and words.
•
Characters come from real world and life around the author, not just from imagination.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
What do you understand by the expression “Reader suspends disbelief when a character is good”? (See ‘introduction above)
2.
Do African stories differ from American or other non-African ones? In what concrete ways?
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie.(1986). Writing-Down The Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story Press Books.
Bunyan, John. The Pilgrim’s Progress.
“Ecclesiastes” in the KJV of the Bible.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby.
Kachingwe, Aubrey. No Easy Task. London: Heinemann, 19
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UNIT 7
SENSE AS TOTAL MEANING, IMPORT AND
MESSAGE
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Reality and Illusion
3.2
Chronology and Chronicle
3.3
Endings and Import
3.4
Revisions and Corrections
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In the novel, as in any other branch of the creative language arts, one must agree with Stephen King that “…the business of meaning is a very big deal. If you doubt it, think of all the times you’ve heard someone say
‘I just can’t describe it’, or ‘That isn’t what I mean’…”
If you believe that then you know that meaning is central. As it is, then remember what has been said about the word. The word is a representation of meaning; for, even at its best, writing almost always
“falls short of full meaning” (King 118). In this unit, full meaning of a creative work is the total, overall sense which it conveys at the end of it all. Words must be appropriate. The vocabulary must be fitting, suitable, not dressed up, nor pretentious, or bombastic. Meaning is not necessarily destroyed with “big” vocabulary however, or with “simpler” vocabulary. The word just has to be appropriate. Let us take some examples: 1.
When I was a young secondary school student we used to make a joke of Psalm 23. Psalm 23 goes, in the KJV (King James
Version) Bible, as follows:
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
He leadeth me beside the still waters
He restoreth my soul
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Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I shall fear no evil.
Note the impeccable, irreplaceable “simple” words employed here. The
Bible, as had been said often, is the classic of “simple” deep language…
We, as students, changed that simple vocabulary in order to let Psalm 23 read like this:
The Deity is my pastor, I shall not be indigent!
He causes me to repose in verdant lawns
He conducts me by the quiescent pools…
Yeah! Though I perambulate diametrically via glens of Sepulchral dormitory,
I shall not be perturbed by any apparent catastrophe…
Clearly, our schoolboy version [in which “the Lord” becomes “the
Deity” and “Shepherd” becomes “pastor”, and “to lie down in green pasture” becomes “reposing in verdant lawns…” and “walking through the valley of the shadow of death” becomes “perambulating dametrically via glens of sepulchral dormitory”] [as in italics above] is inslubrious, even ludicrous. Stephen King has a joke from George Carlin which spells out the inappropriateness of such: says Carlin, “…in some company it’s perfectly all right to prick your finger, but very bad form to finger your prick (King:118). Sense depends to a large extent on the word. 2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
choose the right words and vocabulary that make total meaning pleasurable • adopt methods of re-vision and re-writing that would ensure a perfect work • determine when to present a real or illusionary meanings
• discuss the importance of the final message of a novel.
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3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Reality and Illusion
Meanings in a work of art may be calculated to create a feeling that the word, the universe is a concrete reality, or is a fantasy, an illusion. The classic example of illusion Alice in Wonderland by “Lewis
Carroll” (Charles) Lutwidge Dodgson). Alice in Wonderland (1865) and through his Looking-Glass (1871) says George, Sampson, “originating in stories told to little girls, have become enduring parts of English
“nonsense literature” (Sampson. 604). The illusions appeals to all ages of readers, whereas by contrast, the novels of Daniel Defoe about low class people are known in literature as “supreme realistic pictures of low life. Moll Flanders (abbreviated). The effort by a writer to create truthful reality can be found in the very character of the writer himself.
For example, here is how George Sampson summarizes the life of
Daniel Defoe (1659-1731).
Defoe’s life and work (total meaning) defy summary. A few general considerations will help us to understand him. Like Dickens … he was highly endowed with the “experiencing nature”. Nothing was too small to escape his notice; nothing was too large to fit into his comprehension. His curiosity was insatiable, and he knew how to turn the smallest detail to literary account. To write was as natural to him as to breathe. He made fiction seen like truth and truth seen like fiction. Neither his mind nor his character can be called lofty; yet his gifts were many and various. He was the perfect journalist. He could write on anything or nothing…
(Sampson: 378)
We are urging you here, as a creative writer to be, as a creative writer whose works will make total sense, present a message and have import, you need to emulate Defoe: be able to “experience” nature; be able to observe the minutest details in life around you – e.g. the small ants carrying a dead huge grasshopper, rolling the carcass along, to their hole-home to prepare to feast during the rainy days, be insatiably curious; breathe writing, eat writing;
In the case of Defoe, realism even took a turn in the full titles of his novels. The one we call Moll Flanders is a novel fully, humorously, titled: 62
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The FORTUNES and MISFORTUNES of the famous MOLL FLANDERS who was born in NEWGATE PRISON and during a life of – continu’d variety for Threescore Years… was Twelve Years a Whore, five times a wife
(whereof one to her own brother) Twelve Year a ThiefEight Years a Transported Felon in Virginia at last grew Rich, liv’d Honest and died a Penitent, written from her own Memorandums.
Defoe, even in the title of Moll Flanders wanted to take Realism to the extremity of truth in order to show how faithfully his writing reflected true life.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1.
Write out five instances where you have “experienced nature”
2.
Can you use any one of the five above to provide a concise title for a possible novel?
3.
Name any writer you have found realistic” and any you have found illusionistic in Africa.
3.2
Chronology and Chronicle
The achievement of a good overall meaning – ‘Sense’ – in a novel can also come from the way a writer has handled and touched up what
Estrada calls “Time Line” in a work that has been written over and over again. Time line or chronology helps you re-set and set the ‘vision’. The time span within which a story takes place, the manner the writer ties up all loose ends, show how well the goal of meaning overall has been attained. A story is not mere ‘chronicle’ – Rita Clay Estrada and Rita
Gallagher have suggested, appropriately, that the writer may do well to follow a story “worksheet” all through the period of writing so that a total senseful story can emerge. A meaningful story is a story that has remained ‘on track’, so to speak. You may need to keep the worksheet
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in your computer, to fill the blanks with as much information as you need. A good worksheet will show you, they say, “how neatly your mind connects the dots to a better plot, character and, consequently, the book”. Here is a modified chronology/chronicle story checklist worksheet: NAME OF STORY:
PREMISE:
STORY GOAL:
i.
Lesson goal
ii.
Any holidays (break)
FEMALE CHARACTER NAME
i.
Any story behind it?
ii
Physical Description:
iii.
Tags:
iv.
Her Goal:
v.
Personality Quirk
vi.
Growth Area:
vii
Her Hobby:
viii
Her Career:
MALE CHARACTER NAME
Any story behind it?
Physical description:
Tags:
His Goal:
Personality Quirk:
Growth Area:
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His Hobby:
His Career:
1.
Friend/Relative
Any story behind it?
Physical description:
Tags:
Quirk/Habits:
Purpose/Goal
Revelation of conflict during first meeting
Important relation of conflict during other meetings
Twist of thoughts
Dark period
Revelation of right or wrong
Who?
Why?
Adversary other than person
Overall time line
Resolution
(Estrada & Gallagher, 109-111).
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
1.
Provide a Time Line for an imaginary story titled “Uju buys her first book “or” Kola visits Coca-Cola factory”.
2.
Give ten reasons why a novel needs to be revised for fullest meaning to stand out.
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CREATIVE WRITING I
Endings and Import
Every novel has a theme. Some writers regard them as the “most sacred of sacred cows” (King; 200). “If”, King asserts, “you write a novel, spend weeks and then months catching it word by word, you owe it both to the book and to yourself to lean back… when you have finished and ask yourself why you bothered – why you spent all that time, why it seemed so important … what is it all about…”
Here, let us take you back to the forest comparison. The characters, we said, the actions, the thoughts, the conflicts are analogous to “trees” in the forest. When you finish, you have to step back, as a good portrait painter would, or as a good mathematician seeking to gain a perspective on the diagram of the theorem on the blackboard he wants to prove, you step back and look at the forest. Your novel may not have too much symbolism, or ironies, or musical flow of language – prose - , but the book is about something. What is that ‘some – thing’? Look at the chapters, one by one, see how the characters are linked (remember your worksheet in 3.2?) – how good, or bad, or ugly those personages you created are, what concerns they share – same tribes, same professions, differences in a civil war situation, such as Nigeria has had; in a postcolonial setting as much of Africa has known. How did you envision a final import of your massage? Refer to Ayi Kwei Armah’s The
Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, or the U.S.A based Why Are We So
Blest? Or, look again at Yaw Boateng’s The Return. You will see where characters come to a dead end, where they must tell a lie to survive, even in the squalor of slums, where they love, as Seku Wattara loves the beautiful Mbinge exclusively; what the slave trade that ravaged Africa
(and is still ravaging?) did. Your novel must create a “world” – violence, terrorism, human error, pride, ambitions, people who cheat, who betray others in marriage, in politics and who “serve God”, even as Rev. King, must be made to carry meaning, even as the children of Israel worshipped, to their peril, the Aaronic Golden Calf while Moses was away on Sinai obtaining life-giving divine laws for them. Your novel’s world may conclude that there’s only a thin line between reality and fantasy (Go back to 3.1 above). King says, “… once your basic story is on paper, you need to think about WHAT it means …” (King 208).
3.4
Revisions and Corrections
Hints have already been given about how necessary it is to look back at what one had written. At this point we want to focus on actual revisions and corrections specific. Many drafts of a work are made as the writer tries to tune and re-tune, but basically there should be two drafts: one original and a polished version. King has asserted as follows: “…rewriting varies from writer to writer… Kurt Vonnegut, for example,
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rewrote each page of his novels until he got them exactly the way he wanted them. The result was days when he might only manage a page or two of finished copy; but when the manuscript was finished, the book was finished…” (King. 209).
There is one inescapable truth about revising or proof-reading, or previewing a work. The author will always see or hear only that which he/she originally had in mind. So, you need a second reader, a more objective, dispassionate person, someone who can detect an error, a goof, and loudly and clearly and unflinchingly points it out but without humiliating the writer or beating him/her over the head with a club of criticism! The story is told of America’s famous suspense – master.
Alfred Hitchcock as follows:
“…Not long after finishing psycho, Hitchcock screened it for a few friends. They raved about it, declaring it to be a suspense masterpiece. Alma (Hitchcock’s wife) was quiet until they’d all had their say, then she spoke very firmly:
“You can’t send it out like that”.
“There was thunder struck silence, except for Hitchcock himself, who only asked why not. ‘Because,’ his wife responded, ‘Janet Leigh swallows when she’s supposed to be reading”.
“It was true. Hitchcock didn’t argue …”. A second reader will look at the subject – matter also. We are aiming to obtain overall solid meaning.
Many times it is this reader who sort of tells the writer who has just finished a novel, …” blow your nose, Sir” as an intimate family member would tell the Dad, as he comes out of the toilet with his flap unzipped.
There’s the reader who must be a critic, not a friend. He is unbiased, and correct factual errors. Like when this programme developer was completing his novel, The Court-martial, he had to consult his friend,
Major Gbulie, to have facts about guns, about procedures, and protocols in a case of actual court-martial (trial) corrected. Chinua Achebe tells of how some critics object to his tone of English in Arrow of God, and he has a sample of how he would re-write it. If he agreed to the suggestion, the novel would ‘sound’ but wouldn’t be his style. So, watch the suggestions of your critics/revisers. They may not always be the answer.
Some opinions, you see, do not carry weight. Just never forget that there is always an Ideal Reader who will enjoy all your writings and see the total meaning the way it is presented.
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CREATIVE WRITING I
CONCLUSION
The total import, meaning or message of a novel is a complex thing. It requires many inputs to establish it – author, critical readers, correctors, and rewriters. Whether specifically true – to – life to the last detail, as those 17th and 18th c. English novelists are as culturally relevant as the
Achebes and Boatengs of Africa, realism and illusion have a place in the final meaning of a prose work of art. The author needs possess a listening ear and a cool head. The impact of the finished work may well be the result of their combination.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Study again the life of Defoe. How does personality inform writing styles and finishes?
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, we have touched on the place of realistic and illusionistic approaches to subject matter. It is hoped that you will see clearly the need for wide reading in order to give widest meaning with all accessory implications to your story. You will also know that as a writer, you are both reader and author, but you need your second or third, objective or biased, reader, preferably a non-friend.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
What do you understand by “sense” and “non-sense” literature?
2.
How important is a title of a work? Give full illustrative examples
3.
“Time Line” and “Worksheet”: how crucial are these to the serious creative writer’s job?
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Armah, Ayi Kwei: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. London:
Heinemann.
______________ . Why Are We So Blest? London: Heinemann.
Boateng, Yaw M. (1977). The Return. London: Heinemann.
As many African and non – African novels as you can lay hands on.
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MODULE 2
DRAMA
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Preliminary Issues in Drama(tic) Composition: Devices
Thought/Idea
Plot
Character(ization)
Language: Dialogue and Action
Spectacle
Music and Dance/Sound (Effects)
UNIT 1
PRELIMINARY ISSUES
COMPOSITION DEVICES
IN
DRAMA(TIC)
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1 Conceptualization
3.2 Germinal Idea
3.2.1 Sources of Germinal Idea
3.3
The Process
3.4
Scenario
3.5 Tools
4.0
Conclusion
10.0Summary
11.0
Tutor-Marked Assignment
12.0
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit introduces you to the preliminary issues in playwriting for the stage, the television, the radio, and the celluloid. You are being introduced to the basic steps in playwriting mainly for the stage. I will end this introduction with Femi Osofisan’s “Ten Commandments of
Good Writing”. He was not prescribing for writers but just gave his opinion on issues he felt could help writers as follows:
1. Write always out of self respect.
2. Find a model among the finest minds and the best craftsman and apprentice yourself.
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3. Do not ever agree to prostitute your writing or tarnish your profession by lending to vulgarism for whatever financial inducement. 4. Write always with a consciousness that art is still a powerful force in our society; therefore, someone may want to learn some wisdom from your work.
5. If what you write cannot give joy to you, it cannot give others joy.
6. Write with the knowledge that you owe an obligation to the society and those who are voiceless.
7. Make your writing a road to beauty and insight.
8. Always remember that you are a tool, the better refined you are, the better your writing.
9. Read constantly, listen more carefully, and observe more closely.
10. Love is always vital to the career of every writer. Find it.
With these at the back of your mind, you will now be taken through the first steps in play writing.
Femi Osofisan incorporated these
‘commandments in his keynote address at the First International
Conference of Women Writers Association (WRITA) at the Institute of
Advanced Legal Studies, University of Lagos in 1998.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• conceptualize an idea
• develop that idea into a full-length play
• acquaint yourselves with the basic tools you need.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Conceptualization
In the process of playwriting, first of all the playwright visualizes and conceptualizes the idea he wants to explore. After the conception of the idea, he writes it down immediately on a sketch book so that he will not forget it. It is this idea that metamorphoses into a play but not exactly as conceptualized in the imagination of the playwright. Playwriting is therefore based on the creative imagination of the playwright. He needs
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mental and intellectual abilities that find expression in a fertile creative imagination for him to create effectively. He must have a mental picture of the story he intends to write because according to Anthony Duruaku
“… creativity is not possible without the imagination because the creative ability evolves from the ability to synthesize experience and rework it to accommodate present circumstance” (30). When he conceives the idea he wants to explore it. The next step is to think of how to present it as a story, in a dramatic form.
3.2
Germinal Idea
A playwright starts from a germinal idea which is the creative compulsion. This starts in his imagination. He imagines a situation or a story and proceeds to create incidents, situations, characters, and the environment where the characters will exist and interact. The probable source of the germinal idea of Wole Soyinka in The Trials of Brother
Jero may have been religious hypocrisy. In this course material we will draw examples and illustrations where necessary, from published plays written by national and international playwrights. So get the cited plays and read them very well to enable you derive maximum benefit from this course.
3.2.1 Sources of Germinal Ideas
Germinal ideas could emanate from the following:
a. An individual: This could be a person who the writer has seen in his
imagination or interacted with in real life. This encounter can spark off an idea which could be developed into a play. In Soyinka’s The
Trials of Brother Jero may have encountered a fake Pastor before he wrote The Trials of Brother Jero and this encounter may have influenced his decision to explore the theme of religious hypocrisy.
b. An environment/location: A place or an environment with peculiar
things which inspire the writer to write about that place or environment. In the early days of Christianity in Igboland, most of the Pentecostal churches operated by the river side or beach. This explains why in Awka, Anambra State, they are called ‘Ndu Uka
Mmili’ which means, ‘the people of the Water Churches’. You may have observed too that the setting of Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother
Jero is the beach.
c. An incident: A particular incident could produce an occasion for drama. For instance, a fight you witnessed could inspire you to write a play. An incident in good hands stretches into a full length play.
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d. A basic idea of life which is sometimes referred to as the conceptual thought can induce a fertile creative mind to develop it into a play. It could be a phrase or a sentence.
e. Human relations as seen in people of different ideas and background coming together. The relations should be able to generate situations which in turn give rise to conflicts. These conflicts could be harnessed and coordinated to craft a play. Conflict is a very important element in playwriting.
f. Information Area: An informational area which the writer has or is
interested in can ignite the creative impulse of the playwright. In order to portray it very well (accurately) he goes to watch or study the situation and presents it in the dramatic form. Having decided on religious hypocrisy Soyinka may have visited such churches. When I wrote my play, Sons for Son, I visited such churches several times and when I wrote Like Father Like Son, I had to attend few court sessions at different magistrate and high courts to get a firsthand experience on the presentation of cases by the defence and prosecution counsels.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
In your own words, list and explain three possible sources of germinal ideas in play writing.
3.3
The Process
The process of organization starts after you have conceptualized your idea or situation, and visualized the type of characters that will be able to carry that story. The next step is to imagine the environment where these characters will exist. This is called setting. This setting could be a home, a school, an office of anywhere that is most suitable for you to write on. Once you have decided on the best environment, you then sketch the human relations. You should try to figure out the number of characters you need, how they will interact and how the protagonist’s ideas are going to clash with those of the antagonist. After that, the next step is the preparation of the scenario.
3.4
Scenario
Scenario is the projection of a viable format for the play. Here you decide who and what will be included in the play, and at what point each character will make his appearance, then you will imagine how long each segment will last and the probable length of the entire play. Finally you propose how to link the sequences of action to form an organic
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structure and a rational whole. Other issues to be considered in the scenario are:
a. Title: In most cases a playwright chooses a working title which may
be a tentative title. You may end the play with that tentative title or as the play progresses; you might be compelled to change the title.
The title helps you to maintain the focus on your main idea. A good title gives the audience an idea of what the play is all about.
b. Action: This covers the activities of the characters. You must have
an imaginative picture of your characters. In addition you should have an idea of what each character would be doing at every stage of the development of the play.
c. Genre: You should decide whether you intend to write a comedy,
tragedy, satire or tragi-comedy. The choice of the genre will affect the action of the play. Tragedy is not supposed to have the same language with comedy. In comedy, humorous scenes will be present while language in tragic plays is usually serious.
d. Circumstances: These comprise the involvement of the various
characters in the play, what they do which lead to important actions contained in the play. Let us illustrate once more with Soyinka’s play: what circumstance led Br. Chume to expose Br. Jero and to find out that Br. Jero is a crook. He meets Amope as she comes to ask Br. Jero to pay for the velvet cape he bought from her.
e. Clarity: Remember that what we are discussing here is the plan, a
kind of an outline for the play. Clarity here means that you need to state the definite idea /information you want to explore in the play. It will act as a focal point for you so that you could refer to it from time to time as you write to ensure that you explore it adequately. This will also help to avoid the bringing in introduction of many ideas in the play without relating them to the action of the play appropriately.
You need to state the definite idea/information of the play clearly.
f. Characters: As much as possible, give detailed descriptions of your
characters, what they are and what they will do in order to sustain the action of the play, create conflict and suspense that will produce good drama.
g. Conflict: State at what point of the play the conflict will emerge.
Who opposes/fights who? What major principle/belief will clash with the other so as to create tension? This tension that is created through the interactions of characters and ideas is the conflict.
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h. Story. Give a synopsis or a brief summary of the play. You should
present it in form of a general but brief narration that states what happened or what is happening in the play. This will form your plot as you write the actual play.
i. Motivation. This is the individual thought of all the characters that
propel them to do whatever they do in the play. Ensure that your characters’ actions are properly motivated.
j. Dialogue. This story in (h) is eventually presented in dialogue which
is the pattern of writing and presenting a play.
k. Time Plan. This is your working schedule. Do you think that you
can complete the play in a month, a year or more? Once you take this decision, you will plan a breakdown of what you expect to be in each segment (call it scene, act or movement). You will then decide how long it may take for you to complete each segment, and eventually the tentative deadline for the completion of the play.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Prepare what you think would have been the scenario of Wole Soyinka’s
The Trials of Brother Jero.
3.5
Tools
Apart from creative imagination, a playwright needs the following tools:
1. A good knowledge of the stage.
2. Pen and notebooks.
3. Comfortable writing table and a chair “located in a quiet environment”. And reliable lighting at night (Ike 213) if you intend to write at night.
4. Money for your basic expenses like travels (where you need to carry out a research or obtain information) a typewriter. If you cannot type, you should write and send it for typing on a computer which is popular nowadays.
5. If you can afford it, obtain a desktop computer or laptop.
6. A good or standard dictionary for “accuracy in spelling and use of
words”(Ike 214).
7. Any good thesaurus of English words and phrases.
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CONCLUSION
Playwriting requires both talent and skill. One may have the talent but do not possess the skill. This course is expected to provide guidelines for the acquisition of the skill by aspiring playwrights. The basic steps and tools are presented above.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit we examined the basic steps of playwriting from conceptualization to the scenario.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Describe the process of playwriting.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Duruaku, A.B.C. (1997). A Handbook on Drama and Theatre. Owerri:
Colon Concepts.
Ike, Chukwuemeka .(1991). How to Become a Published Writer. Ibadan:
Heinemann.
Onyekuba, Onyeka .(1995). Sons for My Son. Awka: Mercury Bright
Press.
Soyinka, Wole. (1964). The Trials of Brother Jero in The Jero Plays.
London: Eyre Methuen.
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UNIT 2
THOUGHT/IDEA
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Theme
3.2 Subject Matter
3.3 The Story
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this Unit you will learn about thought or idea in dramatic writing.
You will also be in a position to distinguish between theme, subject matter and the story. At the point of conceptualization, you focus on an idea that will yield your story from which the theme and subject matter will emerge eventually.
20
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• identify the idea or unit of though around which a particular play revolves • distinguish between theme and subject matter
• tell your story in a dramatic form based on an idea.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Theme
Theme is the main idea that permeates the entire play. You have the major theme but you could also have other themes, hence, you could have a variety of themes in a single play. Themes could emerge from a concept, an idea, an abstract quality or an incident which the playwright uses to send his message to the audience. The theme of The Trials of
Brother Jero for instance is religious hypocrisy or deceit. As the playwright explores the theme, he gives his perspective on the issue.
The theme of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is revenge. By the end of the play as the principal actors die, it becomes clear that Shakespeare does not support revenge. Hamlet, in his bid to avenge his father’s death, loses
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his lover, his mother, his peace of mind, his happiness and eventually dies. The playwright could write his play on an idea based on events around him. Drama mirrors the society and through that mirror the dramatist informs and educates while entertaining his audience. He is also referred to as the conscience of the society, so he is expected to dramatize the ills of the society or the good sides of that society in an impartial manner.
Through the theme, he condemns those aspects of the society that hinder progress, while he promotes social injustice/inequality, or crime. In
Nigeria for instance, many playwrights explore themes of bribery, corruption, bad leadership, insecurity, and other forms of misdemeanors that bedevil contemporary Nigeria.
Apart from contemporary issues, themes could also be drawn from myth, legend, history, or folklore. In all these, the propelling factor for the playwright is to send a message to the audience through an entertainment medium- drama. Most playwrights believe that they can make their societies better through the dramatization of the themes that promote positive values in the society with the hope that the audience will be influenced to take constructive steps for the progress of their societies. The theme is presented as an interesting story through an appropriate dramatic genre. In Hamlet, Shakespeare explores the theme of revenge through the tragic mode while Soyinka presents the theme of religious hypocrisy through the comic mode. As the audience laughs at
Brother Chume’s foolery and Jero’s antics, they learn to be wary of false or fake prophets. A particular theme could be dramatized by many playwrights. Each playwright explores the theme from his perspective to give it the desired originality and mark of uniqueness.
The theme of the play gives it significance because without a recognizable and definable theme, the story presented in the play will be commonplace and meaningless. So, as a playwright, you should strive to ensure that you focus clearly on your theme. This is because it is the motivating force of the story. You see that in Hamlet every step taken by
Hamlet points towards his revenge intent. In The Trials of Brother Jero, the old man’s allegation against Brother Jero and Jero’s reaction foreshadow his dubious nature that gives him away as an impostor, and a fake prophet. Also, his admiration of the young lady that goes to the beach every morning lends credence to his lustful nature. He does not allow Brother Chume to beat his wife because he does not want to lose
Chume as a member of his congregation. Finally, the way he dodges
Amope each time she comes to collect the money he owes her points to his dubious nature.
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Each playwright chooses a theme before choosing the style to adopt.
Other aspects of the play like characters, plot, setting and language are carefully chosen in such a way that they advance the major theme of the story. A play could have more than one theme, in which case we talk about sub-themes. Usually, the major theme is obvious because the main action of the play revolves around it while the sub-theme is subsumed in the main theme but discernable.
The theme of a play could be given in one word, a sentence, a statement or a phrase. In some complex plays, it might be difficult to decipher the theme. However, as a budding playwright, it is advisable that you choose a theme and focus on it in such a way that it will be discernable since it is the central thought, the controlling idea in the play.
A theme could be symbolic or literal. At this stage, it is easier to deal with literal themes. The audience is expected to distill the theme consciously or unconsciously as the play progresses. In some cases, the theme emerges after the reading or watching of an entire play. Although, this idea is presented in form of fiction which according to Oakley Hall is “an euphemism for lies” (23), in writing your play, you should give this fiction a semblance of truth which in the novel is referred to as verisimilitude. What we mean here is that the play should be as close as possible to reality. You can achieve this through the presentation of realistic characters who are involved in possible and plausible actions.
As a playwright, you should strive to convince your audience of the authenticity of your story through make-belief and they will be in a good position to assimilate your story through a willing suspension of disbelief as if you are presenting real life situations on stage. So, you will have to select, alter, distill, distort and sometimes exaggerate facts to create this dramatic “truth”. This truth is dramatized in a process that could hold and engage the imagination of the audience. In drama therefore you strive to present an imitation of real life. The most important factor is that this real life is represented in an artistic form.
3.2
Subject Matter
The subject matter is different from the theme but some students of literature interchange them since they believe that they are the same. As a playwright you should be in a position to distinguish one from the other. The subject matter is the topic of discussion in the play. In many plays, the subject matter is extracted from the title of the play. In
Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel for instance, the theme could be tradition versus modernity or to be more explicit, the triumph of African
Tradition over Western Culture but the subject is the fame of Sidi (the
Jewel) a young and beautiful girl and her fall through her a seduction by the Bale (the Lion) who is old enough to be her father. In many plays,
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the title explains the subject matter. This play presents a relationship between the Lion, Bale and the Jewel, Sidi. This alliance does not only affect her growing fame adversely but also deprives her of a marriage to a younger man, Lakunle. So in the play, the title illuminates the subject matter of the play. Also, in The Marriage of Anansewa, Efua Sutherland explores the theme of love but the subject matter is how Ananse marries his daughter to a chief she has never met. It means that the subject matter of any play is the subject of discussion from which the theme is extracted. Usually the theme is subsumed in the subject matter. Just as the theme is explored through other aspects of the play, the subject matter is highlighted through events, incidents and the action in the play.
Subject matter is reflected in the action which the playwright presents in the play. In most cases, the statement is about human problems from the playwright’s perspective. It is his vision of the world and in a good play; the statement is expected to have universal validity or relevance for all ages. 3.3
The Story
Every play tells an imaginary story through action. This story is the unification of the events or incidents in the play in such a way that it forms a coherent whole. The story holds the audience and raises its expectations on this or that aspect of the play as it progresses. They watch or read the play following the story with keen interest as they want to know what happens next. A good play tells an interesting story and holds the audience spellbound while an uninteresting story sends it to sleep. It is in the story that the playwright organizes his ideas in such a way that he produces something that he could hold together to achieve the desired result. In a nutshell, the story in the order or sequence of events, an outline of the incidents or events in the play, is called plot.
This will be discussed in detail in Unit 3, the next unit.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
What in your own understanding is the difference between theme and subject matter.
4.0
CONCLUSION
We have explained that it is a unit of thought or an idea that gives rise to a play. We also explained what theme is and its importance in the play.
We tried to distinguish between theme and subject matter which tends to be confusing concepts for some students.
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SUMMARY
In this unit we examined the concept of thought in playwriting. We equally discussed how this thought crystallizes into a play. In addition we examined the story which we identified as a narrative / account of incidents in the play. They are mainly imaginary tales.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
The main idea in the play is the theme. List ten ideas from which you could develop a play.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Duruaku, A.B.C. (1979). A Handbook on Drama and Theatre. Owerri:
Colon Concepts.
Grebanier, Bernard. (1979). Playwriting. New York: Barnes and Noble.
Hall, Oakley. (1989). The Art & Craft of Novel Writing. Cincinnati:
Story Press.
Ike, Chukwuemeka. (1991). How to Become a Published Writer. Ibadan:
Heinemann.
Shakespeare, William. (1984). Hamlet. A. L. Rowse (ed). New York:
Mc
Graw-Hill.
Soyinka, Wole. (1977) The Trials of Brother Jero in The Jero Plays.
London: Eyre Methuen.
Yerima, Ahmed. (2003). Basic Techniques in Playwriting. Ibadan:
Kraft.
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UNIT 3
PLOT
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
What is Plot?
3.2
The Sub Plot
3.3
The Plot Structure
3.4
Types of Plot
3.4.1 Simple Plot
3.4.2 Complex Plot
3.4.3 Unified Plot
3.4.4 Episodic Plot
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
4.0
5.0
6.0
A playwright, as we have seen in Unit 2, tells a story. He is concerned about the story and how to make the story as interesting as possible.
This story is realised in action. Action is more important in drama than the story. After he has chosen/selected an idea, the next step for him is to see how best that idea can be expanded to yield a story. His next preoccupation becomes the arrangement of this story to form a logical entity. This arrangement of the story is referred to as the plot. In this unit we will discuss the plot and different types of plot.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• identify what plot is
• appreciate and undertake plot construction
• identify different types of plot
• distinguish plot from story.
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3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
What is Plot?
Plot is the organization of the events of a play. In simple terms, it is the arrangement of the story in the play so that it will have a beginning, middle and an end. In the novel, the novelist presents his plot by describing the characters, their actions, and the environment where they operate, their motivations, their hopes, and aspirations, but the playwright presents his plot mainly through dialogue in the interaction of the characters.
A good dramatic plot is expected to be an organization of series of events in the play in such a way/manner that it moves through series of conflicts, complications, and the climax to the resolution. In a play, every event is part of a carefully designed model and progression of a wholly interconnected system of events. These events are selected and arranged deliberately to fulfill an intricate set of dramatic purposes and theatrical conditions. It comprises everything which takes place in the imaginative world of the play and the playwright ensures that the
“totality of the events must create a coherent imitation of the world” (Scholes and Klaus 65).
Aristotle sees plot as the most important element of drama. He refers to it as the soul of tragedy. The playwright should therefore pay particular attention to the construction of his plot. He should arrange it in such a way that the story will be interesting. A good plot should have a beginning, middle and an end. Once the idea is conceptualized, he draws an outline of the story using some characters. The next step is to arrange this outline in such a way that it has a beginning, middle and end.
Plot is the structure of the actions which in a particular pattern is presented in order to achieve particular emotional and artistic effects in a play. It helps to give the play its organic unity and a coherence that makes the play easy to understand. According to Aristotle, the plot is arranged in this order - exposition, point of attack, complication, crisis, climax discovery, and denouement or resolution. Discovering
(anagnorisis) often tends/ commences the untangling of events in denouement or resolution.
In drama, plot is expected to produce a result or an effect on the audience so, as an aspiring playwright; you should package your play in a particular way to produce your desired impression or effect on the audience. This is why a theme like religious hypocrisy could be treated by different playwrights in different ways. In Soyinka’s The Trial of
Brother Jero, Jero swindles people of their money with a promise of
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securing promotion or political positions for them. But in Onyeka
Onyekuba’s Sons for My Son, the pastor takes advantage of childless women, extorts money from them and sleeps with them. In her other play Like Father like Son, the pastor becomes an accomplice in a crime of fraud and exam malpractice. Each playwright presents plot from his own perspective with the aid of other stylistic devices. In some cases he proffers solution that could help to minimize or eradicate the ills of his society. The success of a play depends largely on the plot as it aids the audience’s or the readers’ understanding of the playwright’s message.
For the playwright to achieve this, he needs to design and construct his plot in such a way that the interest of the audience is aroused continuously as the play progresses. The audience should be curious about future events in the play especially as it concerns the fate of some characters. This expectancy and curiosity of the audience about the fate of some characters or the outcome of some events is called suspense. A good playwright therefore uses suspense to sustain the interest of his audience. Plot comprises the action that takes place on stage and the action that occurred in the past which is usually recalled through a flashback or reported speech. In The Trials of Brother Jero for instance, the curse placed on Brother Jero by an old man is presented in a flashback as Jero recalls it in his monologue at the opening of the play. The important element here is the arrangement of these incidents both past and present in an orderly manner. In real life incidents and events are not ordered in that form. Plot is different from scenario and story. Scenario is based mainly on the action that takes place on stage. Story is the series of incidents whose development does not necessarily depend on each other.
These incidents may or may not be related or connected but in the hands of a good playwright, these seemingly unrelated incidents are coordinated and fused to form a story. It is said that every adult has at least one story in him. If you take the story of your life, for instance, you will find out that there are many incidents that are not related or connected. For instance, take a day in your life as a child: you woke up early in the morning, brushed your mouth, took your bath, ate your breakfast and went to school. At school, a teacher came to your class, met a noisy class and punished all of you. Is there a connection between what you did at home and what happened to you in school? Is the punishment a consequence of your waking up early or brushing your teeth? If you decide to write a story based on those incidents, you might decide to add that the toothpaste was an expired one so at school you started having stomach ache. Your crying and discomfort attracted the attention of others in the class and there was a commotion. At that moment, the teacher came in and without questions punished everybody and that included you.
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The playwright might decide to present in a flashback how your mother bought the toothpaste without checking the expiring date or how somebody saw that it was unfit for human consumption but out of mischief allowed you to use it. The problem could not have been with the toothpaste but with the breakfast. In this case, the flashback would demonstrate how your breakfast was poisoned by a wicked stepmother.
You can see from this simple illustration that plot especially a unified one thrives on causality. In it, one incident is presented, and as a result of that incident, the next one happens and the situation must be related to each other. In a unified plot there is a beginning, middle and an end where the beginning gives rise to the middle and the conflicts initiated in the middle are resolved in the end. This resolution of the conflicts completes what was started in the beginning.
3.2
The Sub Plot
The subject (sub) plot is subordinated to the main plot. The main plot deals with the major events while the sub plot deals with other incidents which can be dependent on the main plot but presented as complete and interesting stories. In most cases, the sub-plot is used to enhance the audience’s understanding of the main plot or to illuminate some aspects of the action. In Hamlet for instance, the play-within–play (The
Mousetrap) helps to illuminate the disposition of Claudius and heighten his sense of guilt. It further strengthens Hamlet’s resolve to avenge his father’s death as it confirms to him that his uncle is guilty of murder and of his illicit affair with Hamlet’s mother.
3.3
The Plot Structure
Ideally a good a good play as stated above should have a beginning, middle and an end. According to Oscar Brockett, the beginning contains the exposition or the setting forth of information about earlier events, the identity of characters and the present situation. The point of attack which is part of the beginning is when the main story starts unfolding and a possible conflict is identified. In The Trials of Brother Jero the exposition in Brother Jero’s monologue which gives information about himself, about Brother Chume and the curse by the old man. The curse could be seen as the point of attack as Old Man tells Jero that women are going to cause his downfall.
A series of complications constitute the middle. A complication is the introduction of a new element that changes the direction of the action and it leads to the discovery of new information. In that same play,
Amope’s appearance provides the complication for Brother Jero and this leads Jero to discover that she is Br. Chume’s wife. Consequently, he
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allows Brother Chume, to beat her. This leads to a crisis which culminates in the climax when Br. Chume chases Br. Jero calling himself a fool for being so gullible that he allowed another man to dictate for him how to run his household. That discovery leads to the resolution of the play which exposes Jero as an imposter.
3.4
Types of Plot
It is not in all plays that we find what may be referred to as good plots as described above. It is therefore not surprising that we have different types of plots. Aristotle talked of purity and unification of plot. He divides plot into simple and complex plots.
3.4.1 Simple Plot
In a simple plot, the action is simple and continuous. In this type of plot the complication is not usually much and the conflict is not intense.
There could be a change of fortune but usually there is no reversal of situation and no recognition. In simple plots the action runs chronologically and causally from the beginning to the end.
3.4.2 Complex Plot
In a complex plot, as the name suggests, we are presented with complex incidents and complications. The change of fortune here is accompanied by a reversal of situation or by recognition or by both.
3.4.3 Unified Plot
In the unified plot, the incidents are presented in a logical, chronological and causal order. Here one incident leads to the other and that other one happens as a result of the previous action. The beginning, middle and end are obvious in the unified plot.
3.4.4 Episodic Plot
Here there is no causal arrangement of incidents. Obviously, the only relationship between the incidents is that a particular character is involved in all of them. In a unified plot the excision of an aspect or a part of the play affects the meaning and the organic structure of the play.
There is nothing like cause and effect in an episodic plot as a part of the play could be removed and it will not affect, change or destroy the plot.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List and explain the four types of plot as presented in this unit.
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CONCLUSION
From the discussion so far, you have seen the importance and centrality of plot in playwriting. An aspiring playwright should be conversant with different types of plot. This will help him in the arrangement of incidents in his play to ensure that he does not just produce an interesting story but that the story is presented in a manner that will arouse and sustain the interest of the audience.
Like I said in Unit 1, a playwright is not confined to any rule especially in contemporary times. Modern playwrights experiment with different forms and the result is that some plot less plays and illogical plots have been presented by the existentialist and absurdist playwrights. Modern and contemporary dramatists do not seem to be interested in any rule so they borrow ideas from available traditions and mix them up to expand the horizon and boundaries of their artistic expression and ideological positions. 5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit you have learnt more on what plot is and different types of plot. This experience will be at the back of your mind as you prepare to write or as you write your play.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What is a well-made plot and what is its relationship with incidents in the play.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Brockett, Oscar. (1980). The Essential Theatre. New York: Holt
Reinhart and Winston .
Scholes, R. and C.H. Klaus. (1971). Elements of Drama. New York:
Oxford University Press.
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UNIT 4
CHARACTER/CHARACTERIZATION/
MOVEMENT/THE STAGE
CONTENTS
1.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Characters
3.2
Characterization
3.3
Movement
3.4
The Stage
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
2.0
3.0
Drama comprises action and this action is presented through characters.
Characters are those human beings, animals or abstract qualities. The important issue is that, they present the story that is conceptualized by the playwright.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• differentiate the characters in a play
• distinguish between character and characterization
• differentiate between movement and motivation
• discuss/design the stage geography and show how it affects you as a playwright. 3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Characters
Like I said in the introduction, characters could be human beings; they could be animals as we find in allegorical plays. Good examples of allegorical plays are Tess Onwueme’s The Desert Encroaches and Ban
Empty Barn. Characters could also be abstract qualities as we find in
Everyman.
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As you conceptualise your play, the next step is to think of the characters you could use to realize your goal. When you create your human characters, you should endow them with moral and dispositional qualities to make them real. You know that as a playwright you do not have the time and space for vivid description of characters, events and the environment like the novelist. You should therefore give the necessary information about characters through the dramatis personae at the beginning of the play, stage directions, and through the dialogue. It is only through these means that you can present your comments on the character’s age, his physical attributes, his mode of dressing, his temperament and other information you need.
You should be able to differentiate your characters through variation in manner of behaviour, social status, external appearance and language. In as much as they should be differentiated, they should be able to relate with one another to achieve your goal. The interpersonal relationship of characters is very important because you reveal your characters also through their words, action and what other characters say about them as
W.T. Price says “characters can be brought on in no other way than by throwing people in relation” (280). You can also reveal your protagonist by pitching him against supernatural forces as Shakespeare did to King
Lear or Macbeth or Sophocles did to Oedipus. This could be attributed to the fact that in the classical tragedy destiny played an important role in the fate of the characters. So the tragedy that befalls the character is not necessarily as a result of conflict between him and other characters but predetermined. Hence Romeo submits: “…He that hath the steerage of my course directs my sail” (Romeo and Juliet, Act 1 Scene 4).
You should have a good knowledge of different types of characters
(refer to the course material, Elements of Drama). This will enable you determine the type of characters you want to create. The hero or protagonist must be at the centre of the story. Usually, he is pitted against another important character. He changes as the play progresses.
His behavioral changes are attributed to new awareness or revelation or change in the social structure in the world view of the play. The static/stock or flat character does not change in any basic way in the course of the play. Usually, he represents a group or individuals in the society. He emerges from rigid or static social and temperamental features characteristic of the profession, ethnic group, tribe or nationality he represents. It means that he must act according to the stereotyped or rigid features of the interest he represents.
3.2
Characterization
Characters live on stage as they act out the story. Characterization is the ability of portraying/creating the characters. The aspect of your
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conceptualization that gives birth to the characters is called characterization. In your imagination you create these characters and decide the best attribute for each of them. When you form/conceive your idea, the next step is to develop it and then think of appropriate characters you will need to tell your /their story effectively. Your ability to create the right characters, make them appear at the right places at the right time, say the right or wrong things (depending on the effect you want to create) at the appropriate or inappropriate times and places is referred to as characterization.
The important factor in characterization is consistency and motivation.
You must strive to create consistent characters. If for instant you create a servant who speaks in pidgin, he must be consistent from the beginning to the end. If suddenly he starts speaking Queens English, then he is not consistent, except if he improves himself through formal or informal education which must be highlighted in the play. This education now becomes the motivation for speaking Queen’s English. Motivation in simple terms is the reason behind the action of a character. The motivation for each character’s action must be obvious if not, the action will become illogical. You can present inconsistent characters and illogical actions if you are writing an absurdist play. If you are not writing an absurdist play or in the existential tradition, you are obliged to create plausible characters who indulge in plausible actions that are as close as possible to reality. You must therefore try to create credible stories for them to fit in the action appropriately.
3.3
Movement
You may wonder why movement and stage are discussed here. The reason is obvious. Drama thrives on action. Characters in the play are involved in action and the performance of the play; the action is realized through the movement of the characters on stage. As a playwright you must learn to inject action into your play to make it vibrant and interesting. The action is realized in movement on stage. If you do not have sufficient action in your play, it becomes drab and boring. You should be aware of the entrances, exits and other movements of your characters. It is not only the director that concerns himself with movement on stage. A good playwright should state the movement of the characters clearly in the stage direction. He should also decide on appropriate cue words i.e. what a character should say before or after a movement is made. For you, a budding playwright, to be able to do this effectively, you must have a good knowledge of the stage. The commonest stage is the proscenium stage. Before you write a play, in addition to the experience you may have acquired in the course and
Theatre Workshop visit a theatre and get yourself acquainted with the stage geography.
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The Stage
In theatre workshop, you learnt that there are different types of theatres.
They include the arena, the proscenium, the open theatre, the pit theatre and many others. In this course, we will not discuss these types of theatre but we will concern ourselves with the stage. As stated earlier we will concentrate on the proscenium stage which is very close to a room though without the fourth wall. It is through that fourth wall that the audience watches a play. Watching a play on the proscenium stage is like watching a television. So with this in mind you will create your doors and windows on the remaining three walls.
You should also have a fair knowledge of lighting to know when the light will come up, dim, or blackout. This knowledge will help you in the series of scene changes which is anticipated in drama. However if you are writing for television or for film, you will not be constrained to the particular exits. This is because the camera, light and other technological equipment are used to create the desired effects and realistic environments. Moreover, realistic settings are used in celluloid where the camera aids the provision of an unlimited time and space for the script writer. For instance, on stage you cannot bring in a car but in
TV and film the special camera is used to record the dialogue of characters (actors) driving along an expressway. In radio plays you need more of sound effects. So if you are writing a play to be published, you must have a stage in mind. For literary or stage plays, the best approach is usually to produce the play before you publish it. Generally, it is believed that ‘a play is not a play until it is seen live on stage’. It means that if you have the opportunity of performing your play before you publish it, you will have the advantage of adding or cutting some scenes in the play before publication.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List two ways through which you could inject action into the play you intend to write.
4.0
CONCLUSION
We have explained that you should create your characters in such a way that they can effectively carry your story. We noted also that you should ensure that the story is credible, the characters plausible and the action possible for you to have a good play. We also said that a good playwright should have a good knowledge of the stage and method of lighting. 90
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SUMMARY
In this unit we examined how a playwright creates his characters. We also looked at what he should bear in mind as he creates them. These are credibility, plausibility, possibility, consistency and motivation.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What is the importance of the proscenium stage for the playwright?
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Duruaku, A.B.C. (1979). A Handbook on Drama and Theatre. Owerri:
Colon Concepts.
Grebanier, Bernard. (1979). Playwriting. New York: Barnes and Noble.
Yerima, Ahmed. (2003). Basic Techniques in Playwriting. Ibadan:
Kraft.
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UNIT 5
LANGUAGES, DIALOGUE AND ACTION
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Language
3.2
Types of Language
3.2.1 Spoken Language
3.2.2 Non-verbal Language
3.3
Diction
3.4
Dialogue
3.5
Action
3.6
Matching Language to Character
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Language is a vital tool for the literary artist. In drama where the action is presented on stage, in addition to the spoken words, language includes gestures, facial expressions and other forms of action that help to convey the desired message. In the novel, the writer describes events, setting, atmosphere and character as vividly as possible. In the omniscient point of view, the writer goes further to reveal the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of characters through description. In drama, the playwright does not have the time and space for such descriptions. Everything is therefore conveyed to the audience during performance through dialogue and action. However, in written texts, other important information is given through stage direction.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• determine the importance of language in playwriting
• distinguish different forms of language
• determine the functions of dialogue in a play.
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3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Language
Language has been defined as a tool of communicating from one source to another. It has also been postulated that language is purely a linguistic behaviour that shows a social interaction that exists among people in a given speech community. The above definitions are echoed in David
Crystal Encyclopedia of Language where language is said to be the human and non-instinctive means of communication used by individuals in a given speech community. However a contemporary definition of language postulates that it is the vocal or graphic representation of sounds in writing, used systematically and conventionally by the members of a speech community for communicating views, opinions, information, facts, and emotions and so on.
Interestingly, language is important to humans because it can either be spoken or written. This variable makes it completely different from animal form of communication “animalese”. It is important to remember that communication must not be confused with language because language is the tool for effective communication. Finally, we should note that the use of language for effective communication is contextspecific. Communication is the process of exchanging information, views, opinions, and feelings as well as emotions from one source to another. Language is the medium you use in that communication.
3.2
Types of Language
Spoken Language/Verbal
Non-Spoken/Nonverbal
3.2.1 Spoken Language
Spoken Language as the name implies is the realization of communication in speech. Each speech community has its own language but English language is the general mode of communication in Nigeria.
A playwright chooses the language to use in writing his play. Some playwrights like Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (Kenya) Peninah Muhando
(Tanzania) Bode Osayin (Nigeria) Goody Onyekaonwu (Nigeria) have written plays in their native languages of Gikuyi, Swahili, Yoruba, and
Igbo respectively. The problem here is that the audience is limited to only those who can read or understand the native languages. Perhaps this explains why Ngugi Wa Thiong’o translates his plays later into
English Language to enable him reach a wider audience.
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In Nigeria, many playwrights include their mother tongues or pidgin in their plays. In some cases, the words phrases/sentences are explained in the glossary, or alongside the vernacular or pidgin but in some other cases no explanation is given, and the audience is expected to decipher the meaning within the context it is used. You can read Ola Rotimi’s
Hopes of the Living Dead and Tess Onwueme’s Then She Said It for the use of pidgin and for the inclusion of mother tongue which is common among African playwrights, especially in form of songs in the plays.
The language used by a playwright is spoken by the characters on stage.
The spoken language could be in form of speech, laughter, shouting, crying and other forms of utterances made by the characters in the play.
The important point here is that it is a form of sound produced through the mouth.
3.2.2 Non-verbal Language
Non-verbal language comes in form of action, gestures, and facial expression. It comprises actions that send messages about a character’s action or state of mind that is not expressed through vocal sounds.
3.3
Diction
Diction in playwriting refers to the choice or selection of the words you use in writing your play. From the onset, take a decision on your choice of words. Your diction could be simple and straightforward or difficult and obscure, etc. So you must, as a matter of utmost importance, write accurately. If however a particular character is to speak inaccurate
English, let it be consistent. A very good example is Mrs. Malaprop in
Richard Sheridan’s The Rival. Her language is full of malapropisms and she speaks consistently in that form from the beginning of the play to the end. Malapropism is the misuse of words in an amusing way. Here the word that is used incorrectly sounds similar to the intended, word but means something quite different. You should therefore learn the basic grammatical rules especially as it concerns subject-verb agreement, tenses, punctuation, spelling, active and passive verbs, capitalization, faulty expressions and some other common errors.
However, some faulty expressions result from direct or literal translation of mother tongue to English or pidgin.
Apart from accurate grammatical expression, you should learn to write beautiful language. You should therefore search continuously for the most suitable words to use. These are words that not only express your thoughts very well but are also the most appropriate words in that context. To achieve this, therefore, you need to read widely especially creative works like plays, novels and short stories. A rich vocabulary
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helps to “bring variety and freshness to your writing” and helps you to reduce the “excessive flogging of certain words and expressions” (Ike
19). You should also be conversant with the sentence structure in
English Language. This will enable you know when to use simple sentences and when to use compound sentences. In choosing your words, it is important to bear your audience in mind. The words and expressions you will use in a play for children will not be the same with the ones you will use for a play meant for senior secondary students and undergraduates. For instance, a play for market women or people in the village may contain a lot of pidgin.
Finally, in choosing your words try to stamp a mark of originality in your work. You can learn from others but do not copy what they have written. As Chukwuemeka Ike says: make your writing your own because your writing can only be refreshingly different from others if you view everything happening before you from your own unique experience rather than through the eyes of other people. (20)
3.4
Dialogue
Dialogue is an exchange of speech between two people. There may be many people in a particular scene but the exchange must be between two people at any given time. However, in a crowd scene, it may be between one group and another or between a group and a character. Even at that, except for choruses, only one person from the group speaks at a time.
Dialogue in drama is an integral part of the play because, through it, characters are revealed, themes are highlighted and the action is enacted.
It “crystallizes relationships, conveys information, propels the plot, and precipitates revelations, crises, and climaxes” (Hall 94). Dialogue is used for exposition and characterization, so it must involve action for it not to be static. You must therefore design your dialogue in such a way that there is always a progression to a change or resolution of the action coordinated. Your dialogue must express characters, advance the action, and record pertinent information all at once. The dialogue must be relevant and should move swiftly but at the same time you should give the impression that it is a transcription of live speech. Try to avoid obscenities or profanities; write correct/standard English and avoid the use of slang except for special effects.
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A very good rule in dialogue is to limit it to one thought at a time and keep the lines short. Also, avoid words like ‘oh’, ‘uh’, because such exclamations often serve no purpose except to establish a hazy sense of authenticity or real life experience. Such words, if not handled properly could set up an irritating or monotonous rhythm to the speeches.
Soliloquies are becoming old fashioned but you could create monologues in your play. The monologue like dialogue helps to reveal character and propel the plot. A good example is found in Efua
Sutherland’s Edufa (see Seguwa’s monologue). The important factor is that you must be able to integrate it very well in the action. You can read more on dialogue in Module 1, Unit 6 of Elements of Drama – A course material in the Department of English.
3.5
Action
Dialogue is realized through action. Action is the process of performing a task. It involves series of events that a character engages in, in the play. It includes what a character does or fails to do. The action must be logically presented and properly motivated except in absurdist plays. In drawing your outline of the play and the characters, you should be able to decide which action follows the other and the engagements of the characters at every stage of the development of the play. Each character is revealed through action.
Action could be physical when it involves the visible movements of the characters. It may or may not involve verbal expressions. It could be in form of movement from one place to other, or picking/dropping of objects, opening and closing doors, sitting or standing, facial movement, gestures and other such movements. You may not be able to bring all the actions on stage. The actions that you cannot present on stage are reported by appropriate characters. It is pertinent to note here that in stage plays, you should include only actions that are realizable. The ones that are not realizable should be avoided. Reported mental action is usually manifested through gesture or facial expression.
3.6
Matching Language to Character
This is a very important aspect of language in drama. You must strive towards consistency in your language. Decide at the outline stage, the language you want to use. Do you want to use language to delineate characters like causing specific characters to speak in specific ways? Do you want all of them to speak correct English irrespective of social status or educational background? Do you want any of them to speak in verse for a particular effect? Do you want to use pidgin? What is your purpose? You need to answer these and other questions to ensure consistency and for you to really match language to character.
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SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List five ways to ensure good dialogue in a play.
4.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have tried to explain the role of dialogue in playwriting.
We have also given you information on how to choose your words, construct your dialogue and build your action
5.0
SUMMARY
Language is a vehicle of communication in drama. Drama is written or presented only in dialogue when it is verbal. Action in drama can be accompanied with or without dialogue. Both dialogue and action must be properly motivated and consistent. Illogical actions, obscenities and profanities should be avoided.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Explain in your own words and experience what matching language to character means.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Hall, Oakley. (1989). The Art and Craft of Novel Writing. Cincinnati.
Story Press.
Ike, Chukwuemeka. (1991). How to Become a Published Writer. Ibadan:
Heinemann.
Iwuchukwu, Onyeka. (2008). Elements of Drama. Abuja: National Open
University of Nigeria, Regent.
Onwueme, Tess. (2002). Then She Said It. San Francisco: African
Heritage.
Rotimi, Ola. (1988). Hopes of the Living Dead. Ibadan: Spectrum.
Sutherland, Efua. (1987). The Marriage of Anansewa. London:
Longman.
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UNIT 6 SPECTACLE
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Costume
3.2
Make Up
3.3
Scenery
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
3.0
Spectacle refers to all the visual elements that contribute to the aesthetics of any dramatic production. They include the costume and make up, scene and light design and even the props. In the Aristotelian concept of drama, spectacle is mentioned as one of seven elements of drama. Do you know the other six? Refer to your course material on the
Elements of Drama.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
determine what spectacle is, in a play
• identify aspects of spectacle
• list its importance in dramatic performances.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Costume
In simple terms, costume is the dress which actors wear on stage. As you know, actors in a play are just pretending to be somebody else. This is called role-playing. An actor could therefore be a very good husband and father in one play and in another be drunkard who spends his whole fortune on women and wine, a reckless man. The same actor could in another play the role of a mad man. Apart from his utterances and action, costume helps to accentuate the personality of each actor. Once you see an actor in dirty rags, what comes to your mind is that this is a mad man. In The Marriage of Anansewa for instance, Ananse’s way of dressing changes as soon as he becomes wealthy.
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Costume is not just the dress but it includes other accessories like a hat, a walking stick, shoes, earrings, necklace, sunglasses and many others.
Hand bags could also be classified as costume but in some cases as props. If for instance, a lady enters with a hand bag which matches her shoes and head gear or dress and does not drop it until her exit, it is costume because it forms part of her dressing. However, if the hand bag is placed somewhere and she goes to pick it or is given to her by another actor, it becomes a prop. Costume could be designed like the dresses worn in everyday life or it could be symbolic. The important factor is that a well designed costume should suit the character in terms of age, social status and state of mind.
The two major categories of costume are period (age) or ethnic. The period costume helps to situate the play appropriately in its historical setting. That is why we talk of classical costume, Elizabethan costume,
Restoration costume, costume of the modern period of the nineteenth century and contemporary costume. If for instance you want to stage
Oedipus Rex, you must study the Grecian mode of dressing in about the fifth century B.C. Period costume is usually influenced by fashion. So you need to know the fashion of that period.
Ethnic costume reflects the cultural background or ethnic affiliations of the characters. Ethnic costume has a relationship with the period costume. While you consider the age/period, you should also consider the socio-cultural background of the play. Like I said above, it is not the dress worn by the Greeks of the fifth century B.C. that the Americans or
Africans of the fifth century wore. Since fashion is cyclical, some dresses worn in an earlier century could be fashionable in the contemporary period of the same country or another country. The ethnic costume helps the audience to tell where a particular character comes from. There is no defined style in costume but each costume is designed to fit the wearer (depending on the effect) and to reflect the period or ethnic affiliation of the wearer. In Nigeria, an actress in Iro and Buba, especially made from Aso Oke materials shows that the character represents a Yoruba woman.
The functions of the costume should be clear from the explanations above. The most important function is that it is used to distinguish (a person). Characters highlight their ages or their moods through their costumes. A person in mourning is usually dressed in black while white flowing gown with a veil depicts a bride that is about to wed or that has just wedded. Costume helps also to show a character’s occupation.
You may ask what you as a playwright has to do with costume since you are not a director or a designer. As a playwright, you should contribute to the costuming of the characters in your play. You can do this through
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stage direction or dialogue. Below is an excerpt from a play where information on costume is given through the stage direction. The play is
Regal Dance, by Onyeka Onyekuba. (A procession of twelve ‘Udes’ file past ….. they are dressed in expensive long white shirts and golden wrappers. Each carries a long staff which they stamp on the ground in unison as they walk majestically to the king. The king is seated on his throne and on getting close to him; they do their obeisance to him by raising their staves towards him three times. Two other bare-chested men dressed in white wrappers lead Akubuike forward to the king. He is wearing a very expensive lace material. Two younger men dressed like the other two men come up in their rear. One is carrying a golden staff while the other one bears a cape-like robe, made from an expensive glittering golden material…) (83-84)
You can picture this scene in your mind’s eye because it is described vividly. The stage direction must not be as long as this for it to contain information concerning a particular character’s dress. In Femi
Osofisan’s Morountodun. Also, as Titubi and her group enter with placards and distribute handbills, Osofisan describes them as being
(superbly dressed, with lots of jewellery and make-up and wearing conspicuously the moremi necklace then in vogue – a little gold dagger, surrounded with golden nuggets. Leading them is Titubi, a pretty, sensual and obviously self-conscious woman) (7).
In drama, everything is condensed in dialogue but the dialogue cannot contain every bit of information especially about the characters, attire, setting, and mood. In any play, stage direction is given in italics and enclosed in brackets as you can see from the examples given above.
3.2
Make Up
Usually, costume and make up go hand is in hand but for clarity we have decided to split them. Make up as the name implies is to some extent like everyday make up. It is the cosmetics worn by actors and actresses to highlight their appearances. Make up complements the costume in revealing the character which the actor plays. Make up enhances the actor’s physical appearance and like costume reveals age, period, culture, mood and social status. There are two types of makeup.
They are straight make up and character make up. Straight make up is like everyday make up worn especially by the women. It helps to accentuate or highlight the personal features of the actor. On the other hand, character make up is used to highlight specific features that help to transform a particular actor to suit the role he is playing. For instance, when a thirty year old lady is cast in a play to play the role of an eighty year old woman, the makeup artist will, through make up, inscribe
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wrinkles, grey hairs and other features on her to make her appear like an old woman.
As a playwright you should try to indicate the profession and other special features like the age of your characters. Some playwrights do this in the dramatis personae (cast list), in the stage direction or in the dialogue. The information is necessary to aid the director’s interpretation of the script.
3.3
Scenery
As a playwright you do not have much to do with scene or lighting design. It is the duty of the designer to conceptualize or conceive the suitable dramatic environment for the play. Scene design therefore is creating the appropriate environment for the play. Scene and lighting designs help to enhance the meaning, clarify emotions, moods and depict the environment for the dramatic action. The setting of the play comes alive through the scene and lighting design. For details on this, refer to your course material on Theatre Workshop. However, as a playwright, you should be able to indicate the setting directly or through inference. This is reflected either in the stage direction or dialogue.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List the functions of costume in drama.
4.0
CONCLUSION
Spectacle is all the visual aspects of dramatic production which help to enhance the meaning by projecting the theme/subject matter depict the background and clarify the moods as well as the emotions in the play in performance. You will understand more about this if you have watched any play on stage.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt that spectacle is an element of drama which is realized mainly in performance. It consists of costume and make up, scenery and lighting design. Through them, the meaning, emotions, moods and the setting are highlighted.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What is the relationship between the playwright and spectacle?
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REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING
Onyekuba, Onyeka. (1994). Regal Dance. Awka: Mercury Bright
Osofisan, Femi. (1982). Morountodun and Other Plays.
Longman.
Ikeja:
Sutherland Efua. (1975). The Marriage of Anansewa. London:
Longman.
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UNIT 7
MUSIC/DANCE (SOUND EFFECTS)
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Music And Song
3.1.1 Definition of Music
3.1.2 Functions of Music in Drama
3.3.3 Types of Music
3.2
Song
3.3
Dance
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
3.0
Music is part of life. Drama presents life on stage so music is part of drama. However, music is not found in all forms of drama. The inclusion of music in drama is the prerogative of the dramatist. Music contributes to the aesthetic quality of the play. If it is handled properly music helps to enhance atmosphere, mood and even helps to highlight the theme. Sometimes music is accompanied with dance.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
identify the place of music in drama differentiate between Music, song and noise determine the use of dance in play writing identify and efficiently use music in playwriting identify and effectively use sound effects in drama.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Music and Song
3.1.1 Definition of Music
Music is defined as “organized sound” A musical tone is said to be “a product of regular vibration, perceived when an inner part of the
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listener’s ear is made to vibrate in sympathy” (Sadie and Lathan14). By contrast, noise is a product of irregular vibration. It means that banging, blowing, scraping may produce music or sound according to the object banged and the way it vibrates, depending on how it is organized or disorganized. Music is one of the three great arts. The three major arts are literature, visual arts and music.
In every society, in every period of history, men and women have made music. They have sung it and danced to it. They have used it in solemn rituals and in light hearted entertainment. They have listened to it in fields and forests, in temples, in bars, in concert halls and opera houses.
They have made it not only with their voices but by adapting natural objects and banging them, scraping them, and blowing through them.
They have used it to generate collective emotions to excite, to calm, to inspire action, to draw tears. Music is a central and necessary part of human existence. People enjoy music for leisure; engage in music as a form of profession and music is used in ritual, religious, social and other ceremonial events.
Every culture has found a musical style and a means of expressing it that arises from its needs, its history, and its environment. In Black Africa for example, where there has been a crucial need for quick communication over long distances, the musical culture is more closely concerned with drums and drumming than in other cultures of the world.
The ‘gong-chime culture’ of Indonesia, owes its existence to the fact that the region discovered its musical character during the late Bronze
Age; hence their most important musical instruments are sets of gongs
(Sadie and Lathan).
3.1.2 Functions of Music in Drama
Music contributes to the beauty and impact of the play on the audience in the following ways:
a. It helps to create and intensify the atmosphere of the play. You may not have watched stage plays but let us use the home video films to illustrate. As you watch a particular movie, the music that is presented indicates whether a particular scene is a love scene, a happy/joyous occasion; a mourning or sorrowful scene or if danger is being anticipated.
b. It initiates activity. Whenever music changes in a play by an increase or decrease in tempo, you expect a change in the action of the play.
The music we are discussing here includes songs and dances.
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c. It helps to advance the theme and explicate the plot.
d. It helps to uplift the spirit and endear expected emotions in the audience because it helps the audience to respond to the action of the play in a particular manner.
e. It helps the audience to focus attention or concentrate on the action on stage; this helps it to understand the play better. However, if it is not handled properly, it distracts the audience.
3.1.3 Types of Music
There is much music in our lives, music surrounds us as we shop, drive, sit in parks, and in other places. We have radios in our cars, phones, portable cassette players, and many other sources of music. We listen to music because we desire and enjoy them. There are other undesired forms of music like noise in our daily environment, music that is tuned very loud as they are heard from neighbors’ stereos, supermarkets, markets, and other public places.
A wide range of music, include jazz, reggae, juju, rap, pop, rock, blues and traditional drumming. We can absorb music without really paying attention to the lyrics. This is passive enjoyment. In some cases, we enjoy music leisurely while we concentrate on other things; it can be in the background, entirely unnoticed (Titon). Music expresses what words and paintings cannot. And for true understanding of music, we must pay careful attention to the beating and the lyrics as it involves the engagement of the intellect, just as painting and literature do. Music expresses some social issues concerning people in the society. And like other forms of arts, music is found in historical and social contexts.
In many regions of the world, music forms part of a festival, ritual, ceremony or other forms of activity. Studying music without considering its context can provide half the picture. The most “frequent appearance of music in the world is in the combination with dance” (Yudkin 13). So when you decide to infuse music in your play, think of the dance that would accompany it if it requires a dance. The music in your play must have a purpose. Do you want to present an element of culture, accentuate the setting or the mood. There are many forms of music and because, it is a fluid art, it “changes to suit the expressive and emotional desires of humankind” (Titon 25). You should therefore understand that your choice of music is able to express the emotion you want to convey in your play. The music you use in a scene that contains a marriage ceremony should definitely be different from the one you would use in a funeral service. The music in the opening
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scene of your play helps to set the mood and illuminate the expected action and the disposition of the characters in that scene. The blues music at the opening scene of Tess Onwueme’s Shakara: Dance Hall
Queen, gives some information on the waywardness of Shakara who spends most of her time in night clubs.
I have tried to explain music, different types of music and how music could be used in drama. Playwrights use music to create certain effects, moods and atmosphere or even to draw attention to a particular character. SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List and explain the functions of music in a play.
3.2
Song
Song is a form of music which is produced with the mouth so it contains words. It is a piece of music that one can sing. It is through the words of the music that a musician conveys his message. A playwright also conveys part of his message through the songs. Song helps to enrich drama if it is handled properly. A playwright, through the lyrics of a song exalts or condemns specific issues or ideas raised in the play.
Traditional songs in plays help to highlight the playwright’s background. Femi Osofisan, for instance, uses songs extensively in his plays and they are mainly Yoruba songs. Some playwrights use vernacular to present songs in their plays but also give the English translations of the songs but others present the songs in vernacular without any translations. The contention is that the songs cannot be translated perfectly in English as it is difficult if not impossible to reflect the beauty and other nuances of the local language. In the latter case you must ensure that the songs are inserted appropriately to synchronize with the plot so that the audience will not lose the message you want to convey. 3.3
Dance
Dance is a human experience that has existed through the ages and among all peoples and races. It is an expression of an inner feeling of man through body movement. Dance is used to express the emotions of joy or sadness. Dance like music helps to accentuate the cultural background of the playwright, of the setting, of the play or a particular scene. A story is told through song and dance.
Dance occurs in reaction to music which could be in any form. The playwrights use dance to heighten the mood or the thematic
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preoccupation of the play. Dance in plays could be inserted in the stage direction or in the dialogue. In most plays the occurrence of dance is indicated in the stage direction but it is usually an accompaniment of music or song except for specific effects. One of such special effects is a situation where a drunkard or a mad man is one of the characters; the possibility of any of them dancing without music is high.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
In what ways can you highlight your theme through song in the drama.
4.0
CONCLUSION
We have seen that music, song, and dance in drama contribute to the overall aesthetics of the play. Wherever music is present in a play, it directs and gives shape to the action. It is not compulsory for you to include music in the play you wish to write. It depends on your theme, your perspective and the overall effect you want to achieve.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, you have acquired the basic knowledge of the meaning of music, song and dance and their functions in drama. You are now in a better position to apply what you have learnt when you want to write your own play. You have also learnt that it is not compulsory for you to include music and dance in your play. However if you choose to include any of them, make sure that it blends perfectly with the plot and that it helps to illuminate your theme.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Explain the types of music in drama, as discussed in this unit.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Blau, Sheridan. (1992). The Writer’s Craft: Idea to Expression. Illinois:
McDouglas Littell.
Sadie, Stanley and Allison Lathan eds. (1995). Stanley Sadie’s Brief
Guide to Music 3rd edition. Eaglewood Cliff, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall
Titon, Jeff Todd. (2001). Worlds of Music: An Introduction to Music of the Worlds Peoples. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth/Thomson
Learning.
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Wilson, Edwin and Alvin Goldfab. (2002). Theatre: A Lively Art. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Yudkin, Jeremy. (1995). Understanding Music 2nd edition. Englewood
Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
MODULE 3
Unit 1
Unit 2
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POETRY
Preliminary Issues in Poetry Writing
What Makes a Poem?
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Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Creative Blocks: Emotion in Tranquillity
Imagery and Allusion: Expanding Scope
The Material of Poems: Legend and History
The Finished Product/Glossary of Terms
UNIT 1
PRELIMINARY ISSUES IN POETRY WRITING
CONTENTS
1.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Setting
3.1.1 Creating your Setting
3.2
Atmosphere/Mood/Tone
3.3
Types of Poems
3.3.1 Lyric
3.3.2 Ballad
3.3.3 Narrative Poetry
3.3.4 Epic
3.3.5 Sonnet
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
In this unit you are introduced to the preliminary issues in poetry writing. We will start with the setting of the poem through the atmosphere/mood, tone and finally some types of poems.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
identify mood and atmosphere in a poem
• distinguish setting in a poem
• determine the relationship between the setting and atmosphere
• list the major types of poems.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Setting
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You may be surprised that we are starting this module with setting instead of the subject matter. Poetry is the most emotional of all the genres of literature. The setting is therefore important because you may have encountered a setting that left a memorable impression on you and you decide to build your poem around it. It could be a unique scenery, a busy road, a slum or a battle field. It could also be a historical period like Nigeria in the First Republic, or during the military period. Your setting could be a physical environment, or a social environment. The emotion you express in your poem must take place somewhere for it to be realistic and relevant to human experience. In fiction and drama the setting is specific because in most cases the work is set in a physical environment since human beings do not exist or operate in a vacuum. In poetry, it could be specific like the cell in Dennis Brutus’s “Letters to
Martha” but it could also reflect an emotional state, a spiritual plane or other unearthly experiences. In poetry according to Tanure Ojaide setting “varies in degrees from being amply presented to being minimally there. It could be narrow or broad, direct or indirect, depending upon how related and relevant the experience being expressed is with where it takes place” (40-41).
Like we said earlier, setting helps the reader to visualize the situation being described in the poem but in some cases, it is just there to provide the environment. While in the first instance, you could compare it to the scenery or decorative background in a stage play. However, setting assumes greater significance in poetry if the poem is written specifically to draw attention to the physical and social characteristics of a particular place at a given time. A good example is this excerpt from Niyi
Osundare’s “A Song For Ajegunle”.
Through roads portholed by callous rains
Through hovels eaves-deep in swelling pools
Through gutters heavy with burdens
Of cholera bowels
Through the feverish orchestra
Of milling mosquitoes
I saw you sprawled out
Like the daub of apprentice painter
Here evenings are pale smokes
Snaking out of idle kitchens
The toothless swagger of beer parlours
The battering clamour of weeping wives
The satanic rumble of supperless stomachs
The salaaming clarion of manacling mosques
I saw you sprawled out
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Like a sheath with an absent cutlass
And night, ah night, when it comes
The shadowy thunder of hurrying feet
The hooded stench of nightsoil pails
The brooding brow of startles pangs
The sweaty stupor of crowded mats
The gutsy blast of angry guns
I saw you sprawled out
Like a stream without a bed (Lines 9- 32)
3.1.1 Creating your Setting
How do you create your social or physical setting? You could create an imaginary environment or base your setting on your knowledge of an existing physical and social setting to suit your purpose. The important factor here is the intent. What do you intend to achieve? Do you want to create an imaginary world to serve as your vision of an ideal society or to warn of the dangers inherent in such an environment as we see in
Wilfred Owen’s “Strange Meeting” that seems to be set in a horrible situation where the enemies do not seem to be enjoying their stay there.
In this poem Owen only used his imagination to create/evoke a phantasmagoric setting for these two “enemies” who, but for the lies of the politicians who cause or manage wars (as in J. P. Clark’s
“Casualties”), might have been friends and had a few drinks together.
If you intend to write a historical poem, you must ensure that you relate your setting to the physical and social environment prevalent at that time. In this type of poem, you must ensure that you use accurate data to create your setting. If necessary carry out a research to ensure the accuracy of your information. If you don’t do this, you might paint an unreliable picture in your poem. As a budding poet, it is better for you to avoid writing historical poems. Just record your emotion the way you feel it or as the inspiration come to you.
You will do better if you create your setting from your personal recollections of events, rooms, rivers/streams, houses, landscapes, animals, birds, plants and other objects. You will write better if you write about familiar environments than writing about an entirely fictional one. As a creative writer, exposing yourself to various types of physical settings or environments will be beneficial to you. Each time you find yourself in an environment or each time you encounter a place that makes an impression on you, contemplate what possible use you could make of the setting. The poet finds beauty or ugliness in everything and expresses it in his poem. So you should start now to see
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settings differently and try to see their relevance to you or to the next poem you are going to write.
From now on pay particular attention to your environment taking in the details that before now you did not observe. The flowers should become more colourful, the normal sunset becomes more picturesque, the glow of worm in a dark night assumes a different dimension, the gentle breeze sends a message to you and even the snoring of your partner creates a melodious tone in your ears. Start observing the weather, the seasons, living and dying closely. In all these and more, you will find a suitable environment to set your poem. Setting can be symbolic; it could be a joyous occasion, serious and unserious events, memories, dreams and other situations and events.
3.2
Atmosphere/Mood/Tone
According to Ogungbesan and Woolger, atmosphere refers to “the feelings suggested by the physical details in the poem”. The mood is the emotion which a poem rouses and the tone describes “the poet’s attitude
(e.g. ironic, sympathetic, detached, critical, etc). The setting therefore directly or indirectly generates the atmosphere or mood that consequently sets the tone that conditions the choice of images and diction used in the poem (Ojaide 40).
The setting influences the atmosphere, mood and tone of your poem.
You should therefore vary your setting to enable you elicit appropriate atmosphere, mood, tone, imagery and diction that constitute significant aspects of your poem. Mood in a poem is an overall emotional effect created in the poem. To a large extent, it reflects the degree of emotional involvement of the poet which affects the reader in almost the same way. Consequently, it draws the reader to empathize with the subject discussed in the poem. It is the impression which the reader forms of the poem as a whole.
3.3
Types of Poems
There are different types of poems. Sometimes a poet decides to write a particular type of poem but at other times, the poem is written without consideration to the type. As you read through this, it will help you to appreciate and classify poems. It will also help you to choose your style when you are writing your own poem. However, some modern poets write in styles that are difficult to classify.
3.3.1 Lyrics
Lyric means in Greek a song that is sang with the accompaniment of a lyre. Lyric is the commonest form of poetry. It is usually short and
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musical. Lyrical poems record emotions and are not narrated. Most nursery rhymes are lyrical. It is the kind of poetry that Plato approves of.
In lyric, the poet’s emotions or feelings on some issues or objects are expressed in an exciting and vivid manner to achieve the musical effect that characterizes this type of poem. The rhythmic and harmonious pattern in lyric are achieved by the use of repetitive patterns like alliteration, assonance, rhythm and musical rhyme schemes. Lyrics convey personal experiences so are “intensively personal for they express individual’s emotions, moods and thoughts (Maxwell – Mahon
4). Originally, lyrics were sung with musical accompanied.
3.3.2 Ballad
Ballad is the oldest form of poetry. It tells a simple story but is presented in verse form. Originally, they were composed as songs with refrains for the audience to sing. In a strict sense, ballads are written in a series of four-line stanzas in which alternate end-line words rhyme. In Ballads, certain words or phrases are repeated throughout the poem. This helps to heighten the musicality of the poem. The language is usually simple, straight forward and easy to understand. Some scholars refer to ballad as folk songs that are meant to be danced to.
3.3.3 Narrative Poetry
A narrative poem tells a story presented either in verses stanzas or in a long continuous verse. Although it tells a long story, the poet is usually cautious so that it does not translate into the stringing together of connected or unconnected incidents.
A poem that is narrative invariably tells a story. A good narrative poem presents incidents or episodes that are relevant to the central idea or theme. Thus, “theme and action must form a unified structure that will not become overburdened with the addition of unnecessary incidents or that will disintegrate with the subtraction of any vital ones” (MaxwellMahon 47). The story told in a narrative poem could be a serious or unserious story. Ballad and epic are examples of narrative poems.
3.3.4 Epic
Epic is a long great narrative poem. It tells the story of marvelous deeds of one or more characters, mainly, from myth, legend or history. It is usually about the adventures or exploits of a hero. It thrives on vivid description of incidents, events and actions. The subject matter in epic is always rendered in a serious manner. Epics are great poems and are planned carefully by the poet to achieve the desired effect.
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The hero in epic encounters severe obstacles but in the end, like in melodrama, is able to overcome all the obstacles. He emerges triumphant but after a turbulent struggle.
3.3.5 Sonnet
Sonnet is a fourteen-lined poem. Usually, it is divided into two sections of eight and six lines in which the first eight lines present a situation, while the last six express the poet’s thoughts or feelings on that situation. Sometimes, a sonnet is presented in three sections of fourlines, in which each section presents a different form of argument that is summed up in the final couplet (two lines) in the end.
This shows that there are different types of sonnets. We stated above that a sonnet has fourteen lines but there are exceptions to this rule because there are some with more than fourteen lines. The arrangement of lines and the rhyme scheme also differ. The regular or Italian
Sonnets, is the one stated above that consists of a group of eight-lines and another group of six lines. The eight line section is called the octave while the six-line section is the sestet. The octave can be sub-divided into two sections of four lines each and the sestet into two three line sections. The English sonnet popularized by Shakespeare is divided into three four-line groups known as quatrains and a single two-liner called couplet. Usually, the couplet presents a concise conclusion or resolution of issues raised in the three quatrains.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Where do you live? Try to write five simple lines to describe your environment. 4.0
CONCLUSION
Setting is a very important element in the writing of poems. This is because it influences the atmosphere, the mood and the tone of the poem. The setting could be obvious, suggested, or symbolic. The basic forms of setting are physical and social. In some poems you find the physical setting while in some the social and in some others both. The setting creates the environment in the poem. Diction is very important because it is the tool that you need to convey your message to your readers. 5.0
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SUMMARY
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You have learnt in this unit that setting is important to the poet. You should therefore identify possible settings in your environment, nature and human interactions. You can only do this with poetic eyes which enable you imagine what you could create in/with them. You have also learnt that there are different types of poems. This knowledge is expected to guide you as you decide to write your own poems.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
List and explain briefly, five types of poems.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Barnet, Sylvan, Marton Berman and William Burto. (1988). Literature for Composition: Essays, Fiction, Poetry and Drama. 2nd edition. Illinois: Scott Foresman.
Iwuchukwu, Chinweikpe. (2005). The Mastery of Literature Vol 3.
Lagos: Macckho Ricckho
Maxwell-Mahon, W.D. (1984). Van Schaik’s Guide to Creative Writing.
Pretoria: J.L.Van Shaik.
Ogungbesan, K and D Woolger. (1978). Images and Impressions. An
Oxford Secondary Poetry Course. London: Oxford University
Press.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing Handbook for African
Writers and Students. Lagos: Malthouse.
Osundare, Niyi. (1976) “A Song for Ajegunle” in Senanu, K. E. and
Theo Vincent ed. A Selection of African Poetry. Harlow Essex:
Longman.
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UNIT 2
WHAT MAKES A POEM – CONTENT AND
DEVICES
CONTENTS
1.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Theme
3.2
Subject Matter
3.3
What Makes A Poem
3.3.1 Sound
3.3.2 Rhythm
3.3.3 Rhyme
3.3.4 Diction
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
2.0
3.0
In all forms of creative writing, the writer writes about a particular idea.
This idea gives rise to the subject matter. The idea expressed in subject matter constitutes the message which the writer wants to send to his audience. In this unit, we will introduce you to theme and subject matter in poetry, and what actually makes a poem a unique genre of literature,
i.e. the devices used by the poet to give memorable expressions to his content (subject matter and theme).
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• identify the theme in a poem
• identify the subject matter
• identify the uniqueness of poetic diction
• determine the importance of sound and rhythm in poetry.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Theme
In prose or drama, the theme is the underlying idea in the work. In poetry also, the theme is also the main idea which the emotion
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expresses. The poem offers instruction or information in a pleasant and persuasive way. You can draw your theme from a concept, an event or a series of events, contemporary or historical, an interesting situation, setting, mood, a person, an event or a personal experience. The poet or write does not “draw” the theme in a poem from legend, myth or folklore. The important thing is that it is that idea which permeates the entire poem and is the message which the poet wants to communicate to the audience. In most cases the theme is by the reader in one word like corruption, love, war, bad leadership, revenge, and many others. This word is what you decipher from reading the poem and not that the poet will write that s/he is treating the theme of corruption for instance. We will read the poem below and try to discover the theme.
“Let me not to the Marriage of True Minds”
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken
Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickles compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks
But bears it out even to the edge of doom
If this be error, and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
William Shakespeare.
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Read this poem for at least three times. What is the underlying idea which you could call the theme? You will observe that the constancy of perfect love is stated clearly in the first quatrain. The distinct message is that a perfect love is not affected by any impediment, does not alter by any alteration or can it be removed by any remover. As you read further down, the poet states boldly that although time can affect people physically, it does not affect this perfect love. One can therefore state with confidence that the theme of the poem is love. But it will be more explicit to say that it is “perfect love”, “true love” or “permanent love”.
So the message the poet is sending to his audience is that true love cannot be affected by any obstacle such as sickness, suffering, and sorrow. I decided to use this simple and straight forward poem written by Shakespeare in the 16th century to show that a good literary work is usually relevant in all ages and nationalities. You can see also what we said in unit one about choice of words. The poet selected simple words that convey his message in a straight forward manner
3.2
Subject Matter
The subject matter in poetry is the same with the subject matter in other literary genres. It is the topic of discussion in the poem. In most cases, we deduce the subject matter from the title of the poem. It is from this topic of discussion that the theme is extracted, which means that the theme is usually subsumed in the subject matter. If we look at the poem discussed above for instance, we agree that the theme is “perfect love” what then is the subject matter? Let us took at the title again “Let Me
Not to the Marriage of True Minds”. You may ask yourself what
Shakespeare means by that. Then you start reading the poem and you find out that the sentence is not yet complete in the title but is completed in the second line. It then reads “let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments”. This means that any marriage between two true minds should thrive irrespective of perceived obstacle or barrier.
If you have been observant, when the bans of marriage are called in the church (especially in the Catholic Church), the catechist ends by saying
“anybody who knows of any impediment to this marriage should report to the priest in charge”. The impediments, according to the cannon law of the Catholic Church are thirteen (13). Shakespeare is saying that these impediments, no matter how grave they are, should not hinder the marriage of true minds. In the second and third lines he affirms this position that any love that is altered by any obstacle (alteration) is not love. From these, we can confidently say that it is only perfect or true love that can exist in such circumstance.
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What Makes a Poem?
Poetry is not just about language and ideas. It is an emotional exercise so it involves an experience. In this experience the poet explores a subject that crystallizes in a theme. In this experience, the poet expresses his feeling about that idea (theme) through the creative manipulation of words in a language he chooses. When this experience and expression are fused creatively he produces a very good poem. If however there is no blend of the experience and expression, the poem will not be coherent and consequently the audience/reader will not get the desired or the right message. In such situations the poet fails to communicate.
In poetry you cannot separate experience and expression. It is like a separation of content and form. If a poem is just the recording of an experience without proper attention being paid to how it is expressed, it ceases to be art but a record of ideas. On the other hand, if it is just a cluster of beautiful words that is joined together but does not express an idea, it becomes meaningless. What makes a poem therefore is what is said and how it said. The experience is what is being said while the expression is how it is said. The experience could be a real or an imagined encounter, factual or fictional, objective or subjective, but to which the poet responds and expresses.
As a budding poet you should be aware of the fact that you should learn one thing or the other from any experience you encounter in life. You should be ready to open yourself to learn something new from every situation. You learn through all your senses as you touch, see, hear, feel and taste events, objects, things and other experiences of everyday of your lives. You record each experience in your memory because through them you could respond to fresh experiences in a new way to give them fresh realizations. Some of the common experiences in life include fear, love, and loss of dear one, hunger, poverty, sickness, victory, defeat, success and failure. Some of these experiences come in simple forms while others appear in complex forms. The experience could be serious or light.
You are not expected to respond to all the experiences you encounter in life but to only those that affect you emotionally. It must be a unique experience that you would want to share with others in a poetic form.
You should be able to decide which experience is worth expressing or communicating to your audience or reader. It is worth expressing if in your perception, it is significant and towers above others. Recall the poem above and note that an experience is worth expressing if it has a universal appeal and a human dimension that can improve humanity or your society. It may or may not be a new experience and unique as the
Russian poet Boris Pasternak opined; “My abiding dream was that the
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poem should contain something, a new thought or a new image” (quoted in Ojaide, 47). In poetry, your thoughts and feelings are inseparable. It is the same in other genres of literature but the feeling is made manifest more in poetry as the poet joggles imageries, and figures of speech to pour his “emotion in a rhythmic grace” (Eruvbetine, 3).
3.3.1 Sound
In poetry, words are very important because over and above the basic meaning, they constitute and create the real beauty of the poem. Words give impressions of the emotions of the poet and that is why specific words should be used instead of the other. For instance, a poet and may decide to use the word ‘chant’ instead of ‘song’ or ‘music’. Apart from the meaning, he chooses particular words because of the sound effect he wants to achieve.
You know that words, though symbols on paper, are sounds in daily speech or spoken forms. Words, as individual sounds are selected because of the patterns which they can form to create a special meaning.
Certain words in poetry are chosen to heighten the sound effects in a poem. Sound effects are achieved more through patterns of sound repetition in form of consonants or vowels. The sound patterns in figures of speech are mainly ‘alliteration’ and ‘assonance’ ‘consonance’ ‘pun’ and ‘onomatopoeia’.
Sound patterns in poetry are not often used only to create specific effects but also used to convey a special emotion. Poetry is a product of the mind or imagination; when there is a strong excitement in the mind, it is often conveyed in a rhythmic pattern and sound patterns therefore are used to create rhythm in poetry.
3.3.2 Rhythm
Rhythm is usually associated with music – song, dance, drumming and other forms. Rhythm is also associated with motion, architecture or mathematics. In all these, repetition is constant, though, with certain forms of development and variation. It appeals to the senses. Words are given prominence by the rhythm.
Poetry is musical because of the rhythmic pattern in which it is presented. Rhythm is also produced through stressed or unstressed syllables that are patterned in metre. The best way to describe metre is measure. It is the measurement of words in a poem.
Metre as stated above is the measurement of words and it is based on the stress on syllables of the words in a line. In simple terms, a syllable is
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that minimum utterance that can be produced with one breath or pause.
In poetry accent is the stress that is placed on certain syllables in a line of poetry. A line of poetry contains a number of accented (stressed) and unaccented syllables arranged in a particular order or pattern. This order or pattern is called metre.
There are different types of metre in poetry. Each metre is categorized based on the number of feet in a line of poetry. A foot is used to describe a group of syllables that form a metrical unit between two or three syllables.
3.3.3 Rhyme
Poets produce musical effects in the poem through rhythmic patterns.
Apart from the production of rhythm in poetry through alliteration and assonance, another important aspect of rhythm is rhyme.
Rhyme is the repetition of the same sound usually at the end of each line. Assonance and alliteration could be located anywhere within the line but rhyme is the repetitive pattern or sound found at the end of two or more lines.
The sequence in which the rhymes occur in a poem is called rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is indicated by the use of alphabets at the end of the line. Some of the popular rhyme schemes are aabb, abab, abcb, abba. There are many rhyming patterns that are not indicated here.
You should just learn that sound repetitions at the end of the lines are matched to form the rhyme scheme. Let us use a simple nursery rhyme to illustrate this:
Twinkle twinkle little star, a
How I wonder what you are, a
Up above the world so high, b
Like a diamond in the sky. b
In this short poem, ‘stars’ and ‘are’ have similar sounds while ‘high’ and
‘sky’ share the same sound. Here is another simple illustration:
Baa baa black sheep, a
Have you any wool, b
Yes sir yes sir, c Three bags full b Here ‘sheep’ and ‘sir’ do not have similar sounds while ‘wool’ and ‘full’ also have similar sounds. So the rhyme scheme here is abcb.
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3.3.4 Diction
Diction is simply the choice of words. It is important for you to choose the right words that will help to convey your idea appropriately. As a beginner you should use simple, ordinary and plain diction. Do not try to be deliberately poetic by engaging in obscurity and affectation. You should also avoid unnecessary inversions and high sounding words in your language which you may think might impress your readers. Always ask yourself if your choice of words could effectively convey your feelings or your idea.
The best way to know if you are on the right path is, according to
Ojaide, to ask yourself the question, “is this the way I talk to people”.
Remember that you are trying to communicate your idea to your reader or audience though your poem. You should therefore ensure that you communicate to them in a language that they will understand. It is the intensity and beauty of the language and not its obscurity or bombast that makes a good poem. As much as possible, therefore, avoid cliché, slangs, phrases and other unfamiliar or common terms. However, in line with poetic license you could make proper use of deviations in syntax, structure or form to make your poem unique.
You should acquaint yourself with different poetic forms. This will enable you decide the most appropriate form through which you may wish to convey your idea. Poetry strives on rhythm, so choose words and metres that will allow your poem to flow in a particular rhythmic pattern. Do not hesitate to delete any word that obstructs this free flow in your poem. Diction in poetry could be simple or obscure. A poem that is presented in a simple language is straight forward and very easy to understand because the words chosen by the poet is are simple and very familiar words. On the other hand, obscure diction in a poem means that the words may or may not be simple words but presented in such a way that it will be difficult for you to decipher the message of the poem immediately and appreciate the poem easily. Compare the two poems below: (A)
From the west
Clouds come hurrying
Turning
Sharply
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Here and there
Whirling
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.
From David Rubadiri’s “An African Thunderstorm”
(B)
The price seemed reasonable, location
Indifferent. The Landlady swore she lived
Off premises. Nothing remained
But self-confession. “Madam”, I warned.
“I hate a wasted journey- I am an African.”
Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick-coated, long gold-rolled
Cigarette-holder-pipped….
From Wole Soyinka’s “Telephone Conversation”
Poetic language is unique. The poet chooses his words in such a way that together they will be able to produce the desired emotional effect, convey the message and at the same create the desired effect and rhythmic pattern.
The choice of words reflects the intentions of the poet, the effects s/he wants to create and even the poet’s target audience. The poet uses figurative language and figures of speech.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Which of the two poems above could be said to have been presented in an obscure language?
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SUMMARY
Theme is the central idea in a poem. It is the core message that the poet communicates to the reader or the audience. The subject matter is the topic of discussion in the poem. It is usually found in the title of the poem. In most cases, this central idea that constitutes the theme is based on an experience by the poet. He then expresses this experience using the right words and appropriate sounds to create the rhythmic balance which makes poetry a beautiful experience.
5.0
CONCLUSION
You have learnt in this unit that the theme of the poem is the underlying idea which is different from the subject matter, the topic of discussion in the poem. You learnt also that an experience is worth expressing in poetry if it has a universal appeal and that you should try to express it in a unique way to imprint your mark of originality on it. The basic tools in poetry are words. You have therefore learnt that an appropriate choice of words helps to create rhythm which is the hallmark of poetry.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
In your own words differentiate between theme and subject matter in a poem. 7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Eruvbetine, Agwonorobo Enaeme. (2002). “Poetic Existence: A
Personal and Social Imperative”. Inaugural Lecture Series.
Lagos: University of Lagos Press.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing Handbook For African
Writers and Students. Lagos: Malthouse.
Rubadiri, David. (1976) “An African Thunderstorm” in Senanu, K. E. and Theo Vincent ed. A Selection of African Poetry. Harlow
Essex: Longman.
Soyinka, Wole. (1976) “A Telephone Conversation” in Senanu, K. E. and Theo Vincent ed. A Selection of African Poetry. Harlow
Essex: Longman.
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UNIT 3
CREATIVE BLOCKS: EMOTION IN
TRANQUILITY
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Creative Blocks
3.2
Emotion
3.3
Emotion in Tranquility
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will be introduced to the creative blocks in poetry. By creative blocks we mean the basic steps in writing a poem. These steps are not rigid so may vary from one poet to the other. We will try to lead you through the process, from the moment the poet conceptualizes an idea to the time he writes the poem.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• identify creative blocks in the world around you and within you
• determine the place of emotion in poetry
• distinguish between the expression of emotion by people in their daily lives and the expression of emotion in poetry.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Creative Blocks
Playwrights and novelists in most cases start their creative writing with the development of a synopsis or an outline. The poet in most cases does not need an outline since he does not necessarily write a story with a plot line. Poems are short in form and express emotions of fear, joy, admiration and many other forms of feelings. What then are the creative blocks for the poet? According to William Wordsworth, poetry is a
“spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility”.
If this is so, it means that the poet in most cases creates as s/he imagines
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the idea. He writes the way he feels as he pours his emotions on paper.
This explains why a few lines of a cry of anguish could constitute a beautiful poem. This is against the case of the novelist or playwright stated above where the idea is put down, a story created based on that idea and the writer decides how to present it, whether to use chronological or episodic plot. The writer there takes a decision on the age, disposition and qualification of the character.
The creative block which forms the foundation of the poetic building is a fertile imagination. The poem comes from the poet’s imagination. It however starts from a germinal idea which he conceives before he writes or develops as the poet writes. Sometimes, it comes out wrongly and he will have to start all over again. Sometimes, instantly as it is for most poems, the first draft metamorphoses into the main poem except for a few revising and retouching here and there in order to get a perfect form. In writing your poem, learn to take one idea at a time, work on one poem at a time until you conclude it. Learn to write or work serenely and happily as the poem flows in your mind. Allow the poem to flow and don’t force yourself to write except when you have the inspiration to do so. Once you are focused on the idea, whether you have written the entire poem or not, try to add one block at a time and “cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers” until you get your final draft
(Hall 152). This means that if you should revise and revise the original poem until you are satisfied that the idea is clear and the right emotion is conveyed in a rhythmic grace.
Some people erroneously believe that artists, poets inclusive are weird or abnormal human beings. I hope that you are not one of those who hold this view especially in contemporary Nigeria where literary artists rank among the elite in the society. Among the literary artists are university lecturers, medical doctors, pharmacists, engineers and other professionals. So as you conceive the idea, and write for your next poem remain human by going to normal places, visiting your usual joints and doing exactly what you feel like doing. However, as the inspiration comes, always try to put it down immediately in your note pad. At such times, you can afford to forgo the joints, the exciting or places, friends and other good times because you could do that afterwards but once the inspiration comes it may be difficult to be recalled afterwards. That does not mean that you should be a recluse because you are writing a poem.
Each time you start a poem, concentrate on it and forget the other poems you want to write and think only of the one you are writing at the moment. Thinking about the poem is not wondering about what to write but about how to put finishing touches on what you have written. Many poems are written at a sitting because as the experience crystallizes into
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an idea and takes shape in your mind, the poem flows. Once it starts flowing, allow the poem to lead you. If you do that, you may not have a lot to revise. My experience as a playwright is that I hear the characters interacting in my head and I record what they are saying quickly. I do not claim to be a poet since I have not published any poem.
However an experience in 1990 forced me to write the poem below. It is not a perfect poem but just to illustrate the need to move with your note pad and to record your experience as soon as you have the inspiration.
Before the incident, I had the notion that an academic environment should present an ideal place where there should be rule of law and respect for human dignity. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. On that fateful day, two lecturers who I had respect for very much abused themselves in the public in what I considered ‘gutter language’. It was so horrible, at least for me, that one of them told the other that he could not father a child and that one retorted that he would rather stay childless than to father sickle cell anemic children. One said that the other was not a man because his wife was paying their rent. Instantly, I started scribbling on my note pad what came to my mind. The product of that scribbling is hereby recorded.
I No wan Go School
I happi say I be illiterate
I dey live mai life jeje
I no dey envi anybody
I no dey jealous anybody.
I dey content with wetin I get
Mai wife no dey fight for right.
I no wan go school becos,
I no wan be like Prof. dis or Dr. dat
Wey dey abuse each other for public
Pass ‘agbero’ wey dey motor park..
Dem say na education.
Dem say na emancipation.
Dem say na liberation.
I no wan go school becos
I no wan be like Prof. dis or Dr. dat
Wey ask im wife
To feed dem family
Make im pay rent
Wife to buy uniform
Make im pay school fees
Wife say im want equality
Husband give am equality
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But for responsibility only
I no wan go school becos
I no wan be like Prof. dis or Dr. dat
Wey sabi gossip pass dey lectures
Wey dem dey deliver
For backbiting
Dem dey
For slandering,
Dem pafuka
If na so people
Wey go school dey behave,
Walahi Talahi
I hapi say I be Illiterate
Later, I looked at it but did not review it much. I was disgusted with the action of these lecturers and recorded my feeling on paper. I used pidgin because of the persona of the illiterate man which I used.
3.2
Emotion
Emotion refers to strong feelings in a person. It could be a feeling of love, joy, pain anger, sorrow and many other forms of feeling. It reflects the state of a person’s mind, fond feelings or an agitation of the mind.
The emotion could be real, fake, exaggerated or controlled. You hear often when people are asked to control their emotions. The emotion could be that of grief or hurt which are usually manifested through shedding of tears (crying). Joyous emotions can also be expressed through tears of joy. Emotion is therefore that strong feelings in our minds that are manifested through our actions.
For the poet, his emotion is expressed on paper with words. Thus a painful emotion well expressed could elicit tears from the reader.
Sometimes, you find a reader smiling to himself while reading a poem.
It means that the emotion expressed by the poet has been communicated very well. Wordsworth calls it powerful emotion. Now that you are being introduced to writing of poems, you should try to record your emotions. The only tools you need are pen, paper or computer and the right choice of words. In poetry, the writer composes the poem the moment something strikes him/her. Some poets claim that the poems appear to them the way they are written. Coleridge for instance, claims that “Kubla Khan” was a product of a dream stimulated by opium
(Norton Anthology 61). All the lines are documented the way he saw them in that dream. He was in a trance/dream and the poem appeared to him but unfortunately, a visitor came and disrupted his flow of thought and he lost most of the lines and never recovered them again. This means that that particular poem is not a product of rational action. This
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means that the poem flowed in the poet’s mind the way it appears in the fragment in the published.
3.3
Emotion in Tranquility
You can only create when you are at peace with yourself. You may find yourself in a noisy environment, depending on you and your creative attitude; you could still recoil into yourself and write. To recollect an idea in tranquility also means writing as you observe but most people agree that a poet creates better in a quiet and peaceful environment. This is true but poems have been written in buses and other public places.
The important factor for any poet is to find how and where he/she creates better. Find your rhythm and the best environment for the realization of your poetic imaginations.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
What is the role of emotion in poetry?
4.0
CONCLUSION
Generally, creative writing involves a process of discovery of oneself and environment. When you conceive/conceptualise a poem, you discover your disposition towards the idea or emotion you go on to express it in the poem. The poet also discovers the environment in a very special way as s/he views things or objects differently. Certain issues or objects that are taken for granted are seen and given new insights. If for instance, you read Milton’s “An Ode on a Grecian Urn”, you will wonder if all the things said in admiration and expression of the emotions evoked by the Grecian urn are just for an ordinary flower vase.
The poet sees and expresses what we all take for granted, in a special way and we now view that object, issue or environment differently.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, we have tried to explore the creative blocks in poetry. You have learnt that a poet creates differently from the novelist and the playwright. This is because poetry is an emotional exercise so could be started and completed in a very short period. A poet could record his emotion the way he feels it and instantly that becomes a poem. You also learnt that this emotion must be recorded for it to be a poem because if it remains in the poet’s imagination, nobody will know about it, hence the recollection of that emotion in tranquility.
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TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
List the basic steps in poetry writing.
7.0
REFERENCE/FURTHER READING
Hall Oakley. (1989). The Art and Craft of Novel Writing. Cincinnati
Stone Press.
Mack, Maynard. General Editor (1992). The Norton Anthology of World
Masterpieces. Sixth edition, Vol. 2 London: W. W. Norton &
Company.
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UNIT 4
IMAGERY AND ALLUSION: EXPANDING THE
SCOPE
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Imagery
3.2
Allusion
3.3
Figures of Speech
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will be introduced to the creative blocks that help you to expand your scope in poetry. Imagery, allusion, and figure of speech help the poet to present so much in few words to achieve the desired condensed language that is the hallmark of poetry.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
identify the position of imagery in poetry identify allusions in poems identify figures of speech in poems distinguish between ordinary language and poetic language.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Imagery
Imagery is a collective term for images which present in the mind the likeness of an object, human beings, other animate or inanimate objects or even events. It helps to bring an idea or a picture to the mind or the imagination. An image may not present an exact picture but allows the reader to see through his mind’s eye or imagination an appearance which closely resembles the original. It helps the reader to form a mental picture of what is being presented. When these mental pictures
(images), figures of speech are presented in general or collectively, it is called imagery. Imagery is used to enhance the aesthetics of the poem.
Aesthetics is very important in poetry-writing because, every poet
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strives to express himself beautifully so that the poem can provide artistic or aesthetic pleasure for the reader.
Imagery is referred to as “a central component of almost all imaginative literature and is often said to the chief element in poetry” (Ojaide27).
There are two types of imagery - literal and figurative. Literal imagery is used to describe things or events in such a way as to evoke the things referred to. In literal imagery, it is easy to identify the object that is being represented. It is highlighted through vivid descriptions.
Figurative imagery works also through description but here the object is likened to something else. Imagery helps the poet to concretize ideas and feelings in a poem so that the reader can actually imagine what the poet is saying. It helps to give the poets feelings “tangible and real existence rather that a purely intellectual one. It provides the reader with a sense of vividness and immediacy” (Ndem25). Figurative imagery is akin to symbolism because all symbols depend on images. Imagery helps to make the scenes created in a poem to be more realistic to the reader. Figurative language embraces image and imagery. Image is usually a mental picture of something. It involves other senses of hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting.
Poetry expresses the poet’s own feeling and temperament. In most cases it is created to instruct and at the same time give artistic pleasure. The poet therefore tries to instruct through an embellished and sometimes, lofty language. He/she uses imagery and figures of speech, assembles appropriate words that will aid the realization of his goal of conveying his message as well as giving artistic pleasure. In some poems, the message is easily discernable while in some it is difficult to decipher the meaning. Some poems are written in simple conversational language while some are shrouded in images and figures of speech. It depends on the style adopted and the creative imagination or the talent of a particular poet. “I” could be and often is the person speaking in a poem.
Many poems written in the first person “I” are likely to have recognizable traits of the poet’s own person, circumstances, aspirations, experiences or states of mind. The justification for this claim is that the poet’s emotion expressed in the poem comes from within him.
Wordsworth insists that the source of a poem is not in the outside world but in the individual. It means therefore that since the essential materials for the poem are the inner feelings of the poet though based on external people and events. The important factor is that the poet presents his poem in a language that is understood by his audience. In oral poetry, the problem of obscurity does not necessarily arise because the poet uses familiar images drawn from his immediate environment which the audience is also familiar with. Also the oral poet renders his poem in a language that understood by his audience. In literary poetry, on the other
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hand, the poet may have been familiar with the “rules” that govern the type of poetry he is writing and deliberately chooses the images in line with the rules to achieve the desired effect on the audience. Although modern poets write with the intention of achieving a global acceptance, the images are still drawn mostly from the environment of the poet or the setting of the poem. Images are important in poems because they help to highlight in precise forms, the variety of themes and forms. The imageries help the poets to achieve the desired coherence of content and form and for deeper explanation of their subject matters.
The scope from which imageries or external objects are drawn in poetry are expanded “… transformed or irradiated by the author’s feelings” (Norton Anthology 613). Coleridge insists that great works of literature are produced through “a self-originating and self – organizing process that begins with a seed-like idea in the poets imagination, grows by assimilating the poets feelings and the diverse materials of sense – experience”,( Norton Anthology 614) and evolves into an organized whole in which the parts that are integrally related to each other and to the whole. The subject of poetry ranges from the “universal to the particular from humankind to nation or ethnic group from animals to plants from animate to inanimate objects”(Ezenwa-Ohaeto 32). Imagery help the poet to create vivid pictures. In most cases, imageries are draw from nature.
It is important for a poet to know how to use and apply imagery in poems to achieve a logical whole. They are necessary devices which he needs to create an image in the reader’s mind. Imagery, in addition to other figures of speech, helps to create the desired rhythmic grace in a poem and to make the poem really poetic. An effective use of imagery and figures of speech sets apart a good poet from a mediocre. Imagery and figures of speech are presented in words and it is the proper organization of the words that produces rhythm in a poem. And the appropriate use of imagery gives the poem its uniqueness and provides liveliness and vibrancy.
Some Nigerian poets adopt pidgin English as the mode of communication in their poems and with appropriate use of imagery, the poems are interesting. This medium was popularized by Aig
Imoukhuede and Ezenwa-Ohaeto. Most of the poems in pidgin are satirical. Pidgin, according to Ezenwa-Ohaeto, is a medium of communication that provides a bridge between the orality of verbal communication and the formality of the written words which enables the writer expand the dimensions of orality in literature (Ohaeto 27). Many of them are usually direct social commentaries and are easy to understand. My poem above may not be a very good example so I
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hereby present “How I Go Believe You” from Ezenwa-Ohaeto’s If to
Say I be Soja:
HOW I GO BELIEVE YOU
You say you no get kobo
But your dress dey expensive
Your shoe na imported
De car you get too cost
De thing way you bi
Just talk loud pass your word
You say you no get kobo
How I go believe you,
You say Kontri no rich
Oil money you carry alone
You say make I dey manage
De food your dog chop
My family never see for one year
You say Kontri no rich again
How I go believe you.
You say you be honest man
Public property you don steal
You go award plenty contract
With ten percent for your account
You say you no bi bad man
How I go believe you,
You say you get better plan
All bad people na your friend
When you make small ceremony
Na only thief people go full dere
Dose wey you dey help na rogues
You say you get better plan
How I how I go believe,
Your say you like us plenty
For morning you flog us koboko
For afternoon your dog bite us
For evening you put us for detention
Your boys dey harass us plenty
You say you like us plenty
How I go believe you.
One prominent feature of pidgin English is that it explores social realities in a humorous and lighthearted manner. The use of humour is
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intrinsic but it differs depending on the effect which the poet intends to achieve. The humour in Frank Aig-Imoukhuede’s Pidgin Stew and
Sufferhead differs from the humour in Mamman Vatsa’s Tori for Geti
Bowleg and both differ from the humour in the poem above. As stated above, most poems in pidgin are satiric and satire is a genre of comedy.
The language itself sounds humorous even when serious issues are being communicated. So if you intend to write in pidgin, remember that humour is “seen as part of the creative quality that has heightened the communicatory aspects of pidgin literature” and that it “enables the writer in pidgin to explore social realities insightfully, and interestingly because it is achieved through hilarious allusions, ironic perceptions, succinct imagery and the tabulation of incongruities in human behaviour” (Ezenwa-Ohaeto 14).
3.2
Allusion
Allusion is an indirect reference in passing to an object, idea or a human being dead or alive. In allusion, a thing is referred to without explicit mention, explanation, or with suggestion of further associations.
Because of this casual reference, it is difficult for the reader to decipher what is alluded to in some poems. A reader who is not familiar with the bible, for instance, may not be able to detect the allusion in John
Milton’s poem below.
3.3
Figure of Speech
Figure of speech is used mainly to “associate or compare dissimilar things” (Ojaide 28). The aim is to create an image in the mind of the reader. There are many figures of speech but we will mention only a few here. You should get a good dictionary of literary terms to learn more about figures of speech. You need to get acquainted with them for you to be able to use them while writing your own poems. The ones we will consider briefly here are simile, metaphor and personification.
Simile compares two unlike things with the use of “as” or “like”.
Metaphor also compares two unlike things without the use of as or like.
For example, “he is as strong as a tiger” (simile). “He is a tiger” (metaphor). Personification aids the poet attribute human characteristics to non human beings, objects or ideas. We will analyse the poem below and try to present the poetic devices we have been discussing so far.
ON HIS BLINDNESS
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide
And that one talent which is death to hide
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Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve my maker, and present
My true account lest He returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask, But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Allusion
If you are a Christian, you would recall the parable of the gold coins in
Mathew 25: 15-30 where servants were given a gold coin each by their master. All of them invested the money and made profit for their master but one of them buried his one coin in the ground where it was lodged and was useless. When the master returned, the servant is called to present an account and he did not make any profit so his master scolded him and said that at least he would have kept his money in the bank where it would have yielded an interest.
You have seen how I explained the underlined words which together form the biblical allusion in the poem. Milton alludes to the uselessness of his eyes to the uselessness of a gold coin buried in the ground.
However, it is important to note that the soul is eager and able to serve
(not useless). Indeed Milton, in spite of his handicap, went on to produce monumental poetry using the daughter as scrivener. Allusion in the hands of a skilful poet expands the scope of the reader’s knowledge and understanding of the world. Here, the awareness and virtues the reader would gain are:
(1)
(2)
(3)
Endurance and courage in suffering
Life of absolute trust in God
No condition is permanent
Theme
The theme of the poem is the relationship in service between human being and God. John Milton became blind when he was about forty-six years, due to the kind of work he was doing which involved interpreting and translating Latin. And that is why the fourteen-line poem (sonnet) starts on a note of reminiscence as he says” “When I consider how my life spent/Ere half my days in this dark world and wide”. His life provokes some thought in him. Part of the thought is that it is useless for
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anyone to waste his/her talent. It is not proper for anyone to leave ones talent unused especially when one knows that one must account to God, how one’s talent entrusted to him has been used.
A rhetorical question of line seven, “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” is a response to his predicament. He wonders whether God would give somebody a gift of a bag of salt and accompany the gift with a rainfall. His mind tells him that “God doth not need/Either man’s work or his own gifts”, meaning that God does not need our services or our labour or efforts. What is important to God is our love for Him and for our fellow human beings. Charity, faithfulness and obedience to God’s will. That is, his “mild yoke” which pleases God so much. In God’s kingdom, the angels and other divine beings worship Him in obedience and “serve him best” endlessly, “o’er land and ocean without rest”.
The poem teaches us that whatever condition we find ourselves in this world, whether good or bad we have to accept it as we see it, because there is a purpose behind every action. In the poem, the poet recognizes the omnipotence and omnipresent qualities of God and notwithstanding his blindness, determines to serve God with all his strength hence”…my soul more bent/to serve therewith my Maker…” God does not give us anything in life because of our righteousness, though that may enhance it because he does not need our work, according to the poet.
Diction
The diction is simple, straightforward and condensed. The first eight lines (octave) provide a question, while the last six lines (sextet) supply the answer. The poem is a Miltonic sonnet which rhymes ABBA,
ABBA, CDE, CDE. The run-on-lines of the poem add to its descriptive vividness. One other thing noticeable about the pattern is that the lines are made up of about ten syllables which is the hallmark of a sonnet.
Imagery/Symbolism
The dominant images in the poem help to illuminate the relationship between man and God and the poet’s blindness words like “world”,
“soul”, “Maker”, “God”, “mild yoke”, “kingly”, all point to this.
“Thousands at his bidding speed”, “stand and wait”, help the reader to see in his/her imagination, thousands of angels that worship God all the time. Mood/Tone
There is a general feeling of regret and hope. The poet’s blindness makes him sad but as he remembers his “Maker”, a new lease of hope
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rekindles in him and he expresses it with a tone of determination and resignation. Alliteration
The rhyming scheme in the poem makes the piece musical and some other alliterative words add to this, e.g.; …this… world and wide (‘w’ alliterates), “patience to prevent” (‘p’ alliterates), “…serve who… stand” (‘s’ alliterates). Note also that in “God doth not”, ‘o’ assonates.
Euphemism
The poet makes light a serious ailment like blindness and thereby reduces the high voltage of emotion that ordinarily would be deployed to describe the situation. So, when the poet says “my light is spent” “… half my days”, “…one talent/lodged with me useless”, “mild yoke”
“bidding speed”, he is being euphemistic.
4.0
CONCLUSION
The novelist and the playwright have enough time and space to present their stories. The poet presents his works in a very limited space.
Sometimes, time is not considered since poetry thrives on emotions that are recorded without regard to time. What we mean by time here is that a story for instance starts from the morning and ends in the evening but poet who expresses joy at the sight of a loved one does not present the joy in a way that it lasts from morning till the evening. The poet is able to present the poem in the limited space because he makes use of imagery, allusions and figures of speech. These devices aid the presentation of a poem in a condensed language. This brings out the differences between the poet and an ordinary person which is that the poet feels the joy found in nature and renders it in such a way that the reader feels it or shares it with the poet.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt more about imagery, allusions and figures of speech. You have also learnt that the poet needs these devices because in poetry, much is said in very few words. This is achieved through connotative and denotative language. Imageries fall under connotative language where a word could connote other things depending on the meaning and the picture the poet wants to evoke.
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TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What do you understand by figures of speech in poetry. List at least six figures of speech.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Ezenwa – Ohaeto. (1998). .If to Say I be Soja. Enugu: Delta
Publications.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing: Handbook for African
Writers and Students. Lagos. Malthouse Press Ltd.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. (1992). The Norton Anthology of World
Masterpieces. 6th edition, Vol. II. Maynard Mack (General editor) New York: Norton.
The Estate of Ezenwa-Ohaeto/Ngozi Ezenwa-Ohaeto (2007) Subject,
Context and the Contours of Nigerian Fiction, Edited by Pia
Thielmann and Eckhard Breitinger. Eckersdorf, Germany:
Bayreuth African Studies 81.
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UNIT 5
THE MATERIAL OF POEMS: LEGEND AND
HISTORY
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Materials from History and Legends
3.2
Myth
4.0
Conclusion
10.0Summary
6.0
Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will be introduced to myth, legend and history as possible areas from which you could draw your poetic materials. We will also present a historical poem for illustration.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• determine the place of myth and legend in poetry
• describe how history could be utilized as material for poetry
• enumerate the ways you could apply myth, legend, or history in writing your poem.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Materials from History and Legends
All over the world, people had oral poetry embedded in their cultures before the literary poetry. The materials for some of the poems especially the epic are drawn from history and legends. Good examples of such poems are the Iliad, Odyssey, Sundiata and many others. The
History of the Hebrews was that of bitterness and struggles against foreign masters from their bondage in Egypt through wars in their journey to Canaan, the Promised Land and series of exiles. Thus their political and economic history ended in series of disasters. Local cohesion and universal solidarity eluded them for most of the times.
Consequently, there was no serious peaceful and harmonious existence which could produce great artists. Thus “they left behind them no painting or sculptor and little or no secular literature, no drama for
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example, nor any epic poetry (but) left a religious literature, the Bible.
(Mack 3) However, the Bible contains many poetic expressions which could have passed for classical poems if they were recorded as secular literature. The Greeks produced great literature because of the level of civilization and brilliant culture that existed in ancient Greece. Despite the dark age of Greece, Homer produced two great poems – the Iliad and the
Odyssey which are based on their history and legend. Iliad is a Greek epic that is based on the Trojan wars for the recovery of Helen of Troy, the wife of an Achaean Prince, Menelaus. Odyssey is another epic by
Homer that presents the peace, after the war. It is concerned with the return of the heroes that survived, especially the return of Odysseus of
Ithaca.
The Romans did not just produce great warriors and conquerors, they also patronized art. They were said to have conquered half of the world before they began to write. A prominent Roman poet was Virgil who wrote the Aeneid, the Roman epic which he could not complete before his death in 19th B.C. It is a historical poem based on his love for Dido, the Queen of Carthage and the fall of Troy. Another great poem drawn from legend is Beowulf. It is believed that Beowulf marks the beginning of English literature. It is an epic poem which traces the legend of the
Danish rulers, and relates the legendary killing of two monsters, Grendel and his mother by Beowulf, the hero in the poem. He also kills a dragon but was mortally wounded.
During the Renaissance, John Milton wrote an epic poem, “Paradise
Lost” based another legend of the defeat of Lucifer in heaven. The
Augustans, who belong to the “Neo Classical Period” or the Age of
Reason, laid more emphasis on the intellect and the human mind. They drew inspiration from the classical Roman Age and looked upon that period for poetic models. In their poems, they directed their attention to
“intricate interchanges and conflicts between aspects of human life” (Mack 1). They emphasized adherence to convention in terms of form and content. Satire flourished in that tradition as exemplified in
Alexander Pope’s “Rape of the Lock”.
The Romantics were more interested in nature and the lowly life but still paid attention to history and legend. They were more concerned with life as it was lived especially by the lower class. That perhaps explains why they emphasized the language of ordinary people in poetry. As a poet, before you could draw your material from history, or legend, but you must be familiar with that particular legend or historical event. This is because historical events are factual and not imaginary. So first of all, you learn the facts of the particular historical event you want to portray
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before putting it in a poetic form. Remember that like in drama and fiction, you are not expected to reproduce history accurately the way it is recorded by historians but you could borrow the material and present it in an artistic form in your own unique manner.
Like the Romantics many contemporary poets write from their imagination and present issues that are regarded as commonplace in their poems. Modern poets in an attempt to reject old conventions produce a new tradition. They draw their materials from history, legend and contemporary life depicting its rapid change, technological advancements with its positive and negative effects. They react to present historical events or draw from legends and present the poems in contemporary modes of expression. Poets redefine history and legend to suit contemporary experience.
A very good example of a historical poem is David Rubadiri’s “Stanley
Meets, Mutesa”. It is a Malawian poem that recounts the visit of Henry
Morton Stanley, a nineteenth – century explorer who made journeys to
Africa. In one of such journeys, the one recounted in the poem below, he meets Mutesa, the king of Buganda who was regarded as the most powerful king in East Africa. The result of this encounter is the spread of British influence in that area and the establishment of the Ugandan protectorate in 1894. In the poem, Rubadiri, imaginatively recreates this visit recounting the difficulties which the travellers encountered on their way, how they were received in the court of Mutesa and the significance of the meeting.
Stanley Meets Mutesa
Such a time of it they had;
The heat of the day
The chill of the night
And the mosquitoes that followed.
Such was the time and
They bound for a kingdom.
The thin weary line of carriers
With tattered dirty rags to cover their backs;
The battered bulky chests
That kept on falling off their shaven heads.
Their tempers high and hot
The sun fierce and scorching
With it rose their spirits
With its fall their hopes
As each day sweated their bodies dry and
Flies clung in clumps on their sweat-scented backs.
Such was the march
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And the hot season just breaking.
Each day a wary pony dropped
Left for the vultures on the plains;
Each afternoon a human skeleton collapsed,
Left for the Masai on the plains;
But the march trudged on
Its khaki leader in front
He the spirit that inspired
He the light of hope.
Then came the afternoon of a hungry march,
A hot and hungry march it was;
The Nile and the Nyanza
Lay like two twins
Azure across the green countryside..
The march leapt on chanting
Like young gazelles to a water-hole.
Hearts beat faster
Loads felt lighter
As the cool water lapt their sore soft feet.
No more the dread of hungry hyenas
But only tales of valour when
At Mutesa’s court fires are lit.
No more the burning heat of the day
But song, laughter and dance.
The village looks on behind banana groves,
Children peer behind reed fences.
Such was the welcome
No singing women to chant a welcome
Or drums to greet the white ambassador;
Only a few silent nods from aged faces
And one rumbling drum roll
To summon Mutesa’s court to parley
For the country was not sure.
The gate of reeds is flung open,
There is silence
But only a moment’s silence –
The tall black king steps forward,
He towers over the thin bearded white man
Then grabbing his lean white hand
Manages to whisper
‘Mtu Mweupe karibu’
White man you are welcome.
The gate of polished reed closes behind them
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And the west is let in. – David Rubadiri
In this poem, there is an allusion to another poem, “Journey of the
Magi” by T.S. Eliot in terms of the hard times faced by the travelers.
The opening stanza of this poem is:
A cold morning we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey
The ways deep, and the weather sharp
The very dead of winter.
In the same way, such difficulties are expressed in the first stanza of
“Stanley Meets Mutesa”. Go back, read that first stanza and compare it with the one above.
This is a narrative poem in which the poet uses the persona “we”. The first stanza sets the tone of suffering encountered by the travellers. You see what we have been discussing about poetic diction and images. In line two, instead of explaining how the travellers trudge under the heat of the sun during the day, the poet says simply “the heat of the day”.
Also expressions like “tattered dirty rags” and “battered bulky chest” do not only described the poor state of the travellers and their heavy loads, but also help to heighten the mood and rhythm of the poem. They help to create a picture of the deplorable state of the crew.
The death of horses and human beings are described in a condensed language thus:
…a wary pony dropped
Left for the vultures on the plains
…a human skeleton collapsed.
Left for the mosaic on the plains
The human skeleton here presents the image of someone that has emaciated so much that what is left is a virtual skeleton. The imagery of human suffering is evoked with words like “sweat-scented backs”
“shaved heads” under “sun fierce” and scorching” “bodies dry” and many others. There is also the image of a harsh weather condition seen in words like “chill”, “heat”, “hot” compare this with “the weather sharp” and “the very dead of winter”, T. S. Eliot’s “Journey of the
Magi”.
The poem ends with
The gate of polished reed closes behind them
And the west is let in.
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The last line, here, refers to the colonization of that African State.
This is a historical account but the poet’s feelings towards this encounter between Africa and the Whiteman is discernable. It is a feeling of sadness. This is highlighted in the description of the Africans who carried the load of the Whiteman.
The mood of the poem is that of suffering, hardship and frustration and the tone is that of helplessness, hopelessness in the first part of the poem and that of resignation and the mood of apprehension in the second part.
Also, the cold reception they received in the court of Mutesa shows that they are not really welcome. There are no songs or chants instead children peer behind the fence while the adults nod silently.
3.2
Myth
Just like the poem above is based on a historical experience, a poem could also be written based on myth. The poet explores a mythical figure or incident in a poem.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Read the poem “Casualties” by J. P. Clark and state the historical event it is based on and the feelings of the poet about the subject matter expressed in the poem.
4.0
CONCLUSION
All along, we have emphasized that poetry thrives on emotion. This means that in most cases, the poem is a consequence of the poet’s feelings because poetry is an imaginary art. The element of imagination is not absent in all forms of poetry because the poet imaginatively uses material from history legend or mythology to produce a poem. The main story or a segment of the historical event for instance is usually present in the poem. The difference lies in the employment of appropriate poetic devices to produce an aesthetically satisfying poem. We have also been concerned with the expression of emotions. In some cases, the poet decides to write a poem based on a myth, legend or history. However, feelings play an important role here too because through the presentation of the subject matter, the poet’s feeling is discernable. If for instance, a poet writes a poem based on the Nigerian Civil War, the poet’s alignment with either Nigeria or Biafra would be discernable or even obvious. 145
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SUMMARY
You have seen in this unit that in as much as poetry is the record of a poet’s emotion, the poet could also write a poem based on a myth, legend or a historical event. You have also seen that even when the material of a poem is from history, for instance, the emotion of the poet is still present.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What do you think is the poet’s feelings in the poem “Stanley Meets
Mutesa”.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
David Rubadiri “Stanley Meets Mutesa. In Senanu, and Theo Vincent eds (1988). A Selection of African Poetry. New edition. Harlow,
Essex: Longman Group.
Iwuchukwu, Chinweikpe. (2006). The Mastery of Literature Vol. 1 2006
– 2010. Lagos: Macckho Ricckho Press.
Clark, John Pepper. “Casualties” in Senanu, K. E. and Theo Vincent ed. A Selection of African Poetry. Harlow Essex: Longman.
Mack, Maynard. ed. (1992). The Norton Anthology of World
Masterpieces. Sixth edition. Vol.1 & 2. New York: W. W.
Norton.
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UNIT 6
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Revising a Poem
3.2
Analysis of “Abiku” by J. P. Clark
3.2.1 Theme
3.2.2 Diction
3.2.3 Mood/Tone
3.2.4 Figures of Speech
3.2.5 Imagery
3.3 Glossary of Selected Poetic Terms
Summary
Conclusion
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will be introduced to revision in poetry and how it helps in the poet to produce good work. At the end of your poetic exercise, you are expected to revise what you have written to ensure that your emotion is presented in a coordinated manner. In this unit you will be led through the analysis of a very simple and popular poem “Abiku” by
J. P. Clark. The intention is to illustrate how he has utilised the concept of “Abiku” to produce a very good poem.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• revise your poem to produce the final copy
• identify poetic devices in a poem
• identify the theme in a poem
• undertake a general analysis of a poem.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Revising a Poem
The immediate act of composition of a poem is spontaneous. It arises from an impulse to create or record an experience or feelings. At the
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stage of recording this feeling the poet writes as the ideas flow and at the point, he does not care about rules and regulations. But once that first sketch of that “spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions” is put on paper, it is followed by a reflection. This reflection may be likened to
Wordsworth’s “recollection in tranquility”. It is at this tranquil stage that the poem is refined. The poet arranges and rearranges the poem to achieve the desired rhythm and musicality. He ensures that he has chosen the right diction and that images, figures of speech and figures of sound are applied appropriately. He also ensures that he has made the right allusions, chosen the appropriate setting, set the right atmosphere/ mood and tone. He arranges his poem in lines and or stanzas to create the desired body or form. He re-reads and revises the poem to ensure that he has conveyed his intended message and that his theme is discernable. By the time he concludes his revision, the poem assumes its final form. That is when we say that the sense has been refined and the poem as it appears is produced.
3.2 Analysis of “Abiku” by J. P. Clark
3.2.1 Theme
The theme of reincarnation is explored in the poem. It is treated from the perspective of an Abiku. The concept of “Abiku” is one of the cultural beliefs of some Nigerians. “Abiku” in Yoruba is “Ogbanje” among the
Igbos. It is a child who is believed to have the powers to die and re-enter the mother’s womb to be born again. The baby could do this as many times as it wishes. This causes a lot of heartache and torment for the parents. In the poem, a moving plea is made to the abiku who is considered wicked because of the sorrow the child causes its mother. The appeal is for the abiku to pity its mother, to be considerate and stay like a normal child. This would bring solace and joy to the mother but if it refuses to do that it should ‘stay out’ permanently – to die and not return again.
This is because the child’s “coming and going these several seasons” is a means of tormenting the mother who suffers the pains of pregnancy and pangs of childbirth several times and yet remains childless. The act of going through a pregnancy and giving birth is enough burden for a woman so you can imagine how it would be for a woman who gives birth several times only for the child to die each time she gives birth to it. 3.2.2 Diction
The diction is simple and clear. The poet’s rhetorical technique aids the tight structure of the poem. He makes good use of imagery, figures of
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speech like repetitions, alliteration, assonance and other forms as is presented below.
Many words used in the poem are familiar in the village setting.
“Baobab tree”, “thatch”, “eaves” “bamboo walls”, “fresh fish”, “bats”,
“owls”, “fire”, “rack”, etc. These words are chosen carefully and applied appropriately to make the poem an enjoyable one. The proper soundpatterned words enhance the musicality and rhythm of the poem yet helps to capture the agonizing state of the mother of the abiku child.
3.2.3 Mood/tone
The mood induced by the tone is undoubtedly that of unhappiness, frustration, disappointment and sorrow. The coming and going of the abiku these several years affects the general state of the household. The effect is that of gloom, tiredness and resignation to fate. The overall tones captured in the poem are that of agony and an appeal for sympathy. 3.2.4 Figures of Speech
Assonance: Some of the expressions that assonate in the poem are:
“Coming and going” (‘O’ assonates); and “And at harmattan, the bamboo…” (‘a’ assonates) in the poem, the above stressed vowels agreement help to energise the poet’s views and clarify same. Simile: When one considers the following lines, they register in our minds’ eye resulting in a better and deeper appreciation of the poem even when we close our eyes, for instance: “Serrating down your back and front like beak of the sword-fish”.
Alliteration: The following alliterative expressions which make the poem melodious. musical, rhythmical and motion-like are used in the poem. “Several seasons” (‘s’ alliterates); “Through the thatch” (‘t’ alliterates); “Brim the banks” (‘b’ alliterates), “Fresh fish” (‘f’ alliterates), “Many more” (‘m’ alliterates), “Step in, step in and stay”
(‘s’ alliterates), and “Many more mouths” (‘m’ alliterates)
Repetition: The effective use of repetition in the last stanza of the poem as in: “Step in, step in and stay” and “her body is tired,/Tired”, has made the invitation of the spirit child and the excruciating pains of the mother very emphatic and serious.
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Synecdoche: This is when a part stands for a whole or vice versa. In the poem “Seasons” represent years, the “healthy stock” stands for lineage/ancestry/ancestral abode and “several fingers” stand for many personalities, and “More mouths” stand for more children.
3.2.5 Imagery
Many examples of vivid pictures abound in the poem especially in the emotive descriptions of Abiku; consider the following:
(1) “We know the knife-scars serrating (teeth-like cutting)
down your back and fronts”
(2) “And both your ears, notched ss a bondsman to this
house”
(3) “When floods brim the banks”
(4) “And the bats and the owls often tear in at night through the eaves”
All these help to make this poem beautiful and satisfying
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Try to identify other poetic devices used in the poem.
3.3
Glossary of Selected Poetic Terms
We present here selected literary terms culled from the books listed in the reference section. These terms are expected to guide you in your choice of words for the poem you intend to write.
Abstract
Abstract is the opposite of concrete. A sentence can be described as abstract if it makes a general statement about a class of persons or objects or if its object is an abstraction – that is, a quality considered apart from its object – such as wealth and beauty. “Honesty is the best policy” is an abstract statement, but “Hotchkiss is a thief” is concrete.
The latter statement refers to a particular object rather than to a general class of objects.
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Accent
The special emphasis given to one syllable over others in pronouncing a word or to one word over others in say a phrase. It is used in poetry to determine the metre.
Aestheticism
This is a term loosely applied to an English literary movement of the second half of the nineteenth century. The roots of the movement lay in the reverence for beauty instilled by Keats and the Pre-Raphaelites.
Allusion
A rhetorical term applied to that figure of speech that makes casual reference to a famous historical or literacy figure or event. “He, like the
Prodigal son Returns Home”. Prodigal here is an allusion to the Biblical prodigal son who returns to his father after spending his father’s fortune recklessly. Ambiguity
This occurs when double or multiple meanings are attached to words or to situations. Figurative language is somewhat ambiguous. While ambiguity is never desirable in normal formal writing, it is useful in poetry. It brings several meanings that can illuminate more fully the complexities of the experience that the writing offers.
Anthology
A collection of poetry or prose, sometimes divided into categories such as lyric verse, satiric verse, etc.
Antithesis
The placing of a word or an idea that is in contrast to it or that its opposite. This figure of speech is characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas. It is a balancing of one term against another for impressiveness and emphasis. “Unlike we stand, divided we fall” Anticlimax
This is the opposite of climax. Instead of an action in a play/novel moving from the lowest point to the highest, it moves in a reverse order.
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Atmosphere
The mood which is established by the totality of a literary work.
Blank verse
Unrhymed verse, particularly that form of unrhymed heroic verse which is commonly employed in English dramatic and epic poetry. Blank verse consists of lines of 10 syllables each, the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth syllables bearing the accents (iambic pentameter).
Couplet
Two lines in immediate succession usually, but not necessarily of the same length, forming a pair, and generally marked as such by rhyming with each other. A pair of lines joined by rhyme is considered a couplet, whether it forms part of a stanza, or constitutes a metrical group by itself. The grave’s a fine and private place but none, I think, do thee embrace. (from “To His Coy Mistress”).
Denotation
The specific, exact meaning of a word, independent of its emotional coloration or associations. Connotation which is the opposite of denotation refers to the references and associations which a word has collected in the course of its use in addition to its denotation.
Dramatic Monologue
A poem which reveals “a soul in action” through the conversation of one character in a dramatic situation. The character is speaking to an identifiable but silent listener in a dramatic moment in the speaker’s life.
The circumstances surrounding the conversation, one side of which we
“hear” as the dramatic monologue, are made clear by implication in the poem, and a deep meaning into the character of the speaker is given.
E.g. Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, Alfred, and Lord
Tennyson’s “Tithenus”
Elegy
A sustained and formal poem which presents the poet’s meditations upon death or upon a grave theme. The meditation often is occasioned by the death of a particular person, but it may be a generalized observation or the expression of a solemn mood. E.g. Thomas Gray’s
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”.
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Emotive language
Language designed to evoke or express emotional reactions towards its subject, as opposed to referential language.
Empathy
Signifies an experience in which we identify ourselves with an object of perception and seem to participate in its physical sensations, especially of posture and motion. The experience is sometimes described metaphorically as “an involuntary projection of ourselves into an object,” animate or inanimate.
Epigram
In Greek literature, a poetical inscription placed upon a tomb or monument. Later it was extended to encompass any very short poem – amorous, elegiac, meditative, complimentary, antidotal, or satiric – which is polished, terse, and pointed. Usually an epigram ends with a surprising or witty turn of thought. It is usually a short emphatic witty saying that involves antithesis or a paradox. It is similar in form to a proverb but it is a creation of the individual writer.
Euphemism
A mild, delicate, or indirect word or expression used in place of a plainer and more accurate one, which by reason of its meaning or association might be offensive, unpleasant or embarrassing.
Figurative Language
Intentional departure from the normal order, construction or meaning of words in order to infuse strength and freshness of expression in the poem to create a pictorial effect. It helps the poet draw an analogy, or to discover and illustrate similarities in otherwise dissimilar things.
Form
A term used to designate the organization of the elements in a work in relation to its total effect. For example, verse form refers to the organization of rhythmic units in a line and stanza form refers to the organization of the verses. Form is the pattern or structure or organization which is employed to give expression to the content of a literary piece.
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Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which emphasis is achieved by deliberate exaggeration. Like many such figures, it appears in ordinary speech as well as in verse. Such common expression as “They were packed in the subway like sardines”, is an example of hyperbole.
Image
An image is a literal and concrete representation of a sensory experience or of an object that can be known by one or more of the senses. The image is one of the distinctive elements of the “language of art”, the means by which experience in its richness and emotional complexity is communicated. The image is, therefore, a portion of the essence of the meaning of the literacy work, not ever properly a mere decoration.
Imagery
Descriptive representation; sensory content of a literacy work; figurative language intended to evoke a picture or an idea in the mind of the reader. Imagination
The power or process of using all the faculties so as to realize with intensity what is not perceived, and to do this in a way that integrates and orders everything thus present to the mind so that reality is enhanced thereby.
Innuendo
An oblique hint; an indirect intimation about a person or thing; an inferential suggestion, commonly used in a bad sense, but sometimes in an innocent one.
Internal Rhyme
Occurs within a single verse. It may serve several functions; giving pleasure in itself, pointing up the rhythmical structure, or, breaking a long line into shorter units.
Invective
Harsh, abusive language directed against a person or cause; vituperative writing. 154
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Irony
A device by which a writer expresses a meaning contradictory to the stated or ostensible one. There are many techniques for achieving irony.
The writer may, for example, make it clear that the meaning he intends is the opposite of his literal one or he may construct a discrepancy between an expectation and its fulfillment or between the appearance of a situation and the reality that underlies it. Whatever his technique, the writer demands that the reader perceive the concealed meaning that lies beneath his surface statement.
Lament
A poem expressing some great grief, usually more intense and more personal than that expressed in a complaint.
Lampoon
Writing which ridicules and satirizes the character or personal appearance of a person in a bitter, scurrilous manner.
Malapropism
A blunder in speech or writing caused by the substitution of a word for another similar in sound but different in meaning.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable, in order to suggest a resemblance.
“He is a lion”
Metonymy
A common figure of speech which is characterized by the substitution of a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind for the word itself. In this way we commonly speak of the king as “the crown: an object closely associated with kingship thus being made to stand for
“king”.
Mock Epic or Mock Heroic
Terms frequently used interchangeably to designate a literacy form which burlesques epic poetry by treating a trivial subject in the “grand style”, or which uses the epic formulas to make ridiculous a trivial subject by ludicrously overstating it. When the mock poem is much
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shorter than a true epic some prefer to call it mock heroic, a term also applied to poems which mock romances than epics. Ordinary usage, however, employs the terms interchangeably. E.g. Alexander Pope,
“Rape of the Lock” John Dryden, “The Dunciad”.
Objectivity
A quality in a literary work of impersonality, of freedom from the expression of personal sentiments, attitudes, or emotions by the author.
Onomatopoeia
The naming of anything by a more or less exact reproduction of the sound which it makes, or something audible connected with it. E.g. “The bee is buzzing”.
Oxymoron
A figure employed in an expression or statement which is apparently self-contradictory but in which a point is involved as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly”.
Paradox
A statement or opinion seemingly self-contradictory or absurd, that may actually be well-founded or true. E.g. “The Nile and the Nyanza lay like two twins” (From “Stanley Meets Mutesa” Rubadiri)
Personification
A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstract ideas are endowed with human qualities or actions. E.g. “The grass is singing”.
Plagiarism
Literary theft. A writer who steals the plot of some obscure, forgotten story and uses it as new in a story of his own is a plagiarist.
Poetic License
A privilege or liberty taken by a poet of departing from normal order, diction, rhyme, or pronunciation to produce a desired effect.
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Pun
A play on words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but differ in meaning and which results in an odd or ludicrous idea. E.g.
History’s art not fact
History…Herstory History
Sees sees seas
Politics politricks politricks
(From Riot in Heaven: Tess Onwueme)
Rhyme
The repetition of the same or similar sounds, whether vowels, consonants or a combination of these in one or more syllables, usually stressed and occurring at determined and recognizable intervals.
Masculine or male rhymes are those in which the final syllable is accented, while feminine or double rhymes are those in which the final syllables are unaccented. Internal rhyme refers to rhyme which occurs within the line, as n “the splendour falls on castle walls”.
Rhythm
In language, the sense of movement attributable to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of prose or poetry or to the lengths of sounds in quantitative verse. In verse, the rhythm is determined by the metrical pattern, whereas in prose or free verse, it is the effect of an arrangement of words more nearly approximating natural speech.
Romantic
A term used of literature that is centred upon the inner rather than upon the outer world and that tries to convey the writer’s feelings in a manner uniquely expressive of his experience and his personality though not in traditional formal patterns. These features distinguish it from classical writing. The Romantic Movement that started at the close of the eighteenth century was a reaction against the formalism of a period dominated by a mechanistic view of life. Romanticism, another name for this reaction, applies also to any trend that exalts nature above artifice, sensibility above intellect, the foreign above the familiar, energy above restraint, and the search for an absolute above concern with the here and now. The romantic is one who takes this attitude. One of the prominent poets of the Romantic period is William Wordsworth.
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Sarcasm
A form of verbal irony, in which, under the guise of praise a caustic and bitter expression of strong and personal disapproval is given. Sarcasm is personal, jeering, intended to hurt, and is intended as a sneering taunt.
Satire
A literary work or mode of writing intended to arouse ridicule, contempt, or disgust at abuses and follies of man and his institutions, and aimed at the correction of malpractices by inspiring both indignation and laughter with a mixture of criticism and wit. E.g. Wole Soyinka,
“Telephone Conversation” Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”
Samuel Johnson, “Vanity of Human Wishes”.
Simile
The comparing or likening of two things that have some strong point or points of resemblances, both of which are mentioned and the comparisons directly stated. It compares something to something else using words like as and like. “He is as brave as a lion”
Stanza
A recurrent grouping of two or more lines of a poem; in terms of length, metrical form, and, often, rime-scheme. However, the division into stanzas is sometimes made according to thought as well as form, in which case the stanza is a unit not unlike a paragraph of prose. Strophe is another term used for stanza, but one should avoid verse in this sense, since verse is properly reserved to indicate a single line of poetry.
Structure
The planned framework of a piece of literature. Though such external matters as kind of language used (French or English), prose or verse, or kind of verse, or type of sentence are sometimes referred to as
“structural” features, the term usually is applied to the general plan or outline. Thus the scheme of topics (as revealed in a topical outline) determines the structure of a formal essay. The logical division of the action of a drama and also the mechanical division into acts and scenes are matters of structure. In a narrative the plot itself is the structural element. Often the author advertises his structure as a means of securing clearness, while at other times the artistic purpose of the author leads him to conceal his structure (as in narratives) or subordinate it altogether
(as in some informal essays). In the novel today, as the most reliable as well as the most revealing key to the two, structure is used to define not
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only verse form and formal arrangement but also the sequence of images and ideas which unite to convey the meaning of the poem.
Style
The arrangement of words in a manner which at once best expresses the individuality of the author and the idea and intent in his mind. The best style, for any given purpose, is that which most nearly approximates a perfect adaptation of one’s language to one’s ideas. Style, then, is a combination of two elements: the idea to be expressed, and the individuality of the author.
A study of styles for the purpose of analysis will include such general qualities as: diction, sentence structure and variety, imagery, rhythm, coherence, emphasis, and arrangement of ideas.
Symbol
On the most literal level a symbol is something which is itself and yet stands for or suggests or means something else; as a flag is a piece of coloured cloth which stands for a nation. All language is symbolic in this sense, and many of the objects which we commonly use in daily life are. Literal symbols are of two broad types: one includes those which embody within and suggest time and eternity; the voyage suggests life; and phallic symbols are universally recognized. Such symbols are used widely in the world’s literature. The other type of symbol secures its suggestiveness not from qualities inherent in itself but from the way in which it is used in a given work. Thus in Moby-Dick the voyage, the land, the ocean – these objects are pregnant with meanings that seem almost independent of Melville’s use of them in his story; on the other hand, the white whale is invested with meaning – and differing meanings for different crew members – through the handling of materials in the novel. Similarly, in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, rain, which is merely a physical fact in the opening chapter, is converted into a symbol of death through the uses to which it is put in the book.
Symbolism
In its broad sense, symbolism is the use of one object to represent or suggest another; or, in literature, the use of symbols in writing, particularly the serious and extensive use of such symbols.
Symbolism is also the name given to a literary movement which originated in France in the last half of the nineteenth century, strongly influenced Irish and of British writing around the turn of the century, and has been a dominant force in much British and American poetry in
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the twentieth century. It sees the immediate, unique, and personal emotional response as the proper subject of art and its full expression as the ultimate aim of art.
Synecdoche
A form of metaphor which in mentioning a part, signifies the whole or vice-versa. In order to be clear, a good synecdoche must be based on an important part of the whole and not a minor part and, usually, the part selected to stand for the whole must be the part most directly associated with the subject under discussion.
Theme
The central, or dominating idea in a literary work. In non-fiction prose it may be thought of as the general topic of discussion, the subject of the discourse, the thesis. In poetry, fiction, and drama it is the abstract concept which is made concrete through its representation in person, action and image in the work.
Tone
Tone is used in contemporary criticism, as a term designating the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work. In such a usage, a work may have a tone that is formal, informal, intimate, solemn, sombre, playful, serious, ironic, condescending, or any of many other possible attitudes. Clearly, tone in this sense contributes in a major way to the effect and the effectiveness of a literary work.
In another sense, tone is used to designate the mood of the work itself and the various devices that are used to create that mood. In this sense, tone results from combinations and variation of such things as metre, alliteration, assonance, consonance, diction, sentence structure, repetition, imagery, symbolism, etc.
Unity
The concept that a literary work shall have in it some organizing principle to which all its parts are related so that, viewed in the light of that principle, the work is an organic whole. A work which has unity is cohesive in its parts, complete, self-contained, and integrated.
Universality
A critical term frequently employed to indicate the presence in a piece of writing of an appeal to all readers of all time. When writing presents
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the great human emotions common to all peoples of all civilizations – jealousy, love, pride, courage, etc – in literary form and through characters and actions that remain meaningful to other ages, it may be said to have universality. Of all qualities which make for universality in literature, the successful portrayals of human character are the most important. Verse
A verse is a line in a poem, especially one that has a formal structure, or sometimes used synonymously with stanza, notably in hymnology.
4.0
CONCLUSION
The poet writes a poem, whether it was planned, or recorded as the one given in a dream or trance or as an outpouring of emotions. At the end of the exercise, the poem is revised to ensure that the desired rhythmic balance is achieved. The poet ensures that images, figurative language and figures of speech are used appropriately to convey the intended message. This revision also ensures that the final product expresses the poet’s emotion appropriately.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit you have learnt the importance of revision in poetry writing.
You have also evaluated a poem “Abiku” by J.P. Clark and have seen how he employed the poetic devices to present an experience. You have also been exposed to some other poetic terms that are described briefly.
You should make an effort to learn more about them. This knowledge is necessary for every poet.
23.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
List five figures of speech used by J. P. Clark in the poem “Abiku” and explain them.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Harmsworth, J.R. (1968). Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: Coles.
Iwuchukwu, Chinweikpe. (2008). The Mastery of Literature for JAMB.
Lagos: Macckho Ricckho
Murfin, Ross and Surpryia M. Ray. (1997). The Bedford Glossary of
Critical Terms. New York:Bedford Books.
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Ogungbesan, K. and D. Woolger. (1978). Images and Impressions.
London: Oxford University Press.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing Handbook for African
Writers and Students. Lagos: Malthouse Press.
Senanu, K.E. and Theo Vincent. (2003). A Selection of African Poetry.
Harlow, Essex: Longman.
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SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
COURSE CODE:ENG212
COURSE TITLE:CREATIVE WRITING I
ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
COURSE
GUIDE
ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
Course Team
Professor Kalu Uka (Developer/Writer) - UNIUYO
Prof. A. R. Yesufu (Editor/Prog. Leader) - NOUN
Dr. Onyeka Iwuchukwu (Coordinator) - NOUN
NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA ii ENG212
National Open University of Nigeria
Headquarters
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island
Lagos
Abuja Office
No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street
Off Aminu Kano Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja
Nigeria
e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng
URL: www.nou.edu.ng
Published By:
National Open University of Nigeria
First Printed 2010
ISBN: 978-058-524-9
All Rights Reserved
iii
CREATIVE WRITING I
ENG212
CONTENTS
CREATIVE WRITING I
PAGE
Introduction……………………………………………………..…
What you will Learn in this Course…………………………….….
Course Aims…………………………………………………….…
Course Objectives…………………………………………….……
Working through this Course……………………………….……..
Course Materials……………………………………………..…….
Study Units…………………………………………………..…….
Text Books and References…………………………………..……
Assignment File………………………………………………..…..
Presentation Schedule……………………………………………...
Assessment…………………………………………………………
Tutor-Marked Assignments………………………………………..
Final Examination and Grading…………………………………...
Course Marking Scheme……………………………………….….
Course Overview……………………………………………….….
How to Get the Most from this Course…………………………….
Tutors and Tutorials…………………………………………….….
Summary……………………………………………………..…….
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3
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4
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5
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Introduction
ENG. 212: Creative Writing is a one-semester, three-credit unit course. It will be available to all students who possess a natural inclination to imaginative creativity in the genres of fiction, drama and poetry as they can be used to explore social phenomenon, philosophy of life, interaction and conflict resolution through relevant cultural characterization, situational engineering and in sighting human relationships. The course will comprise 21 units in three modules of seven units each in fiction, drama and poetry writing. These three are the “Trinity of
Literature”. In each, distinctions will be made on how to use imagination to re-order and to structure, to verbalize, and give meaning to various issues of man in his cultural milieu, his history, his political development or evolution, his psychology. The pre-requisite for this course is therefore the possession by the prospective student of the willingness to let his imagination be controllable in moulds of ordered command of words, ideas and feelings, the flair for envisioning in the social system.
What You will Learn in this Course
The overall aim of Eng. 212: Creative Writing is to introduce the student to the tools of writing, the use of those tools such that he could churn out delectable story-feeling-based explorations of life around and iv ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
even outside of himself. Fiction, drama and poetry are ‘phrases’ of the written art of the teacher, the painter, the philosopher, the historian, the mythologist and the scientist, forming a composite, like a rose, called
‘literature’. The student will learn in the process that not all literature simply tells a story. Reflectiveness, satiric exploration, jovial indictments are some of the necessary attitudes that can inform good, well-written literature.
Course Aims
Eng. 212: Creative Writing is planned to impart to the student a number of tenable procedures and disabuse his mind of the untenable assumptions about the nature of artistic writing. There were those who believed that a writer is “born”, not “made”. The student will learn that:
5.0 Ever since G. B. Shaw asserted that all creative writing, because it
involves imagination, is “ninety-nine percent hard work” and “one percent inspiration”, creative writing can be taught and can be learned.
It is a conundrum of existence.
6.0 Practical analogies illustrate how good or specialized writing could be
achieved. For instance, all two-legged tall-standing human beings, all things being equal, can walk, or run, or dance, or speak learned or mother-tongues, BUT NOT ALL PERSONS CAN DO SO WITH
SKILL and EXPERTISE. There is much difference between the
TRAINED ATHLETE in the use of body, arms, legs, head and heart, in the deliberately, result-oriented manner and the ordinary human person, whose use of the same equipment is loose and unordered. Practice leads to harmonic coordination.
7.0 Creative writing is therefore the fully developed conscious effort and
manoeuvre to “birth” a poem, or play, or novel by a mind nurtured that takes it to the level of deserving {to be} “literature”.
8.0 To borrow from Laurence Perrinne such literature must have its own
autonomy. That autonomy must be a process imbued with “structure → sound → sense” – in that order of combination, to become an
ORGANIC WHOLE.
9.0 Procedures, parameters for attaining such a feat can be acquired,
exercised upon and reproduced many times, as the varied and various written works of great writers in the world have established ever since man went from papyrus to printing and to digital reproductions.
Course Objectives v ENG212
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The aims set out above have been fairly well objectived. So, objectified, it reduces or cuts off, the tendency for individualistic styles and approaches to writing seem to be impositions. In the unit details there specifies of each genre, included therein, will guide the student to find his own métier. “How well have I done?” should always be a question on the lips of the student as he does the exercise in each genre. “Rome” they say, “was not built in a day”. So, the intensive, but gradualist objectives of the course, to achieve the aims shall be to:
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0
15.0
be able to distinguish the ‘languages’ of fiction, drama and poetry. know the varieties of “dialogue” in the genres know what “conversation” is. know differences between “conversation” and “drama”. understand the nature of “action” and “dialogue”. be able to relate “action” to “character”. differentiate between “stories”, especially in fiction and drama. know that essentially the poem is different from the other two forms. appreciate the elements common to all the genres of literature grapple with and understand and be able to use key technical apparatuses such as “progression”, “exposition”, “informational devices”, “plausibility”, “tempo”, “naturalness”, “motivation”,
“concentration”, “rhythm”, “symbols” in words and actions.
Working through this Course
This course is completed when you have studied ALL the study units;
Read (all) the recommended books, and some miscellany. Each unit contains summaries and assessment questions and exercises. You may be required to submit a number of assignments, a minimum of two in each genre for assessment purposes.
Course Materials
The major components of the course are:
5.0 Course Guide
6.0 Study Unit
7.0 Textbooks
8.0 Assignment file
9.0 Presentation Schedule
Each student needs to possess the materials. There are bookshops in
University of Lagos for instance, that custody some of the textbooks.
AFRICANA sections of libraries have some. Foyles in London can oblige some requests online. Other access request, maybe through vi ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
IEEE’s CSDL (Computer Society Digital Library), 1730 Massachusetts
Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20036, USA.
Study Units
There are 20 study units in this course:
Module 1
Fiction
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Module 2
Preliminary Issues in Fiction Writing – Techniques
Story Selection and Projection
Setting in Situation and Environment
Structure of Plots and Plotting
Sound-Rhythm of Prose and Dialogue Flow
Charactier(ization) with Symbols and Images
Sense as Total Meaning and Import/Message.
Drama
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Preliminary Issues in Drama(tic) Composition: Devices
Thought/Idea
Plot
Character(ization)
Language: Dialogue and Action
Spectacle
Music and Dance/Sound (Effects)
Module 3
Poetry
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Preliminary Issues in Poetry Writing
What makes a Poem?
Creative Blocks: Emotion in Tranquility
Imagery and Allusion: Expanding Scope
The Material of Poems: Legend and History
The Finished Product/Glossary of Terms
Text Books and References
(Actually there cannot be any “Required” or “Compulsory” texts.
Expansive reading is necessary. Some are these)
Brooks, Cleanth. The Well Wrought Urn (N.Y., Holt & Co., 1947)
Brooks, Cleanth & R. P. Heilman: Understanding Drama (New York:
Henry Holt & Co., 1955) vii ENG212
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Heilman, Robert B. This Great Stage (Baton Rouge: Louisiana, State U.
Press, 1948).
Perrine, Laurence: Literature: Structure-Sound-Sense (New York,
1990).
Spurgeon, Caroline, Shakespeare’s imagery.(London :Methuen, 1960)
Assignment File
In this file, you will find details of the work you must submit to your
Tutor for marking. The marks you obtain from these assignments will count towards the final marks/grade you obtain for this course. Further information on assignments will be found in the Assignment File itself and, later, in this Course Guide, in the section on Assessment.
Presentation Schedule
The presentation schedule included in your course materials gives you the important DATES for the completion of Tutor-marked Assignments and attending tutorials. Remember, you are required to SUBMIT all your assignments by the DUE DATE. You should guard against falling behind in your work.
Assessment
There are TWO aspects to the assessment of the course. First are the
Tutor-Marked Assignments. Second, there is a written examination. In tackling the assignments, you are expected to apply information and knowledge acquired during this course.
The Assignments must be submitted to your Tutor for formal assessment in accordance with the DEADLINES stated in the Assignment File. The work you submit to your Tutor for assessment will count for 30per cent of your total marks in the course.
At the end of the course, you will need to sit for a final three-hour examination. That examination – a review of theories – will count for 30 per cent of your total course marks, while the actual work, practically visible, finished work (not printed, but a typed mss of a fictive shortstory (for the novel genre) a play script (in one act) and a poem (14 lines or more) will count for the remarking 40 per cent. Total 70 per cent.
Tutor-Marked Assignments viii ENG212
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There are nine Tutor-marked assignments, three in each module, in this course. You need to submit ALL the assignments. All count, and the total marks for nine is 30 per cent of the total course marks.
Assignment questions for the units in this course are contained in the
Assignment File. You should be able to COMPLETE your assignments from the information and materials found in the recommended sourcebooks, reading and study units. You are, however, advised further to seek and use other references in order to broaden your viewpoint and obtain deeper understanding of what the subject requires.
When you complete an assignment, SEND it, together with TutorMarked Assignment Form to your Tutor. Ensure delivery to your Tutor of every assignment on or before the deadline (date-due) prescribed in the Assignment File. If, for any acceptable reason, you cannot complete your work on time, do contact your Tutor beforehand to discuss parameters for extension.
Final Examination and Grading
The final examination in Eng. 210 will be in two parts and have a value of 70 per cent of the total course grade. Part I will be essentially a theoretical review and will attract 30 per cent. The questions will reflect the types of self-testing recall of applicable terms and concepts that a writer uses. Some of the Tutor-marked problems you encountered will be there. Part II will be the PRACTICAL packaged piece of written created work in the fiction, drama and poetry genres which you will reproduce in the exam hall, in 45 minutes per genre. All areas are assessed. You are advised to REVISE the entire course (after studying the last unit) BEFORE you sit for the examination. Review your Tutor-marked assignments and note well your Tutor comments on them before the final examination.
Course Marking Scheme
The table below shows how the actual course marking (grading is broken down into two parts)
Assessment
Marks
Assignment: 3 per 30% - Excellence in one module does not genre (9 altogether) exempt/compensate poor performance in others. Final examination 70% - Must pass in each area to obtain passing grade ix
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Total
100%
Course Overview
The next table below brings together the Units, the Number of Weeks you should take to complete them, and the assignments that follow them. Unit
Title of work
Course Guide
Module 1
Unit 1 Preliminary Issues in Fiction
Writing
Unit 2 Story Selection and Projection
Unit 3 Setting: Situation and Environment
Unit 4 Structure of Plots & Plotting
Unit 5 Sounds Rhythm of Prose and
Dialogue
Unit 6 Characterization (with Symbols)
Unit 7 Sense: Total Meaning/Writing
Module 2
Unit 1 Prelim Issues in Drama
Week’s Assessment activity (end of unit)
1
1
No assignment
1
2
3
4
Assignment 1
5
6
Assignment 3
6
No
Assignment
Assignment 4
Assignment 5
Unit 2 Plot Creation/Titling
Unit 3 Characterization
Unit 4 Thought and Idea
Unit 5 Language: Dialogue and Action
Unit 6 Spectacle
Unit 7 Music and Sound/ Dance Effects
Module 3
Unit 1 Prelim Issues in Poetry Writing
7
7
8
8
9
9
Unit 2
Unit 3
10
11
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
x
What makes a Poem?
Creative Blocks: Emotion in
Tranquility
Imagery and Allusion: Expanding
Scope
The Material of Poems: Legend and
History
The Finished Product/Literary
Terms
9
Assignment 2
Assignment 6
No
Assignment
Assignment 7
12
13
Assignment 8
14
Assignment 9
15
Revision/
Review
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How to Get the Most Out of this Course
In distance learning, the study units replace the University Lecturer.
This is a great challenge and advantage. The student can READ, and
WORK THROUGH specially designed study materials. This is done at the student’s own PACE, at a time, and at a place which suits the student best. The student must think of each study unit as if he were reading a lecture, rather than listening to a lecturer physically. As a lecturer might set some reading for the student to do, so the study unit tells the student
WHEN to read set texts/books or other material. Just as a lecturer might give an in-class exercise, so the study unit provides exercises for the student at APPROPRIATE POINTS.
Each STUDY UNIT is patterned similarly, following a common format.
The first item is introductory of the unit’s subject-matter. Then it is shown how a particular unit is integrated with other units and with the entire course. Then follows a set of LEARNING OBJECTIVES which lets the student KNOW what he should be able to achieve by the time the unit is completed. These objectives should guide study. When the units are completed, the student must return to CHECK whether objectives have been achieved. Such re-checking must become a habit in order to significantly IMPROVE on one’s chances of excelling in the course. The MAIN BODY of the unit guides the student through the
REQUIRED READING from other sources, drawn from relevant materials. Reading Section
Remember that your Tutor’s job is to HELP you. When you need help, don’t hesitate to call and ask your Tutor to provide it.
4.0.READ THIS COURSE GUIDE THOROUGHLY
5.0.ORGANIZE a study schedule. Refer to the “Course Overview” for more
details. Note the time limit for each unit and how the Assignments relate to the units. Whatever METHOD you choose to use, decide on, and write, in your own dates for working on each unit.
6.0.Once the student has created his own schedule, he must do everything
possible TO STICK TO IT. The major reason students fail is that they get behind with their course work. If there is any difficulties with the schedule made, do let the Tutor know so as to offer timely help.
7.0.Turn to Unit 1 and read the introduction and the objectives for the unit. xi ENG212
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8.0.Assemble the study materials. Information about what you need for a
unit is given in the “OVERVIEW” at the beginning of each unit. The student will, almost always need BOTH the study unit being worked on
AND a set text book on the desk at the same time.
9.0.Work through the unit. The content of the unit itself has been arranged to provide a SEQUENCE for the student to follow. As the work through the unit progresses, the student will receive instruction on sections to read from the set textbooks, articles, or other material. Use the unit to guide reading.
10.0.Review the objectives for each study unit to confirm that you have achieved them. When the student is not sure about any of the objectives, he should go over the study material, or consult his Tutor, or both.
11.0.The student can start on the next unit after ensuring a confident grasp of the preceding unit’s objectives. He must go unit-by-unit through the course. Study must be paced so as to keep on schedule.
12.0.When an Assignment has been submitted to the Tutor for marking, the
student need not wait for its return before starting on the next unit. Keep the schedule. When the Assignment is returned, the student must pay particular attention to the Tutor’s comments, both on the Tutor-Marked
Assignment Form, and also on what is written on the Assignment. If there are questions, doubts, or other observable matter, contact your
Tutor soonest.
13.0.When the student has done the last unit, the course should be
REVIEWED, and PREPARATION for the final examination made.
Student must CHECK that he has achieved the Unit objectives as listed at the beginning of each course unit and the course objectives as listed in this Course Guide.
Tutors and Tutorials
There are 12 hours of tutorials provided in support of this course. The student will be notified of the dates, times and location of the Tutorials, together with the name and phone number of the Tutor, after the student is allocated a Tutorial Group.
The Tutor will mark and make comments on Assignments. There must be a close watch on progress, drawing attention to any difficulties or gray areas in the course by the Tutor. Tutor will then provide needed help. xii
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The student must mail Tutor-marked assignment to the Tutor promptly and well before due date. The Tutor will mark and return soonest all assignments. DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT YOUR TUTOR BY
TELEPHONE, E-mail or discussion board, when you need help. The following might be circumstances in which you would find help
NECESSARY.
16.0
When you do not understand any part of the study, units or the assigned readings.
17.0
When you have a question or problem with an assignment, with your
Tutor’s comments on an assignment, or with the grading of an assignment. Tutorials are mandatory. You must try as much as possible to attend them. There you will have a chance for a face-to-face contact with a
Tutor, to ask questions to which answers are given right there and then.
You can raise any problem emanating from the course. Always prepare a list of questions which you must bring to a Tutorial Session.
Participating in discussions in an active manner sharpens imaginations for a creative writer.
Summary
Eng. 212 is intended to introduce you to powers of creative writing in any or in all three genres of serious literature – fiction, drama and poetry. When you complete the course, you should be able, in addition to enhance self-expressiveness, conversationality, to:
18.0
know the procedures for starting to write and structure and title a good play, poem, or novel or short story.
19.0
know the art of a raconteur who can re-organise in an ordered fashion the chaos that is daily living.
20.0
discriminate between worthwhile subject-matters for a working art and frivolous superficialities.
21.0
dig down into human psychology and create memorable characters that jump out of the book page onto the social vocabulary and popular usage.
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creative entertainment built out of human concerns, desires and hopes and need for relaxation or reflection of the meaning of life
(Not an exclusive list.)
ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
Course Code
Course Title
ENG212
Creative Writing I
Course Team:
Professor Kalu Uka (Developer/Writer) – UNIUYO
Prof. A. R. Yesufu (Editor/Prog. Leader) – NOUN
Dr. Onyeka Iwuchukwu (Coordinator) – NOUN
NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA xv ENG212
National Open University of Nigeria
Headquarters
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island
Lagos
Abuja Office
No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street
Off Aminu Kano Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja
Nigeria
e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng
URL: www.nou.edu.ng
Published By:
National Open University of Nigeria
First Printed 2010
ISBN: 978-058-524-9
All Rights Reserved
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CREATIVE WRITING I
CONTENTS
Module 1
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Module 2
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Module 3
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
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PAGE
Fiction ........................................................................ 1
Preliminary Issues in Fiction Writing-Techniques..........
Story Selection and Project ..............................................
Setting: Situation and Environment .................................
Structure: Plots and Plotting.............................................
Sound: Rhythm of Prose, Dialogue Flow.........................
Character (ization) with Symbols and Images .................
Sense as Total Meaning and Import/Message...................
1
6
12
19
27
35
43
Drama ........................................................................ 52
Preliminary Issues in Drama (tic) Composition: Devices
Thought/Idea ...................................................................
Plot Creation/Titling..........................................................
Character (ization).............................................................
Language: Dialogue & Action..........................................
Spectacle ..........................................................................
Music and Dance/Sound (Effects)....................................
52
59
64
70
75
81
86
Poetry……………………………………………….
92
Preliminary Issues in Poetry Writing: “Atmosphere”....
What makes a Poem?.......................................................
Creative Blocks: “Emotion in Tranquility”.....................
Imagery and Allusion: Expanding Scope.........................
The Material of Poems: Legend & History......................
The Finished Product/Glossary of Terms ........................
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ENG212
CREATIVE WRITING I
MODULE 1
FICTION
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Preliminary Issues in Fiction Writing
Story Selection and Projection
Setting: Situation and Environment
Structure: Plots & Plotting
Sound: Rhythm of Prose and Dialogue Flow
Character (ization): Symbols and Images
Sense: Total Meaning and Import/Message
UNIT 1
PRELIMINARY ISSUES IN FICTION WRITING
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
How to ‘Open’ Novel-Writing
3.2
Purpose and Method
3.3
Shaping
3.4
Tools in Hand - your Mind, Pen, Notebook, and Machines
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Creative writing is a many-sided (ad) venture. There can be many approaches to it. Indeed, one could assume that there is really no distinction between a good novel, and a good play and a good poem; that they are all ‘phases’ of one phenomenon – products of the imagination. But in fact, all writing is CRAFT. From such “crafting”, yes, a learner or reader could extract ‘knowledge’ of various kinds, from either one greater and famous writer, or from various works of many great and famous writers. Because it is “craft”, writing is a “task”, a practical task. But because the ‘practice’ of ‘describing’ an object,
‘narrating;, ‘telling’, about that one object, is different from
“dialoguing” with that object when it is a person, a character in action on a stage, which character has a specific “voice”, a particular feature, creative writing needs to be “artificially” separated into fiction (novel), drama (playwriting) and poetry (poetic composing-like music).
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CREATIVE WRITING I
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
appreciate the many-sided splendour of creative writing appreciate the need for revising and correcting the first inspired onrush of words and ideas when you start writing discuss the joy and exhilaration, or the challenges that you faced initially determine from the beginning what kind of “knowledge” or information you consciously want your reader to imbibe from your work determine the content of your work(novel, play or poem) beforehand because it is not accidental.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
How to ‘Open’ Novel-Writing
As is being emphasized all writing is purposeful. Think now of the word, “Creative”. To “Create” means to bring about by imaginative skill something purposefully new. Because the process affects the producer, the product, and the consumer (here, the reader) of the product,
“creative” now becomes an all-affective thing which envelopes all three
“stakeholders”. This is why a work of art interests the artist, appeals to the art appreciator, and remains a memorable thing with an autonomous life of its own.
3.2
Purpose and Method
Purpose and Method must then merge and drive each other along, much as the fuel in the tank of a car must be in an internally burning engine to
‘exhaust’ itself as it pulls/propels the engine along. How does a writer
“pull the reader” into his story in the first place? the first sentence in the first paragraph on the first page of the book. A reader must be “hooked”, like a fish attracted to a bait is. The fish is given an attractive reason to want to feed. That is why he sees the bait, goes for it, and gets
“hooked”. Remembers your fish need not “die”, but can be coaxed there from into an experiment, living or dying later? “Narrative Hook” as Rita
Clay Estrada and Rita Gallagher call it, must make your reader
CURIOUS, INQUISITIVE, and give him a REASON for staying on to read your novel. Method and Purpose also underline a writer’s technique. Consider the following three or four “Openers”/Methods and see the
Intent/Purpose of the author(s).
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CREATIVE WRITING I
“Metal on concrete jars my drinking lobes”
[Soyinka’s Sagoe in opening the novel, The Interpreters]
“Akwaasa!: [The lorry blew through the breeze]”
[V.C.Ike in opening the novel, Toads for Supper].
“Once upon a time a young man was savouring the pleasures of a new car”. [Nkem Nwankwo in opening the novel, My Mercedez Is Bigger Than
Yours]
“Even before my death I have become a ghost…”
[Ayi Kwei Armah in opening the novel, Why Are We so Blest?]
Some American Romance novel openers include:
“She stood alone and lonely under the dim street lamp”. and “I’m sorry, but my ad stated female, not male, to share my house”,
Joan Evans said, ignoring her instant attraction to the handsome man at the door.”
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Pick any three of these six examples of openers as intimation of method and purpose, and write down five ways in which they are good “baits” to draw a reader into the story and keep him there.
3.3
Shaping
Also, in the preliminary stage of beginning a novel, the ‘shape’ of the story is intimated. At the beginning the story rolls loosely around a number of subjects and persons. It may be around a family history, or a political event, or a police clash with a community, or a student who’s gone missing from school or village. You don’t know whether to write down a “facts or anecdotes” collection. Shape comes into your mind as you THINK and as you think, do not trust your mind to retain all of it; get a notebook, or some sheets of paper, plain sheets or ruled feint with margin; remember writing is hard work, and it needs tools to shape it, even as we use our hoes to shape mounds in the farm; or matchets to cut and clear the bush for farming; our spades to make the straight or curving ridges, etc. An unshaped written novel is an uncleared bush, full of brambles and undergrowths and wet, rotten leaves-strewn ground.
“Writing is refined thinking”, says Stephen King (2000:131), like a well-shaped form is great harvest.
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CREATIVE WRITING I
Tools in Hand - your Mind, Pen, Notebook, and Machine
Natalie Goldberg [Writing Down The Bones (Boston: Shambhala,
1986.5-7) says that since writing is an attempt to “penetrate life”, student learner-writers must begin at the beginning – that is, with their mind. I agree. The beginner’s mind embarks on a journey, a task. To shape the journey (see 3.3 above), to expedite the task, let’s lend you
Robert Olmstead’s analogy: writing, he asserts, is like driving at night.
You only have your headlights, but manage to get where you’re going.
As writers, we have our shaped novel, play, poem, short story, essay, memoir destination in mind. There are “small concerns” – tools we need. Goldberg lists these tools of concern: the pen you write with.
What kind is it? – ballpoints, pencils, felt tips… are slow. Use a fast writing pen so your thoughts are caught up with your hand. Pen must
“feel the connection and texture” with paper. You also need a notebook which is to you what “a hammer and nails are to a carpenter”) – preferably a cheap spiral note book easy to carry in a notebook size purse. The notebook may have your favourite commercial, or school, or government advert cover. Also, try out a variety of blank-lined or graphed-paged notebooks, some are hard cover, others are soft. Even when you are travelling on a bus, or in an aeroplane, and a thought you must capture turns up, use the ticket back cover. Some famous writerdoctors used their prescription pads. There was this colleague – a brother and a writer who resided in New York when we were postgraduate students-he never had a notebook. He always typed, and once on train, he had his type-writer on his laps while I played “Travel
Scrabble” with someone else beside him. Well, today, there are laptopsdo you have one? Late J. D. Ekwere always “wrote” by speaking into the reel-to-reel tape recorder in his office. But nowadays there are the handy Japanese – Chinese, or other Asian-made mini cassette/radio recorders, cheap and battery operated, so you could beat PHCN!
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Discuss the use of at least two “tools” in the prelim stages. How would they help you later?
4.0
CONCLUSION
People always come to the business of creative writing thinking that
“technique” means the actual manner in which a writer struggles to shape his material. Here we have tried to let you see that “technique” really means not just those technical details in the actual execution, but also the manner in which you set about, right at the beginning, to acquire those BASIC physical necessities – the needs of the crafts – with which the desired aim in writing will be accomplished. Thus
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knowledge of what you want to write; the shape of what you are to write; the manner in which, like great masters of writing, you want to hold your consumer of product, your basic tools, from pen to paper and machines – this knowledge is basic. With them you are prepared to
WRITE DOWN THE BONES – a strong, meaningful creative work which has MARROW!.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Why do you agree, if you do, with this conclusion?
5.0
SUMMARY
In this first unit, we have not burdened you with an overload of definitions. Writing in its process and processing defines and re-defines it. We have instead led you to appreciate how to open a novel like the old masters, why you need to shape your thinking, and why you must know your basic tools.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
In what sense or senses is creative writing a ‘task’
2.
Open a story of your own in a paragraph using any method as
“bait” for your reader.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie. (1986) Writing-Down the Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story Press Books.
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CREATIVE WRITING I
UNIT 2
STORY SELECTION AND PROJECT
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
What is “Story”?
3.2
Sources to “Select” from and Principles of Selection
3.3
“Outlines” of Stories
3.4
Projecting the Story. Defences
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Some writers believe that a good story is the best assurance of success in the final product called the novel. And so, they emphasize the need for a well selected story. In every culture the world over people thrill over to a good story. So, in this unit we shall let you into the VALUE and
PLACE of story selecting and the legal implications.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
identify what constitutes a story discuss the varieties and variations in story perspectives list sources from which to select discuss the principles basic to selecting a story project the story as if you were a camera-eye.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
What is “Story”?
Ordinarily, as any good dictionary or thesaurus can tell, a story is just the account of events or incidents whose ordering may be extremely loose, tight or disorderly but in whatever form they ultimately posses elements of human sense to an extent. We see “Stories”, more or less, in this sense in the TV news, or newspaper thrillers or sensational rendering of a killing, a theft with perpetrators breaking and entering, a
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CREATIVE WRITING I
conversion or healing of persons on a Christian crusade ground, or even church worship occasion. In fact, our everyday life is full of “stories”.
However, when it comes to creative writing, story assumes a special dimension. It becomes an “imagined” or “imaginative”, “invented” – and so, called “fictional” narrative, full of contrived intrigues so plotted as to receive a variety of names such as “Anecdote” (when full of humour and amusement), or “legend” (when couched as transmitted history of a people from their previous times), or “romance” (especially as in a cowboy adventure from America, or a science-fiction/thriller from an H.G. Wells or a Jules Verne, or a Girls’ or Womens’ chit-chat magazine, or an H. Rider Haggard ‘mystery’ in a remote African jungle) when a man and woman, or a boy and girl fall in love.
Neither still, nor every kind of fictionally imagined tale with the loveelement is a romance story. For instance, N.T.A’s “Super Story” is not romance; the series has one “heart-kicking dilemma, one life-threatening quandary or another, one fear-raising or emotional death or divorce or another as “elements”. So “Super Story” is a “soap” (opera). Other television shows such as “Desperate House Wives” is not romance, though the stories show the women “experiencing” “growth”, “new beginnings”, “raising children” (alone), ‘leaving their husbands’,
“becoming economically independent”, or even attaining worker-status for the first time.” The story is “women’s fiction”. Once creativity comes into play, however, a story is a story when well plotted and is arrestingly gripping.
So, you need to clarify to yourself, ‘ab initio’, what story you are going to tell: what it is about; how well ordered; theme, and basic idea; and premise (the road map the story follows), (Estrada & Gallagher.
1999:1-5).
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
What makes a story? Why must you select?
3.2
Sources to “Select” from & Principles of Selection
If you have understood “story” as treated above, you’ll realize immediately that there are, and can be, so many stories, and varieties and variations and that as a writer you need to select carefully and meticulously. But first, where does one select from? As can be seen, and has been foreshadowed above, everyday life is a vast source to pick stories from.
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CREATIVE WRITING I
In addition, you could pick and build on pre-existing folk-tales and communal stories. After all, as a writer you are also a researcher.
However, there are principles of selection involved here. In using everyday stories and communal folksy stories which are in the society’s common pool of available story stores, there are no copyright laws. The writer-researcher is free to take the folksy stories, re-shape them, modify the characterization, and give them new language.
In fact, this selection freedom is what the whole principle of adaptation is all about; it is what the imagination is to re-create (see Unit 1, 1.0).
However, where there is a previously told story, especially written up under a known individual’s name and title, you must respect the copyright restrictions so as to avoid going to the “Revenue Court” for plagiarism or manuscript stealing.
Armed with unrestricted materials, the writer must now “find” his/her own “story”. To find the story, you must “twist” a plot, give characters new motivations, believable behaviour, add your “invented” complications so as to give your selected story a personality, a uniqueness that will enliven the tale.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Apart from communal property folktales, and your everyday life observed sources, can you name and assess some three other sources for stories (Re: TV news, World disaster areas and the like).
3.3
“Outlines” of Stories
Someone has said that a writer, creative writer, is an architect, a cook, and farmer. He knows the concrete names of things around him. He must bring them specifically to life, give them their correct, living names, and put them in an order, in an outline. Through an outline he creates a list that may form chapters, or even chunks of the same story.
An “outline” helps you grasp and grab your ideas, and stick to them. Jot down something like these ten “ideas”. As Natalie Goldberg would:
•
Swimming
•
The stars
•
The most frightened you’ve ever been
•
Green places
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CREATIVE WRITING I
•
How you learned about sex
•
Your first sexual experience
•
The closest you ever felt to God or Nature
•
Reading and books that have changed your life
•
Physical endurance
•
A teacher you had
(Goldberg, 1986.21)
Each is concrete, not abstract; each is real stuff. In “Outlining” you are forced to be honest, to be down to earth, not a romantic dreamer, or an escapist coward. Making an outline disciplines you; forces you to avoid procrastination. Chinua Achebe says it forces you to do now, not go on proposing, “I’ll do, I’ll do”, forever like the rat without a tail that ever hoped to grow one but never did. An outline gives you the chapters; gives you the characters; defines directions and situations, sharpens your mind to see the entrances and exits for your personages, may even push you towards seeing a resolution or conclusion, an ending to your story, especially when from a well-tuned, well-directed, soul-rending conflict, you have given your characters appropriate motivations for action within their assigned personalities.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
What is an “outline”? Expand on one of the ten listed above from
Goldberg.
3.4
Projecting the Story. Defences
There is a novel, Anywhere but here, written by Mona Simpson. The story opens in a crisis, like this: “We fought. When my mother and I crossed State lines in the stolen car, I’d sit against the window and wouldn’t talk. I wouldn’t even look at her. The fights came when I thought she broke a promise. She said there’d be an Indian reservation.
She said that we’d see buffalo in Texas. My mother said a lot of things.
We were driving from Bay City, Wisconsin, to California, so I could be a child star while I was still a child.
“Talk to me,” my mother would say. “If you are upset, tell me”. But I wouldn’t. I knew how to make her suffer. I was mad. I was mad about a lot of things. Places she said
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CREATIVE WRITING I
would be there weren’t. We were running away from family. We’d left home.
Then my mother would pull to the side of the road and reach over and open my door.
“Get out, then”, she’d say, pushing me.”
Robert Olmstead has suggested that a lesson in “story projection” can be deduced by analysis this way:
This novel begins with a two-word sentence “We fought” – a subject,
“we” and verb, “fought” It (the sentence) tells what has been happening between the narrator and her mother, from the narrator’s point of view.
These two words give conditions. They create a complicated dynamic.
Yet one that is easy to understand. It is not a drama taking place before your eyes, but still a drama that was and is constant. The word, “would” maintains the past tense. ‘Would’ is the past tense of ‘will’ and indicates habitual action, in this case, the relentlessness of the fighting.
In the second sentence we find out that their car is stolen. But this information comes to us through an adjective inside a prepositional phrase inside a clause. That the car is stolen is made to be much less important than that they are fighting. Nevertheless, we are told the car is stolen and it isn’t mentioned again in this passage. Simply put, this information is revealed in an adjective, not in a statement of fact, as the fighting is.
Another statement of fact is “I was mad”. Notice how each time the narrator makes a statement of fact, she follows it with an example, reason or detail. The thinking is personal and childlike. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense. But more important, it appears to make sense. The narrator’s strength is in her thinking. This is why her mother’s behaviour in the fourth paragraph is so striking. It has consequence.
Knowing the car is stolen now comes back to haunt us. The crisis is enlarged. However dangerous we thought the situation, we find we misjudged. Look at all the italicised words and phrases, and you will agree the story and its opening crisis are concretely projected. The reader is on solid ground, the author-creator is on solid earth; the ‘personae’ of the story are solid reality.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4
Open your own imaginary story with a two-word sentence. Come up with ten possibilities. I suggest these three examples for you:
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CREATIVE WRITING I
•
“We argued…”
•
“We ran…”
•
“He cried…”
4.0
CONCLUSION
If you are, or were a javelin-throwing sportsman you would have no problem appreciating the word, “projection” “throwing-forth and far away”. The action will be full of energy, excitement, and breath-taking.
This Unit tells you just the place of “projection, “audible-visible” energy of a story that starts its narrative journey.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 5
Write in three more sentences following my own sentences, to expand your understanding of the importance of “story projection”. Or is a story better “handled” than “projected”?
5.0
SUMMARY
In this second Unit you have been given the concrete grounds for knowing what a “story” should be; for seeing how even the smallest word/phrase could energize a tale, for knowing the place of “outlines”; for knowing how to select from sources without breaking intellectual property laws.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
What is “copyright”?
2.
Discuss any difficulties or problems you had in self-Assessment
Exercise 4
3.
Give three reasons why thinking of “outlines” for your story is equivalent to evolving suitable topics for sections of your imaginative work.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie. (1986). Writing-Down the Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story Press Books
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UNIT 3
SETTING: SITUATION & ENVIRONMENT
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Setting by What You See: Vision & Space
3.2
Setting by What You Hear: Sounds & Storms
3.3
Setting by Weather and Geology: An Environment
3.4
Setting by Character: Environment & Personality
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Estrada and Gallagher insist, very correctly, that a story is not written in
‘chapters’, but rather is written in “scenes” and their “sequels”, that is in actions organized round a situation and the reaction contrary to the previous . A setting must be like a string of beads to keep a story on track. When well set out you can see a pattern that we diagram like this; and you must be able to describe and define concretely.
SCENES = ACTION
Composed of
SEQUELS = REACTION
1. Goal (direction you are going)
1. Reaction (may be opposition)
2. Conflict
2. Dilemma (Choice must be dictated now) 3. Disaster
3. Decision
Indeed, for a story to begin well, the writer must think it through first.
To think it through you must be able to know exactly which direction you are going, where exactly you are at any given stage, how you are going to reach your destination.
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2.0OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
establish a good story in the first scene you set to hold your reader in the first few pages determine what a STORY GOAL is determine what is a SCENE GOAL is decide how to end each scene in a conflict or preparation for a coming conflict, big or small decide how to adjust a story so as to balance pacing, length, emotion and actions in scenes you have set.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Setting by What You See: Vision & space
In a novel called State of Grace, Joy Williams writes a setting like this:
“… And the ground never dries. The yard is rich mud with no definition between it and the riverbank. Tiny fish swim in the marks our feet make.
The trees are tall and always look wet as though they’d been dipped in grease. Many of them are magnolias and oaks. Pods, nuts and Spanish moss hang in wide festoons.
The river is the perfect representation of a Southern river, thin and blond, swampy, sloppy and warm. It is in everyone’s geography book. I was not shocked at all when
I saw it. I was not pleased, although it is quite pretty…”
This SETTING relies on What can be seen. Olmstead avers that only a storyteller who has, and is, as a sharps teller like Williams has an eye for SURROUNDINGS, and a DISCERNING language for the particular vision can write so distinctly or clearly. The “world” this writer describes is “oozing” and “shimmering”. The movement suggests a person’s gaze crossing a landscape, moving from ground, to the tress, to the river. Each descriptive sentence is TIGHT. Each begins the same way: “…The yard… is…, the trees are…, the river is ….” with simple verbs, relating simply what is seen, what is seen is. This description defines. The trees are defined: magnolias, oaks. ‘pods, ‘Nuts and
Spanish moss hang in wide festoons’. This programme developer is reminded of an almond tree in his compound at that time of the year when it sheds its dried broad leaves and they scatter far and wide in the wind beyond the foot of the tree itself into the neighbours’ compounds and onto the streets. In this kind of setting a writer shows confidence in
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how to perceive land and environment. In the end what is seen is not just physical but begins to embody an inner, spiritual dimension that gives a setting its peculiar character(istic) and magic and attraction.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
If you think you have followed this part of the Unit, do two things now:
1.
Choose a setting you know well, be it your yard at home, a part of Lagos lagoon near you, or the stretch of highway from Abuja
International Airport into the city centre, and describe it.
2.
Use a simile/metaphor to give a “push” to five descriptive phrases of your own: e.g. “The water is rotted, smelly…” With a
“push”- “The water is rotted, smelly like a lifeless pond where no fish can live”.
3.2
Setting by What You Hear: Sounds & Storms
In a collection of short stories by Obi B. Egbuna titled Emperor of the
Sea (London: Fontana Modern Novels. 1974), we read this setting.
“…Falilah suggested we went for a walk down to the creek. The moon was out… Falilah and I sat on a log of wood, all by ourselves in the silent stillness of the night… like two birds of the air… everything peace and in accord with nature… for about two hours, no word passed between us. She just sat there, in complete silence, staring at me, with a mysterious smile on her face… like a High
Priestess in a trance… her eyes burning right through me… I began to feel uncomfortable …tried to get up and tell her it was time to leave, but… it was as if an invisible force was holding me down….. Then, suddenly, Falilah said, ‘Can I trust you?’…”
And, from the book, The Fearful Void by Geoffrey Moorhouse, we read a setting:
“…It was a child, screaming in nightmare, which woke me. As I rose from the depths of my sleep, sluggishly, like a diver surfacing from the seabed, the corridors of the hotel echoed with those pealing, terrified cries. They poured over the balcony beyond my room and filled the courtyard beneath; they streamed out into the town which was cooling itself, ankle-deep in sand under a new moon, and they were lost, plaintively, among the low dunes
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scattered to the south and to the east. I reached consciousness to the dimmer sound of a father’s voice gentling the infact terrors away, and the night became stealthy with silence again …..”
In each we observe dramatic settings. Obi Egbuna’s is a novel/short story; Moorhouse’s is a travel book. Each main character is involved in night, a strange, exotic setting. We enter the experience of nightmarism and mesmerism with the tellers. Names are concretized – “Falilah”, “I”.
They do not know what lies ahead. Sound becomes silence, and silence sound. “Down to the creek…” “Moon was out,” “silent stillness of the night…”, “no word passed…” “…mysterious smile as a High Priestess in a trance” (Obi Egbuna’s). Then, “…cries poured… filled… was cooling… ankle-deep… scattered…” (Moorhouse’s). There is innocence in both Falilah and the child. Silence gains human attribution – the ability to move as a thief or as a High Priestess in a trance. In a gripping setting what you hear may be as tough as the silence you don’t seem to hear. That kind of paradox gives strength to the setting.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Take a setting like this: “The girl and I walked on in the silence, only hearing our breathing and the crunch of sand beneath our bare feet. Then suddenly, as if determined to jar us or separate us, an eerie wind as if driven by a thousand whistling pines crashed into us…” Continue with three other sentences.
3.3
Setting by Weather and Geology: An Environment
James Lee Burke has written, in a novel, In The Electric Mist With The
Confederate Dead, like this:
“…The sky had gone black at sunset, and the storm had churned inland from the Gulf and drenched New Iberia and littered East Main with leaves and tree branches from the longcanopy of oaks that covered the street from the old brick Post Office to the drawbridge over Bayon Teche at the edge of the town. The air was cool now, laced with light rain, heavy with the fecund smell of wet humus, night blooming jasmine, roses, and new bamboo…”.
Peter K. Palangyo of Tanzania has written in the novel, Dying in the
Sun, as follows:
“…She had weighed him down to the ground and she was running her hands over his short woolly hair, kissing his
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throat and chest with tears of joy, of life rediscovered, wetting his neck and chest. He surrendered himself with his arm around her repeating slowly and inaudibly, ‘yes, yes, my darling’… They lay there… Darkness was slowly closing in but one could still see the narrow pathway that meandered in its carelessness toward the destination they were not too impatient to reach. Birds were still singing, especially the evening dove, and grasshoppers were moving around noisily in the dry grass. A few herd boys were crying goodnight to each other across the valleys. A cow too was mooing because of its overloaded udder or because it missed its calves…. Kachawanga was strikingly quiet … with birds and grasshoppers singing their praise to God…”
In these extracts, weather and environment clearly give TEXTURE to setting, to story. Thunderstorms, blizzards, hurricanes, extreme heat or cold, the narrowness of the pathway of a place the author knows well, the meandering of the path, the movement and singing of grasshoppers in the dry grass, the valleys of cows and herd boys – all these
STRENGTHEN your setting.
Men and women live in weather and coldness or heat, in darkness and twilight everyday. Weather can enhance Mood. They travel together in a story. See how oblivious the lovers in Palangyo are: she “weighing him down…”, he “surrendering…”. Detail upon detail informs the reader about what lies beneath the ground, what other lives float around, “… birds singing …grasshoppers… noisily in dry grass…” Take note of the words which describe. “…churned… drenched… littered… cool… laced… light… heavy… face and wet… blooming…” in Burke; and “… weighed… running… short woolly hair… wetting… repeating inaudibly…” in Palangyo.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
1.
Make a list of as many words as you can which describe or evoke weather, dry or rainy.
2.
Where do you live in Nigeria? Follow any of the two patterns above and write about a storm, or a lovers’ meeting scene which is descriptive and evocative of place and emotion.
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CREATIVE WRITING I
Setting by Character: Environment & Personality
Here is how Asare Konadu in the novel, Ordained By Oracle, tells us of a man who would not sleep on a bed but rather preferred a mat on the floor because he complained that the bed was too soft.
“…This man was a farmer. He had lived through most of his life on his farm, sleeping as we are doing now (on a coarse mat on a floor). Sometimes he even slept on tree trunks when hunting. Now, he had some money and wanted to see Accra…”
“…To him it was like the Moslie man from the Republic of
Mali coming to Kumasi…
“…Yes, as the Moslie proverb goes, he who does not know
Kumasi has not seen heaven. But to him the heaven was
Accra. He booked into a hotel and at night when shown into his bedroom refused to sleep in the bed… He said any time he fell asleep he found himself in a deep, deep hole and he kept dropping through a bed of feathers which fluttered round him. So he rose and slept on the carpet on the floor. It was then he had a fine sleep”.
You can see here that Konadu gives this farmer an “interior” as well as an “exterior”, with his taste for a particular kind of sleeping comfort, and imagination of what could befall him otherwise. Here is set, a character who loves to balance rural life-time exposure with the
“heaven” of cities, and for whom only one city, Accra, holds out that taste of heaven. By the last sentence you see this character is set as a man of realism, set habits, a ‘traditional’ man, rugged – “slept on tree trunks when hunting…”; a kind of adventurer, now that he has made some money. You can see how the contrast provided, even speculatively, about Accra and Kumasi makes places, towns, to shape an image of this farmer for the reader.
4.0
CONCLUSION
This Unit has elaborated for you what setting relies on in a good, gripping story. You must know your imaginary places well, be they a road, a river, some bush, or forest; be they big or small, such as seeing all of a country, like Ghana from a small hotel room. Sounds and silences give texture and concreteness to setting. They create environment; food eaten, or being prepared; a marriage planned or hoped for as in Palangyo’s work, a sense of the eerie or extraordinary,
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even a dream as in Egbuna or Moorhouse. Setting gives flesh to both situation and environment.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this third Unit, you have been exposed to the characteristics of setting in a story. You have seen the range and variety of settings. Your
“vision”, in the things you can see physically as well as the things you can imagine expands through settings; what your ears can gather, “off” and “on” stage, as it were; the kinds of weather - stormy, calm, rough and unsteady, hot or cold give your setting of a story some substance.
You can now “see”, “hear”, and “create”!
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
Invent a diagram of your own in line with suggestion in 1.0
(Introduction) to illustrate “setting as a string of beads” (You may consult your Rosary! If you have or believe in one).
2.
Which writers seem to you to make “better” settings – Africans or non-Africans? What do you regard as “better” – vocabulary and diction, or descriptiveness?
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie.(1986) Writing-Down The Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story Press Books
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UNIT 4
STRUCTURE: PLOTS AND PLOTTING
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Are Plots Necessary?
3.2
Story Inside Story
3.3
Handling Conflicts
3.4
Action as Determiner
3.5
Description Inside Structure
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Since creative writing is purposeful work, just as we have purpose in everyday life, the story needs be solid, practical and ordered. That way writing becomes vital, clear, and good. There must be a pathway of travel in the story. Structuring the story is the key to shifting into the essentials of the human experience you wish to express. Structuring gives the writer a perspective. Structure builds together the elements of the story you want to tell. Disparate as trees, the sky, the moon, the stars may be, they are bonded in structure. Embedded in the structure are the plots and subplots. These fertilize the story. Structure helps generate the ideas. Structure itself is idea in itself too. By it you know where you are going. Your mind will be ‘leaping’, because structure is metaphor.
Structure is image. Structuring helps you to slowly grapple with the positions which the pillars and pins of your human tale must take.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
As the Introduction has tried to emphasize, STRUCTURE is the basis of all design and architecture therefore.
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
36
describe fully the “architectonics” of putting a story together determine why plots are necessary decide how to plot your work without making them mechanical list the many dimensions that make up a story determine the correct handling of the intricacies of story structure list many kinds of what is called “action” in the novel
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•
•
decide how to handle action ii fiction-writing decide how to use action or actions to project the fullness and significance of the story.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Are ‘Plots’ Necessary?
Once you have decided on what you are going to write about, which normally would be something you know, and you are to tell it in truth, remembering that truth is so vital that the Lord Jesus always pointed its importance by telling his listeners, “Verily, verily… I say unto you …”, you must settle to plot it out. You must be careful here. Life itself as we lead it is not quite a “plotted” thing. You plan a trip, yes, for instance.
You plan to have a family, true. But you do not set about these mechanically. Some very serious – and successful – writers have said in interview that they do not believe in plotting, because they see “plotting and the spontaneity of real creation” as incompatible. They believe that
“stories make themselves” and that the job of the writer is to give a story
“a place to grow”, and so merely “transcribe the stories”. The real truth of course is that even if stories are “relics” one “finds” in life, as
“fossils” are found by the geologist in the ground, the writer uses “tools” from a “toolbox” deliberately to shape them or present them intact to the world. How do you use your “tools”?
Your tools are used consciously because you have an aim and a direction in which you are moving. As in our tradition, the Elders used to admonish young girls newly married and learning to prepare pounded yam (foofoo) for their beloved husbands, “pound well, and you pound inside the mortar, but pound carelessly, and you’ll crush the bones of your thighs …”. A writer of a story is a pounder. The “pestle” and
“mortar” are tools. They must be used with care, caution and deliberateness, moving on in the direction of achieving the smoothest, most appetizingly edible pounded yam. The process is not just carried on “intuitively”. We go stage-by-stage, knowing when and how much water to add, when to turn the malleable powder in the mortar right or left, when to pick up the small knife and scrape off the bits of the foofoo from the pestle. Plotting a story is like using these necessary steps.
Therefore, do not think that those who reject plotting are altogether right. Indeed, it was the case that the earlier debate we referred to (see p.
… of…) on whether creative writing can or cannot be taught hinged on this argument about the necessity of plots. A famous successful writer like Stephen King, while seeming to distrust plotting, eventually spells out the inevitability of the need to plot a story when he asserts that:
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…..Plot is a big tool… it’s clumsy, mechanical, anti-creative…. plot is… the good writer’s last resort the dullard’s first choice. The story which results from it
(plot) is apt to feel artificial and laboured … lean more heavily on intuition… because my books tend to be based on SITUATION rather on STORY….
After this, he goes on to stress that the use of the “outline” and
“notebook” – filled CHARACTER NOTES may “enslave” or “liberate” a writer’s, even produce a good plotline in a story by a device called the
Edgar Wallace Plot Wheel. A good plot helps to sustain the interest of the reader in a novel.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1.
2.
3.2
How can the “plotting” of a story be a check on the absence of control which “intuition” alone could cause in the process?
Give two differences between “SITUATION” and “STORY”.
(See further in TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT below).
Story Inside Story
When you have plotted, that is, outlined your story well, got your intuition to be controlled, and remain controllable; you may wish to tell a “story” inside the main story. The problem is how you move with grace and smoothness into that second story.
Here is how a well-known novelist/creative writing teacher once illustrated the process.
“It was with those feelings that he heard the uncle’s suddenly Solemn voice. What was this voice? This tone?
What story?.
It was in the dark afternoon on a November day of sleet, told the uncle. We waited and we waited for Louetta to get home from her trip into town. The darker it got the scareder we got”.
What does a learner writer learn from such a beginning as this? The author of the story is a man called William Goyen.
Now, see, first, how he moves both reader and listener WITHIN THE
LARGER STORY. The movement is gradual; it is inexorable. It is as
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if things are sliding under water, falling under a spell. Robert Olmstead describes this first move as that as of the ‘solemn sound of the voice’.
Then the question, “What voice”?. Then a reference to TONE, then
“What story?”, and before any answer is forthcoming, the story commences. Yet we are not sure until we too are already under its spell and read the words, “TOLD THE UNCLE…”. The story, second story, has thus already ‘Begun’! The storyteller inside your story will sound different from the narrator, will be unique within the larger story.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Write down five phrases that describe a voice. For example, “His voice
(sounded like) metal on stone”.
3.3
Handling Conflicts
You need to know what “conflict” in creative writing really means, implies. Conflict is not simply disagreement. It is not simply the tug and pull of opposites.
Take this passage from the story “Two Stories” by Bret Lott. He writes, via the narrator:
“…I used to imagine it wasn’t the flu that killed my mother, but a broken heart at the death of her beloved.
But the truth of the matter was he’d moved into a logging shack a year before he’d broke his neck, and only showed up to our house at twilight on Saturday nights to have at my mother, then to attend church the next morning, his black hair slicked back and shining with pomade”.
Here, something is happening in a mind. A soul is troubled. That is the
“conflicted mind”. The writer lets you know and feel, through the narrator, the imaging of a broken heart.’ ‘the fact of flu,’ ‘the truth of abandonment,’ ‘the reality of a broken neck’ – all in four lines! The conflict occurs in a contentious mind, a mind that has to face up to the differences between imagination and truth. The author also reveals and explores the way the imagination can still operate in the face of what it knows to be a fact.
Let us take another example in which conflict is in the minds of the characters. Here is a passage from the story, “Living through the winter” by Mary Bush. It’s a telephone talk.
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“…He was ready to hang up when she answered
‘Hello? She said
He couldn’t move. The voice went through him like ice.
He could feel it even after she stopped speaking.
‘Hello’: She said again.
He heard noise in the background, the TV going, and a man saying,
‘who is it?’ over the sound of the TV.
‘Who is this? She said
He hung up the phone gently.
He sat there for a long time, dazed, not feeling a thing…”
See the conflict: someone, a man, a young boy, whoever intends to talk, to converse with some other person – a girl, a woman. He is intimidated, somehow. The scene is full of sound. Conflicting sounds – the ‘voice’ at other end of the phone which goes through him like ice’, TV set is going in the background, like a voice through ice. Then there is a man’s voice, booming, perhaps, with ‘who is it?’ and the girl or woman on this side repeating, ‘Who is this?’ You can see the conflicts and the thwarting of the caller’s intentions – ‘dazed’, ‘not feeling a thing – the conflicts lead to a defeat, according to writer Bush.
Conflicts can be created, especially in war situations, boxing arena settings, football pitches, or even in a classroom. They must indicate a direction to solving their tangling or to reveal a commitment or disengagement, a lack of interest, timidity or stubbornness.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Make two (2) lists for phrases, like (see the one from Lot’s story) “I used to imagine …” and a second list for phrases like “He was ready to…” (from the Bush story). Do five phrases for each:
e.g “I used to imagine (think) that girls are shy, but to tell you the truth…” (5 times)
e.g “He was ready to give up the effort, but just then his big brother showed…” (3times)
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3.4
CREATIVE WRITING I
Action as Determiner
A master of the art of how novels are structured, Dwight V. Swain has been quoted as asserting as follows: “That a story tells how a character overcomes obstacles on the way to an important goal” (Estrada &
Gallagher. 1999.47). The actions of characters, especially when in conflict or in unpressing opposing views, make a story. Estrada and
Gallagher affirm that a so-called story about “happy people, in a happy house, in a happy town, in a happy country, in a happy world” is NOT A
STORY. There must be obstacles to action, or action producing challenge to what someone would want to but then cannot do.
Characters are determined by actions. That is life. In a well-written novel (romance novel, for instance), Estrada and Gallagher insist that
“love, that most basic emotion that is part of every person on this planet hurt, anger, despair and betrayed must mingle with hope, doubt, anticipation, desire, fear, disloyalty, wishes and faith” (1999:48). Action in all these is determiner of conflict. Take this passage that Robert
Olmstead uses to show how action to interior’ determines characters, from the story, “Shed of Grace” by Melissa Pritchard.
“…I will not defend myself. I was experiencing..... revenge towards my sister. But I intended this familiarity to stop; I fully intended to control its limits.
Later, when he drove onto the dirt road which led to the graveyard, saying that he had left something, I knew that my revenge had conjoined with his and that we would very soon prove uncontrolled, weakly submissive to our instincts. He parked behind the white shed, leaving the door of the truck yawning open…”
See how the mutual ambitions of the Narrator (Sister) and the Husband
(of the first woman) to betray her become one. See the ‘action in the character’s interior – what Gabriel Okara calls the inside, in the second paragraph. The action takes place as ‘thought’ – so it is not told, it is not narrated – but the use of the first person narration style carries it. The first person narrator is in alliance with the reader, thus drawing him to immediately share potential action as completed action.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4
1.
41
List phrases that show a character expressing interior action. For example, “I was experiencing …”; “I know at once that …”; “I had planned…”
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CREATIVE WRITING I
2.
In the first two lines of the passage, the narrator-character explains her. Create a small movement where one of your characters does the same thing. For example, “…I was enjoying what was happening on a Lagos beach at Xmas…” You may further refer to the opening scene of Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero.
3.5
Description Inside Structure
In 3.4 we tried to show how action can drag the reader into the heart of a story when well told. We indicated that sometimes not all action is narrated, as Pritchard demonstrates.
Now we do not mean that describing a scene or describing narratively is not necessary. After all, a story must be told. We now want to refer here to the importance of description inside the story structure - remember we are still elaborating on the phenomenon of PLOT.
Stephen King asserts (2000:173) that description is what makes the reader a SENSORY PARTICIPANT in the story (emphasis mine). Good description is a skill one must learn. You learn it by reading a lot, and writing a lot. How much must one write? Just write. Don’t be like the young female lecturer who started writing a novel, describing characters and situations six times, and then discarded all, because she said each attempt made her “sound like Achebe”, but she wanted to be different!
How? Is Chimamanda not like an Achebe in Purple Hibiscus?
In description, you fist VISUALIZE what your reader is to experience; then you TRANSLATE that vision into words inside your story.
Description must be neither thin, nor too thick.
Let us examine Elechi Amadi’s The Slave, chapter 10:
“…Olumati felt vaguely happy and wondered why. Then he remembered he was due to occupy his new house in a few days’ time. The walls were now dry and smoothly scrubbed. So were the floor and sleeping mounds. What remained was the charcoal-and-chalk decoration on the front wall. It was not really necessary, but Aleru was insisting. His house, she said, should look right, whether he was worried or not…
…As usual, Aleru called in Adiba to help. Adiba was known to be good at putting on wall decorations. Some said she took after her brother in matters of skill. Like flood waters which always collected in the same places
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after rain, skill tended to reside in certain families…” (The
Slave. 1978.83).
Here, description consists in a few well chosen details –
Olumati’s new house, … walls now dry, smoothly scrubbed,…” remaining the “charcoal-and-chalk decoration on front wall…”. The skills of the Adiba family are like “flood waters… collecting in same places after rain…” Description here too is straight. Not too thin. Not too thick. It is also a set scene.
4.0
CONCLUSION
This unit has given you all the possible main guidelines to place of plot and description or narration inside a story. The main content is that a plot is as necessary to a story as arms and legs are to a total body.
Conflict, Action and Description are those limbs.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this fourth unit of module 1, we have dealt with structure in totality.
The human anatomy, for instance, without flesh, is a gathering of bones without beauty, dry and frighteningly white. When bones of an anatomy are covered with full flesh, there is beauty of form. Structure is the beauty of a story.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
What do you understand by the “architectonics” of story-telling?
2.
Give a brief description of the lounge of a modern fast food joint in a Nigerian city of your choice as prelude to a story on a festive occasion. 3.
Name ten novels you’ve read and find descriptions in them memorable. 7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie.(1986) Writing-Down The Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements Of The Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story
Press Books.
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UNIT 5
SOUND – THE RHYTHM OF PROSE AND
DIALOGUE FLOW
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Syntax & Rhetoric – is it Important?
3.2
Language of the Word, or the Word of the Language?
3.3
Dialogue
3.4
Rhythm and Voice
3.5
“Poetic” and “Prosaic” Language
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
The English language is not the African’s native tongue/language. Both as speaker and as writer of it therefore, the African must know the rules of correct usage of the language, though he may be doing his thinking in his indigenous idioms or thought – patterns. The creative writer who is
African therefore needs a particularly careful approach to the use of
English if he is to be a successful writer. He must be master of
GRAMMAR. There is ‘grammar’ in ‘conversational’ language, there is
‘grammar’ in reading, there is ‘grammar’ in writing. For us in Nigeria, in particular, one must notice there is a difference, somewhat, between
American and British grammar, just as in oral speech, there are differences. Many of us are confused. Despite the domination of the computer and information technology language/communication systems by the American, it is suggested here that as far as possible, the creative writer to be here sticks with the British for British grammar, says
Stephen King, is more “sturdy” than the American. Whether
Americanizing, or Anglicising, any way, you need to know that Bad grammar produces bad sentences. A good novel is always written in good sentences.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
44
determine the importance of exhibiting a good knowledge of syntax in your writing distinguish between complete and ‘incomplete’ sentences
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CREATIVE WRITING I
•
•
•
make language sound ‘pliable’ create good dialogue distinguish between ‘prosaic’ and ‘poetic’ language in the novel.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Syntax & Rhetoric – Is It Important?
Natalie Goldberg does three things to illustrate the centrality of good syntax for the writer who has a good ear for language, who knows all the parts of speech of English, who can distinguish between ‘nouns’ and
‘verbs’ and ‘articles’ and ‘conjunctions’. To the writer, the good writer, words in English are not simply wooden blocks to be moved around at random. As the mind is always trying to construct a meaning, so the words must be arranged to make sense (see unit 7). To adapt the first example of the three which Natalie Goldberg uses, let us write, like this:
1.
“…I can’t write because I’m a bucket of water and my mouth goes dry and there’s nothing to say and I’d rather drink water from a cup…”
Now, if every word was equal to the other, and there was no ordering of words, and your mind cannot construct anything, you’ll have to repeat the words, something like this
2.
“Write I’m an mouth rather water say drink and nothing dry I an write say and my goes drink cup I’m an write I nothing say goes can’t because nothing cup I’d dry to and say water rather my bucket nothing there’s say.
Or, she suggests, now put in some full stops, a question mark or two, an exclamation mark, colons, or semi-colons. Do that anyhow, without thought. Don’t try to make sense. Have fun.
3.
“… Write I’m an mouth rather water. Say drink and nothing dry!
I am write rather say and; my goes drink cup because an there’s.
I’d to dry goes write can’t. Cup my bucket nothing. Rather to my water…” Here, you see clearly that the English language, British or American
(and therefore, any other brand – Nigerian – others African, Australian or Canadian) needs to be locked into a sentence – syntax of this formula:
S – V – (O) that is Subject – Verb – Object (direct or indirect). So, sentences come out as, “I see the bird” – or “Okon killed the goat”, where a “subject” acts on an object, where “I” or “Okon” is the centre of the universe. The way we think, in sentences, is the way we see.
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Philosophically, for the writer, there is a two-way traffic. “I see the bird”
– but the “bird ‘sees’ me” too “Okon killed the goat, - but the goat has an effect on him too. This philosophy, opened up, is the spread of perception, along the slide of language, for writer and reader! Natalie
Goldberg rightly insists that “the more you are aware of the syntax you move, see, and write in, the better CONTROL you have and the more you can step out of it when you need to… breaking open syntax, you often get closer to the truth of what you need to say” (Goldberg:63).
Nouns and verbs remain the “two indispensable parts of writing”; They make subject and predicate, beginning with a capital letter, and ending with a full-stop, they combine to make a COMPLETE THOUGHT which starts in the writer’s head and then “leaps to the reader’s”.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1.
2.
Name all the parts of speech in English that you know.
How important to good grammar is syntax?
3.2
Language of the Word, or the Word of the Language?
As we have seen from the section on the place and significance of syntax – that is that ordered arrangement of words in a sentence to create sense, feeling, and total meaning – words are the key to basic thinking for the creative writer. There’s the “tale” told about James
Joyce, the famous Anglo-Irish novelist who authored Ulysses and
Finnegan’s Wake, monuments of word-craft in 20thc novel-writing.
Joyce had spent a whole day in his study, supposedly writing chapter of the novel, Ulysses. Later in the day, his friend and biographer, Stuart
Gilbert, came to see him. Joyce, the story goes, looked all wan and exhausted from his exertions. Gilbert asked how many chapters Joyce had written that day. The reply was short, shocking but insightful and significant – “one word”, Joyce is said to have replied, “One word, all day?” Gilbert couldn’t believe it. “One word”, Joyce repeated, and fell silent. The “language” which a “word” speaks, then, in any good writing, tells tales and is far-reaching. Because the writer must have the ear, the mind
(intellect) and the skill, to select and select the most fitting, fitting to character, situation, plot and overall meaning!
For instance, Stephen King illustrates, emphasizing the need for brevity in style, and accuracy in choice of words, that there are two types of verbs: ACTIVE and PASSIVE, where the first does something, while with the second is being done to the subject of the sentence. “YOU
SHOULD AVOID THE PASSIVE TENSES”, because everything about
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its use is passive, unresponsive, weak, circuitous, tortuous and cold, like lawyers; Torts language!! King says, and one must agree. Write:
1.
“Freddy and Myra carried the body out of the kitchen…”
Not “The body was carried from the kitchen by Freddy and
Myra…”
2.
“The meetings is at seven…”.
Not “The meeting will be held at seven o’clock…”
3.
“My romance with Shayna began with our first kiss.”.
Not “My first kiss will always by recalled by me as how my romance with Shayna was begun!..”
4.
“The writer threw the rope…”.
Not “The rope was thrown by the writer…”
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
1.
Make three sentences using the passive tense, and another three using the active form of the verb.
2.
Give three reasons for preferring your active sentences.
3.3
Dialogue
We are still focusing on sound in the prose of the novel you are to be taught to write. Dialogue, well written, can flow, can carry humour and entertainment; can be poignant; can give insight into the colour of the soul of your characters; can not only tell the story, but also move the telling along, propel it, dig into the forward-moving action. It is important to let you know that “dialogue” is not “conversation”. Lynn
Emery asserts that “…conversations ramble on with lots of digressions.
In fiction, dialogue …serves a purpose – to increase tension, share information with the reader … move the plot along…” (Estrada: 85). So, there are four purposes of good dialogue:
(i)
to reveal information about the characters and their backgrounds, or supply back story
(ii)
to increase tension
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(iii)
to move the story forward
(iv)
to show character motivation, growth, perspective, emotion.
(Estrada.86)
Let us use Estrada and Gallagher’s illustration to show how these four purposes can be achieved.
First, a man and a woman meet. They start to “dialogue” as follows:
“You want to marry me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because I’m thinking’ we get on well together.”
“And that’s a basis for a lifetime of wedded bliss?”
“Yes, ma’am”
Here, there is a bit of characterization – the woman is a bit resistant.
There’s a bit of plot – there is a proposed marriage. But there is no description of the characters or their actions.
Now, let’s see what happens when there is some narrative, some description: Angela’s hand stilled on the tea pitcher. She stared at the man who sat on her new leather couch as if he owned it himself. As if he already belonged there.
“You want to marry me?”
“Yes, ma’am”, he said, his green eyes full of fun and mischief.
He was as handsome as always and twice as unreliable as he used to be.
Some things never changed; Rand Martin was one of those things. Her hands shook as she poured tea into a glass and filled it with ice cubes.
She couldn’t think of one logical reason for this madness.
With a voice as calm as she could make it under the circumstances, she asked the question that popped into her befuddled mind. “Why would you want to do that?”
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“Because I’m thinking’ we get on well together”. She blinked several times, absorbing his words but not really understanding his meaning.
“And that’s a basis for a lifetime of wedded bliss?”
He looked surprised at her question. “Yes ma’am.”
Here, the dialogue is unchanged. But elements of narration and description have added more to the scene – the setting is clear; the characters now have names; it is clear why the woman is resisting; she is nervous because she is attracted to the handsome Rand Martin, though he seems unreliable.
The four purposes must combine to flesh out all the robustness of the novel, build tension, show the characters’ characters (inside) and advance the story by a known pace to the resolution.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
1.
Do the man and woman speak similar dialogue?
2.
How does the “external” balance the “inside” of a character once dialogue opens?
3.4
Rhythm and Voice
Must a writer always write complete sentence each and every time?
Stephen King gives us an appropriate answer. “If your work”, he says,
“consists only of fragments and floating clauses, the Grammar Police aren’t going to come and take you away. Even William Strunk, that
Musolini of rhetoric, recognized the delicious pliability of language. ‘It is an old observation’, he writes, ‘that the best writers sometimes disregard the rules of rhetoric’. Yet he goes on to add this thought, which I urge you to consider: ‘Unless he is certain of doing well, [the writer] will probably do best to follow the rules’… If you don’t have a rudimentary grasp of how the parts of speech translate into coherent sentences, how can you be certain your are doing well? There is a comforting simplicity at the heart of the rudiments of grammar, where there need be only nouns, the words that name, and verbs, the words that act.”
In other words the rhythm and voice of the writer’s creation are embedded in an effective use of correct language. For example, “Rocks explode!”; “The Broadcaster transmits!; “McCrimon urges in Writing with a Purpose.
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CREATIVE WRITING I
“Poetic” And “Prosaic” Language
It is in the need to create, with correct, sharp sentences, and clothe up word with unusual meaning that the writer creates “poetry” and/or
“prose”. Especially, if the voice on the particular subject is expressing a deeply felt, urgent message from the heart, the passion-filled heart of a speaker. The language, for instance, of most of Martin Luther King Jnr’s speeches in the pursuit of human rights and equality of status for black people in America in the 1960’s; the speeches of Winston Churchill urging Britain on to war against a tyrannical Hitler; or the speeches of
Dr. Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe baiting the colonial masters of Nigeria in the years, 1934-1964. Even the language patterns created by today’s
Pentecostal pastors in their prayer and devotional daily manuals, one can see “poise” and “poetry” flowing together. This example may suffice; it is a prayer from Rev. (Dr.) Chris Kwakpovwe’s Our daily manna
Devotional booklet. Observe the rhetorical patterns, balances of associated sounds and phrases:
“This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it! Today, I declare and confess… all spiritual blessings…. I boldly declare… and dwell… I believe and I declare no evil, no plague ... can come near my dwelling… I believe and I declare that I shall not die, but live… Today … the Lord is my helper… Today is shall not waste my destiny… Today I declare and I declare the
Lord is my banner… Today, I hear the sound of … rain…
4.0
CONCLUSION
From the main content, it is clear that good, clear language is at the root of good, winsome writing. One does not have to be a musician to plant music into the language of a story in a novel. Emphases on selected words, each sweetened as roasted groundnut, to modify an old Irish playwright’s summary of it, will see the vision of an author gain a place on the shelf of classics.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, we have underscored and illustrated the major objectives of language usage when “prose” becomes “poetry” as the author opens his heart, whether it is in a persuasive public speech of a character, or it is in the impassioned prayer language of a devotee in the privacy of his church premises.
We’ve seen that language needs to be “pliable” – syntactically coherent and grammatically “sturdy”.
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We’ve seen how to use sentences with active verbs. So that our language ‘marches’ like a soldier in a parade, not lilt along like a wounded snake through dry grass.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
Use a good library to search out a speech from one of Martin
Luther King Jnr. of America, Sir Winston Churchill of Britain, and Dr. Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Africa, and note five language qualities of the speeches.
2.
Write a sample “speech” for a male or female character in a novel you propose to write on the consequences of exam malpractice in a tertiary institution. (See the example of Camillus Lekah’s when the wind blows).
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
See as for numbers 1 and 2 in Unit 1.
Political speeches from various sources of excellent public speakers like: America’s Malcolm X
America’s Martin Luther King, Jnr.
Nigeria’s Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, President, Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
Prayer Devotionals by top class world Evangelical Preachers such as
Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai, Rev. Dr. Chris Kwakpovwe, Reinhardt
Bonke and others.
Winston (Sir) Churchill, war-time leader of Great Britain.
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UNIT 6
CHARACTERISATION (WITH SYMBOLS AND
IMAGES)
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1 Building the Character
3.2 Character and Life
3.3 Characters as Symbols and Images
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
A novel is like a rich forest upon which human beings depend for its wealth of crop trees. The crop trees are tall oaks, deciduous and evergreen Iroko; fruit – bearing mangoes; or pear trees. The edge of the forest may be lined with climbing shrubs even sweet-smelling flower shrubs. There may even be a few tall palms – oil palms, coconut palms, date palms at the edge of the forest. Characters, men, women, children; professionals, from domestic servants, vehicle drivers, artisans, to royalty and rulers, politicians, dictators, emperors, presidents and kings occupy places at the edge, in the middle or dead-centre of the book – characters are the ‘trees’ of the novel. They have to be tall enough to be remembered; fat enough to hold certain ground; intelligent or foolish, or wicked or kind enough to move and be moved in the ‘world’ of the story being told; in the ‘universe’ of the story. Who does not recall
Achebe’s Okonkwo? Who has forgotten Elechi Amadi’s ‘Concubine’
Ifeoma? Who does not relish Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Sailor’ and even the
‘Sea’ which though watery, lives with the old man’s medal as a lively, concrete, creature? Indeed, it is in characterisation that the writer readily becomes a creator and a style maker. Ezeulu in Chinua Achebe’s
Arrow of God, for example, is so gripping in attention that the reader and interpreter of the soul of the story of a collapsing civilization can no longer even remember that he was just an ‘illiterate’ high priest of a god of a tribal setting battling the ‘civilized’ giants of a cultured and colonizing religion and commerce-driven empire! When a character is that good, the reader suspends disbelief! Real ‘drama’ resides in the character. 52
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CREATIVE WRITING I
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
create or build a character in fiction create characters based on life experiences or and the imagination alone detect the difference between character in non-fiction and character in fiction (Olmstead 14-15; Goldberg, 143;) determine what makes a character real in a real world discuss the meaning of appearance in a character determine the position of both hero and heroine – in the mesh of action called conflict discuss the development or growth of a character in fiction infuse proper motivation for your characters, whether they are protagonist or antagonist (adversary).
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Building the Character
Society is made up of a range of people. In some the people are said to be in “classes” – poor and working class; rich and leisured; they live in the countryside or cities and urban conglomerates; they work in farms or in factories. In a work of fiction, the writer draws from this range of people. The characters, that is, the personages of the action in the story, like the crop trees of a rich forest, must be built, constructed, made rich, richer, than ordinary mundane life-living people in everyday society.
Stephen King says “…the job (that is of building the character) boils down to two things; paying attention to how real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see. You may notice that your next-door neighbour picks his nose when he thinks no one is looking. This is a great detail, but noting it does you no good as a writer unless you’re willing to dump it into a story at some point” (King.189).
Let us take one illustration. Aubrey Kachingwe of Malawi (born 1926) has written a novel, No Easy Task.
“Briefly, the novel tells the story of Jo Jozeni, son of a village pastor. Jo is offered a job on a newspaper in Kawacha, the capital of a British colony in Central Africa. Although his roots are in the country, Jo gradually takes to life in the city; and through his colleagues becomes involved in politics, though always remaining a little outside the ‘inner circles’ suddenly his attitude changes: at a political rally… it is his own gentle, retiring father who emerges as a hard, and determined political fighter. Jo is faced with a difficult choice: should he identify himself
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with his father? Or take the line of least resistance, marry his girl, and settle down? Or look for something else out of life?”
I have quoted the blurb on the Heinemann African Writers Series, editorially advised by Chinua Achebe, word for word. That gives you the setting. That gives you the environment. To see how Jo Jozeni’s character is built up and merged into the circumstances in which he must make his choice, let us look at the very opening of the novel:
“I’m sorry, man. We can’t take any more passengers in the bus. It’s full”, the conductor said. He started to close the door.
“Can’t you squeeze me in, please?” I pleaded. “I have only this small suitcase. That’s all”.
“I can’t take any more”, he said firmly.” The traffic patrolmen are very strict these days. You want me to lose my job?”
He rang the bell.
“This is the last country bus for today, and I have been standing here waiting for it in this hot sun for over one hour”, I said, half to myself, “surely, you can’t leave me?” I dropped my suitcase and clung to the rails of the door of the bus. The conductor pushed me off and I almost fell under the wheels as it started to move. My suitcase was run over but I was luckier.
I stood up, dusted myself, and looked at the suitcase. It had been flattened out of shape, and was gaping half open. A little dust had got inside. It made me bitter to think that I would have to walk three miles back to the school at Makwasa, and possibly spend the night alone in an empty classroom. The place was empty now because the school was closed. I had just been there to see the principal about getting me scholarship to
England, but he had promised nothing. Now I was returning to my father at Bangwe, a little mission station thirty miles farther in the interior. I did not like to go back to that school even for a night. The principal would probably tell me to go away. Reverend John Webb and I never got on well, although he was the missionary in charge of all this area,
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including Bangwe where my father was the parish priest, and had thus known my parents years. Lately he had been my principal. Perhaps we knew each other too well.
Suddenly, I heard a car hoot. Shaken, I jumped off the road. The car pulled up, and the two men inside it laughed heartily.
I recognized the one driving. “I am very sorry for blocking the road, Mr
Dube”, I said apologetically.
“One should expect that sort of behaviour on a country road”, he said without anger. “But you are educated, Jo, and ought to know how to conduct yourself on a highway.” “I am sorry, Sir, I repeated.
“That’s all right. Jo. Only don’t do it again,” he said.
“Now, why are you here?”
“I am going to Bangwe – I was going – but the bus has left me behind,” I said. “There was no room”
“I am going there; can I give you a lift?”
“If you can, Sir, most grateful”.
“Take your bag and come in,” he said. He turned to his friend. This is Jo, the son of the Reverend Josiah Jozeni.”
“And this gentleman. Jo” he said to me, “is Mr. Zake
Lukani, a great friend of mine. We are both going to see the old man. Make yourself comfortable”
I shook hands with Mr. Zake Lukani as the car started to move…
Dan Dube was the first African to be a municipal councillor on the white-only Kawacha Town Council… an outstanding businessman and clever politician… tall and broad, at forty-five … respectably handsome… I never understood how the mysterious Dan Dube and my father were such good friends… my father was over sixty, and, because of poverty and hard work, looked much older than his age… laughed seldom, and outside his clerical work… had no ambitions. Yet the two were good friends.
(Kachingwe: No Easy Task. 1966.1-3).
In this tightly-knit, economical writing, you can see how the characters of Jo Jozeni, Dan Dube, Reverend Josiah Jozeni, Mr. Lukani, and even
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Reverend Webb have, with deft touches, been made to stand as the trees in this forest of a story!
The rest of the novel develops details that tell the reader of poverty, ambitions, politics, beliefs, views and conditions that move society.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1.
Point out how you see character build-up here.
2.
What “traits”, from the bus conductor to Dan Dube’s offer of a lift to Jo, tell you that Jo will have “no easy task”?
3.
Use a Dictionary to see how many meanings “trait” has.
3.2
Character and Life
The big question is, “Are the characters in fiction drawn directly from life?” If they are, why then do writers often disclaim the fact when they write, ‘… any resemblance to any living person here is purely coincidental and unintended … characters here are all imagined …’.
If novels are about life, if they are about society as men and women and children and families and communities, share experiences in a context, then the characters must reflect life, must come out of society.
Natalie Goldberg says, if fictional characters must do this, that is reflecting life; come out of society, the writer must follow the old adage.
“Don’t tell, but show” – that is, “don’t tell us about anger – or any of those big words like ‘honesty’, ‘truth’, ‘love’, ‘sorrow’, ‘life’, ‘justice’ – show the reader the situation “in which the character brings out the particular feeling or embodied idea. Let the character live sharp and clear and be the concrete picture you describe. For instance you can write about the nature of life from observing the birth of a child in a modern hospital: just describe WHAT you see: the mother’s face … the rush of energy as the baby finally enters the world with a piercing cry, after the nurses have urged and/or bullied the woman in her several attempts at “pushing”, the husband breathing with his wife… the reader will see characters illustrating the nature of life.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
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1.
Recall a number of “life-situations” in Nigeria, such as a traffic jam, a scuffle between two children retiring from school and struggling to pick mangoes, and do two – three sentences
“showing” of the characters involved.
2.
Describe one breath-taking incident you’ve ever experienced in no more than a paragraph.
3.3
Characters as Symbols and Images
You may wish to write an allegory, or a parable. In such seeming
“fantasy” writing, your characters are “abstract” objects personified. In
John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, in many Biblical “stories” which
Jesus used to illustrate facts and rules of life, the characters were not always “persons” as we normally think of them. Instead you may want to focus on the things around you that make you ask whether life is worth living or not, things like crime, poverty, injustice, death; or the
“things” inside each one of us, things like frustration, boredom, despair, and turn them into “living” characters. Read carefully the parable of
Jesus at Mark 4:1-10, 13-20, and you will see how an abstract of
“farmer” (“Sower”), “Seeds” on “path”, on “rocky places”, or “thorny ground”, and on “good soil” translate from abstractions to concrete features of life in “the word” of God among various experiences of people – with Satan, with superficial attitudes, with succumbing to deceits and temptations. In the end, “sower”, “seed” and “soil” become lively characters.
To further clarify how abstract, symbolic characters may be understood and created, let us look at a contrast: realistic characters created in action. Remember that all your characters are in a setting, have voices, have beliefs and concerns in their environment, do develop and evolve.
‘Abstract’ characters tend to be fixed in a situation where they exist to illustrate some idea or belief. Now, real-life characters are real.
Let us take an example of a character really created by “showing” her actions, in the famous American novel. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott
Fitzgerald, as Robert Olmstead illustrates it.
“…The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise – she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression – then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.
“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness”
She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face,
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promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker.
(I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.”
Here is a character, real, with a name; you come to know her from
WHAT she is doing: - “attempts to rise, “leans”… “laughs”…
“speaks”…
“laughs again”…” “hold hands”… looks”…”promises”…”hints”…”murmurs”…. Each action affects the story-teller because, he in turn, “…leans”, “laughs,” “listens”, “holds” her hands. Behaviour and appearance here help to further concretize the character. It is not like that in the abstract characters of the parable or allegory. SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
1.
Make a list of your own of as many movements as you can which you think a person could make to display ‘character’
2.
One character’s series of actions observed by another do affect that observer. Now, take these examples:
a)
“Ugo was crying and I started to cry too”
b)
“Nkwekwe tossed the bone in the air and the dog leapt and grabbed it in its snout”
c)
“Esther leaned toward me and I learned away”
Using one of these, develop a short scene between two characters.
4.0
CONCLUSION
Character and character creation are a big challenge to the writer. He has to build them; he has to take them from life, but not brazenly or carelessly; he has to balance various aspects and observe and use the least detail, provide them with believable motivations, or even make them abstract. Characterization produces excellent story.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4
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Do you agree that characters are the tall trees that populate the forest that a good novel is?
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, characterization, we have set facts about character-making in fiction concretely out for you:
•
Characters must be well-drawn to become memorable.
•
A notable character can be made out of any kind of social type.
•
Characters are built, develop, and are not still-pictures, but mobile and dynamic in their actions and words.
•
Characters come from real world and life around the author, not just from imagination.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
What do you understand by the expression “Reader suspends disbelief when a character is good”? (See ‘introduction above)
2.
Do African stories differ from American or other non-African ones? In what concrete ways?
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Goldberg, Natalie.(1986). Writing-Down The Bones. Boston & London:
Shambhala Publications.
Olmstead, Robert. (1997). Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Story Press Books.
Bunyan, John. The Pilgrim’s Progress.
“Ecclesiastes” in the KJV of the Bible.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby.
Kachingwe, Aubrey. No Easy Task. London: Heinemann, 19
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UNIT 7
SENSE AS TOTAL MEANING, IMPORT AND
MESSAGE
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Reality and Illusion
3.2
Chronology and Chronicle
3.3
Endings and Import
3.4
Revisions and Corrections
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In the novel, as in any other branch of the creative language arts, one must agree with Stephen King that “…the business of meaning is a very big deal. If you doubt it, think of all the times you’ve heard someone say
‘I just can’t describe it’, or ‘That isn’t what I mean’…”
If you believe that then you know that meaning is central. As it is, then remember what has been said about the word. The word is a representation of meaning; for, even at its best, writing almost always
“falls short of full meaning” (King 118). In this unit, full meaning of a creative work is the total, overall sense which it conveys at the end of it all. Words must be appropriate. The vocabulary must be fitting, suitable, not dressed up, nor pretentious, or bombastic. Meaning is not necessarily destroyed with “big” vocabulary however, or with “simpler” vocabulary. The word just has to be appropriate. Let us take some examples: 1.
When I was a young secondary school student we used to make a joke of Psalm 23. Psalm 23 goes, in the KJV (King James
Version) Bible, as follows:
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
He leadeth me beside the still waters
He restoreth my soul
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Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I shall fear no evil.
Note the impeccable, irreplaceable “simple” words employed here. The
Bible, as had been said often, is the classic of “simple” deep language…
We, as students, changed that simple vocabulary in order to let Psalm 23 read like this:
The Deity is my pastor, I shall not be indigent!
He causes me to repose in verdant lawns
He conducts me by the quiescent pools…
Yeah! Though I perambulate diametrically via glens of Sepulchral dormitory,
I shall not be perturbed by any apparent catastrophe…
Clearly, our schoolboy version [in which “the Lord” becomes “the
Deity” and “Shepherd” becomes “pastor”, and “to lie down in green pasture” becomes “reposing in verdant lawns…” and “walking through the valley of the shadow of death” becomes “perambulating dametrically via glens of sepulchral dormitory”] [as in italics above] is inslubrious, even ludicrous. Stephen King has a joke from George Carlin which spells out the inappropriateness of such: says Carlin, “…in some company it’s perfectly all right to prick your finger, but very bad form to finger your prick (King:118). Sense depends to a large extent on the word. 2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
choose the right words and vocabulary that make total meaning pleasurable • adopt methods of re-vision and re-writing that would ensure a perfect work • determine when to present a real or illusionary meanings
• discuss the importance of the final message of a novel.
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3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Reality and Illusion
Meanings in a work of art may be calculated to create a feeling that the word, the universe is a concrete reality, or is a fantasy, an illusion. The classic example of illusion Alice in Wonderland by “Lewis
Carroll” (Charles) Lutwidge Dodgson). Alice in Wonderland (1865) and through his Looking-Glass (1871) says George, Sampson, “originating in stories told to little girls, have become enduring parts of English
“nonsense literature” (Sampson. 604). The illusions appeals to all ages of readers, whereas by contrast, the novels of Daniel Defoe about low class people are known in literature as “supreme realistic pictures of low life. Moll Flanders (abbreviated). The effort by a writer to create truthful reality can be found in the very character of the writer himself.
For example, here is how George Sampson summarizes the life of
Daniel Defoe (1659-1731).
Defoe’s life and work (total meaning) defy summary. A few general considerations will help us to understand him. Like Dickens … he was highly endowed with the “experiencing nature”. Nothing was too small to escape his notice; nothing was too large to fit into his comprehension. His curiosity was insatiable, and he knew how to turn the smallest detail to literary account. To write was as natural to him as to breathe. He made fiction seen like truth and truth seen like fiction. Neither his mind nor his character can be called lofty; yet his gifts were many and various. He was the perfect journalist. He could write on anything or nothing…
(Sampson: 378)
We are urging you here, as a creative writer to be, as a creative writer whose works will make total sense, present a message and have import, you need to emulate Defoe: be able to “experience” nature; be able to observe the minutest details in life around you – e.g. the small ants carrying a dead huge grasshopper, rolling the carcass along, to their hole-home to prepare to feast during the rainy days, be insatiably curious; breathe writing, eat writing;
In the case of Defoe, realism even took a turn in the full titles of his novels. The one we call Moll Flanders is a novel fully, humorously, titled: 62
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The FORTUNES and MISFORTUNES of the famous MOLL FLANDERS who was born in NEWGATE PRISON and during a life of – continu’d variety for Threescore Years… was Twelve Years a Whore, five times a wife
(whereof one to her own brother) Twelve Year a ThiefEight Years a Transported Felon in Virginia at last grew Rich, liv’d Honest and died a Penitent, written from her own Memorandums.
Defoe, even in the title of Moll Flanders wanted to take Realism to the extremity of truth in order to show how faithfully his writing reflected true life.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
1.
Write out five instances where you have “experienced nature”
2.
Can you use any one of the five above to provide a concise title for a possible novel?
3.
Name any writer you have found realistic” and any you have found illusionistic in Africa.
3.2
Chronology and Chronicle
The achievement of a good overall meaning – ‘Sense’ – in a novel can also come from the way a writer has handled and touched up what
Estrada calls “Time Line” in a work that has been written over and over again. Time line or chronology helps you re-set and set the ‘vision’. The time span within which a story takes place, the manner the writer ties up all loose ends, show how well the goal of meaning overall has been attained. A story is not mere ‘chronicle’ – Rita Clay Estrada and Rita
Gallagher have suggested, appropriately, that the writer may do well to follow a story “worksheet” all through the period of writing so that a total senseful story can emerge. A meaningful story is a story that has remained ‘on track’, so to speak. You may need to keep the worksheet
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in your computer, to fill the blanks with as much information as you need. A good worksheet will show you, they say, “how neatly your mind connects the dots to a better plot, character and, consequently, the book”. Here is a modified chronology/chronicle story checklist worksheet: NAME OF STORY:
PREMISE:
STORY GOAL:
i.
Lesson goal
ii.
Any holidays (break)
FEMALE CHARACTER NAME
i.
Any story behind it?
ii
Physical Description:
iii.
Tags:
iv.
Her Goal:
v.
Personality Quirk
vi.
Growth Area:
vii
Her Hobby:
viii
Her Career:
MALE CHARACTER NAME
Any story behind it?
Physical description:
Tags:
His Goal:
Personality Quirk:
Growth Area:
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His Hobby:
His Career:
1.
Friend/Relative
Any story behind it?
Physical description:
Tags:
Quirk/Habits:
Purpose/Goal
Revelation of conflict during first meeting
Important relation of conflict during other meetings
Twist of thoughts
Dark period
Revelation of right or wrong
Who?
Why?
Adversary other than person
Overall time line
Resolution
(Estrada & Gallagher, 109-111).
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
1.
Provide a Time Line for an imaginary story titled “Uju buys her first book “or” Kola visits Coca-Cola factory”.
2.
Give ten reasons why a novel needs to be revised for fullest meaning to stand out.
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Endings and Import
Every novel has a theme. Some writers regard them as the “most sacred of sacred cows” (King; 200). “If”, King asserts, “you write a novel, spend weeks and then months catching it word by word, you owe it both to the book and to yourself to lean back… when you have finished and ask yourself why you bothered – why you spent all that time, why it seemed so important … what is it all about…”
Here, let us take you back to the forest comparison. The characters, we said, the actions, the thoughts, the conflicts are analogous to “trees” in the forest. When you finish, you have to step back, as a good portrait painter would, or as a good mathematician seeking to gain a perspective on the diagram of the theorem on the blackboard he wants to prove, you step back and look at the forest. Your novel may not have too much symbolism, or ironies, or musical flow of language – prose - , but the book is about something. What is that ‘some – thing’? Look at the chapters, one by one, see how the characters are linked (remember your worksheet in 3.2?) – how good, or bad, or ugly those personages you created are, what concerns they share – same tribes, same professions, differences in a civil war situation, such as Nigeria has had; in a postcolonial setting as much of Africa has known. How did you envision a final import of your massage? Refer to Ayi Kwei Armah’s The
Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, or the U.S.A based Why Are We So
Blest? Or, look again at Yaw Boateng’s The Return. You will see where characters come to a dead end, where they must tell a lie to survive, even in the squalor of slums, where they love, as Seku Wattara loves the beautiful Mbinge exclusively; what the slave trade that ravaged Africa
(and is still ravaging?) did. Your novel must create a “world” – violence, terrorism, human error, pride, ambitions, people who cheat, who betray others in marriage, in politics and who “serve God”, even as Rev. King, must be made to carry meaning, even as the children of Israel worshipped, to their peril, the Aaronic Golden Calf while Moses was away on Sinai obtaining life-giving divine laws for them. Your novel’s world may conclude that there’s only a thin line between reality and fantasy (Go back to 3.1 above). King says, “… once your basic story is on paper, you need to think about WHAT it means …” (King 208).
3.4
Revisions and Corrections
Hints have already been given about how necessary it is to look back at what one had written. At this point we want to focus on actual revisions and corrections specific. Many drafts of a work are made as the writer tries to tune and re-tune, but basically there should be two drafts: one original and a polished version. King has asserted as follows: “…rewriting varies from writer to writer… Kurt Vonnegut, for example,
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rewrote each page of his novels until he got them exactly the way he wanted them. The result was days when he might only manage a page or two of finished copy; but when the manuscript was finished, the book was finished…” (King. 209).
There is one inescapable truth about revising or proof-reading, or previewing a work. The author will always see or hear only that which he/she originally had in mind. So, you need a second reader, a more objective, dispassionate person, someone who can detect an error, a goof, and loudly and clearly and unflinchingly points it out but without humiliating the writer or beating him/her over the head with a club of criticism! The story is told of America’s famous suspense – master.
Alfred Hitchcock as follows:
“…Not long after finishing psycho, Hitchcock screened it for a few friends. They raved about it, declaring it to be a suspense masterpiece. Alma (Hitchcock’s wife) was quiet until they’d all had their say, then she spoke very firmly:
“You can’t send it out like that”.
“There was thunder struck silence, except for Hitchcock himself, who only asked why not. ‘Because,’ his wife responded, ‘Janet Leigh swallows when she’s supposed to be reading”.
“It was true. Hitchcock didn’t argue …”. A second reader will look at the subject – matter also. We are aiming to obtain overall solid meaning.
Many times it is this reader who sort of tells the writer who has just finished a novel, …” blow your nose, Sir” as an intimate family member would tell the Dad, as he comes out of the toilet with his flap unzipped.
There’s the reader who must be a critic, not a friend. He is unbiased, and correct factual errors. Like when this programme developer was completing his novel, The Court-martial, he had to consult his friend,
Major Gbulie, to have facts about guns, about procedures, and protocols in a case of actual court-martial (trial) corrected. Chinua Achebe tells of how some critics object to his tone of English in Arrow of God, and he has a sample of how he would re-write it. If he agreed to the suggestion, the novel would ‘sound’ but wouldn’t be his style. So, watch the suggestions of your critics/revisers. They may not always be the answer.
Some opinions, you see, do not carry weight. Just never forget that there is always an Ideal Reader who will enjoy all your writings and see the total meaning the way it is presented.
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CONCLUSION
The total import, meaning or message of a novel is a complex thing. It requires many inputs to establish it – author, critical readers, correctors, and rewriters. Whether specifically true – to – life to the last detail, as those 17th and 18th c. English novelists are as culturally relevant as the
Achebes and Boatengs of Africa, realism and illusion have a place in the final meaning of a prose work of art. The author needs possess a listening ear and a cool head. The impact of the finished work may well be the result of their combination.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Study again the life of Defoe. How does personality inform writing styles and finishes?
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, we have touched on the place of realistic and illusionistic approaches to subject matter. It is hoped that you will see clearly the need for wide reading in order to give widest meaning with all accessory implications to your story. You will also know that as a writer, you are both reader and author, but you need your second or third, objective or biased, reader, preferably a non-friend.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1.
What do you understand by “sense” and “non-sense” literature?
2.
How important is a title of a work? Give full illustrative examples
3.
“Time Line” and “Worksheet”: how crucial are these to the serious creative writer’s job?
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Armah, Ayi Kwei: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. London:
Heinemann.
______________ . Why Are We So Blest? London: Heinemann.
Boateng, Yaw M. (1977). The Return. London: Heinemann.
As many African and non – African novels as you can lay hands on.
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MODULE 2
DRAMA
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Preliminary Issues in Drama(tic) Composition: Devices
Thought/Idea
Plot
Character(ization)
Language: Dialogue and Action
Spectacle
Music and Dance/Sound (Effects)
UNIT 1
PRELIMINARY ISSUES
COMPOSITION DEVICES
IN
DRAMA(TIC)
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1 Conceptualization
3.2 Germinal Idea
3.2.1 Sources of Germinal Idea
3.3
The Process
3.4
Scenario
3.5 Tools
4.0
Conclusion
10.0Summary
11.0
Tutor-Marked Assignment
12.0
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit introduces you to the preliminary issues in playwriting for the stage, the television, the radio, and the celluloid. You are being introduced to the basic steps in playwriting mainly for the stage. I will end this introduction with Femi Osofisan’s “Ten Commandments of
Good Writing”. He was not prescribing for writers but just gave his opinion on issues he felt could help writers as follows:
1. Write always out of self respect.
2. Find a model among the finest minds and the best craftsman and apprentice yourself.
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3. Do not ever agree to prostitute your writing or tarnish your profession by lending to vulgarism for whatever financial inducement. 4. Write always with a consciousness that art is still a powerful force in our society; therefore, someone may want to learn some wisdom from your work.
5. If what you write cannot give joy to you, it cannot give others joy.
6. Write with the knowledge that you owe an obligation to the society and those who are voiceless.
7. Make your writing a road to beauty and insight.
8. Always remember that you are a tool, the better refined you are, the better your writing.
9. Read constantly, listen more carefully, and observe more closely.
10. Love is always vital to the career of every writer. Find it.
With these at the back of your mind, you will now be taken through the first steps in play writing.
Femi Osofisan incorporated these
‘commandments in his keynote address at the First International
Conference of Women Writers Association (WRITA) at the Institute of
Advanced Legal Studies, University of Lagos in 1998.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• conceptualize an idea
• develop that idea into a full-length play
• acquaint yourselves with the basic tools you need.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Conceptualization
In the process of playwriting, first of all the playwright visualizes and conceptualizes the idea he wants to explore. After the conception of the idea, he writes it down immediately on a sketch book so that he will not forget it. It is this idea that metamorphoses into a play but not exactly as conceptualized in the imagination of the playwright. Playwriting is therefore based on the creative imagination of the playwright. He needs
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mental and intellectual abilities that find expression in a fertile creative imagination for him to create effectively. He must have a mental picture of the story he intends to write because according to Anthony Duruaku
“… creativity is not possible without the imagination because the creative ability evolves from the ability to synthesize experience and rework it to accommodate present circumstance” (30). When he conceives the idea he wants to explore it. The next step is to think of how to present it as a story, in a dramatic form.
3.2
Germinal Idea
A playwright starts from a germinal idea which is the creative compulsion. This starts in his imagination. He imagines a situation or a story and proceeds to create incidents, situations, characters, and the environment where the characters will exist and interact. The probable source of the germinal idea of Wole Soyinka in The Trials of Brother
Jero may have been religious hypocrisy. In this course material we will draw examples and illustrations where necessary, from published plays written by national and international playwrights. So get the cited plays and read them very well to enable you derive maximum benefit from this course.
3.2.1 Sources of Germinal Ideas
Germinal ideas could emanate from the following:
a. An individual: This could be a person who the writer has seen in his
imagination or interacted with in real life. This encounter can spark off an idea which could be developed into a play. In Soyinka’s The
Trials of Brother Jero may have encountered a fake Pastor before he wrote The Trials of Brother Jero and this encounter may have influenced his decision to explore the theme of religious hypocrisy.
b. An environment/location: A place or an environment with peculiar
things which inspire the writer to write about that place or environment. In the early days of Christianity in Igboland, most of the Pentecostal churches operated by the river side or beach. This explains why in Awka, Anambra State, they are called ‘Ndu Uka
Mmili’ which means, ‘the people of the Water Churches’. You may have observed too that the setting of Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother
Jero is the beach.
c. An incident: A particular incident could produce an occasion for drama. For instance, a fight you witnessed could inspire you to write a play. An incident in good hands stretches into a full length play.
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d. A basic idea of life which is sometimes referred to as the conceptual thought can induce a fertile creative mind to develop it into a play. It could be a phrase or a sentence.
e. Human relations as seen in people of different ideas and background coming together. The relations should be able to generate situations which in turn give rise to conflicts. These conflicts could be harnessed and coordinated to craft a play. Conflict is a very important element in playwriting.
f. Information Area: An informational area which the writer has or is
interested in can ignite the creative impulse of the playwright. In order to portray it very well (accurately) he goes to watch or study the situation and presents it in the dramatic form. Having decided on religious hypocrisy Soyinka may have visited such churches. When I wrote my play, Sons for Son, I visited such churches several times and when I wrote Like Father Like Son, I had to attend few court sessions at different magistrate and high courts to get a firsthand experience on the presentation of cases by the defence and prosecution counsels.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
In your own words, list and explain three possible sources of germinal ideas in play writing.
3.3
The Process
The process of organization starts after you have conceptualized your idea or situation, and visualized the type of characters that will be able to carry that story. The next step is to imagine the environment where these characters will exist. This is called setting. This setting could be a home, a school, an office of anywhere that is most suitable for you to write on. Once you have decided on the best environment, you then sketch the human relations. You should try to figure out the number of characters you need, how they will interact and how the protagonist’s ideas are going to clash with those of the antagonist. After that, the next step is the preparation of the scenario.
3.4
Scenario
Scenario is the projection of a viable format for the play. Here you decide who and what will be included in the play, and at what point each character will make his appearance, then you will imagine how long each segment will last and the probable length of the entire play. Finally you propose how to link the sequences of action to form an organic
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structure and a rational whole. Other issues to be considered in the scenario are:
a. Title: In most cases a playwright chooses a working title which may
be a tentative title. You may end the play with that tentative title or as the play progresses; you might be compelled to change the title.
The title helps you to maintain the focus on your main idea. A good title gives the audience an idea of what the play is all about.
b. Action: This covers the activities of the characters. You must have
an imaginative picture of your characters. In addition you should have an idea of what each character would be doing at every stage of the development of the play.
c. Genre: You should decide whether you intend to write a comedy,
tragedy, satire or tragi-comedy. The choice of the genre will affect the action of the play. Tragedy is not supposed to have the same language with comedy. In comedy, humorous scenes will be present while language in tragic plays is usually serious.
d. Circumstances: These comprise the involvement of the various
characters in the play, what they do which lead to important actions contained in the play. Let us illustrate once more with Soyinka’s play: what circumstance led Br. Chume to expose Br. Jero and to find out that Br. Jero is a crook. He meets Amope as she comes to ask Br. Jero to pay for the velvet cape he bought from her.
e. Clarity: Remember that what we are discussing here is the plan, a
kind of an outline for the play. Clarity here means that you need to state the definite idea /information you want to explore in the play. It will act as a focal point for you so that you could refer to it from time to time as you write to ensure that you explore it adequately. This will also help to avoid the bringing in introduction of many ideas in the play without relating them to the action of the play appropriately.
You need to state the definite idea/information of the play clearly.
f. Characters: As much as possible, give detailed descriptions of your
characters, what they are and what they will do in order to sustain the action of the play, create conflict and suspense that will produce good drama.
g. Conflict: State at what point of the play the conflict will emerge.
Who opposes/fights who? What major principle/belief will clash with the other so as to create tension? This tension that is created through the interactions of characters and ideas is the conflict.
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h. Story. Give a synopsis or a brief summary of the play. You should
present it in form of a general but brief narration that states what happened or what is happening in the play. This will form your plot as you write the actual play.
i. Motivation. This is the individual thought of all the characters that
propel them to do whatever they do in the play. Ensure that your characters’ actions are properly motivated.
j. Dialogue. This story in (h) is eventually presented in dialogue which
is the pattern of writing and presenting a play.
k. Time Plan. This is your working schedule. Do you think that you
can complete the play in a month, a year or more? Once you take this decision, you will plan a breakdown of what you expect to be in each segment (call it scene, act or movement). You will then decide how long it may take for you to complete each segment, and eventually the tentative deadline for the completion of the play.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Prepare what you think would have been the scenario of Wole Soyinka’s
The Trials of Brother Jero.
3.5
Tools
Apart from creative imagination, a playwright needs the following tools:
1. A good knowledge of the stage.
2. Pen and notebooks.
3. Comfortable writing table and a chair “located in a quiet environment”. And reliable lighting at night (Ike 213) if you intend to write at night.
4. Money for your basic expenses like travels (where you need to carry out a research or obtain information) a typewriter. If you cannot type, you should write and send it for typing on a computer which is popular nowadays.
5. If you can afford it, obtain a desktop computer or laptop.
6. A good or standard dictionary for “accuracy in spelling and use of
words”(Ike 214).
7. Any good thesaurus of English words and phrases.
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CONCLUSION
Playwriting requires both talent and skill. One may have the talent but do not possess the skill. This course is expected to provide guidelines for the acquisition of the skill by aspiring playwrights. The basic steps and tools are presented above.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit we examined the basic steps of playwriting from conceptualization to the scenario.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Describe the process of playwriting.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Duruaku, A.B.C. (1997). A Handbook on Drama and Theatre. Owerri:
Colon Concepts.
Ike, Chukwuemeka .(1991). How to Become a Published Writer. Ibadan:
Heinemann.
Onyekuba, Onyeka .(1995). Sons for My Son. Awka: Mercury Bright
Press.
Soyinka, Wole. (1964). The Trials of Brother Jero in The Jero Plays.
London: Eyre Methuen.
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UNIT 2
THOUGHT/IDEA
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Theme
3.2 Subject Matter
3.3 The Story
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this Unit you will learn about thought or idea in dramatic writing.
You will also be in a position to distinguish between theme, subject matter and the story. At the point of conceptualization, you focus on an idea that will yield your story from which the theme and subject matter will emerge eventually.
20
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• identify the idea or unit of though around which a particular play revolves • distinguish between theme and subject matter
• tell your story in a dramatic form based on an idea.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Theme
Theme is the main idea that permeates the entire play. You have the major theme but you could also have other themes, hence, you could have a variety of themes in a single play. Themes could emerge from a concept, an idea, an abstract quality or an incident which the playwright uses to send his message to the audience. The theme of The Trials of
Brother Jero for instance is religious hypocrisy or deceit. As the playwright explores the theme, he gives his perspective on the issue.
The theme of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is revenge. By the end of the play as the principal actors die, it becomes clear that Shakespeare does not support revenge. Hamlet, in his bid to avenge his father’s death, loses
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his lover, his mother, his peace of mind, his happiness and eventually dies. The playwright could write his play on an idea based on events around him. Drama mirrors the society and through that mirror the dramatist informs and educates while entertaining his audience. He is also referred to as the conscience of the society, so he is expected to dramatize the ills of the society or the good sides of that society in an impartial manner.
Through the theme, he condemns those aspects of the society that hinder progress, while he promotes social injustice/inequality, or crime. In
Nigeria for instance, many playwrights explore themes of bribery, corruption, bad leadership, insecurity, and other forms of misdemeanors that bedevil contemporary Nigeria.
Apart from contemporary issues, themes could also be drawn from myth, legend, history, or folklore. In all these, the propelling factor for the playwright is to send a message to the audience through an entertainment medium- drama. Most playwrights believe that they can make their societies better through the dramatization of the themes that promote positive values in the society with the hope that the audience will be influenced to take constructive steps for the progress of their societies. The theme is presented as an interesting story through an appropriate dramatic genre. In Hamlet, Shakespeare explores the theme of revenge through the tragic mode while Soyinka presents the theme of religious hypocrisy through the comic mode. As the audience laughs at
Brother Chume’s foolery and Jero’s antics, they learn to be wary of false or fake prophets. A particular theme could be dramatized by many playwrights. Each playwright explores the theme from his perspective to give it the desired originality and mark of uniqueness.
The theme of the play gives it significance because without a recognizable and definable theme, the story presented in the play will be commonplace and meaningless. So, as a playwright, you should strive to ensure that you focus clearly on your theme. This is because it is the motivating force of the story. You see that in Hamlet every step taken by
Hamlet points towards his revenge intent. In The Trials of Brother Jero, the old man’s allegation against Brother Jero and Jero’s reaction foreshadow his dubious nature that gives him away as an impostor, and a fake prophet. Also, his admiration of the young lady that goes to the beach every morning lends credence to his lustful nature. He does not allow Brother Chume to beat his wife because he does not want to lose
Chume as a member of his congregation. Finally, the way he dodges
Amope each time she comes to collect the money he owes her points to his dubious nature.
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Each playwright chooses a theme before choosing the style to adopt.
Other aspects of the play like characters, plot, setting and language are carefully chosen in such a way that they advance the major theme of the story. A play could have more than one theme, in which case we talk about sub-themes. Usually, the major theme is obvious because the main action of the play revolves around it while the sub-theme is subsumed in the main theme but discernable.
The theme of a play could be given in one word, a sentence, a statement or a phrase. In some complex plays, it might be difficult to decipher the theme. However, as a budding playwright, it is advisable that you choose a theme and focus on it in such a way that it will be discernable since it is the central thought, the controlling idea in the play.
A theme could be symbolic or literal. At this stage, it is easier to deal with literal themes. The audience is expected to distill the theme consciously or unconsciously as the play progresses. In some cases, the theme emerges after the reading or watching of an entire play. Although, this idea is presented in form of fiction which according to Oakley Hall is “an euphemism for lies” (23), in writing your play, you should give this fiction a semblance of truth which in the novel is referred to as verisimilitude. What we mean here is that the play should be as close as possible to reality. You can achieve this through the presentation of realistic characters who are involved in possible and plausible actions.
As a playwright, you should strive to convince your audience of the authenticity of your story through make-belief and they will be in a good position to assimilate your story through a willing suspension of disbelief as if you are presenting real life situations on stage. So, you will have to select, alter, distill, distort and sometimes exaggerate facts to create this dramatic “truth”. This truth is dramatized in a process that could hold and engage the imagination of the audience. In drama therefore you strive to present an imitation of real life. The most important factor is that this real life is represented in an artistic form.
3.2
Subject Matter
The subject matter is different from the theme but some students of literature interchange them since they believe that they are the same. As a playwright you should be in a position to distinguish one from the other. The subject matter is the topic of discussion in the play. In many plays, the subject matter is extracted from the title of the play. In
Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel for instance, the theme could be tradition versus modernity or to be more explicit, the triumph of African
Tradition over Western Culture but the subject is the fame of Sidi (the
Jewel) a young and beautiful girl and her fall through her a seduction by the Bale (the Lion) who is old enough to be her father. In many plays,
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the title explains the subject matter. This play presents a relationship between the Lion, Bale and the Jewel, Sidi. This alliance does not only affect her growing fame adversely but also deprives her of a marriage to a younger man, Lakunle. So in the play, the title illuminates the subject matter of the play. Also, in The Marriage of Anansewa, Efua Sutherland explores the theme of love but the subject matter is how Ananse marries his daughter to a chief she has never met. It means that the subject matter of any play is the subject of discussion from which the theme is extracted. Usually the theme is subsumed in the subject matter. Just as the theme is explored through other aspects of the play, the subject matter is highlighted through events, incidents and the action in the play.
Subject matter is reflected in the action which the playwright presents in the play. In most cases, the statement is about human problems from the playwright’s perspective. It is his vision of the world and in a good play; the statement is expected to have universal validity or relevance for all ages. 3.3
The Story
Every play tells an imaginary story through action. This story is the unification of the events or incidents in the play in such a way that it forms a coherent whole. The story holds the audience and raises its expectations on this or that aspect of the play as it progresses. They watch or read the play following the story with keen interest as they want to know what happens next. A good play tells an interesting story and holds the audience spellbound while an uninteresting story sends it to sleep. It is in the story that the playwright organizes his ideas in such a way that he produces something that he could hold together to achieve the desired result. In a nutshell, the story in the order or sequence of events, an outline of the incidents or events in the play, is called plot.
This will be discussed in detail in Unit 3, the next unit.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
What in your own understanding is the difference between theme and subject matter.
4.0
CONCLUSION
We have explained that it is a unit of thought or an idea that gives rise to a play. We also explained what theme is and its importance in the play.
We tried to distinguish between theme and subject matter which tends to be confusing concepts for some students.
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SUMMARY
In this unit we examined the concept of thought in playwriting. We equally discussed how this thought crystallizes into a play. In addition we examined the story which we identified as a narrative / account of incidents in the play. They are mainly imaginary tales.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
The main idea in the play is the theme. List ten ideas from which you could develop a play.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Duruaku, A.B.C. (1979). A Handbook on Drama and Theatre. Owerri:
Colon Concepts.
Grebanier, Bernard. (1979). Playwriting. New York: Barnes and Noble.
Hall, Oakley. (1989). The Art & Craft of Novel Writing. Cincinnati:
Story Press.
Ike, Chukwuemeka. (1991). How to Become a Published Writer. Ibadan:
Heinemann.
Shakespeare, William. (1984). Hamlet. A. L. Rowse (ed). New York:
Mc
Graw-Hill.
Soyinka, Wole. (1977) The Trials of Brother Jero in The Jero Plays.
London: Eyre Methuen.
Yerima, Ahmed. (2003). Basic Techniques in Playwriting. Ibadan:
Kraft.
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UNIT 3
PLOT
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
What is Plot?
3.2
The Sub Plot
3.3
The Plot Structure
3.4
Types of Plot
3.4.1 Simple Plot
3.4.2 Complex Plot
3.4.3 Unified Plot
3.4.4 Episodic Plot
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
4.0
5.0
6.0
A playwright, as we have seen in Unit 2, tells a story. He is concerned about the story and how to make the story as interesting as possible.
This story is realised in action. Action is more important in drama than the story. After he has chosen/selected an idea, the next step for him is to see how best that idea can be expanded to yield a story. His next preoccupation becomes the arrangement of this story to form a logical entity. This arrangement of the story is referred to as the plot. In this unit we will discuss the plot and different types of plot.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• identify what plot is
• appreciate and undertake plot construction
• identify different types of plot
• distinguish plot from story.
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3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
What is Plot?
Plot is the organization of the events of a play. In simple terms, it is the arrangement of the story in the play so that it will have a beginning, middle and an end. In the novel, the novelist presents his plot by describing the characters, their actions, and the environment where they operate, their motivations, their hopes, and aspirations, but the playwright presents his plot mainly through dialogue in the interaction of the characters.
A good dramatic plot is expected to be an organization of series of events in the play in such a way/manner that it moves through series of conflicts, complications, and the climax to the resolution. In a play, every event is part of a carefully designed model and progression of a wholly interconnected system of events. These events are selected and arranged deliberately to fulfill an intricate set of dramatic purposes and theatrical conditions. It comprises everything which takes place in the imaginative world of the play and the playwright ensures that the
“totality of the events must create a coherent imitation of the world” (Scholes and Klaus 65).
Aristotle sees plot as the most important element of drama. He refers to it as the soul of tragedy. The playwright should therefore pay particular attention to the construction of his plot. He should arrange it in such a way that the story will be interesting. A good plot should have a beginning, middle and an end. Once the idea is conceptualized, he draws an outline of the story using some characters. The next step is to arrange this outline in such a way that it has a beginning, middle and end.
Plot is the structure of the actions which in a particular pattern is presented in order to achieve particular emotional and artistic effects in a play. It helps to give the play its organic unity and a coherence that makes the play easy to understand. According to Aristotle, the plot is arranged in this order - exposition, point of attack, complication, crisis, climax discovery, and denouement or resolution. Discovering
(anagnorisis) often tends/ commences the untangling of events in denouement or resolution.
In drama, plot is expected to produce a result or an effect on the audience so, as an aspiring playwright; you should package your play in a particular way to produce your desired impression or effect on the audience. This is why a theme like religious hypocrisy could be treated by different playwrights in different ways. In Soyinka’s The Trial of
Brother Jero, Jero swindles people of their money with a promise of
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securing promotion or political positions for them. But in Onyeka
Onyekuba’s Sons for My Son, the pastor takes advantage of childless women, extorts money from them and sleeps with them. In her other play Like Father like Son, the pastor becomes an accomplice in a crime of fraud and exam malpractice. Each playwright presents plot from his own perspective with the aid of other stylistic devices. In some cases he proffers solution that could help to minimize or eradicate the ills of his society. The success of a play depends largely on the plot as it aids the audience’s or the readers’ understanding of the playwright’s message.
For the playwright to achieve this, he needs to design and construct his plot in such a way that the interest of the audience is aroused continuously as the play progresses. The audience should be curious about future events in the play especially as it concerns the fate of some characters. This expectancy and curiosity of the audience about the fate of some characters or the outcome of some events is called suspense. A good playwright therefore uses suspense to sustain the interest of his audience. Plot comprises the action that takes place on stage and the action that occurred in the past which is usually recalled through a flashback or reported speech. In The Trials of Brother Jero for instance, the curse placed on Brother Jero by an old man is presented in a flashback as Jero recalls it in his monologue at the opening of the play. The important element here is the arrangement of these incidents both past and present in an orderly manner. In real life incidents and events are not ordered in that form. Plot is different from scenario and story. Scenario is based mainly on the action that takes place on stage. Story is the series of incidents whose development does not necessarily depend on each other.
These incidents may or may not be related or connected but in the hands of a good playwright, these seemingly unrelated incidents are coordinated and fused to form a story. It is said that every adult has at least one story in him. If you take the story of your life, for instance, you will find out that there are many incidents that are not related or connected. For instance, take a day in your life as a child: you woke up early in the morning, brushed your mouth, took your bath, ate your breakfast and went to school. At school, a teacher came to your class, met a noisy class and punished all of you. Is there a connection between what you did at home and what happened to you in school? Is the punishment a consequence of your waking up early or brushing your teeth? If you decide to write a story based on those incidents, you might decide to add that the toothpaste was an expired one so at school you started having stomach ache. Your crying and discomfort attracted the attention of others in the class and there was a commotion. At that moment, the teacher came in and without questions punished everybody and that included you.
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The playwright might decide to present in a flashback how your mother bought the toothpaste without checking the expiring date or how somebody saw that it was unfit for human consumption but out of mischief allowed you to use it. The problem could not have been with the toothpaste but with the breakfast. In this case, the flashback would demonstrate how your breakfast was poisoned by a wicked stepmother.
You can see from this simple illustration that plot especially a unified one thrives on causality. In it, one incident is presented, and as a result of that incident, the next one happens and the situation must be related to each other. In a unified plot there is a beginning, middle and an end where the beginning gives rise to the middle and the conflicts initiated in the middle are resolved in the end. This resolution of the conflicts completes what was started in the beginning.
3.2
The Sub Plot
The subject (sub) plot is subordinated to the main plot. The main plot deals with the major events while the sub plot deals with other incidents which can be dependent on the main plot but presented as complete and interesting stories. In most cases, the sub-plot is used to enhance the audience’s understanding of the main plot or to illuminate some aspects of the action. In Hamlet for instance, the play-within–play (The
Mousetrap) helps to illuminate the disposition of Claudius and heighten his sense of guilt. It further strengthens Hamlet’s resolve to avenge his father’s death as it confirms to him that his uncle is guilty of murder and of his illicit affair with Hamlet’s mother.
3.3
The Plot Structure
Ideally a good a good play as stated above should have a beginning, middle and an end. According to Oscar Brockett, the beginning contains the exposition or the setting forth of information about earlier events, the identity of characters and the present situation. The point of attack which is part of the beginning is when the main story starts unfolding and a possible conflict is identified. In The Trials of Brother Jero the exposition in Brother Jero’s monologue which gives information about himself, about Brother Chume and the curse by the old man. The curse could be seen as the point of attack as Old Man tells Jero that women are going to cause his downfall.
A series of complications constitute the middle. A complication is the introduction of a new element that changes the direction of the action and it leads to the discovery of new information. In that same play,
Amope’s appearance provides the complication for Brother Jero and this leads Jero to discover that she is Br. Chume’s wife. Consequently, he
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allows Brother Chume, to beat her. This leads to a crisis which culminates in the climax when Br. Chume chases Br. Jero calling himself a fool for being so gullible that he allowed another man to dictate for him how to run his household. That discovery leads to the resolution of the play which exposes Jero as an imposter.
3.4
Types of Plot
It is not in all plays that we find what may be referred to as good plots as described above. It is therefore not surprising that we have different types of plots. Aristotle talked of purity and unification of plot. He divides plot into simple and complex plots.
3.4.1 Simple Plot
In a simple plot, the action is simple and continuous. In this type of plot the complication is not usually much and the conflict is not intense.
There could be a change of fortune but usually there is no reversal of situation and no recognition. In simple plots the action runs chronologically and causally from the beginning to the end.
3.4.2 Complex Plot
In a complex plot, as the name suggests, we are presented with complex incidents and complications. The change of fortune here is accompanied by a reversal of situation or by recognition or by both.
3.4.3 Unified Plot
In the unified plot, the incidents are presented in a logical, chronological and causal order. Here one incident leads to the other and that other one happens as a result of the previous action. The beginning, middle and end are obvious in the unified plot.
3.4.4 Episodic Plot
Here there is no causal arrangement of incidents. Obviously, the only relationship between the incidents is that a particular character is involved in all of them. In a unified plot the excision of an aspect or a part of the play affects the meaning and the organic structure of the play.
There is nothing like cause and effect in an episodic plot as a part of the play could be removed and it will not affect, change or destroy the plot.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List and explain the four types of plot as presented in this unit.
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CONCLUSION
From the discussion so far, you have seen the importance and centrality of plot in playwriting. An aspiring playwright should be conversant with different types of plot. This will help him in the arrangement of incidents in his play to ensure that he does not just produce an interesting story but that the story is presented in a manner that will arouse and sustain the interest of the audience.
Like I said in Unit 1, a playwright is not confined to any rule especially in contemporary times. Modern playwrights experiment with different forms and the result is that some plot less plays and illogical plots have been presented by the existentialist and absurdist playwrights. Modern and contemporary dramatists do not seem to be interested in any rule so they borrow ideas from available traditions and mix them up to expand the horizon and boundaries of their artistic expression and ideological positions. 5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit you have learnt more on what plot is and different types of plot. This experience will be at the back of your mind as you prepare to write or as you write your play.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What is a well-made plot and what is its relationship with incidents in the play.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Brockett, Oscar. (1980). The Essential Theatre. New York: Holt
Reinhart and Winston .
Scholes, R. and C.H. Klaus. (1971). Elements of Drama. New York:
Oxford University Press.
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UNIT 4
CHARACTER/CHARACTERIZATION/
MOVEMENT/THE STAGE
CONTENTS
1.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Characters
3.2
Characterization
3.3
Movement
3.4
The Stage
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
2.0
3.0
Drama comprises action and this action is presented through characters.
Characters are those human beings, animals or abstract qualities. The important issue is that, they present the story that is conceptualized by the playwright.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• differentiate the characters in a play
• distinguish between character and characterization
• differentiate between movement and motivation
• discuss/design the stage geography and show how it affects you as a playwright. 3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Characters
Like I said in the introduction, characters could be human beings; they could be animals as we find in allegorical plays. Good examples of allegorical plays are Tess Onwueme’s The Desert Encroaches and Ban
Empty Barn. Characters could also be abstract qualities as we find in
Everyman.
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As you conceptualise your play, the next step is to think of the characters you could use to realize your goal. When you create your human characters, you should endow them with moral and dispositional qualities to make them real. You know that as a playwright you do not have the time and space for vivid description of characters, events and the environment like the novelist. You should therefore give the necessary information about characters through the dramatis personae at the beginning of the play, stage directions, and through the dialogue. It is only through these means that you can present your comments on the character’s age, his physical attributes, his mode of dressing, his temperament and other information you need.
You should be able to differentiate your characters through variation in manner of behaviour, social status, external appearance and language. In as much as they should be differentiated, they should be able to relate with one another to achieve your goal. The interpersonal relationship of characters is very important because you reveal your characters also through their words, action and what other characters say about them as
W.T. Price says “characters can be brought on in no other way than by throwing people in relation” (280). You can also reveal your protagonist by pitching him against supernatural forces as Shakespeare did to King
Lear or Macbeth or Sophocles did to Oedipus. This could be attributed to the fact that in the classical tragedy destiny played an important role in the fate of the characters. So the tragedy that befalls the character is not necessarily as a result of conflict between him and other characters but predetermined. Hence Romeo submits: “…He that hath the steerage of my course directs my sail” (Romeo and Juliet, Act 1 Scene 4).
You should have a good knowledge of different types of characters
(refer to the course material, Elements of Drama). This will enable you determine the type of characters you want to create. The hero or protagonist must be at the centre of the story. Usually, he is pitted against another important character. He changes as the play progresses.
His behavioral changes are attributed to new awareness or revelation or change in the social structure in the world view of the play. The static/stock or flat character does not change in any basic way in the course of the play. Usually, he represents a group or individuals in the society. He emerges from rigid or static social and temperamental features characteristic of the profession, ethnic group, tribe or nationality he represents. It means that he must act according to the stereotyped or rigid features of the interest he represents.
3.2
Characterization
Characters live on stage as they act out the story. Characterization is the ability of portraying/creating the characters. The aspect of your
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conceptualization that gives birth to the characters is called characterization. In your imagination you create these characters and decide the best attribute for each of them. When you form/conceive your idea, the next step is to develop it and then think of appropriate characters you will need to tell your /their story effectively. Your ability to create the right characters, make them appear at the right places at the right time, say the right or wrong things (depending on the effect you want to create) at the appropriate or inappropriate times and places is referred to as characterization.
The important factor in characterization is consistency and motivation.
You must strive to create consistent characters. If for instant you create a servant who speaks in pidgin, he must be consistent from the beginning to the end. If suddenly he starts speaking Queens English, then he is not consistent, except if he improves himself through formal or informal education which must be highlighted in the play. This education now becomes the motivation for speaking Queen’s English. Motivation in simple terms is the reason behind the action of a character. The motivation for each character’s action must be obvious if not, the action will become illogical. You can present inconsistent characters and illogical actions if you are writing an absurdist play. If you are not writing an absurdist play or in the existential tradition, you are obliged to create plausible characters who indulge in plausible actions that are as close as possible to reality. You must therefore try to create credible stories for them to fit in the action appropriately.
3.3
Movement
You may wonder why movement and stage are discussed here. The reason is obvious. Drama thrives on action. Characters in the play are involved in action and the performance of the play; the action is realized through the movement of the characters on stage. As a playwright you must learn to inject action into your play to make it vibrant and interesting. The action is realized in movement on stage. If you do not have sufficient action in your play, it becomes drab and boring. You should be aware of the entrances, exits and other movements of your characters. It is not only the director that concerns himself with movement on stage. A good playwright should state the movement of the characters clearly in the stage direction. He should also decide on appropriate cue words i.e. what a character should say before or after a movement is made. For you, a budding playwright, to be able to do this effectively, you must have a good knowledge of the stage. The commonest stage is the proscenium stage. Before you write a play, in addition to the experience you may have acquired in the course and
Theatre Workshop visit a theatre and get yourself acquainted with the stage geography.
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The Stage
In theatre workshop, you learnt that there are different types of theatres.
They include the arena, the proscenium, the open theatre, the pit theatre and many others. In this course, we will not discuss these types of theatre but we will concern ourselves with the stage. As stated earlier we will concentrate on the proscenium stage which is very close to a room though without the fourth wall. It is through that fourth wall that the audience watches a play. Watching a play on the proscenium stage is like watching a television. So with this in mind you will create your doors and windows on the remaining three walls.
You should also have a fair knowledge of lighting to know when the light will come up, dim, or blackout. This knowledge will help you in the series of scene changes which is anticipated in drama. However if you are writing for television or for film, you will not be constrained to the particular exits. This is because the camera, light and other technological equipment are used to create the desired effects and realistic environments. Moreover, realistic settings are used in celluloid where the camera aids the provision of an unlimited time and space for the script writer. For instance, on stage you cannot bring in a car but in
TV and film the special camera is used to record the dialogue of characters (actors) driving along an expressway. In radio plays you need more of sound effects. So if you are writing a play to be published, you must have a stage in mind. For literary or stage plays, the best approach is usually to produce the play before you publish it. Generally, it is believed that ‘a play is not a play until it is seen live on stage’. It means that if you have the opportunity of performing your play before you publish it, you will have the advantage of adding or cutting some scenes in the play before publication.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List two ways through which you could inject action into the play you intend to write.
4.0
CONCLUSION
We have explained that you should create your characters in such a way that they can effectively carry your story. We noted also that you should ensure that the story is credible, the characters plausible and the action possible for you to have a good play. We also said that a good playwright should have a good knowledge of the stage and method of lighting. 90
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SUMMARY
In this unit we examined how a playwright creates his characters. We also looked at what he should bear in mind as he creates them. These are credibility, plausibility, possibility, consistency and motivation.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What is the importance of the proscenium stage for the playwright?
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Duruaku, A.B.C. (1979). A Handbook on Drama and Theatre. Owerri:
Colon Concepts.
Grebanier, Bernard. (1979). Playwriting. New York: Barnes and Noble.
Yerima, Ahmed. (2003). Basic Techniques in Playwriting. Ibadan:
Kraft.
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UNIT 5
LANGUAGES, DIALOGUE AND ACTION
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Language
3.2
Types of Language
3.2.1 Spoken Language
3.2.2 Non-verbal Language
3.3
Diction
3.4
Dialogue
3.5
Action
3.6
Matching Language to Character
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Language is a vital tool for the literary artist. In drama where the action is presented on stage, in addition to the spoken words, language includes gestures, facial expressions and other forms of action that help to convey the desired message. In the novel, the writer describes events, setting, atmosphere and character as vividly as possible. In the omniscient point of view, the writer goes further to reveal the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of characters through description. In drama, the playwright does not have the time and space for such descriptions. Everything is therefore conveyed to the audience during performance through dialogue and action. However, in written texts, other important information is given through stage direction.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• determine the importance of language in playwriting
• distinguish different forms of language
• determine the functions of dialogue in a play.
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3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Language
Language has been defined as a tool of communicating from one source to another. It has also been postulated that language is purely a linguistic behaviour that shows a social interaction that exists among people in a given speech community. The above definitions are echoed in David
Crystal Encyclopedia of Language where language is said to be the human and non-instinctive means of communication used by individuals in a given speech community. However a contemporary definition of language postulates that it is the vocal or graphic representation of sounds in writing, used systematically and conventionally by the members of a speech community for communicating views, opinions, information, facts, and emotions and so on.
Interestingly, language is important to humans because it can either be spoken or written. This variable makes it completely different from animal form of communication “animalese”. It is important to remember that communication must not be confused with language because language is the tool for effective communication. Finally, we should note that the use of language for effective communication is contextspecific. Communication is the process of exchanging information, views, opinions, and feelings as well as emotions from one source to another. Language is the medium you use in that communication.
3.2
Types of Language
Spoken Language/Verbal
Non-Spoken/Nonverbal
3.2.1 Spoken Language
Spoken Language as the name implies is the realization of communication in speech. Each speech community has its own language but English language is the general mode of communication in Nigeria.
A playwright chooses the language to use in writing his play. Some playwrights like Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (Kenya) Peninah Muhando
(Tanzania) Bode Osayin (Nigeria) Goody Onyekaonwu (Nigeria) have written plays in their native languages of Gikuyi, Swahili, Yoruba, and
Igbo respectively. The problem here is that the audience is limited to only those who can read or understand the native languages. Perhaps this explains why Ngugi Wa Thiong’o translates his plays later into
English Language to enable him reach a wider audience.
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In Nigeria, many playwrights include their mother tongues or pidgin in their plays. In some cases, the words phrases/sentences are explained in the glossary, or alongside the vernacular or pidgin but in some other cases no explanation is given, and the audience is expected to decipher the meaning within the context it is used. You can read Ola Rotimi’s
Hopes of the Living Dead and Tess Onwueme’s Then She Said It for the use of pidgin and for the inclusion of mother tongue which is common among African playwrights, especially in form of songs in the plays.
The language used by a playwright is spoken by the characters on stage.
The spoken language could be in form of speech, laughter, shouting, crying and other forms of utterances made by the characters in the play.
The important point here is that it is a form of sound produced through the mouth.
3.2.2 Non-verbal Language
Non-verbal language comes in form of action, gestures, and facial expression. It comprises actions that send messages about a character’s action or state of mind that is not expressed through vocal sounds.
3.3
Diction
Diction in playwriting refers to the choice or selection of the words you use in writing your play. From the onset, take a decision on your choice of words. Your diction could be simple and straightforward or difficult and obscure, etc. So you must, as a matter of utmost importance, write accurately. If however a particular character is to speak inaccurate
English, let it be consistent. A very good example is Mrs. Malaprop in
Richard Sheridan’s The Rival. Her language is full of malapropisms and she speaks consistently in that form from the beginning of the play to the end. Malapropism is the misuse of words in an amusing way. Here the word that is used incorrectly sounds similar to the intended, word but means something quite different. You should therefore learn the basic grammatical rules especially as it concerns subject-verb agreement, tenses, punctuation, spelling, active and passive verbs, capitalization, faulty expressions and some other common errors.
However, some faulty expressions result from direct or literal translation of mother tongue to English or pidgin.
Apart from accurate grammatical expression, you should learn to write beautiful language. You should therefore search continuously for the most suitable words to use. These are words that not only express your thoughts very well but are also the most appropriate words in that context. To achieve this, therefore, you need to read widely especially creative works like plays, novels and short stories. A rich vocabulary
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helps to “bring variety and freshness to your writing” and helps you to reduce the “excessive flogging of certain words and expressions” (Ike
19). You should also be conversant with the sentence structure in
English Language. This will enable you know when to use simple sentences and when to use compound sentences. In choosing your words, it is important to bear your audience in mind. The words and expressions you will use in a play for children will not be the same with the ones you will use for a play meant for senior secondary students and undergraduates. For instance, a play for market women or people in the village may contain a lot of pidgin.
Finally, in choosing your words try to stamp a mark of originality in your work. You can learn from others but do not copy what they have written. As Chukwuemeka Ike says: make your writing your own because your writing can only be refreshingly different from others if you view everything happening before you from your own unique experience rather than through the eyes of other people. (20)
3.4
Dialogue
Dialogue is an exchange of speech between two people. There may be many people in a particular scene but the exchange must be between two people at any given time. However, in a crowd scene, it may be between one group and another or between a group and a character. Even at that, except for choruses, only one person from the group speaks at a time.
Dialogue in drama is an integral part of the play because, through it, characters are revealed, themes are highlighted and the action is enacted.
It “crystallizes relationships, conveys information, propels the plot, and precipitates revelations, crises, and climaxes” (Hall 94). Dialogue is used for exposition and characterization, so it must involve action for it not to be static. You must therefore design your dialogue in such a way that there is always a progression to a change or resolution of the action coordinated. Your dialogue must express characters, advance the action, and record pertinent information all at once. The dialogue must be relevant and should move swiftly but at the same time you should give the impression that it is a transcription of live speech. Try to avoid obscenities or profanities; write correct/standard English and avoid the use of slang except for special effects.
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A very good rule in dialogue is to limit it to one thought at a time and keep the lines short. Also, avoid words like ‘oh’, ‘uh’, because such exclamations often serve no purpose except to establish a hazy sense of authenticity or real life experience. Such words, if not handled properly could set up an irritating or monotonous rhythm to the speeches.
Soliloquies are becoming old fashioned but you could create monologues in your play. The monologue like dialogue helps to reveal character and propel the plot. A good example is found in Efua
Sutherland’s Edufa (see Seguwa’s monologue). The important factor is that you must be able to integrate it very well in the action. You can read more on dialogue in Module 1, Unit 6 of Elements of Drama – A course material in the Department of English.
3.5
Action
Dialogue is realized through action. Action is the process of performing a task. It involves series of events that a character engages in, in the play. It includes what a character does or fails to do. The action must be logically presented and properly motivated except in absurdist plays. In drawing your outline of the play and the characters, you should be able to decide which action follows the other and the engagements of the characters at every stage of the development of the play. Each character is revealed through action.
Action could be physical when it involves the visible movements of the characters. It may or may not involve verbal expressions. It could be in form of movement from one place to other, or picking/dropping of objects, opening and closing doors, sitting or standing, facial movement, gestures and other such movements. You may not be able to bring all the actions on stage. The actions that you cannot present on stage are reported by appropriate characters. It is pertinent to note here that in stage plays, you should include only actions that are realizable. The ones that are not realizable should be avoided. Reported mental action is usually manifested through gesture or facial expression.
3.6
Matching Language to Character
This is a very important aspect of language in drama. You must strive towards consistency in your language. Decide at the outline stage, the language you want to use. Do you want to use language to delineate characters like causing specific characters to speak in specific ways? Do you want all of them to speak correct English irrespective of social status or educational background? Do you want any of them to speak in verse for a particular effect? Do you want to use pidgin? What is your purpose? You need to answer these and other questions to ensure consistency and for you to really match language to character.
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SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List five ways to ensure good dialogue in a play.
4.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have tried to explain the role of dialogue in playwriting.
We have also given you information on how to choose your words, construct your dialogue and build your action
5.0
SUMMARY
Language is a vehicle of communication in drama. Drama is written or presented only in dialogue when it is verbal. Action in drama can be accompanied with or without dialogue. Both dialogue and action must be properly motivated and consistent. Illogical actions, obscenities and profanities should be avoided.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Explain in your own words and experience what matching language to character means.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Hall, Oakley. (1989). The Art and Craft of Novel Writing. Cincinnati.
Story Press.
Ike, Chukwuemeka. (1991). How to Become a Published Writer. Ibadan:
Heinemann.
Iwuchukwu, Onyeka. (2008). Elements of Drama. Abuja: National Open
University of Nigeria, Regent.
Onwueme, Tess. (2002). Then She Said It. San Francisco: African
Heritage.
Rotimi, Ola. (1988). Hopes of the Living Dead. Ibadan: Spectrum.
Sutherland, Efua. (1987). The Marriage of Anansewa. London:
Longman.
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UNIT 6 SPECTACLE
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Costume
3.2
Make Up
3.3
Scenery
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
3.0
Spectacle refers to all the visual elements that contribute to the aesthetics of any dramatic production. They include the costume and make up, scene and light design and even the props. In the Aristotelian concept of drama, spectacle is mentioned as one of seven elements of drama. Do you know the other six? Refer to your course material on the
Elements of Drama.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
determine what spectacle is, in a play
• identify aspects of spectacle
• list its importance in dramatic performances.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Costume
In simple terms, costume is the dress which actors wear on stage. As you know, actors in a play are just pretending to be somebody else. This is called role-playing. An actor could therefore be a very good husband and father in one play and in another be drunkard who spends his whole fortune on women and wine, a reckless man. The same actor could in another play the role of a mad man. Apart from his utterances and action, costume helps to accentuate the personality of each actor. Once you see an actor in dirty rags, what comes to your mind is that this is a mad man. In The Marriage of Anansewa for instance, Ananse’s way of dressing changes as soon as he becomes wealthy.
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Costume is not just the dress but it includes other accessories like a hat, a walking stick, shoes, earrings, necklace, sunglasses and many others.
Hand bags could also be classified as costume but in some cases as props. If for instance, a lady enters with a hand bag which matches her shoes and head gear or dress and does not drop it until her exit, it is costume because it forms part of her dressing. However, if the hand bag is placed somewhere and she goes to pick it or is given to her by another actor, it becomes a prop. Costume could be designed like the dresses worn in everyday life or it could be symbolic. The important factor is that a well designed costume should suit the character in terms of age, social status and state of mind.
The two major categories of costume are period (age) or ethnic. The period costume helps to situate the play appropriately in its historical setting. That is why we talk of classical costume, Elizabethan costume,
Restoration costume, costume of the modern period of the nineteenth century and contemporary costume. If for instance you want to stage
Oedipus Rex, you must study the Grecian mode of dressing in about the fifth century B.C. Period costume is usually influenced by fashion. So you need to know the fashion of that period.
Ethnic costume reflects the cultural background or ethnic affiliations of the characters. Ethnic costume has a relationship with the period costume. While you consider the age/period, you should also consider the socio-cultural background of the play. Like I said above, it is not the dress worn by the Greeks of the fifth century B.C. that the Americans or
Africans of the fifth century wore. Since fashion is cyclical, some dresses worn in an earlier century could be fashionable in the contemporary period of the same country or another country. The ethnic costume helps the audience to tell where a particular character comes from. There is no defined style in costume but each costume is designed to fit the wearer (depending on the effect) and to reflect the period or ethnic affiliation of the wearer. In Nigeria, an actress in Iro and Buba, especially made from Aso Oke materials shows that the character represents a Yoruba woman.
The functions of the costume should be clear from the explanations above. The most important function is that it is used to distinguish (a person). Characters highlight their ages or their moods through their costumes. A person in mourning is usually dressed in black while white flowing gown with a veil depicts a bride that is about to wed or that has just wedded. Costume helps also to show a character’s occupation.
You may ask what you as a playwright has to do with costume since you are not a director or a designer. As a playwright, you should contribute to the costuming of the characters in your play. You can do this through
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stage direction or dialogue. Below is an excerpt from a play where information on costume is given through the stage direction. The play is
Regal Dance, by Onyeka Onyekuba. (A procession of twelve ‘Udes’ file past ….. they are dressed in expensive long white shirts and golden wrappers. Each carries a long staff which they stamp on the ground in unison as they walk majestically to the king. The king is seated on his throne and on getting close to him; they do their obeisance to him by raising their staves towards him three times. Two other bare-chested men dressed in white wrappers lead Akubuike forward to the king. He is wearing a very expensive lace material. Two younger men dressed like the other two men come up in their rear. One is carrying a golden staff while the other one bears a cape-like robe, made from an expensive glittering golden material…) (83-84)
You can picture this scene in your mind’s eye because it is described vividly. The stage direction must not be as long as this for it to contain information concerning a particular character’s dress. In Femi
Osofisan’s Morountodun. Also, as Titubi and her group enter with placards and distribute handbills, Osofisan describes them as being
(superbly dressed, with lots of jewellery and make-up and wearing conspicuously the moremi necklace then in vogue – a little gold dagger, surrounded with golden nuggets. Leading them is Titubi, a pretty, sensual and obviously self-conscious woman) (7).
In drama, everything is condensed in dialogue but the dialogue cannot contain every bit of information especially about the characters, attire, setting, and mood. In any play, stage direction is given in italics and enclosed in brackets as you can see from the examples given above.
3.2
Make Up
Usually, costume and make up go hand is in hand but for clarity we have decided to split them. Make up as the name implies is to some extent like everyday make up. It is the cosmetics worn by actors and actresses to highlight their appearances. Make up complements the costume in revealing the character which the actor plays. Make up enhances the actor’s physical appearance and like costume reveals age, period, culture, mood and social status. There are two types of makeup.
They are straight make up and character make up. Straight make up is like everyday make up worn especially by the women. It helps to accentuate or highlight the personal features of the actor. On the other hand, character make up is used to highlight specific features that help to transform a particular actor to suit the role he is playing. For instance, when a thirty year old lady is cast in a play to play the role of an eighty year old woman, the makeup artist will, through make up, inscribe
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wrinkles, grey hairs and other features on her to make her appear like an old woman.
As a playwright you should try to indicate the profession and other special features like the age of your characters. Some playwrights do this in the dramatis personae (cast list), in the stage direction or in the dialogue. The information is necessary to aid the director’s interpretation of the script.
3.3
Scenery
As a playwright you do not have much to do with scene or lighting design. It is the duty of the designer to conceptualize or conceive the suitable dramatic environment for the play. Scene design therefore is creating the appropriate environment for the play. Scene and lighting designs help to enhance the meaning, clarify emotions, moods and depict the environment for the dramatic action. The setting of the play comes alive through the scene and lighting design. For details on this, refer to your course material on Theatre Workshop. However, as a playwright, you should be able to indicate the setting directly or through inference. This is reflected either in the stage direction or dialogue.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List the functions of costume in drama.
4.0
CONCLUSION
Spectacle is all the visual aspects of dramatic production which help to enhance the meaning by projecting the theme/subject matter depict the background and clarify the moods as well as the emotions in the play in performance. You will understand more about this if you have watched any play on stage.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt that spectacle is an element of drama which is realized mainly in performance. It consists of costume and make up, scenery and lighting design. Through them, the meaning, emotions, moods and the setting are highlighted.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What is the relationship between the playwright and spectacle?
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REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING
Onyekuba, Onyeka. (1994). Regal Dance. Awka: Mercury Bright
Osofisan, Femi. (1982). Morountodun and Other Plays.
Longman.
Ikeja:
Sutherland Efua. (1975). The Marriage of Anansewa. London:
Longman.
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UNIT 7
MUSIC/DANCE (SOUND EFFECTS)
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Music And Song
3.1.1 Definition of Music
3.1.2 Functions of Music in Drama
3.3.3 Types of Music
3.2
Song
3.3
Dance
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
3.0
Music is part of life. Drama presents life on stage so music is part of drama. However, music is not found in all forms of drama. The inclusion of music in drama is the prerogative of the dramatist. Music contributes to the aesthetic quality of the play. If it is handled properly music helps to enhance atmosphere, mood and even helps to highlight the theme. Sometimes music is accompanied with dance.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
identify the place of music in drama differentiate between Music, song and noise determine the use of dance in play writing identify and efficiently use music in playwriting identify and effectively use sound effects in drama.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Music and Song
3.1.1 Definition of Music
Music is defined as “organized sound” A musical tone is said to be “a product of regular vibration, perceived when an inner part of the
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listener’s ear is made to vibrate in sympathy” (Sadie and Lathan14). By contrast, noise is a product of irregular vibration. It means that banging, blowing, scraping may produce music or sound according to the object banged and the way it vibrates, depending on how it is organized or disorganized. Music is one of the three great arts. The three major arts are literature, visual arts and music.
In every society, in every period of history, men and women have made music. They have sung it and danced to it. They have used it in solemn rituals and in light hearted entertainment. They have listened to it in fields and forests, in temples, in bars, in concert halls and opera houses.
They have made it not only with their voices but by adapting natural objects and banging them, scraping them, and blowing through them.
They have used it to generate collective emotions to excite, to calm, to inspire action, to draw tears. Music is a central and necessary part of human existence. People enjoy music for leisure; engage in music as a form of profession and music is used in ritual, religious, social and other ceremonial events.
Every culture has found a musical style and a means of expressing it that arises from its needs, its history, and its environment. In Black Africa for example, where there has been a crucial need for quick communication over long distances, the musical culture is more closely concerned with drums and drumming than in other cultures of the world.
The ‘gong-chime culture’ of Indonesia, owes its existence to the fact that the region discovered its musical character during the late Bronze
Age; hence their most important musical instruments are sets of gongs
(Sadie and Lathan).
3.1.2 Functions of Music in Drama
Music contributes to the beauty and impact of the play on the audience in the following ways:
a. It helps to create and intensify the atmosphere of the play. You may not have watched stage plays but let us use the home video films to illustrate. As you watch a particular movie, the music that is presented indicates whether a particular scene is a love scene, a happy/joyous occasion; a mourning or sorrowful scene or if danger is being anticipated.
b. It initiates activity. Whenever music changes in a play by an increase or decrease in tempo, you expect a change in the action of the play.
The music we are discussing here includes songs and dances.
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c. It helps to advance the theme and explicate the plot.
d. It helps to uplift the spirit and endear expected emotions in the audience because it helps the audience to respond to the action of the play in a particular manner.
e. It helps the audience to focus attention or concentrate on the action on stage; this helps it to understand the play better. However, if it is not handled properly, it distracts the audience.
3.1.3 Types of Music
There is much music in our lives, music surrounds us as we shop, drive, sit in parks, and in other places. We have radios in our cars, phones, portable cassette players, and many other sources of music. We listen to music because we desire and enjoy them. There are other undesired forms of music like noise in our daily environment, music that is tuned very loud as they are heard from neighbors’ stereos, supermarkets, markets, and other public places.
A wide range of music, include jazz, reggae, juju, rap, pop, rock, blues and traditional drumming. We can absorb music without really paying attention to the lyrics. This is passive enjoyment. In some cases, we enjoy music leisurely while we concentrate on other things; it can be in the background, entirely unnoticed (Titon). Music expresses what words and paintings cannot. And for true understanding of music, we must pay careful attention to the beating and the lyrics as it involves the engagement of the intellect, just as painting and literature do. Music expresses some social issues concerning people in the society. And like other forms of arts, music is found in historical and social contexts.
In many regions of the world, music forms part of a festival, ritual, ceremony or other forms of activity. Studying music without considering its context can provide half the picture. The most “frequent appearance of music in the world is in the combination with dance” (Yudkin 13). So when you decide to infuse music in your play, think of the dance that would accompany it if it requires a dance. The music in your play must have a purpose. Do you want to present an element of culture, accentuate the setting or the mood. There are many forms of music and because, it is a fluid art, it “changes to suit the expressive and emotional desires of humankind” (Titon 25). You should therefore understand that your choice of music is able to express the emotion you want to convey in your play. The music you use in a scene that contains a marriage ceremony should definitely be different from the one you would use in a funeral service. The music in the opening
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scene of your play helps to set the mood and illuminate the expected action and the disposition of the characters in that scene. The blues music at the opening scene of Tess Onwueme’s Shakara: Dance Hall
Queen, gives some information on the waywardness of Shakara who spends most of her time in night clubs.
I have tried to explain music, different types of music and how music could be used in drama. Playwrights use music to create certain effects, moods and atmosphere or even to draw attention to a particular character. SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
List and explain the functions of music in a play.
3.2
Song
Song is a form of music which is produced with the mouth so it contains words. It is a piece of music that one can sing. It is through the words of the music that a musician conveys his message. A playwright also conveys part of his message through the songs. Song helps to enrich drama if it is handled properly. A playwright, through the lyrics of a song exalts or condemns specific issues or ideas raised in the play.
Traditional songs in plays help to highlight the playwright’s background. Femi Osofisan, for instance, uses songs extensively in his plays and they are mainly Yoruba songs. Some playwrights use vernacular to present songs in their plays but also give the English translations of the songs but others present the songs in vernacular without any translations. The contention is that the songs cannot be translated perfectly in English as it is difficult if not impossible to reflect the beauty and other nuances of the local language. In the latter case you must ensure that the songs are inserted appropriately to synchronize with the plot so that the audience will not lose the message you want to convey. 3.3
Dance
Dance is a human experience that has existed through the ages and among all peoples and races. It is an expression of an inner feeling of man through body movement. Dance is used to express the emotions of joy or sadness. Dance like music helps to accentuate the cultural background of the playwright, of the setting, of the play or a particular scene. A story is told through song and dance.
Dance occurs in reaction to music which could be in any form. The playwrights use dance to heighten the mood or the thematic
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preoccupation of the play. Dance in plays could be inserted in the stage direction or in the dialogue. In most plays the occurrence of dance is indicated in the stage direction but it is usually an accompaniment of music or song except for specific effects. One of such special effects is a situation where a drunkard or a mad man is one of the characters; the possibility of any of them dancing without music is high.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
In what ways can you highlight your theme through song in the drama.
4.0
CONCLUSION
We have seen that music, song, and dance in drama contribute to the overall aesthetics of the play. Wherever music is present in a play, it directs and gives shape to the action. It is not compulsory for you to include music in the play you wish to write. It depends on your theme, your perspective and the overall effect you want to achieve.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, you have acquired the basic knowledge of the meaning of music, song and dance and their functions in drama. You are now in a better position to apply what you have learnt when you want to write your own play. You have also learnt that it is not compulsory for you to include music and dance in your play. However if you choose to include any of them, make sure that it blends perfectly with the plot and that it helps to illuminate your theme.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Explain the types of music in drama, as discussed in this unit.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Blau, Sheridan. (1992). The Writer’s Craft: Idea to Expression. Illinois:
McDouglas Littell.
Sadie, Stanley and Allison Lathan eds. (1995). Stanley Sadie’s Brief
Guide to Music 3rd edition. Eaglewood Cliff, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall
Titon, Jeff Todd. (2001). Worlds of Music: An Introduction to Music of the Worlds Peoples. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth/Thomson
Learning.
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Wilson, Edwin and Alvin Goldfab. (2002). Theatre: A Lively Art. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Yudkin, Jeremy. (1995). Understanding Music 2nd edition. Englewood
Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
MODULE 3
Unit 1
Unit 2
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Preliminary Issues in Poetry Writing
What Makes a Poem?
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Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Creative Blocks: Emotion in Tranquillity
Imagery and Allusion: Expanding Scope
The Material of Poems: Legend and History
The Finished Product/Glossary of Terms
UNIT 1
PRELIMINARY ISSUES IN POETRY WRITING
CONTENTS
1.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Setting
3.1.1 Creating your Setting
3.2
Atmosphere/Mood/Tone
3.3
Types of Poems
3.3.1 Lyric
3.3.2 Ballad
3.3.3 Narrative Poetry
3.3.4 Epic
3.3.5 Sonnet
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
In this unit you are introduced to the preliminary issues in poetry writing. We will start with the setting of the poem through the atmosphere/mood, tone and finally some types of poems.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
identify mood and atmosphere in a poem
• distinguish setting in a poem
• determine the relationship between the setting and atmosphere
• list the major types of poems.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Setting
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You may be surprised that we are starting this module with setting instead of the subject matter. Poetry is the most emotional of all the genres of literature. The setting is therefore important because you may have encountered a setting that left a memorable impression on you and you decide to build your poem around it. It could be a unique scenery, a busy road, a slum or a battle field. It could also be a historical period like Nigeria in the First Republic, or during the military period. Your setting could be a physical environment, or a social environment. The emotion you express in your poem must take place somewhere for it to be realistic and relevant to human experience. In fiction and drama the setting is specific because in most cases the work is set in a physical environment since human beings do not exist or operate in a vacuum. In poetry, it could be specific like the cell in Dennis Brutus’s “Letters to
Martha” but it could also reflect an emotional state, a spiritual plane or other unearthly experiences. In poetry according to Tanure Ojaide setting “varies in degrees from being amply presented to being minimally there. It could be narrow or broad, direct or indirect, depending upon how related and relevant the experience being expressed is with where it takes place” (40-41).
Like we said earlier, setting helps the reader to visualize the situation being described in the poem but in some cases, it is just there to provide the environment. While in the first instance, you could compare it to the scenery or decorative background in a stage play. However, setting assumes greater significance in poetry if the poem is written specifically to draw attention to the physical and social characteristics of a particular place at a given time. A good example is this excerpt from Niyi
Osundare’s “A Song For Ajegunle”.
Through roads portholed by callous rains
Through hovels eaves-deep in swelling pools
Through gutters heavy with burdens
Of cholera bowels
Through the feverish orchestra
Of milling mosquitoes
I saw you sprawled out
Like the daub of apprentice painter
Here evenings are pale smokes
Snaking out of idle kitchens
The toothless swagger of beer parlours
The battering clamour of weeping wives
The satanic rumble of supperless stomachs
The salaaming clarion of manacling mosques
I saw you sprawled out
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Like a sheath with an absent cutlass
And night, ah night, when it comes
The shadowy thunder of hurrying feet
The hooded stench of nightsoil pails
The brooding brow of startles pangs
The sweaty stupor of crowded mats
The gutsy blast of angry guns
I saw you sprawled out
Like a stream without a bed (Lines 9- 32)
3.1.1 Creating your Setting
How do you create your social or physical setting? You could create an imaginary environment or base your setting on your knowledge of an existing physical and social setting to suit your purpose. The important factor here is the intent. What do you intend to achieve? Do you want to create an imaginary world to serve as your vision of an ideal society or to warn of the dangers inherent in such an environment as we see in
Wilfred Owen’s “Strange Meeting” that seems to be set in a horrible situation where the enemies do not seem to be enjoying their stay there.
In this poem Owen only used his imagination to create/evoke a phantasmagoric setting for these two “enemies” who, but for the lies of the politicians who cause or manage wars (as in J. P. Clark’s
“Casualties”), might have been friends and had a few drinks together.
If you intend to write a historical poem, you must ensure that you relate your setting to the physical and social environment prevalent at that time. In this type of poem, you must ensure that you use accurate data to create your setting. If necessary carry out a research to ensure the accuracy of your information. If you don’t do this, you might paint an unreliable picture in your poem. As a budding poet, it is better for you to avoid writing historical poems. Just record your emotion the way you feel it or as the inspiration come to you.
You will do better if you create your setting from your personal recollections of events, rooms, rivers/streams, houses, landscapes, animals, birds, plants and other objects. You will write better if you write about familiar environments than writing about an entirely fictional one. As a creative writer, exposing yourself to various types of physical settings or environments will be beneficial to you. Each time you find yourself in an environment or each time you encounter a place that makes an impression on you, contemplate what possible use you could make of the setting. The poet finds beauty or ugliness in everything and expresses it in his poem. So you should start now to see
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settings differently and try to see their relevance to you or to the next poem you are going to write.
From now on pay particular attention to your environment taking in the details that before now you did not observe. The flowers should become more colourful, the normal sunset becomes more picturesque, the glow of worm in a dark night assumes a different dimension, the gentle breeze sends a message to you and even the snoring of your partner creates a melodious tone in your ears. Start observing the weather, the seasons, living and dying closely. In all these and more, you will find a suitable environment to set your poem. Setting can be symbolic; it could be a joyous occasion, serious and unserious events, memories, dreams and other situations and events.
3.2
Atmosphere/Mood/Tone
According to Ogungbesan and Woolger, atmosphere refers to “the feelings suggested by the physical details in the poem”. The mood is the emotion which a poem rouses and the tone describes “the poet’s attitude
(e.g. ironic, sympathetic, detached, critical, etc). The setting therefore directly or indirectly generates the atmosphere or mood that consequently sets the tone that conditions the choice of images and diction used in the poem (Ojaide 40).
The setting influences the atmosphere, mood and tone of your poem.
You should therefore vary your setting to enable you elicit appropriate atmosphere, mood, tone, imagery and diction that constitute significant aspects of your poem. Mood in a poem is an overall emotional effect created in the poem. To a large extent, it reflects the degree of emotional involvement of the poet which affects the reader in almost the same way. Consequently, it draws the reader to empathize with the subject discussed in the poem. It is the impression which the reader forms of the poem as a whole.
3.3
Types of Poems
There are different types of poems. Sometimes a poet decides to write a particular type of poem but at other times, the poem is written without consideration to the type. As you read through this, it will help you to appreciate and classify poems. It will also help you to choose your style when you are writing your own poem. However, some modern poets write in styles that are difficult to classify.
3.3.1 Lyrics
Lyric means in Greek a song that is sang with the accompaniment of a lyre. Lyric is the commonest form of poetry. It is usually short and
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musical. Lyrical poems record emotions and are not narrated. Most nursery rhymes are lyrical. It is the kind of poetry that Plato approves of.
In lyric, the poet’s emotions or feelings on some issues or objects are expressed in an exciting and vivid manner to achieve the musical effect that characterizes this type of poem. The rhythmic and harmonious pattern in lyric are achieved by the use of repetitive patterns like alliteration, assonance, rhythm and musical rhyme schemes. Lyrics convey personal experiences so are “intensively personal for they express individual’s emotions, moods and thoughts (Maxwell – Mahon
4). Originally, lyrics were sung with musical accompanied.
3.3.2 Ballad
Ballad is the oldest form of poetry. It tells a simple story but is presented in verse form. Originally, they were composed as songs with refrains for the audience to sing. In a strict sense, ballads are written in a series of four-line stanzas in which alternate end-line words rhyme. In Ballads, certain words or phrases are repeated throughout the poem. This helps to heighten the musicality of the poem. The language is usually simple, straight forward and easy to understand. Some scholars refer to ballad as folk songs that are meant to be danced to.
3.3.3 Narrative Poetry
A narrative poem tells a story presented either in verses stanzas or in a long continuous verse. Although it tells a long story, the poet is usually cautious so that it does not translate into the stringing together of connected or unconnected incidents.
A poem that is narrative invariably tells a story. A good narrative poem presents incidents or episodes that are relevant to the central idea or theme. Thus, “theme and action must form a unified structure that will not become overburdened with the addition of unnecessary incidents or that will disintegrate with the subtraction of any vital ones” (MaxwellMahon 47). The story told in a narrative poem could be a serious or unserious story. Ballad and epic are examples of narrative poems.
3.3.4 Epic
Epic is a long great narrative poem. It tells the story of marvelous deeds of one or more characters, mainly, from myth, legend or history. It is usually about the adventures or exploits of a hero. It thrives on vivid description of incidents, events and actions. The subject matter in epic is always rendered in a serious manner. Epics are great poems and are planned carefully by the poet to achieve the desired effect.
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The hero in epic encounters severe obstacles but in the end, like in melodrama, is able to overcome all the obstacles. He emerges triumphant but after a turbulent struggle.
3.3.5 Sonnet
Sonnet is a fourteen-lined poem. Usually, it is divided into two sections of eight and six lines in which the first eight lines present a situation, while the last six express the poet’s thoughts or feelings on that situation. Sometimes, a sonnet is presented in three sections of fourlines, in which each section presents a different form of argument that is summed up in the final couplet (two lines) in the end.
This shows that there are different types of sonnets. We stated above that a sonnet has fourteen lines but there are exceptions to this rule because there are some with more than fourteen lines. The arrangement of lines and the rhyme scheme also differ. The regular or Italian
Sonnets, is the one stated above that consists of a group of eight-lines and another group of six lines. The eight line section is called the octave while the six-line section is the sestet. The octave can be sub-divided into two sections of four lines each and the sestet into two three line sections. The English sonnet popularized by Shakespeare is divided into three four-line groups known as quatrains and a single two-liner called couplet. Usually, the couplet presents a concise conclusion or resolution of issues raised in the three quatrains.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Where do you live? Try to write five simple lines to describe your environment. 4.0
CONCLUSION
Setting is a very important element in the writing of poems. This is because it influences the atmosphere, the mood and the tone of the poem. The setting could be obvious, suggested, or symbolic. The basic forms of setting are physical and social. In some poems you find the physical setting while in some the social and in some others both. The setting creates the environment in the poem. Diction is very important because it is the tool that you need to convey your message to your readers. 5.0
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You have learnt in this unit that setting is important to the poet. You should therefore identify possible settings in your environment, nature and human interactions. You can only do this with poetic eyes which enable you imagine what you could create in/with them. You have also learnt that there are different types of poems. This knowledge is expected to guide you as you decide to write your own poems.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
List and explain briefly, five types of poems.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Barnet, Sylvan, Marton Berman and William Burto. (1988). Literature for Composition: Essays, Fiction, Poetry and Drama. 2nd edition. Illinois: Scott Foresman.
Iwuchukwu, Chinweikpe. (2005). The Mastery of Literature Vol 3.
Lagos: Macckho Ricckho
Maxwell-Mahon, W.D. (1984). Van Schaik’s Guide to Creative Writing.
Pretoria: J.L.Van Shaik.
Ogungbesan, K and D Woolger. (1978). Images and Impressions. An
Oxford Secondary Poetry Course. London: Oxford University
Press.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing Handbook for African
Writers and Students. Lagos: Malthouse.
Osundare, Niyi. (1976) “A Song for Ajegunle” in Senanu, K. E. and
Theo Vincent ed. A Selection of African Poetry. Harlow Essex:
Longman.
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UNIT 2
WHAT MAKES A POEM – CONTENT AND
DEVICES
CONTENTS
1.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Theme
3.2
Subject Matter
3.3
What Makes A Poem
3.3.1 Sound
3.3.2 Rhythm
3.3.3 Rhyme
3.3.4 Diction
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
2.0
3.0
In all forms of creative writing, the writer writes about a particular idea.
This idea gives rise to the subject matter. The idea expressed in subject matter constitutes the message which the writer wants to send to his audience. In this unit, we will introduce you to theme and subject matter in poetry, and what actually makes a poem a unique genre of literature,
i.e. the devices used by the poet to give memorable expressions to his content (subject matter and theme).
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• identify the theme in a poem
• identify the subject matter
• identify the uniqueness of poetic diction
• determine the importance of sound and rhythm in poetry.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Theme
In prose or drama, the theme is the underlying idea in the work. In poetry also, the theme is also the main idea which the emotion
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expresses. The poem offers instruction or information in a pleasant and persuasive way. You can draw your theme from a concept, an event or a series of events, contemporary or historical, an interesting situation, setting, mood, a person, an event or a personal experience. The poet or write does not “draw” the theme in a poem from legend, myth or folklore. The important thing is that it is that idea which permeates the entire poem and is the message which the poet wants to communicate to the audience. In most cases the theme is by the reader in one word like corruption, love, war, bad leadership, revenge, and many others. This word is what you decipher from reading the poem and not that the poet will write that s/he is treating the theme of corruption for instance. We will read the poem below and try to discover the theme.
“Let me not to the Marriage of True Minds”
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken
Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickles compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks
But bears it out even to the edge of doom
If this be error, and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
William Shakespeare.
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Read this poem for at least three times. What is the underlying idea which you could call the theme? You will observe that the constancy of perfect love is stated clearly in the first quatrain. The distinct message is that a perfect love is not affected by any impediment, does not alter by any alteration or can it be removed by any remover. As you read further down, the poet states boldly that although time can affect people physically, it does not affect this perfect love. One can therefore state with confidence that the theme of the poem is love. But it will be more explicit to say that it is “perfect love”, “true love” or “permanent love”.
So the message the poet is sending to his audience is that true love cannot be affected by any obstacle such as sickness, suffering, and sorrow. I decided to use this simple and straight forward poem written by Shakespeare in the 16th century to show that a good literary work is usually relevant in all ages and nationalities. You can see also what we said in unit one about choice of words. The poet selected simple words that convey his message in a straight forward manner
3.2
Subject Matter
The subject matter in poetry is the same with the subject matter in other literary genres. It is the topic of discussion in the poem. In most cases, we deduce the subject matter from the title of the poem. It is from this topic of discussion that the theme is extracted, which means that the theme is usually subsumed in the subject matter. If we look at the poem discussed above for instance, we agree that the theme is “perfect love” what then is the subject matter? Let us took at the title again “Let Me
Not to the Marriage of True Minds”. You may ask yourself what
Shakespeare means by that. Then you start reading the poem and you find out that the sentence is not yet complete in the title but is completed in the second line. It then reads “let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments”. This means that any marriage between two true minds should thrive irrespective of perceived obstacle or barrier.
If you have been observant, when the bans of marriage are called in the church (especially in the Catholic Church), the catechist ends by saying
“anybody who knows of any impediment to this marriage should report to the priest in charge”. The impediments, according to the cannon law of the Catholic Church are thirteen (13). Shakespeare is saying that these impediments, no matter how grave they are, should not hinder the marriage of true minds. In the second and third lines he affirms this position that any love that is altered by any obstacle (alteration) is not love. From these, we can confidently say that it is only perfect or true love that can exist in such circumstance.
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What Makes a Poem?
Poetry is not just about language and ideas. It is an emotional exercise so it involves an experience. In this experience the poet explores a subject that crystallizes in a theme. In this experience, the poet expresses his feeling about that idea (theme) through the creative manipulation of words in a language he chooses. When this experience and expression are fused creatively he produces a very good poem. If however there is no blend of the experience and expression, the poem will not be coherent and consequently the audience/reader will not get the desired or the right message. In such situations the poet fails to communicate.
In poetry you cannot separate experience and expression. It is like a separation of content and form. If a poem is just the recording of an experience without proper attention being paid to how it is expressed, it ceases to be art but a record of ideas. On the other hand, if it is just a cluster of beautiful words that is joined together but does not express an idea, it becomes meaningless. What makes a poem therefore is what is said and how it said. The experience is what is being said while the expression is how it is said. The experience could be a real or an imagined encounter, factual or fictional, objective or subjective, but to which the poet responds and expresses.
As a budding poet you should be aware of the fact that you should learn one thing or the other from any experience you encounter in life. You should be ready to open yourself to learn something new from every situation. You learn through all your senses as you touch, see, hear, feel and taste events, objects, things and other experiences of everyday of your lives. You record each experience in your memory because through them you could respond to fresh experiences in a new way to give them fresh realizations. Some of the common experiences in life include fear, love, and loss of dear one, hunger, poverty, sickness, victory, defeat, success and failure. Some of these experiences come in simple forms while others appear in complex forms. The experience could be serious or light.
You are not expected to respond to all the experiences you encounter in life but to only those that affect you emotionally. It must be a unique experience that you would want to share with others in a poetic form.
You should be able to decide which experience is worth expressing or communicating to your audience or reader. It is worth expressing if in your perception, it is significant and towers above others. Recall the poem above and note that an experience is worth expressing if it has a universal appeal and a human dimension that can improve humanity or your society. It may or may not be a new experience and unique as the
Russian poet Boris Pasternak opined; “My abiding dream was that the
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poem should contain something, a new thought or a new image” (quoted in Ojaide, 47). In poetry, your thoughts and feelings are inseparable. It is the same in other genres of literature but the feeling is made manifest more in poetry as the poet joggles imageries, and figures of speech to pour his “emotion in a rhythmic grace” (Eruvbetine, 3).
3.3.1 Sound
In poetry, words are very important because over and above the basic meaning, they constitute and create the real beauty of the poem. Words give impressions of the emotions of the poet and that is why specific words should be used instead of the other. For instance, a poet and may decide to use the word ‘chant’ instead of ‘song’ or ‘music’. Apart from the meaning, he chooses particular words because of the sound effect he wants to achieve.
You know that words, though symbols on paper, are sounds in daily speech or spoken forms. Words, as individual sounds are selected because of the patterns which they can form to create a special meaning.
Certain words in poetry are chosen to heighten the sound effects in a poem. Sound effects are achieved more through patterns of sound repetition in form of consonants or vowels. The sound patterns in figures of speech are mainly ‘alliteration’ and ‘assonance’ ‘consonance’ ‘pun’ and ‘onomatopoeia’.
Sound patterns in poetry are not often used only to create specific effects but also used to convey a special emotion. Poetry is a product of the mind or imagination; when there is a strong excitement in the mind, it is often conveyed in a rhythmic pattern and sound patterns therefore are used to create rhythm in poetry.
3.3.2 Rhythm
Rhythm is usually associated with music – song, dance, drumming and other forms. Rhythm is also associated with motion, architecture or mathematics. In all these, repetition is constant, though, with certain forms of development and variation. It appeals to the senses. Words are given prominence by the rhythm.
Poetry is musical because of the rhythmic pattern in which it is presented. Rhythm is also produced through stressed or unstressed syllables that are patterned in metre. The best way to describe metre is measure. It is the measurement of words in a poem.
Metre as stated above is the measurement of words and it is based on the stress on syllables of the words in a line. In simple terms, a syllable is
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that minimum utterance that can be produced with one breath or pause.
In poetry accent is the stress that is placed on certain syllables in a line of poetry. A line of poetry contains a number of accented (stressed) and unaccented syllables arranged in a particular order or pattern. This order or pattern is called metre.
There are different types of metre in poetry. Each metre is categorized based on the number of feet in a line of poetry. A foot is used to describe a group of syllables that form a metrical unit between two or three syllables.
3.3.3 Rhyme
Poets produce musical effects in the poem through rhythmic patterns.
Apart from the production of rhythm in poetry through alliteration and assonance, another important aspect of rhythm is rhyme.
Rhyme is the repetition of the same sound usually at the end of each line. Assonance and alliteration could be located anywhere within the line but rhyme is the repetitive pattern or sound found at the end of two or more lines.
The sequence in which the rhymes occur in a poem is called rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is indicated by the use of alphabets at the end of the line. Some of the popular rhyme schemes are aabb, abab, abcb, abba. There are many rhyming patterns that are not indicated here.
You should just learn that sound repetitions at the end of the lines are matched to form the rhyme scheme. Let us use a simple nursery rhyme to illustrate this:
Twinkle twinkle little star, a
How I wonder what you are, a
Up above the world so high, b
Like a diamond in the sky. b
In this short poem, ‘stars’ and ‘are’ have similar sounds while ‘high’ and
‘sky’ share the same sound. Here is another simple illustration:
Baa baa black sheep, a
Have you any wool, b
Yes sir yes sir, c Three bags full b Here ‘sheep’ and ‘sir’ do not have similar sounds while ‘wool’ and ‘full’ also have similar sounds. So the rhyme scheme here is abcb.
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3.3.4 Diction
Diction is simply the choice of words. It is important for you to choose the right words that will help to convey your idea appropriately. As a beginner you should use simple, ordinary and plain diction. Do not try to be deliberately poetic by engaging in obscurity and affectation. You should also avoid unnecessary inversions and high sounding words in your language which you may think might impress your readers. Always ask yourself if your choice of words could effectively convey your feelings or your idea.
The best way to know if you are on the right path is, according to
Ojaide, to ask yourself the question, “is this the way I talk to people”.
Remember that you are trying to communicate your idea to your reader or audience though your poem. You should therefore ensure that you communicate to them in a language that they will understand. It is the intensity and beauty of the language and not its obscurity or bombast that makes a good poem. As much as possible, therefore, avoid cliché, slangs, phrases and other unfamiliar or common terms. However, in line with poetic license you could make proper use of deviations in syntax, structure or form to make your poem unique.
You should acquaint yourself with different poetic forms. This will enable you decide the most appropriate form through which you may wish to convey your idea. Poetry strives on rhythm, so choose words and metres that will allow your poem to flow in a particular rhythmic pattern. Do not hesitate to delete any word that obstructs this free flow in your poem. Diction in poetry could be simple or obscure. A poem that is presented in a simple language is straight forward and very easy to understand because the words chosen by the poet is are simple and very familiar words. On the other hand, obscure diction in a poem means that the words may or may not be simple words but presented in such a way that it will be difficult for you to decipher the message of the poem immediately and appreciate the poem easily. Compare the two poems below: (A)
From the west
Clouds come hurrying
Turning
Sharply
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Here and there
Whirling
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.
From David Rubadiri’s “An African Thunderstorm”
(B)
The price seemed reasonable, location
Indifferent. The Landlady swore she lived
Off premises. Nothing remained
But self-confession. “Madam”, I warned.
“I hate a wasted journey- I am an African.”
Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick-coated, long gold-rolled
Cigarette-holder-pipped….
From Wole Soyinka’s “Telephone Conversation”
Poetic language is unique. The poet chooses his words in such a way that together they will be able to produce the desired emotional effect, convey the message and at the same create the desired effect and rhythmic pattern.
The choice of words reflects the intentions of the poet, the effects s/he wants to create and even the poet’s target audience. The poet uses figurative language and figures of speech.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Which of the two poems above could be said to have been presented in an obscure language?
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SUMMARY
Theme is the central idea in a poem. It is the core message that the poet communicates to the reader or the audience. The subject matter is the topic of discussion in the poem. It is usually found in the title of the poem. In most cases, this central idea that constitutes the theme is based on an experience by the poet. He then expresses this experience using the right words and appropriate sounds to create the rhythmic balance which makes poetry a beautiful experience.
5.0
CONCLUSION
You have learnt in this unit that the theme of the poem is the underlying idea which is different from the subject matter, the topic of discussion in the poem. You learnt also that an experience is worth expressing in poetry if it has a universal appeal and that you should try to express it in a unique way to imprint your mark of originality on it. The basic tools in poetry are words. You have therefore learnt that an appropriate choice of words helps to create rhythm which is the hallmark of poetry.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
In your own words differentiate between theme and subject matter in a poem. 7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Eruvbetine, Agwonorobo Enaeme. (2002). “Poetic Existence: A
Personal and Social Imperative”. Inaugural Lecture Series.
Lagos: University of Lagos Press.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing Handbook For African
Writers and Students. Lagos: Malthouse.
Rubadiri, David. (1976) “An African Thunderstorm” in Senanu, K. E. and Theo Vincent ed. A Selection of African Poetry. Harlow
Essex: Longman.
Soyinka, Wole. (1976) “A Telephone Conversation” in Senanu, K. E. and Theo Vincent ed. A Selection of African Poetry. Harlow
Essex: Longman.
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UNIT 3
CREATIVE BLOCKS: EMOTION IN
TRANQUILITY
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Creative Blocks
3.2
Emotion
3.3
Emotion in Tranquility
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will be introduced to the creative blocks in poetry. By creative blocks we mean the basic steps in writing a poem. These steps are not rigid so may vary from one poet to the other. We will try to lead you through the process, from the moment the poet conceptualizes an idea to the time he writes the poem.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• identify creative blocks in the world around you and within you
• determine the place of emotion in poetry
• distinguish between the expression of emotion by people in their daily lives and the expression of emotion in poetry.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Creative Blocks
Playwrights and novelists in most cases start their creative writing with the development of a synopsis or an outline. The poet in most cases does not need an outline since he does not necessarily write a story with a plot line. Poems are short in form and express emotions of fear, joy, admiration and many other forms of feelings. What then are the creative blocks for the poet? According to William Wordsworth, poetry is a
“spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility”.
If this is so, it means that the poet in most cases creates as s/he imagines
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the idea. He writes the way he feels as he pours his emotions on paper.
This explains why a few lines of a cry of anguish could constitute a beautiful poem. This is against the case of the novelist or playwright stated above where the idea is put down, a story created based on that idea and the writer decides how to present it, whether to use chronological or episodic plot. The writer there takes a decision on the age, disposition and qualification of the character.
The creative block which forms the foundation of the poetic building is a fertile imagination. The poem comes from the poet’s imagination. It however starts from a germinal idea which he conceives before he writes or develops as the poet writes. Sometimes, it comes out wrongly and he will have to start all over again. Sometimes, instantly as it is for most poems, the first draft metamorphoses into the main poem except for a few revising and retouching here and there in order to get a perfect form. In writing your poem, learn to take one idea at a time, work on one poem at a time until you conclude it. Learn to write or work serenely and happily as the poem flows in your mind. Allow the poem to flow and don’t force yourself to write except when you have the inspiration to do so. Once you are focused on the idea, whether you have written the entire poem or not, try to add one block at a time and “cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers” until you get your final draft
(Hall 152). This means that if you should revise and revise the original poem until you are satisfied that the idea is clear and the right emotion is conveyed in a rhythmic grace.
Some people erroneously believe that artists, poets inclusive are weird or abnormal human beings. I hope that you are not one of those who hold this view especially in contemporary Nigeria where literary artists rank among the elite in the society. Among the literary artists are university lecturers, medical doctors, pharmacists, engineers and other professionals. So as you conceive the idea, and write for your next poem remain human by going to normal places, visiting your usual joints and doing exactly what you feel like doing. However, as the inspiration comes, always try to put it down immediately in your note pad. At such times, you can afford to forgo the joints, the exciting or places, friends and other good times because you could do that afterwards but once the inspiration comes it may be difficult to be recalled afterwards. That does not mean that you should be a recluse because you are writing a poem.
Each time you start a poem, concentrate on it and forget the other poems you want to write and think only of the one you are writing at the moment. Thinking about the poem is not wondering about what to write but about how to put finishing touches on what you have written. Many poems are written at a sitting because as the experience crystallizes into
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an idea and takes shape in your mind, the poem flows. Once it starts flowing, allow the poem to lead you. If you do that, you may not have a lot to revise. My experience as a playwright is that I hear the characters interacting in my head and I record what they are saying quickly. I do not claim to be a poet since I have not published any poem.
However an experience in 1990 forced me to write the poem below. It is not a perfect poem but just to illustrate the need to move with your note pad and to record your experience as soon as you have the inspiration.
Before the incident, I had the notion that an academic environment should present an ideal place where there should be rule of law and respect for human dignity. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. On that fateful day, two lecturers who I had respect for very much abused themselves in the public in what I considered ‘gutter language’. It was so horrible, at least for me, that one of them told the other that he could not father a child and that one retorted that he would rather stay childless than to father sickle cell anemic children. One said that the other was not a man because his wife was paying their rent. Instantly, I started scribbling on my note pad what came to my mind. The product of that scribbling is hereby recorded.
I No wan Go School
I happi say I be illiterate
I dey live mai life jeje
I no dey envi anybody
I no dey jealous anybody.
I dey content with wetin I get
Mai wife no dey fight for right.
I no wan go school becos,
I no wan be like Prof. dis or Dr. dat
Wey dey abuse each other for public
Pass ‘agbero’ wey dey motor park..
Dem say na education.
Dem say na emancipation.
Dem say na liberation.
I no wan go school becos
I no wan be like Prof. dis or Dr. dat
Wey ask im wife
To feed dem family
Make im pay rent
Wife to buy uniform
Make im pay school fees
Wife say im want equality
Husband give am equality
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But for responsibility only
I no wan go school becos
I no wan be like Prof. dis or Dr. dat
Wey sabi gossip pass dey lectures
Wey dem dey deliver
For backbiting
Dem dey
For slandering,
Dem pafuka
If na so people
Wey go school dey behave,
Walahi Talahi
I hapi say I be Illiterate
Later, I looked at it but did not review it much. I was disgusted with the action of these lecturers and recorded my feeling on paper. I used pidgin because of the persona of the illiterate man which I used.
3.2
Emotion
Emotion refers to strong feelings in a person. It could be a feeling of love, joy, pain anger, sorrow and many other forms of feeling. It reflects the state of a person’s mind, fond feelings or an agitation of the mind.
The emotion could be real, fake, exaggerated or controlled. You hear often when people are asked to control their emotions. The emotion could be that of grief or hurt which are usually manifested through shedding of tears (crying). Joyous emotions can also be expressed through tears of joy. Emotion is therefore that strong feelings in our minds that are manifested through our actions.
For the poet, his emotion is expressed on paper with words. Thus a painful emotion well expressed could elicit tears from the reader.
Sometimes, you find a reader smiling to himself while reading a poem.
It means that the emotion expressed by the poet has been communicated very well. Wordsworth calls it powerful emotion. Now that you are being introduced to writing of poems, you should try to record your emotions. The only tools you need are pen, paper or computer and the right choice of words. In poetry, the writer composes the poem the moment something strikes him/her. Some poets claim that the poems appear to them the way they are written. Coleridge for instance, claims that “Kubla Khan” was a product of a dream stimulated by opium
(Norton Anthology 61). All the lines are documented the way he saw them in that dream. He was in a trance/dream and the poem appeared to him but unfortunately, a visitor came and disrupted his flow of thought and he lost most of the lines and never recovered them again. This means that that particular poem is not a product of rational action. This
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means that the poem flowed in the poet’s mind the way it appears in the fragment in the published.
3.3
Emotion in Tranquility
You can only create when you are at peace with yourself. You may find yourself in a noisy environment, depending on you and your creative attitude; you could still recoil into yourself and write. To recollect an idea in tranquility also means writing as you observe but most people agree that a poet creates better in a quiet and peaceful environment. This is true but poems have been written in buses and other public places.
The important factor for any poet is to find how and where he/she creates better. Find your rhythm and the best environment for the realization of your poetic imaginations.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
What is the role of emotion in poetry?
4.0
CONCLUSION
Generally, creative writing involves a process of discovery of oneself and environment. When you conceive/conceptualise a poem, you discover your disposition towards the idea or emotion you go on to express it in the poem. The poet also discovers the environment in a very special way as s/he views things or objects differently. Certain issues or objects that are taken for granted are seen and given new insights. If for instance, you read Milton’s “An Ode on a Grecian Urn”, you will wonder if all the things said in admiration and expression of the emotions evoked by the Grecian urn are just for an ordinary flower vase.
The poet sees and expresses what we all take for granted, in a special way and we now view that object, issue or environment differently.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, we have tried to explore the creative blocks in poetry. You have learnt that a poet creates differently from the novelist and the playwright. This is because poetry is an emotional exercise so could be started and completed in a very short period. A poet could record his emotion the way he feels it and instantly that becomes a poem. You also learnt that this emotion must be recorded for it to be a poem because if it remains in the poet’s imagination, nobody will know about it, hence the recollection of that emotion in tranquility.
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TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
List the basic steps in poetry writing.
7.0
REFERENCE/FURTHER READING
Hall Oakley. (1989). The Art and Craft of Novel Writing. Cincinnati
Stone Press.
Mack, Maynard. General Editor (1992). The Norton Anthology of World
Masterpieces. Sixth edition, Vol. 2 London: W. W. Norton &
Company.
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UNIT 4
IMAGERY AND ALLUSION: EXPANDING THE
SCOPE
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Imagery
3.2
Allusion
3.3
Figures of Speech
Conclusion
Summary
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will be introduced to the creative blocks that help you to expand your scope in poetry. Imagery, allusion, and figure of speech help the poet to present so much in few words to achieve the desired condensed language that is the hallmark of poetry.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
identify the position of imagery in poetry identify allusions in poems identify figures of speech in poems distinguish between ordinary language and poetic language.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Imagery
Imagery is a collective term for images which present in the mind the likeness of an object, human beings, other animate or inanimate objects or even events. It helps to bring an idea or a picture to the mind or the imagination. An image may not present an exact picture but allows the reader to see through his mind’s eye or imagination an appearance which closely resembles the original. It helps the reader to form a mental picture of what is being presented. When these mental pictures
(images), figures of speech are presented in general or collectively, it is called imagery. Imagery is used to enhance the aesthetics of the poem.
Aesthetics is very important in poetry-writing because, every poet
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strives to express himself beautifully so that the poem can provide artistic or aesthetic pleasure for the reader.
Imagery is referred to as “a central component of almost all imaginative literature and is often said to the chief element in poetry” (Ojaide27).
There are two types of imagery - literal and figurative. Literal imagery is used to describe things or events in such a way as to evoke the things referred to. In literal imagery, it is easy to identify the object that is being represented. It is highlighted through vivid descriptions.
Figurative imagery works also through description but here the object is likened to something else. Imagery helps the poet to concretize ideas and feelings in a poem so that the reader can actually imagine what the poet is saying. It helps to give the poets feelings “tangible and real existence rather that a purely intellectual one. It provides the reader with a sense of vividness and immediacy” (Ndem25). Figurative imagery is akin to symbolism because all symbols depend on images. Imagery helps to make the scenes created in a poem to be more realistic to the reader. Figurative language embraces image and imagery. Image is usually a mental picture of something. It involves other senses of hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting.
Poetry expresses the poet’s own feeling and temperament. In most cases it is created to instruct and at the same time give artistic pleasure. The poet therefore tries to instruct through an embellished and sometimes, lofty language. He/she uses imagery and figures of speech, assembles appropriate words that will aid the realization of his goal of conveying his message as well as giving artistic pleasure. In some poems, the message is easily discernable while in some it is difficult to decipher the meaning. Some poems are written in simple conversational language while some are shrouded in images and figures of speech. It depends on the style adopted and the creative imagination or the talent of a particular poet. “I” could be and often is the person speaking in a poem.
Many poems written in the first person “I” are likely to have recognizable traits of the poet’s own person, circumstances, aspirations, experiences or states of mind. The justification for this claim is that the poet’s emotion expressed in the poem comes from within him.
Wordsworth insists that the source of a poem is not in the outside world but in the individual. It means therefore that since the essential materials for the poem are the inner feelings of the poet though based on external people and events. The important factor is that the poet presents his poem in a language that is understood by his audience. In oral poetry, the problem of obscurity does not necessarily arise because the poet uses familiar images drawn from his immediate environment which the audience is also familiar with. Also the oral poet renders his poem in a language that understood by his audience. In literary poetry, on the other
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hand, the poet may have been familiar with the “rules” that govern the type of poetry he is writing and deliberately chooses the images in line with the rules to achieve the desired effect on the audience. Although modern poets write with the intention of achieving a global acceptance, the images are still drawn mostly from the environment of the poet or the setting of the poem. Images are important in poems because they help to highlight in precise forms, the variety of themes and forms. The imageries help the poets to achieve the desired coherence of content and form and for deeper explanation of their subject matters.
The scope from which imageries or external objects are drawn in poetry are expanded “… transformed or irradiated by the author’s feelings” (Norton Anthology 613). Coleridge insists that great works of literature are produced through “a self-originating and self – organizing process that begins with a seed-like idea in the poets imagination, grows by assimilating the poets feelings and the diverse materials of sense – experience”,( Norton Anthology 614) and evolves into an organized whole in which the parts that are integrally related to each other and to the whole. The subject of poetry ranges from the “universal to the particular from humankind to nation or ethnic group from animals to plants from animate to inanimate objects”(Ezenwa-Ohaeto 32). Imagery help the poet to create vivid pictures. In most cases, imageries are draw from nature.
It is important for a poet to know how to use and apply imagery in poems to achieve a logical whole. They are necessary devices which he needs to create an image in the reader’s mind. Imagery, in addition to other figures of speech, helps to create the desired rhythmic grace in a poem and to make the poem really poetic. An effective use of imagery and figures of speech sets apart a good poet from a mediocre. Imagery and figures of speech are presented in words and it is the proper organization of the words that produces rhythm in a poem. And the appropriate use of imagery gives the poem its uniqueness and provides liveliness and vibrancy.
Some Nigerian poets adopt pidgin English as the mode of communication in their poems and with appropriate use of imagery, the poems are interesting. This medium was popularized by Aig
Imoukhuede and Ezenwa-Ohaeto. Most of the poems in pidgin are satirical. Pidgin, according to Ezenwa-Ohaeto, is a medium of communication that provides a bridge between the orality of verbal communication and the formality of the written words which enables the writer expand the dimensions of orality in literature (Ohaeto 27). Many of them are usually direct social commentaries and are easy to understand. My poem above may not be a very good example so I
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hereby present “How I Go Believe You” from Ezenwa-Ohaeto’s If to
Say I be Soja:
HOW I GO BELIEVE YOU
You say you no get kobo
But your dress dey expensive
Your shoe na imported
De car you get too cost
De thing way you bi
Just talk loud pass your word
You say you no get kobo
How I go believe you,
You say Kontri no rich
Oil money you carry alone
You say make I dey manage
De food your dog chop
My family never see for one year
You say Kontri no rich again
How I go believe you.
You say you be honest man
Public property you don steal
You go award plenty contract
With ten percent for your account
You say you no bi bad man
How I go believe you,
You say you get better plan
All bad people na your friend
When you make small ceremony
Na only thief people go full dere
Dose wey you dey help na rogues
You say you get better plan
How I how I go believe,
Your say you like us plenty
For morning you flog us koboko
For afternoon your dog bite us
For evening you put us for detention
Your boys dey harass us plenty
You say you like us plenty
How I go believe you.
One prominent feature of pidgin English is that it explores social realities in a humorous and lighthearted manner. The use of humour is
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intrinsic but it differs depending on the effect which the poet intends to achieve. The humour in Frank Aig-Imoukhuede’s Pidgin Stew and
Sufferhead differs from the humour in Mamman Vatsa’s Tori for Geti
Bowleg and both differ from the humour in the poem above. As stated above, most poems in pidgin are satiric and satire is a genre of comedy.
The language itself sounds humorous even when serious issues are being communicated. So if you intend to write in pidgin, remember that humour is “seen as part of the creative quality that has heightened the communicatory aspects of pidgin literature” and that it “enables the writer in pidgin to explore social realities insightfully, and interestingly because it is achieved through hilarious allusions, ironic perceptions, succinct imagery and the tabulation of incongruities in human behaviour” (Ezenwa-Ohaeto 14).
3.2
Allusion
Allusion is an indirect reference in passing to an object, idea or a human being dead or alive. In allusion, a thing is referred to without explicit mention, explanation, or with suggestion of further associations.
Because of this casual reference, it is difficult for the reader to decipher what is alluded to in some poems. A reader who is not familiar with the bible, for instance, may not be able to detect the allusion in John
Milton’s poem below.
3.3
Figure of Speech
Figure of speech is used mainly to “associate or compare dissimilar things” (Ojaide 28). The aim is to create an image in the mind of the reader. There are many figures of speech but we will mention only a few here. You should get a good dictionary of literary terms to learn more about figures of speech. You need to get acquainted with them for you to be able to use them while writing your own poems. The ones we will consider briefly here are simile, metaphor and personification.
Simile compares two unlike things with the use of “as” or “like”.
Metaphor also compares two unlike things without the use of as or like.
For example, “he is as strong as a tiger” (simile). “He is a tiger” (metaphor). Personification aids the poet attribute human characteristics to non human beings, objects or ideas. We will analyse the poem below and try to present the poetic devices we have been discussing so far.
ON HIS BLINDNESS
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide
And that one talent which is death to hide
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Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve my maker, and present
My true account lest He returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask, But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Allusion
If you are a Christian, you would recall the parable of the gold coins in
Mathew 25: 15-30 where servants were given a gold coin each by their master. All of them invested the money and made profit for their master but one of them buried his one coin in the ground where it was lodged and was useless. When the master returned, the servant is called to present an account and he did not make any profit so his master scolded him and said that at least he would have kept his money in the bank where it would have yielded an interest.
You have seen how I explained the underlined words which together form the biblical allusion in the poem. Milton alludes to the uselessness of his eyes to the uselessness of a gold coin buried in the ground.
However, it is important to note that the soul is eager and able to serve
(not useless). Indeed Milton, in spite of his handicap, went on to produce monumental poetry using the daughter as scrivener. Allusion in the hands of a skilful poet expands the scope of the reader’s knowledge and understanding of the world. Here, the awareness and virtues the reader would gain are:
(1)
(2)
(3)
Endurance and courage in suffering
Life of absolute trust in God
No condition is permanent
Theme
The theme of the poem is the relationship in service between human being and God. John Milton became blind when he was about forty-six years, due to the kind of work he was doing which involved interpreting and translating Latin. And that is why the fourteen-line poem (sonnet) starts on a note of reminiscence as he says” “When I consider how my life spent/Ere half my days in this dark world and wide”. His life provokes some thought in him. Part of the thought is that it is useless for
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anyone to waste his/her talent. It is not proper for anyone to leave ones talent unused especially when one knows that one must account to God, how one’s talent entrusted to him has been used.
A rhetorical question of line seven, “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” is a response to his predicament. He wonders whether God would give somebody a gift of a bag of salt and accompany the gift with a rainfall. His mind tells him that “God doth not need/Either man’s work or his own gifts”, meaning that God does not need our services or our labour or efforts. What is important to God is our love for Him and for our fellow human beings. Charity, faithfulness and obedience to God’s will. That is, his “mild yoke” which pleases God so much. In God’s kingdom, the angels and other divine beings worship Him in obedience and “serve him best” endlessly, “o’er land and ocean without rest”.
The poem teaches us that whatever condition we find ourselves in this world, whether good or bad we have to accept it as we see it, because there is a purpose behind every action. In the poem, the poet recognizes the omnipotence and omnipresent qualities of God and notwithstanding his blindness, determines to serve God with all his strength hence”…my soul more bent/to serve therewith my Maker…” God does not give us anything in life because of our righteousness, though that may enhance it because he does not need our work, according to the poet.
Diction
The diction is simple, straightforward and condensed. The first eight lines (octave) provide a question, while the last six lines (sextet) supply the answer. The poem is a Miltonic sonnet which rhymes ABBA,
ABBA, CDE, CDE. The run-on-lines of the poem add to its descriptive vividness. One other thing noticeable about the pattern is that the lines are made up of about ten syllables which is the hallmark of a sonnet.
Imagery/Symbolism
The dominant images in the poem help to illuminate the relationship between man and God and the poet’s blindness words like “world”,
“soul”, “Maker”, “God”, “mild yoke”, “kingly”, all point to this.
“Thousands at his bidding speed”, “stand and wait”, help the reader to see in his/her imagination, thousands of angels that worship God all the time. Mood/Tone
There is a general feeling of regret and hope. The poet’s blindness makes him sad but as he remembers his “Maker”, a new lease of hope
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rekindles in him and he expresses it with a tone of determination and resignation. Alliteration
The rhyming scheme in the poem makes the piece musical and some other alliterative words add to this, e.g.; …this… world and wide (‘w’ alliterates), “patience to prevent” (‘p’ alliterates), “…serve who… stand” (‘s’ alliterates). Note also that in “God doth not”, ‘o’ assonates.
Euphemism
The poet makes light a serious ailment like blindness and thereby reduces the high voltage of emotion that ordinarily would be deployed to describe the situation. So, when the poet says “my light is spent” “… half my days”, “…one talent/lodged with me useless”, “mild yoke”
“bidding speed”, he is being euphemistic.
4.0
CONCLUSION
The novelist and the playwright have enough time and space to present their stories. The poet presents his works in a very limited space.
Sometimes, time is not considered since poetry thrives on emotions that are recorded without regard to time. What we mean by time here is that a story for instance starts from the morning and ends in the evening but poet who expresses joy at the sight of a loved one does not present the joy in a way that it lasts from morning till the evening. The poet is able to present the poem in the limited space because he makes use of imagery, allusions and figures of speech. These devices aid the presentation of a poem in a condensed language. This brings out the differences between the poet and an ordinary person which is that the poet feels the joy found in nature and renders it in such a way that the reader feels it or shares it with the poet.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt more about imagery, allusions and figures of speech. You have also learnt that the poet needs these devices because in poetry, much is said in very few words. This is achieved through connotative and denotative language. Imageries fall under connotative language where a word could connote other things depending on the meaning and the picture the poet wants to evoke.
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TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What do you understand by figures of speech in poetry. List at least six figures of speech.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Ezenwa – Ohaeto. (1998). .If to Say I be Soja. Enugu: Delta
Publications.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing: Handbook for African
Writers and Students. Lagos. Malthouse Press Ltd.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. (1992). The Norton Anthology of World
Masterpieces. 6th edition, Vol. II. Maynard Mack (General editor) New York: Norton.
The Estate of Ezenwa-Ohaeto/Ngozi Ezenwa-Ohaeto (2007) Subject,
Context and the Contours of Nigerian Fiction, Edited by Pia
Thielmann and Eckhard Breitinger. Eckersdorf, Germany:
Bayreuth African Studies 81.
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UNIT 5
THE MATERIAL OF POEMS: LEGEND AND
HISTORY
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Materials from History and Legends
3.2
Myth
4.0
Conclusion
10.0Summary
6.0
Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will be introduced to myth, legend and history as possible areas from which you could draw your poetic materials. We will also present a historical poem for illustration.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• determine the place of myth and legend in poetry
• describe how history could be utilized as material for poetry
• enumerate the ways you could apply myth, legend, or history in writing your poem.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Materials from History and Legends
All over the world, people had oral poetry embedded in their cultures before the literary poetry. The materials for some of the poems especially the epic are drawn from history and legends. Good examples of such poems are the Iliad, Odyssey, Sundiata and many others. The
History of the Hebrews was that of bitterness and struggles against foreign masters from their bondage in Egypt through wars in their journey to Canaan, the Promised Land and series of exiles. Thus their political and economic history ended in series of disasters. Local cohesion and universal solidarity eluded them for most of the times.
Consequently, there was no serious peaceful and harmonious existence which could produce great artists. Thus “they left behind them no painting or sculptor and little or no secular literature, no drama for
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example, nor any epic poetry (but) left a religious literature, the Bible.
(Mack 3) However, the Bible contains many poetic expressions which could have passed for classical poems if they were recorded as secular literature. The Greeks produced great literature because of the level of civilization and brilliant culture that existed in ancient Greece. Despite the dark age of Greece, Homer produced two great poems – the Iliad and the
Odyssey which are based on their history and legend. Iliad is a Greek epic that is based on the Trojan wars for the recovery of Helen of Troy, the wife of an Achaean Prince, Menelaus. Odyssey is another epic by
Homer that presents the peace, after the war. It is concerned with the return of the heroes that survived, especially the return of Odysseus of
Ithaca.
The Romans did not just produce great warriors and conquerors, they also patronized art. They were said to have conquered half of the world before they began to write. A prominent Roman poet was Virgil who wrote the Aeneid, the Roman epic which he could not complete before his death in 19th B.C. It is a historical poem based on his love for Dido, the Queen of Carthage and the fall of Troy. Another great poem drawn from legend is Beowulf. It is believed that Beowulf marks the beginning of English literature. It is an epic poem which traces the legend of the
Danish rulers, and relates the legendary killing of two monsters, Grendel and his mother by Beowulf, the hero in the poem. He also kills a dragon but was mortally wounded.
During the Renaissance, John Milton wrote an epic poem, “Paradise
Lost” based another legend of the defeat of Lucifer in heaven. The
Augustans, who belong to the “Neo Classical Period” or the Age of
Reason, laid more emphasis on the intellect and the human mind. They drew inspiration from the classical Roman Age and looked upon that period for poetic models. In their poems, they directed their attention to
“intricate interchanges and conflicts between aspects of human life” (Mack 1). They emphasized adherence to convention in terms of form and content. Satire flourished in that tradition as exemplified in
Alexander Pope’s “Rape of the Lock”.
The Romantics were more interested in nature and the lowly life but still paid attention to history and legend. They were more concerned with life as it was lived especially by the lower class. That perhaps explains why they emphasized the language of ordinary people in poetry. As a poet, before you could draw your material from history, or legend, but you must be familiar with that particular legend or historical event. This is because historical events are factual and not imaginary. So first of all, you learn the facts of the particular historical event you want to portray
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before putting it in a poetic form. Remember that like in drama and fiction, you are not expected to reproduce history accurately the way it is recorded by historians but you could borrow the material and present it in an artistic form in your own unique manner.
Like the Romantics many contemporary poets write from their imagination and present issues that are regarded as commonplace in their poems. Modern poets in an attempt to reject old conventions produce a new tradition. They draw their materials from history, legend and contemporary life depicting its rapid change, technological advancements with its positive and negative effects. They react to present historical events or draw from legends and present the poems in contemporary modes of expression. Poets redefine history and legend to suit contemporary experience.
A very good example of a historical poem is David Rubadiri’s “Stanley
Meets, Mutesa”. It is a Malawian poem that recounts the visit of Henry
Morton Stanley, a nineteenth – century explorer who made journeys to
Africa. In one of such journeys, the one recounted in the poem below, he meets Mutesa, the king of Buganda who was regarded as the most powerful king in East Africa. The result of this encounter is the spread of British influence in that area and the establishment of the Ugandan protectorate in 1894. In the poem, Rubadiri, imaginatively recreates this visit recounting the difficulties which the travellers encountered on their way, how they were received in the court of Mutesa and the significance of the meeting.
Stanley Meets Mutesa
Such a time of it they had;
The heat of the day
The chill of the night
And the mosquitoes that followed.
Such was the time and
They bound for a kingdom.
The thin weary line of carriers
With tattered dirty rags to cover their backs;
The battered bulky chests
That kept on falling off their shaven heads.
Their tempers high and hot
The sun fierce and scorching
With it rose their spirits
With its fall their hopes
As each day sweated their bodies dry and
Flies clung in clumps on their sweat-scented backs.
Such was the march
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And the hot season just breaking.
Each day a wary pony dropped
Left for the vultures on the plains;
Each afternoon a human skeleton collapsed,
Left for the Masai on the plains;
But the march trudged on
Its khaki leader in front
He the spirit that inspired
He the light of hope.
Then came the afternoon of a hungry march,
A hot and hungry march it was;
The Nile and the Nyanza
Lay like two twins
Azure across the green countryside..
The march leapt on chanting
Like young gazelles to a water-hole.
Hearts beat faster
Loads felt lighter
As the cool water lapt their sore soft feet.
No more the dread of hungry hyenas
But only tales of valour when
At Mutesa’s court fires are lit.
No more the burning heat of the day
But song, laughter and dance.
The village looks on behind banana groves,
Children peer behind reed fences.
Such was the welcome
No singing women to chant a welcome
Or drums to greet the white ambassador;
Only a few silent nods from aged faces
And one rumbling drum roll
To summon Mutesa’s court to parley
For the country was not sure.
The gate of reeds is flung open,
There is silence
But only a moment’s silence –
The tall black king steps forward,
He towers over the thin bearded white man
Then grabbing his lean white hand
Manages to whisper
‘Mtu Mweupe karibu’
White man you are welcome.
The gate of polished reed closes behind them
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And the west is let in. – David Rubadiri
In this poem, there is an allusion to another poem, “Journey of the
Magi” by T.S. Eliot in terms of the hard times faced by the travelers.
The opening stanza of this poem is:
A cold morning we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey
The ways deep, and the weather sharp
The very dead of winter.
In the same way, such difficulties are expressed in the first stanza of
“Stanley Meets Mutesa”. Go back, read that first stanza and compare it with the one above.
This is a narrative poem in which the poet uses the persona “we”. The first stanza sets the tone of suffering encountered by the travellers. You see what we have been discussing about poetic diction and images. In line two, instead of explaining how the travellers trudge under the heat of the sun during the day, the poet says simply “the heat of the day”.
Also expressions like “tattered dirty rags” and “battered bulky chest” do not only described the poor state of the travellers and their heavy loads, but also help to heighten the mood and rhythm of the poem. They help to create a picture of the deplorable state of the crew.
The death of horses and human beings are described in a condensed language thus:
…a wary pony dropped
Left for the vultures on the plains
…a human skeleton collapsed.
Left for the mosaic on the plains
The human skeleton here presents the image of someone that has emaciated so much that what is left is a virtual skeleton. The imagery of human suffering is evoked with words like “sweat-scented backs”
“shaved heads” under “sun fierce” and scorching” “bodies dry” and many others. There is also the image of a harsh weather condition seen in words like “chill”, “heat”, “hot” compare this with “the weather sharp” and “the very dead of winter”, T. S. Eliot’s “Journey of the
Magi”.
The poem ends with
The gate of polished reed closes behind them
And the west is let in.
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The last line, here, refers to the colonization of that African State.
This is a historical account but the poet’s feelings towards this encounter between Africa and the Whiteman is discernable. It is a feeling of sadness. This is highlighted in the description of the Africans who carried the load of the Whiteman.
The mood of the poem is that of suffering, hardship and frustration and the tone is that of helplessness, hopelessness in the first part of the poem and that of resignation and the mood of apprehension in the second part.
Also, the cold reception they received in the court of Mutesa shows that they are not really welcome. There are no songs or chants instead children peer behind the fence while the adults nod silently.
3.2
Myth
Just like the poem above is based on a historical experience, a poem could also be written based on myth. The poet explores a mythical figure or incident in a poem.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Read the poem “Casualties” by J. P. Clark and state the historical event it is based on and the feelings of the poet about the subject matter expressed in the poem.
4.0
CONCLUSION
All along, we have emphasized that poetry thrives on emotion. This means that in most cases, the poem is a consequence of the poet’s feelings because poetry is an imaginary art. The element of imagination is not absent in all forms of poetry because the poet imaginatively uses material from history legend or mythology to produce a poem. The main story or a segment of the historical event for instance is usually present in the poem. The difference lies in the employment of appropriate poetic devices to produce an aesthetically satisfying poem. We have also been concerned with the expression of emotions. In some cases, the poet decides to write a poem based on a myth, legend or history. However, feelings play an important role here too because through the presentation of the subject matter, the poet’s feeling is discernable. If for instance, a poet writes a poem based on the Nigerian Civil War, the poet’s alignment with either Nigeria or Biafra would be discernable or even obvious. 145
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SUMMARY
You have seen in this unit that in as much as poetry is the record of a poet’s emotion, the poet could also write a poem based on a myth, legend or a historical event. You have also seen that even when the material of a poem is from history, for instance, the emotion of the poet is still present.
6.0
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What do you think is the poet’s feelings in the poem “Stanley Meets
Mutesa”.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
David Rubadiri “Stanley Meets Mutesa. In Senanu, and Theo Vincent eds (1988). A Selection of African Poetry. New edition. Harlow,
Essex: Longman Group.
Iwuchukwu, Chinweikpe. (2006). The Mastery of Literature Vol. 1 2006
– 2010. Lagos: Macckho Ricckho Press.
Clark, John Pepper. “Casualties” in Senanu, K. E. and Theo Vincent ed. A Selection of African Poetry. Harlow Essex: Longman.
Mack, Maynard. ed. (1992). The Norton Anthology of World
Masterpieces. Sixth edition. Vol.1 & 2. New York: W. W.
Norton.
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UNIT 6
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
CONTENTS
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
Introduction
Objectives
Main Content
3.1
Revising a Poem
3.2
Analysis of “Abiku” by J. P. Clark
3.2.1 Theme
3.2.2 Diction
3.2.3 Mood/Tone
3.2.4 Figures of Speech
3.2.5 Imagery
3.3 Glossary of Selected Poetic Terms
Summary
Conclusion
Tutor-Marked Assignment
References/Further Reading
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will be introduced to revision in poetry and how it helps in the poet to produce good work. At the end of your poetic exercise, you are expected to revise what you have written to ensure that your emotion is presented in a coordinated manner. In this unit you will be led through the analysis of a very simple and popular poem “Abiku” by
J. P. Clark. The intention is to illustrate how he has utilised the concept of “Abiku” to produce a very good poem.
2.0
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• revise your poem to produce the final copy
• identify poetic devices in a poem
• identify the theme in a poem
• undertake a general analysis of a poem.
3.0
MAIN CONTENT
3.1
Revising a Poem
The immediate act of composition of a poem is spontaneous. It arises from an impulse to create or record an experience or feelings. At the
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stage of recording this feeling the poet writes as the ideas flow and at the point, he does not care about rules and regulations. But once that first sketch of that “spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions” is put on paper, it is followed by a reflection. This reflection may be likened to
Wordsworth’s “recollection in tranquility”. It is at this tranquil stage that the poem is refined. The poet arranges and rearranges the poem to achieve the desired rhythm and musicality. He ensures that he has chosen the right diction and that images, figures of speech and figures of sound are applied appropriately. He also ensures that he has made the right allusions, chosen the appropriate setting, set the right atmosphere/ mood and tone. He arranges his poem in lines and or stanzas to create the desired body or form. He re-reads and revises the poem to ensure that he has conveyed his intended message and that his theme is discernable. By the time he concludes his revision, the poem assumes its final form. That is when we say that the sense has been refined and the poem as it appears is produced.
3.2 Analysis of “Abiku” by J. P. Clark
3.2.1 Theme
The theme of reincarnation is explored in the poem. It is treated from the perspective of an Abiku. The concept of “Abiku” is one of the cultural beliefs of some Nigerians. “Abiku” in Yoruba is “Ogbanje” among the
Igbos. It is a child who is believed to have the powers to die and re-enter the mother’s womb to be born again. The baby could do this as many times as it wishes. This causes a lot of heartache and torment for the parents. In the poem, a moving plea is made to the abiku who is considered wicked because of the sorrow the child causes its mother. The appeal is for the abiku to pity its mother, to be considerate and stay like a normal child. This would bring solace and joy to the mother but if it refuses to do that it should ‘stay out’ permanently – to die and not return again.
This is because the child’s “coming and going these several seasons” is a means of tormenting the mother who suffers the pains of pregnancy and pangs of childbirth several times and yet remains childless. The act of going through a pregnancy and giving birth is enough burden for a woman so you can imagine how it would be for a woman who gives birth several times only for the child to die each time she gives birth to it. 3.2.2 Diction
The diction is simple and clear. The poet’s rhetorical technique aids the tight structure of the poem. He makes good use of imagery, figures of
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speech like repetitions, alliteration, assonance and other forms as is presented below.
Many words used in the poem are familiar in the village setting.
“Baobab tree”, “thatch”, “eaves” “bamboo walls”, “fresh fish”, “bats”,
“owls”, “fire”, “rack”, etc. These words are chosen carefully and applied appropriately to make the poem an enjoyable one. The proper soundpatterned words enhance the musicality and rhythm of the poem yet helps to capture the agonizing state of the mother of the abiku child.
3.2.3 Mood/tone
The mood induced by the tone is undoubtedly that of unhappiness, frustration, disappointment and sorrow. The coming and going of the abiku these several years affects the general state of the household. The effect is that of gloom, tiredness and resignation to fate. The overall tones captured in the poem are that of agony and an appeal for sympathy. 3.2.4 Figures of Speech
Assonance: Some of the expressions that assonate in the poem are:
“Coming and going” (‘O’ assonates); and “And at harmattan, the bamboo…” (‘a’ assonates) in the poem, the above stressed vowels agreement help to energise the poet’s views and clarify same. Simile: When one considers the following lines, they register in our minds’ eye resulting in a better and deeper appreciation of the poem even when we close our eyes, for instance: “Serrating down your back and front like beak of the sword-fish”.
Alliteration: The following alliterative expressions which make the poem melodious. musical, rhythmical and motion-like are used in the poem. “Several seasons” (‘s’ alliterates); “Through the thatch” (‘t’ alliterates); “Brim the banks” (‘b’ alliterates), “Fresh fish” (‘f’ alliterates), “Many more” (‘m’ alliterates), “Step in, step in and stay”
(‘s’ alliterates), and “Many more mouths” (‘m’ alliterates)
Repetition: The effective use of repetition in the last stanza of the poem as in: “Step in, step in and stay” and “her body is tired,/Tired”, has made the invitation of the spirit child and the excruciating pains of the mother very emphatic and serious.
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Synecdoche: This is when a part stands for a whole or vice versa. In the poem “Seasons” represent years, the “healthy stock” stands for lineage/ancestry/ancestral abode and “several fingers” stand for many personalities, and “More mouths” stand for more children.
3.2.5 Imagery
Many examples of vivid pictures abound in the poem especially in the emotive descriptions of Abiku; consider the following:
(1) “We know the knife-scars serrating (teeth-like cutting)
down your back and fronts”
(2) “And both your ears, notched ss a bondsman to this
house”
(3) “When floods brim the banks”
(4) “And the bats and the owls often tear in at night through the eaves”
All these help to make this poem beautiful and satisfying
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Try to identify other poetic devices used in the poem.
3.3
Glossary of Selected Poetic Terms
We present here selected literary terms culled from the books listed in the reference section. These terms are expected to guide you in your choice of words for the poem you intend to write.
Abstract
Abstract is the opposite of concrete. A sentence can be described as abstract if it makes a general statement about a class of persons or objects or if its object is an abstraction – that is, a quality considered apart from its object – such as wealth and beauty. “Honesty is the best policy” is an abstract statement, but “Hotchkiss is a thief” is concrete.
The latter statement refers to a particular object rather than to a general class of objects.
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Accent
The special emphasis given to one syllable over others in pronouncing a word or to one word over others in say a phrase. It is used in poetry to determine the metre.
Aestheticism
This is a term loosely applied to an English literary movement of the second half of the nineteenth century. The roots of the movement lay in the reverence for beauty instilled by Keats and the Pre-Raphaelites.
Allusion
A rhetorical term applied to that figure of speech that makes casual reference to a famous historical or literacy figure or event. “He, like the
Prodigal son Returns Home”. Prodigal here is an allusion to the Biblical prodigal son who returns to his father after spending his father’s fortune recklessly. Ambiguity
This occurs when double or multiple meanings are attached to words or to situations. Figurative language is somewhat ambiguous. While ambiguity is never desirable in normal formal writing, it is useful in poetry. It brings several meanings that can illuminate more fully the complexities of the experience that the writing offers.
Anthology
A collection of poetry or prose, sometimes divided into categories such as lyric verse, satiric verse, etc.
Antithesis
The placing of a word or an idea that is in contrast to it or that its opposite. This figure of speech is characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas. It is a balancing of one term against another for impressiveness and emphasis. “Unlike we stand, divided we fall” Anticlimax
This is the opposite of climax. Instead of an action in a play/novel moving from the lowest point to the highest, it moves in a reverse order.
If the work of art peters out after a climax, the weak ending is anticlimactic. 151
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Atmosphere
The mood which is established by the totality of a literary work.
Blank verse
Unrhymed verse, particularly that form of unrhymed heroic verse which is commonly employed in English dramatic and epic poetry. Blank verse consists of lines of 10 syllables each, the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth syllables bearing the accents (iambic pentameter).
Couplet
Two lines in immediate succession usually, but not necessarily of the same length, forming a pair, and generally marked as such by rhyming with each other. A pair of lines joined by rhyme is considered a couplet, whether it forms part of a stanza, or constitutes a metrical group by itself. The grave’s a fine and private place but none, I think, do thee embrace. (from “To His Coy Mistress”).
Denotation
The specific, exact meaning of a word, independent of its emotional coloration or associations. Connotation which is the opposite of denotation refers to the references and associations which a word has collected in the course of its use in addition to its denotation.
Dramatic Monologue
A poem which reveals “a soul in action” through the conversation of one character in a dramatic situation. The character is speaking to an identifiable but silent listener in a dramatic moment in the speaker’s life.
The circumstances surrounding the conversation, one side of which we
“hear” as the dramatic monologue, are made clear by implication in the poem, and a deep meaning into the character of the speaker is given.
E.g. Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, Alfred, and Lord
Tennyson’s “Tithenus”
Elegy
A sustained and formal poem which presents the poet’s meditations upon death or upon a grave theme. The meditation often is occasioned by the death of a particular person, but it may be a generalized observation or the expression of a solemn mood. E.g. Thomas Gray’s
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”.
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Emotive language
Language designed to evoke or express emotional reactions towards its subject, as opposed to referential language.
Empathy
Signifies an experience in which we identify ourselves with an object of perception and seem to participate in its physical sensations, especially of posture and motion. The experience is sometimes described metaphorically as “an involuntary projection of ourselves into an object,” animate or inanimate.
Epigram
In Greek literature, a poetical inscription placed upon a tomb or monument. Later it was extended to encompass any very short poem – amorous, elegiac, meditative, complimentary, antidotal, or satiric – which is polished, terse, and pointed. Usually an epigram ends with a surprising or witty turn of thought. It is usually a short emphatic witty saying that involves antithesis or a paradox. It is similar in form to a proverb but it is a creation of the individual writer.
Euphemism
A mild, delicate, or indirect word or expression used in place of a plainer and more accurate one, which by reason of its meaning or association might be offensive, unpleasant or embarrassing.
Figurative Language
Intentional departure from the normal order, construction or meaning of words in order to infuse strength and freshness of expression in the poem to create a pictorial effect. It helps the poet draw an analogy, or to discover and illustrate similarities in otherwise dissimilar things.
Form
A term used to designate the organization of the elements in a work in relation to its total effect. For example, verse form refers to the organization of rhythmic units in a line and stanza form refers to the organization of the verses. Form is the pattern or structure or organization which is employed to give expression to the content of a literary piece.
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Hyperbole
A figure of speech in which emphasis is achieved by deliberate exaggeration. Like many such figures, it appears in ordinary speech as well as in verse. Such common expression as “They were packed in the subway like sardines”, is an example of hyperbole.
Image
An image is a literal and concrete representation of a sensory experience or of an object that can be known by one or more of the senses. The image is one of the distinctive elements of the “language of art”, the means by which experience in its richness and emotional complexity is communicated. The image is, therefore, a portion of the essence of the meaning of the literacy work, not ever properly a mere decoration.
Imagery
Descriptive representation; sensory content of a literacy work; figurative language intended to evoke a picture or an idea in the mind of the reader. Imagination
The power or process of using all the faculties so as to realize with intensity what is not perceived, and to do this in a way that integrates and orders everything thus present to the mind so that reality is enhanced thereby.
Innuendo
An oblique hint; an indirect intimation about a person or thing; an inferential suggestion, commonly used in a bad sense, but sometimes in an innocent one.
Internal Rhyme
Occurs within a single verse. It may serve several functions; giving pleasure in itself, pointing up the rhythmical structure, or, breaking a long line into shorter units.
Invective
Harsh, abusive language directed against a person or cause; vituperative writing. 154
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Irony
A device by which a writer expresses a meaning contradictory to the stated or ostensible one. There are many techniques for achieving irony.
The writer may, for example, make it clear that the meaning he intends is the opposite of his literal one or he may construct a discrepancy between an expectation and its fulfillment or between the appearance of a situation and the reality that underlies it. Whatever his technique, the writer demands that the reader perceive the concealed meaning that lies beneath his surface statement.
Lament
A poem expressing some great grief, usually more intense and more personal than that expressed in a complaint.
Lampoon
Writing which ridicules and satirizes the character or personal appearance of a person in a bitter, scurrilous manner.
Malapropism
A blunder in speech or writing caused by the substitution of a word for another similar in sound but different in meaning.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable, in order to suggest a resemblance.
“He is a lion”
Metonymy
A common figure of speech which is characterized by the substitution of a term naming an object closely associated with the word in mind for the word itself. In this way we commonly speak of the king as “the crown: an object closely associated with kingship thus being made to stand for
“king”.
Mock Epic or Mock Heroic
Terms frequently used interchangeably to designate a literacy form which burlesques epic poetry by treating a trivial subject in the “grand style”, or which uses the epic formulas to make ridiculous a trivial subject by ludicrously overstating it. When the mock poem is much
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shorter than a true epic some prefer to call it mock heroic, a term also applied to poems which mock romances than epics. Ordinary usage, however, employs the terms interchangeably. E.g. Alexander Pope,
“Rape of the Lock” John Dryden, “The Dunciad”.
Objectivity
A quality in a literary work of impersonality, of freedom from the expression of personal sentiments, attitudes, or emotions by the author.
Onomatopoeia
The naming of anything by a more or less exact reproduction of the sound which it makes, or something audible connected with it. E.g. “The bee is buzzing”.
Oxymoron
A figure employed in an expression or statement which is apparently self-contradictory but in which a point is involved as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly”.
Paradox
A statement or opinion seemingly self-contradictory or absurd, that may actually be well-founded or true. E.g. “The Nile and the Nyanza lay like two twins” (From “Stanley Meets Mutesa” Rubadiri)
Personification
A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstract ideas are endowed with human qualities or actions. E.g. “The grass is singing”.
Plagiarism
Literary theft. A writer who steals the plot of some obscure, forgotten story and uses it as new in a story of his own is a plagiarist.
Poetic License
A privilege or liberty taken by a poet of departing from normal order, diction, rhyme, or pronunciation to produce a desired effect.
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Pun
A play on words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but differ in meaning and which results in an odd or ludicrous idea. E.g.
History’s art not fact
History…Herstory History
Sees sees seas
Politics politricks politricks
(From Riot in Heaven: Tess Onwueme)
Rhyme
The repetition of the same or similar sounds, whether vowels, consonants or a combination of these in one or more syllables, usually stressed and occurring at determined and recognizable intervals.
Masculine or male rhymes are those in which the final syllable is accented, while feminine or double rhymes are those in which the final syllables are unaccented. Internal rhyme refers to rhyme which occurs within the line, as n “the splendour falls on castle walls”.
Rhythm
In language, the sense of movement attributable to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of prose or poetry or to the lengths of sounds in quantitative verse. In verse, the rhythm is determined by the metrical pattern, whereas in prose or free verse, it is the effect of an arrangement of words more nearly approximating natural speech.
Romantic
A term used of literature that is centred upon the inner rather than upon the outer world and that tries to convey the writer’s feelings in a manner uniquely expressive of his experience and his personality though not in traditional formal patterns. These features distinguish it from classical writing. The Romantic Movement that started at the close of the eighteenth century was a reaction against the formalism of a period dominated by a mechanistic view of life. Romanticism, another name for this reaction, applies also to any trend that exalts nature above artifice, sensibility above intellect, the foreign above the familiar, energy above restraint, and the search for an absolute above concern with the here and now. The romantic is one who takes this attitude. One of the prominent poets of the Romantic period is William Wordsworth.
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Sarcasm
A form of verbal irony, in which, under the guise of praise a caustic and bitter expression of strong and personal disapproval is given. Sarcasm is personal, jeering, intended to hurt, and is intended as a sneering taunt.
Satire
A literary work or mode of writing intended to arouse ridicule, contempt, or disgust at abuses and follies of man and his institutions, and aimed at the correction of malpractices by inspiring both indignation and laughter with a mixture of criticism and wit. E.g. Wole Soyinka,
“Telephone Conversation” Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”
Samuel Johnson, “Vanity of Human Wishes”.
Simile
The comparing or likening of two things that have some strong point or points of resemblances, both of which are mentioned and the comparisons directly stated. It compares something to something else using words like as and like. “He is as brave as a lion”
Stanza
A recurrent grouping of two or more lines of a poem; in terms of length, metrical form, and, often, rime-scheme. However, the division into stanzas is sometimes made according to thought as well as form, in which case the stanza is a unit not unlike a paragraph of prose. Strophe is another term used for stanza, but one should avoid verse in this sense, since verse is properly reserved to indicate a single line of poetry.
Structure
The planned framework of a piece of literature. Though such external matters as kind of language used (French or English), prose or verse, or kind of verse, or type of sentence are sometimes referred to as
“structural” features, the term usually is applied to the general plan or outline. Thus the scheme of topics (as revealed in a topical outline) determines the structure of a formal essay. The logical division of the action of a drama and also the mechanical division into acts and scenes are matters of structure. In a narrative the plot itself is the structural element. Often the author advertises his structure as a means of securing clearness, while at other times the artistic purpose of the author leads him to conceal his structure (as in narratives) or subordinate it altogether
(as in some informal essays). In the novel today, as the most reliable as well as the most revealing key to the two, structure is used to define not
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only verse form and formal arrangement but also the sequence of images and ideas which unite to convey the meaning of the poem.
Style
The arrangement of words in a manner which at once best expresses the individuality of the author and the idea and intent in his mind. The best style, for any given purpose, is that which most nearly approximates a perfect adaptation of one’s language to one’s ideas. Style, then, is a combination of two elements: the idea to be expressed, and the individuality of the author.
A study of styles for the purpose of analysis will include such general qualities as: diction, sentence structure and variety, imagery, rhythm, coherence, emphasis, and arrangement of ideas.
Symbol
On the most literal level a symbol is something which is itself and yet stands for or suggests or means something else; as a flag is a piece of coloured cloth which stands for a nation. All language is symbolic in this sense, and many of the objects which we commonly use in daily life are. Literal symbols are of two broad types: one includes those which embody within and suggest time and eternity; the voyage suggests life; and phallic symbols are universally recognized. Such symbols are used widely in the world’s literature. The other type of symbol secures its suggestiveness not from qualities inherent in itself but from the way in which it is used in a given work. Thus in Moby-Dick the voyage, the land, the ocean – these objects are pregnant with meanings that seem almost independent of Melville’s use of them in his story; on the other hand, the white whale is invested with meaning – and differing meanings for different crew members – through the handling of materials in the novel. Similarly, in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, rain, which is merely a physical fact in the opening chapter, is converted into a symbol of death through the uses to which it is put in the book.
Symbolism
In its broad sense, symbolism is the use of one object to represent or suggest another; or, in literature, the use of symbols in writing, particularly the serious and extensive use of such symbols.
Symbolism is also the name given to a literary movement which originated in France in the last half of the nineteenth century, strongly influenced Irish and of British writing around the turn of the century, and has been a dominant force in much British and American poetry in
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the twentieth century. It sees the immediate, unique, and personal emotional response as the proper subject of art and its full expression as the ultimate aim of art.
Synecdoche
A form of metaphor which in mentioning a part, signifies the whole or vice-versa. In order to be clear, a good synecdoche must be based on an important part of the whole and not a minor part and, usually, the part selected to stand for the whole must be the part most directly associated with the subject under discussion.
Theme
The central, or dominating idea in a literary work. In non-fiction prose it may be thought of as the general topic of discussion, the subject of the discourse, the thesis. In poetry, fiction, and drama it is the abstract concept which is made concrete through its representation in person, action and image in the work.
Tone
Tone is used in contemporary criticism, as a term designating the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work. In such a usage, a work may have a tone that is formal, informal, intimate, solemn, sombre, playful, serious, ironic, condescending, or any of many other possible attitudes. Clearly, tone in this sense contributes in a major way to the effect and the effectiveness of a literary work.
In another sense, tone is used to designate the mood of the work itself and the various devices that are used to create that mood. In this sense, tone results from combinations and variation of such things as metre, alliteration, assonance, consonance, diction, sentence structure, repetition, imagery, symbolism, etc.
Unity
The concept that a literary work shall have in it some organizing principle to which all its parts are related so that, viewed in the light of that principle, the work is an organic whole. A work which has unity is cohesive in its parts, complete, self-contained, and integrated.
Universality
A critical term frequently employed to indicate the presence in a piece of writing of an appeal to all readers of all time. When writing presents
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the great human emotions common to all peoples of all civilizations – jealousy, love, pride, courage, etc – in literary form and through characters and actions that remain meaningful to other ages, it may be said to have universality. Of all qualities which make for universality in literature, the successful portrayals of human character are the most important. Verse
A verse is a line in a poem, especially one that has a formal structure, or sometimes used synonymously with stanza, notably in hymnology.
4.0
CONCLUSION
The poet writes a poem, whether it was planned, or recorded as the one given in a dream or trance or as an outpouring of emotions. At the end of the exercise, the poem is revised to ensure that the desired rhythmic balance is achieved. The poet ensures that images, figurative language and figures of speech are used appropriately to convey the intended message. This revision also ensures that the final product expresses the poet’s emotion appropriately.
5.0
SUMMARY
In this unit you have learnt the importance of revision in poetry writing.
You have also evaluated a poem “Abiku” by J.P. Clark and have seen how he employed the poetic devices to present an experience. You have also been exposed to some other poetic terms that are described briefly.
You should make an effort to learn more about them. This knowledge is necessary for every poet.
23.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
List five figures of speech used by J. P. Clark in the poem “Abiku” and explain them.
7.0
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Harmsworth, J.R. (1968). Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: Coles.
Iwuchukwu, Chinweikpe. (2008). The Mastery of Literature for JAMB.
Lagos: Macckho Ricckho
Murfin, Ross and Surpryia M. Ray. (1997). The Bedford Glossary of
Critical Terms. New York:Bedford Books.
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Ogungbesan, K. and D. Woolger. (1978). Images and Impressions.
London: Oxford University Press.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing Handbook for African
Writers and Students. Lagos: Malthouse Press.
Senanu, K.E. and Theo Vincent. (2003). A Selection of African Poetry.
Harlow, Essex: Longman.
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