Violence

1) Trace Papa's abuse: What causes it and how do family members respond?

Possible introductory paragraph:

There are numerous issues that many societies tend to share across time and place. One of such is violence, be it on personal or societal level. Nigerian-American author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has investigated this theme in her 2004 novel "Purple Hibiscus" through the Achike family dynamics, especially the father of the protagonist, who presents himself to the community as a kind, benevolent man but inside the family compound is overly strict and controlling and abusive of both his spouse and children.

2) Main types of violence in Purple Hibiscus:

• domestic

• gender

• psychological

• colonial

Discussion:

1. What has made Papa such a violent father? 

2. What kinds of things trigger his violence? 

3. Why don’t his wife and children actively resist his violence earlier? 

4. What do you think of Amaka’s statement “Some people can’t handle stress”? 

5. Do you think Mama’s action was justified? 

6. Why do you think Jaja wanted to take the blame for her crime? 

7. What kind of message does the novel as a whole give us about domestic violence?

(https://www.cram.com/essay/Violence-In-Purple-Hibiscus/FKJJ7T8K5J)

8. How would you behave in a similar situation?

9) What advice would you give each character?

3) Make a 3-4-minute oral essay on the topic you drew in class (based on Purple Hibiscus):

* An exploration of the connections between differing forms of violence in Nigeria after colonialism.

* Gender-based violence manifests in the form of domestic violence.

* Papa uses violence to enforce his own kind of oppression on his family.

* Just as colonialism resulted in a corrupt independent government, so papa's violence compels Mama to poison and murder him.

* Papa is a "colonial product", a man who has bought into the colonial mindset. 

* Women of different status are shown to use different means of resisting patriarchy and violence in the quest for liberating relationships.

* Exploration of the intersectionality of gender, class, race, religion, postcoloniality and power.

* Exploration of violence sprung from cultural conflict.

4) Reflection on Violence (1969) by Hannah Arendt

A pair-writing task for your portfolio

Choose one page of the essay on violence that you believe is most representative of her writing style and the main issues in this essay.

Treat it like a Paper 1 text. Come up with your own guiding question, and write.

This will help you recall how to tackle Paper 1: https://philpot.education/mod/page/view.php?id=19

Have another pair read your essay and suggest improvements / additions / alternative approaches.

Hannah Arendt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Arendt

5) Exam preparation:

Find a page-long extract from Purple Hibiscus that you believe best reflects abuse and violence in the novel. Compare this to a text provided in class.

Purple Hibiscus discussion

 In which order would you like to discuss the following?

* bildungsroman

* themes

* Kambili: * change * silence * relationships * love

* role of women

* politics and culture

* violence

* silence and truth

Main themes in Purple Hibiscus

 In alphabetical order:
* alienation

* colonialism and Nigerian politics
* family 
* freedom vs tyranny

* hypocrisy
* identity
* love
* oppression
* power
* religion and belief
* silence and speech
* tradition
* violence

Purple Hibiscus background

Wikipedia (so obvious):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Hibiscus (do NOT read details about the book before you have actually read the book itself!!!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimamanda_Ngozi_Adichie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Civil_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafra

Also consult maps of the world, Africa, Nigeria, and Biafra.

Biafran War as the background:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/596712.stm

African writing online:

http://www.african-writing.com/six/writersbriefs.htm

Chimamanda Ngozi Adicie website (unofficial):

http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/

Listen to the music of Fela Kuti on Youtube:)

Watch videos on the Nigeria-Biafra War:

part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3ReFoFp0Gs

part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0K4RrbntFE

parts 3 / 4: search for them (removed from Yutube)

part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl4YcVLxUzw

part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GecXi4xycYE

part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An7IZBBATTM

Ojukwu's speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-__6EwtRLeM

Interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiOUsXyjTZg

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on powerful words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUNdm_aN0Uc&feature=related

(this is part 1, so there are other parts, definitely part 2)

Task: Explore your thoughts on the book

Compare the worlds of The World's Wife and Purple Hibiscus.

Read Novel as a genre (Unit 8) in this book, and take notes;

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/8686058/download/121

One day in the life of Neel

     December 6th 2022, I remember this day quite vividly, as it was a rather "special day." I remember waking up somewhat earlier then usual, though albeit suffering from much more fatigue as well. I woke up to the unpleasant feeling of cold win hitting my feet which had somehow found their way out of my bed covers and laid there, out in the open. Despite the discomfort, I got off my bed and prepared myself for school, first dressing up with whatever clothing I could find (I'm not much of a stylistic individual) and then proceeded to give my pet fish their much awaited breakfast, I then went on to enjoy breakfast of my own that my mother had so lovingly made. I remember the breakfast vividly, my mother had made some of the best toast I had eaten in a while. After devouring my food I immediately headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth, however something had caught my attention, a foul an putrid smell seemed to emanate from under our dining table.

     The unholy sight laid before left me aghast, I could not help but cough and gag at the foul odor, my cat, like the vile thing it is had decided to unleash its bowels under our dining table. I acted quickly, and cleaned it as best I could, however the time was ticking and I was going to be late for school. I quickly picked up the fecal matter and tossed it in the trash, I then rushed to the bathroom, there I brushed my teeth as if there was no tomorrow and bolted to school. On numerous occasions I almost tripped and fell in the treacherous terrain, especially considering it was winter and all I had were but a measly pair of summer sneakers. After reaching school my mind went dark, and I cant quite recall the day on its own.

     I do remember the end of my day however, I remembered how dry and tired my eyes felt, as I studied some chemistry on my old monitor, I remember the great meal my mother had made, a "wine rooster" is the accurate French translation I believe. And I remember taking a nice cold shower and having the fear shaken out of me when I saw a huge house spider laying its we right by my side. Fear, disgust and fascination were the emotions I felt when I laid eyes upon the arachnid, it had a leopard like pattern I had never seen before, its huge black eyes were constantly observing me, even as it performed its task, following my every move. After contemplating whether or not to leave it alone, I decided I would not bother it, it would be a pretty useful cleaner to get rid of all the pesky silverfish I thought to myself. After that I remember feeding my fish their second and las meal of the day, chatting with friends and finally going to bed, where it took me about half an hour to finally fall asleep.

One day in the life of Sithil

 One day in the life of Sithil

The night ends the morning of December sixth begins. Sithil is warm under his blankets, asleep. The alarm rings, and he turns it off without even looking. The routine has built up muscle memory which makes the task somewhat automatic. Five minutes have passed, and he is still in his bed, hardly awake. A few more minutes passed, and he remembered he should not let his eyes close. From his experience, he knows that if he lets his eyes close, he travels forward in time, waking up an hour later than planned. Ten minutes have passed since the alarm, yet he is in bed. After stretching for a few seconds, he immediately gets out of bed. The clock shows 7:15. Twenty minutes countdown begins in his head as he rushes to get ready. After heating some oatmeal, he gulps it in less than five minutes. He quickly scans his wardrobe for an outfit and goes off to the bus stop roughly 800m away. As he walks out, the wonderful Estonian winter greets him with bitterly cold wind and a thick layer of snow. Luckily, he makes it to the bus just in time. 

For Sithil, today is a busy day, seven lessons in a row followed by a physics test. In the first two lessons, he struggles hardly to stay awake. The quietness and the boredom of the task in the biology class make his brain go numb. His neurons are still asleep, waiting for stimulation. Time passes quickly, and it is time for his physics test. Sithil panics as his friends point out some unfamiliar calculations. Nevertheless, he decides to let fate govern his grade. After looking at the test, he feels relieved. It is much easier than he had anticipated and a sense of confidence builds in him. After the test, he is surprised to see that he did well. As for the rest of his physics lesson, he tries to find a logical answer to one of the questions. After many attempts, he succeeds and heads home. He grabs some food, sits at his desk, proceeds to watch some fascinating content, and decides to make some art for the rest of the evening.

One day in the life of Enes

 One day in the life of Enes 

Enes leads a somewhat dull life. At seven in the morning, he awakens and, like any normal person, immediately shuts off his alarm and moves to the opposite side of the bed. He finally gets himself out of bed and starts his typical morning routine. This involves grooming himself, dressing, and tending to his fish. The next priority after this is catching the bus, because failing to do so would result in being late for a lesson. Before he gets to the school, however, the bus ride is a somewhat boring ten minutes, and frequently, it is packed with passengers, forcing everyone to sit uncomfortably near to one another.

He starts his first session as soon as he gets to school and will have a variety of lessons over the next six to seven hours. However, a break in between is extremely rare, and frequently, the only time he has to unwind is during his lunch break. Other times he may have an extra break, which is a great soothing touch to the day. When school is over, he gets dressed up and takes the same tedious bus ride home. Occasionally, though, he misses this bus and must travel to the city's center to catch another one. At home, getting dressed and getting some stuff to eat comes first. The next challenging task is doing all the assigned schoolwork; only then can he relax, but frequently even this isn't enough because half of the day has already passed and he still needs to feed his fish, go through his nightly routine, and prepare the bed. This cycle never ends, and it's only when school is out that Enes can actually unwind and enjoy life.