SHORT STORY ANALYSIS

"LEAVING" by M.G. Vassangi

      The story is a satire. It criticizes an East African society where nepotism is at its best. The story explores social injustice in a society where having a godfather is the only way to gain benefits and possess rights. Aloo, a young intelligent boy gets a scholarship to study at the California Institute of Technology but his mother is unwilling to let him go because she fears that she would lose her son to the 'Western society and its mannerisms' such as drugs, cultism, etc.The peak of her fears is the thought of her son marrying a White woman.
   The story also reveals the pitiable plight of widows who are not among the wealthy in the society. They are neglected and insulted. Aloo's mother is really lonely because her children are gradually leaving home and moving away from her. This is also one of the reasons she is reluctant to release Aloo for overseas studies.
    However, despite the odds, Aloo's dreams of schooling abroad are fulfilled.

POINT OF VIEW
First person point of view.

DICTION/LANGUAGE
There is a tone of lament and the author uses words that spark the imagery of uncertainty, fear of the unknown, ignorance, determination, sympathy and hope

PLOT STRUCTURE
The plot is the linear plot structure

SETTINGS
The era is the post colonial era in Eastern Africa. The geographical locations are Upanga and London.

CHARACTERIZATION
Aloo is the main character and the narrator of the story.

FOOD: COOKING FRIED RICE IN MY STYLE

COOKING FRIED RICE MY WAY

      Maybe you are a great cook reading this and you know all about the kitchen and recipes, you know how to cook and fry rice in different ways. Anyway, let's have fun as a family as I share my own recipe for fried rice with you.
      First, in my home the 'most exalted' rule for cooking outlined by my "nutrition and health conscious" father is : "DO NOT FRY OR USE CANNED FOODS". Therefore, frying is banned and we are only allowed to fry rice because of the salad which my father loves due to its nutritional content.
       One of my bad habits is my excessive love for fried food but I just had to give it up when frying was unconditionally banned in the house. Therefore, in my cooking of fried rice, I am nutrition and health conscious. Here are the steps to preparing fried rice my own way.

STEP 1: Boil the rice till it is soft with curry powder, ginger powder, garlic powder, pepper, maggi, onions, salt and meat. (Do not add oil)
STEP 2: When the rice is soft (to your taste), get another pot and pour in a little amount of oil, sliced cabbage, carrot, onions, green beans,sliced kidney and curry powder.
STEP 3: Stir for about 20 seconds and then add the rice to the mixture and keep turning it every 10 seconds
STEP 4: Stir until the color changes to a deeper shade of green.
STEP 5: Serve with salad.

HOW DO YOU PREPARE YOURS???

literary gist

The Comma Queen brings life to Victoria Literary Festival 2016

"This year's Victoria Literary Festival is all about books and grammar."

The organizers have invited the Comma Queen to this year's Victoria Literary Festival.  

The comma Queen is MARY NORRIS

LITERARY PERSONALITY: BINYAVANGA WAINAINA

THE WRITER: BINYAVANGA WAINAINA

1. His full name is Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina
2. He was born on 18th January, 1971
3. He is a Kenyan
4. His place of birth is Nakuru in Rift Valley Province, Kenya
5. He is a famous author, and do you know that he is also a journalist? He is the founding editor-in-chief of "Kwani?"
6. He won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2002 for his short story "Discovering Home"
7. He studied Commerce in the University of Transkei, South Africa
8. His work that shot him to fame is his memoir titled One Day I Will Write About This Place (published 2011)
9. His essay "How to Write About Africa " attracted the world's attention in 2005
10. He is another great cook- He is an expert on both ancient traditional and modern African dishes.
11. He is currently recovering from a stroke which affected his speech
12. He is known for his outrageous hairstyles

13. On 1st June, 2016, a racist taxi driver in Berlin attacked him before a cheering crowd
and yes...
14. He is a proud homosexual

ANOTHER ORIGIN OF DRAMA: EGYPTIAN ORIGIN

THE ABYDOS PASSION PLAY - HOW DRAMA BEGAN

       Very many years ago in Egypt, precisely around 2000 BC, the first drama was acted. Legend has it that Osiris a wise Egyptian king and great warrior was brutally murdered by his brother named Seth and the Queen of Ethiopia along with about 72 others who aided the plot. It was said that he was deceived into lying in a coffin and this coffin was immediately locked by his brother with lead and thrown into the Nile. After he died,  he was cut into many pieces and scattered. His wife Isis was angry and sorrowful and along with her son Horus vowed to avenge the death of her husband.  Isis gathered up the pieces of her husband's body, proclaimed that he had become a god and established a cult in his honor.
       Every year after that, the worshipers acted the death of Osiris which was titled, "THE ABYDOS PASSION PLAY". The drama ended with the resurrection of Osiris. It is said that in the performance of the death of Osiris often led to many deaths but the resurrection of the god Osiris, worshipers were assured that they too would resurrect.

ORIGIN OF DRAMA: GREEK ORIGIN

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

        It started like any other day in Athens in the 6th century BC but that day was special. It was the season of the festival in honour of the god Dionysus. All the people of Greece who had come from near and far to worship the god of fertility and wine gathered in the amphitheatre which was on the south of the tallest hill in the capital of Greece, Athens.
         The people shouted with glee as the a chorus of fifty men were performing the dithyramb. The people were rejoicing and some were worshiping in chants and songs praising Dionysus. Suddenly, one of the men performing the chorus jumped unto the altar stone which they surrounded and began to imitate the god Dionysus. He mimiced the god by dancing, singing, chanting and pretending to be accepting the praises. The crowd roared with excitement because this act had never been performed before but had captured the hearts of the other worshippers. The name of the  man who began to imitate the god is 'Thespis.' Thespis became the first actor, his performance was the first drama and the other worshippers became the first audience to watch a drama.

POEM: FOREVER GONE BY ADA RUCHI

FOREVER GONE by Ada RuChi

Someday I would go when I am very old

And you would see me no more

You would remember my laughter

My many smiles would flash before your face

You would hear my voice echoing through your heart

You would scream my name 

But I would not answer

You would look at my pictures

And memories would make you shiver 

You would perceive my scent but when you turn around

I won't be there

You would see those places where we usually visited

You would remember how I used to hold you there

You would cry for many days

You would wish you had held me more often

You would wish you had hugged me more dearly

And you would wish you had always told me the truth

You would remember the days when we worked and walked

You would wish you had the wheels of time in your hands

You would hope to meet me someday somewhere

You would write letters to me but I won't reply

You would call my phone but I won't answer

You would get angry and feel guilty

And then you would realize the truth

What is this truth?

That I am no more there for you

That I have traveled to a place you have never been to

That I am not so close though I lie so close

The truth is that "I am forever gone"

You would pray to see me in the best place beyond the sky 

And I would be smiling from where I am

Thinking about you and the good times we spent together.

EVERY TIME YOU MEET YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES, REMEMBER THIS POEM!!!