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Bibliography
Abdi, Safi. The Ruined House of Somalia. 17 May 2006. AuthorsDen, Inc. 29 October 2007 <http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewPoetry.asp?id=159801>.Garuf, Rashid. The Republic of Somaliland: Chronology of a Nation. 21 August 2001.Somaliland Forum. 29 October 2007 < http://somalilandforum.org/sl/2001/08/21/the-republic-of-somaliland-chronology-of-a-nation/
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Lewis, I.M. From Colonial Partition to Post-Colonial Revolution. 20 March 2004.Somoliland.Org. 26 October 2007 <http://www.somaliland.org/archives/?ID=04032004>."Somalia: History, Geography, Government, and Culture." Infoplease. 2000-2007 PearsonEducation, publishing as Infoplease.30 Oct. 2007<http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107979.html>.The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. Somalia. October 2007. TheOffice of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. 29 October 2007<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2863.htm>.
 
 
Melinda DangEnglish 3
Text and Context Research Experience
When Europeans countries scrambled for territory in Africa during the nineteenthcentury,the constant changes in government created long term conflicts within the continent. Somalia has been divided and united since the 1800’s. Writers have since begun to convey the depth of pastand present events through poetry, short stories, and other works of literature. One such writer who is known as Safi Abdi uses personification and other literary devices to portray the political collapse of Africa in 1991.“The Ruined House,” written by Safi Abdi talks about his present stay at his hometownwhere the influence of Somalia’s past has wrought the current atmosphere in Somalia. In the political history of Somalia, in the year of 1991, the Barre regime of Somalia ended. The Barreregime was marked by Siad Barre’s political strategies of oppressing his opponents withdifferent forms of crude punishment. Efforts to unseat Barre resulted in a Civil war that haltedfood production in Somalia. Famine created poverty and that is indirectly shown in “The RuinedHouse,” when Abdi writes: “A disheveled kid rushed on the road, A rusty AK-47 his onlyConsort (Abdi).” In this quote, the significance of the AK-47 is its symbol of warfare. The gun isthechild’s only consort, meaning that it was his only companion. The child has no food with himand that represents the famine. The child in itself is a symbol of Africa. With this phrase, Abdishows the innocence of the African people as though they are childish with a gun and don’tknow what to do with it, Africa didn’t know which direction to go in the war. Africa is personified by Abdi throughout the whole poem.In another instance, Abdi tells Africa to grow up: “Grow up, Africa! Your desperation’s
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