Daniel Lopez 12/19/2013 English 12

An African Reflective

Many of the thoughts and ideas Ive had, have been either tweaked or concurred after spending quite some time reading over the many literary works covering Africas culture and history. African folktales, novels, and news articles were studied and applied into writing assignments in hopes to help better explore and learn traditional African culture. Through the process of these writing assignments, I found that many of my experiences have been similar in the way they felt compared to the situations seen in the African material studied .After having a strong sense of how the people of Africa face their afflictions, there has been the aspiration to be among the likes of them. As a result of studying African culture and its unique people I now have a greater understanding of the incidents Ive seen. Upon the first readings of an African folktale, I was able to tell that folktales in Africa were essentially told to teach good ethics for men, women, and children .African folktales are filled with very dynamic settings, plots and characters that help to identify what the story is trying to convey. These folktales often go along the line of explaining questions many people have about nature; like why isnt every piece of land on earth connected to each other? Once questions have been answered, morals are also put in these African folktales to help people confront bad and unwanted characteristics like trickery, laziness, and an anger that leads to horrific actions that follow into bad reputation. After reading these folktales it is easier to understand how some characteristics can either hurt or help someone when facing adversities. African folktales have been a key source to teach men, women, and children the traits necessary to live a well-mannered lifestyle. Reading Africa news articles have taught me a great deal about why Africa is having trouble shaping their economic future. Ive read about the hunger issues and the causes of civil unrest and how both put the people of Africa under the impression that there is no way out their unbearable conditions. When writing a summary of both these situations, I often thought about the predicaments of African

Daniel Lopez 12/19/2013 English 12 authorities due to the outbreak of unsettling events. Furthermore it was angering to find many communities suffering financially regardless of a government held liable to tend to the needs of African citizens. I was also surprised to see how despite leadership efforts to steward Africa and its people, many rebel groups have come out to fight against its own government because of corruption and lack of aid to people in need. News articles on African situations have given me a better understanding of the reasons behind Africas slow and painful progress toward a more stable and secure future. Out of all the reading material I covered, Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart has to be the most helpful piece of literature in learning about African culture. Before I read the great piece of work, I knew that most of what African culture includes was not easily acceptable by Anglo American culture. That the traditional practices many villages perform can be absurd and therefore be obscure to the colonist whose solution to the sight of such events was to apprehend and confront an indigenous people without any respect or patience. I just was not expecting how much of it was going to be relatable to people reading it today. Reading this novel allowed me to get a very up close view of what villages had to face when the colonist era had appeared. Chinua Achebe, because of his roots and background was entitled to show not just what people had done to live among the colonist but inputted their the many thoughts, worries, and hardships a village was to endure. There are many passages within Things Fall Apart that explain what a character is feeling, and shows what their gut is telling them to do about their current predicaments. The passages go to show how the colonist had affected the villagers abilities to make ultimatums for them to survive among colonist whom would eventually take power of the land. From the reading of this book I had been able to have a much deeper understanding of the African culture and its archaic practices. Kaffir Boy was another of the books that were read that further allowed me to experience the horrible accounts that Africans had faced during the years of Apartheid. The book followed the accounts

Daniel Lopez 12/19/2013 English 12 of a boy named Johannes who grew up during the years Apartheid was enforced by authorities who favored European interests. I found out that there was an enormous gap between the rich and poor, there were communities not so far from each other and the differences can be seen on first sight from large house with grand gardens to a place full of garbage and shantytowns made from scraps of cheap material. Living in Apartheid for an African meant they were not allowed to own property, and werent allowed to be unemployed. Africans were to pay a series of taxes to keep their passbooks up to date, and were to be caught without it. Police were brutal and had no respect for children, they often raided the poor communities to look for criminals, the unemployed or people without up to date passbooks. Families barely made ends meets, and struggled financially, some families eventually could afford food for their children. Kaffir boy had lead me to think about the many things people can take for granted, and has explained to me a great deal who a child can end up being just from how their parents had raised them through strict discipline. Studying African culture and its history has taught me of the many challenges people can face as well as the reasons behind Africas slow economic improvement. I enjoyed reading through the African material given to me and would gladly continue to do research of my own on African culture and its history. I also enjoyed relating and contemplating to the meanings of decisions carried out by the characters within the stories we read. Many of the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs Ive had have been either tweaked or concurred after spending quite some time reading over the many literary works covering Africas culture and history.