CLARIN NATIONAL SCHOOL OF FISHERIES

Poblacion Sur, Clarin, Bohol

Subject: ENGLISH 8 Teacher: MRS. MARIE FLOR I. BONGATO COPY NO: _______
=========================================================================
QUARTER: 1ST
LESSON 1: AFRICAN LITERARY GENRES
OBJECTIVES: Describe the notable literary genres contributed by African writers.
Illustrate understanding on the literary genres through graphic organizers.
REFERENCE: Ready-Made Lesson Plan supplied by DepEd
=========================================================================
INTRODUCTION:
What would you like to know about our African neighbors? In this lesson, you will be
armed with a map to guide you in your quest for knowledge, a compass to direct you to have a
better understanding of the Afro-Asian cultures, and a magnifying lens to highlight significant
discoveries. Your journey in searching for knowledge about Afro-Asian traditions and values will
strengthen your identity that will lead you to a better understanding of your being a Filipino and
an Asian. You will discover that oral literature and informative texts reflect the tradition and
values of Afro-Asian countries.

DAY 1

Task 1: Study the pictures below and identify each picture. Write the letter on your answer sheet.

1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

A. Safari
B. Slavery and Oppression
C. Nelson Madela
D. Pyramids in Egypt
E. Hieroglypics
TASK 2: Answer the following questions in two sentences:
1. What does each picture tell you?
2. What can you say about Africa?

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African revolutionary political leader, and
philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was
the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative
democratic election.

DAY 2: Read the attached literary texts to determine the literary genres.

TASK 1: Write at least two sentences about the given texts.

NO. LITERARY TEXT SENTENCES
1 Short Story 1.
2.
2 Poem 1.
2.
3 Folktale 1.
2.
4 Drama 1.
2.
5 Non-Fiction Text 1.
2.
TASK 2: What are the literary genres of the African literature?

DAY 3:
TASK 1: Read and Copy Concept Notes:
 African literature - the body of traditional oral and written literatures in Afro-Asiatic and
African languages together with works written by Africans in European languages.
 Traditional written literature is limited to a smaller geographic area
 Oral literature is mostly characterized as those sub-Saharan cultures that have
participated in the cultures of the Mediterranean.
All writings fall into a category or genre. There are five main genres of writing: fiction,
nonfiction, poetry, drama, and folklore. Every piece of writing can fall into one of these
categories. Each main genre has a group of subgenres. Each subgenre has as set of
characteristics that you must learn in order to identify them.
1. FICTION: stories that come from the author’s imagination.
 Historical Fiction: based on a person or event from history.
 Science Fiction: dealing with aliens, the distant future, or advanced technology.
 Fantasy: containing monsters, magic, or other supernatural elements.
 Realistic Fiction: a story that could have happened, but didn’t.
Examples: The Two Brothers, The Hands of the Blacks
2. NONFICTION: writing that is true or factual.
 Informational Writing: provides information on a topic.
 Persuasive Writing: attempts to influence the reader.
 Autobiography: the story of one’s life told by oneself.
 Biography: the story of one’s life told by another.
Example: Biography of Nelson Mandela
 3. DRAMA: writing that is meant to be acted on a stage (a play).
 Comedy: has a happy ending.
 Tragedy: ends in death and sadness.
Examples: Strike and Hunger in 1954; Tiger’s Empire
4. POETRY:  writing that is concerned with the beauty of language
For African poets, poetry became a powerful medium through which they conveyed
the world audience, not only their despairs and hopes, the enthusiasm and empathy the
thrill of joy and the stab of pain but also a nation’s history as it moved from freedom to
slavery , slavery to revolution, from revolution to independence and from independence
to tasks of reconstruction which further involves situations of failure and disillusion.
(Iyengar, 15)
5. FOLKLORE: stories handed down through speech from generation to generation.
 Fairy Tale: a story with magic, monsters, and/or talking animals (like fiction /
fantasy, but part of the oral tradition).
 Fable: a very short story that has a moral or life lesson; usually has talking animals
as main characters.
 Myth: has gods or goddesses and often accounts for how something came to be.
 Legend: an exaggerated story about something that may have been real at one
time.
 Tall Tale: stories set in the Wild West; the main character’s strengths, skills, or size
have been exaggerated and the tone is funny.
Examples: Hippos Don’t Eat Fish; Nyami Nyam – The Zambezi River God; The Tortoise
And The Birds; African King – This Is Good; Faithless One; Guinea Fowl Child; How The
Ostrich Got His Long Neck

DAY 4:
APPLICATION: DETERMINE THE GENRE OF THE LITERARY PIECE
1. GIZO AND THE LIZARD
This tale is about Gizo and the Lizard. One day in an isolated town there lived a
king who had a beautiful daughter. They tried and tried to find a suitable husband for her
but failed. They could not find a man she liked.
2. FROM WEEP NOT CHILD
Ngotho left early for work. He did not go through the fields as was his usual custom.
Ngotho loved the rainy seasons when everything was green and the crops in flower, and
the morning dew hung on the leaves. But the track where he had disturbed the plants and
made the water run off made him feel as if, through his own fault, he had lost something.
There was one time when he had felt a desire to touch the dewdrops or open one and see
what it held inside. He had trembled like a child but, after he had touched the drops and
they had quickly lost shape melting into wetness, he felt ashamed and moved on. At times
he was thankful to Murungu for no apparent reason as he went through these cultivated
fields all alone while the whole country had a stillness. Almost like the stillness of death.
3. A HANDFUL OF DATES
I must have been very young at the time while I don’t remember exactly how old I
was. I do remember that when people saw me with my grandfather they would pat me on
the head and give my cheek a pinch – things they didn’t do to my grandfather. The strange
thing was that I never used to go out with my father; rather it was my grandfather who
would take me with him wherever he went, except for the mornings, when I would go to
the mosque to learn the Koran. The mosque, the river, and the fields – these were the
landmarks in our life. While most of the children of my age grumbled at having to go to the
mosque to learn the Koran, I used to love it.
4. DREAMS OF TRESPASS
The problem with entertainment, fun, and foolishness at our house was that they
could easily be missed. They were never planned in advance unless Cousin Chama or
Aunt Habiba were in charge, and even then, they were subject to serious space
constraints. Aunt Habiba’s story-telling and Chama’s theatre plays had to take place
upstairs. You could never really have fun for long in the courtyard; it was too public. Just
as you were starting to have a good time, the men would come in with their own projects,
which often involved a great deal of discussion, such as going over business matters, or
listening to the radio and debating the news, or card playing, and then you would have to
move elsewhere. Good entertainment needs concentration and silence in order for the
masters of ceremony, the storytellers and the actors to create their magic. You could not
create magic in the courtyard, where dozens of people were constantly crossing from one
salon to the other, popping in and out of the corner staircases, or talking back and forth to
one another from one floor to the next. And you certainly could not create magic when the
men were talking politics, that is, listening to the radio on the loudspeakers, or reading the
local and international press.
5. The Trees
In their nakedness
the winter trees laugh
at our inability
to shed the clothes
of our past seasons.
6. KINJEKETILE 
Scene I
Night. Enter Ngulumbalyo, carrying a torch. He goes to Kitunda’s house.
NGULUMBALYO: (calling) Bwana Kitunda!
KITUNDA: Coming. (He comes out.) Ready?
NGULUMBALYO: Ready. (He raises his torch in a signal. From the opposite side a return
signal is given, and from another side yet another signal. From each side emerges a
delegate, and they all converge to the centre. The people with torches leave.)
MKICHI: Where is Kinjeketile?
KITUNDA: I don’t think he will come today. I haven’t spoken to him for many days, I only
see him at a distance now and then. We had better start now.
 ANSWER SHEET

Name:_________________________________________ Score: ______________

Grade and Section: ______________ Date: ______________
Teacher: Mrs. Marie Flor I. Bongato Subject: ENGLISH 8
QUARTER: 1ST
LESSON 1: AFRICAN LITERARY GENRES
=========================================================================
DAY 1
TASK 1:
1. 3. 5.
2. 4.

TASK 2:
Picture No. 1
Sentence 1:
Sentence 2:
Picture No. 2
Sentence 1:
Sentence 2:
Picture No. 3
Sentence 1:
Sentence 2:
Picture No. 4
Sentence 1:
Sentence 2:
Picture No. 5
Sentence 1:
Sentence 2:
WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT AFRICA?
Sentence 1:
Sentence 2:
DAY 2:
TASK 1: Write at least two sentences about the given texts.
NO. LITERARY TEXT SENTENCES
1 Short Story 1.
2.
2 Poem 1.
2.
3 Folktale 1.
2.
4 Drama 1.
2.
5 Non-Fiction Text 1.
2.
TASK 2: WHAT ARE THE LITERARY GENRES OF THE AFRICAN LITERATURE?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

DAY 3: COPY CONCEPT NOTES IN A SEPARATE SHEET OF BONDPAPER. WRITE YOUR

NAME ON THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF YOUR BONDPAPER.

DAY 4: GIVE THE CORRECT ANSWER.

APPLICATION: DETERMINE THE GENRE OF THE LITERARY PIECE
1. GIZO AND THE LIZARD = _________________________
2. FROM WEEP NOT CHILD = _________________________
3. A HANDFUL OF DATES = _________________________
4. DREAMS OF TRESPASS = _________________________
5. THE TREES = _________________________
6. KINJEKETILE = _________________________