MODULE 1:

TELEPHONE
CONVERSATION

INTRODUCTION LESSON OBJECTIVE:

Telephone Conversation is a 1963 poem by the Nigerian writer Value the lessons of the
Wole Soyinka that satires racism. The poem describes a phone poem by reflecting on the
call between a landlady and the speaker, who is black, about current situation of it in the
renting an apartment. The landlady is pleasant until she learns local and global landscape
that the speaker is "African," at which point she demands to
know how "light" or "dark" the speaker's skin is. In response, the
speaker cleverly mocks the landlady’s ignorance and prejudice,
demonstrating that characterizing people by their skin color
diminishes their humanity.

PRE-ACTIVITY
Words used as labels divide people.
Think of political or social issues affecting your community or
the country. Activate your
prior
___________________________________________________
knowledge.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Share your
___________________________________________________ thoughts on the
___________________________________________________ lines provided.
___________________________________________________
____
 ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Wole Soyinka, in
___________________________________________________
full Akinwande
___________________________________________________
Oluwole ___________________________________________________
Soyinka, (born ___________________________________________________
July 13, 1934, ________________________________________________
Abeokuta, ___________________________________________________

Nigeria) ___________________________________________________

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Nigeria, country located on the western coast of Africa. Nigeria
has a diverse geography, with climates ranging from arid to
humid equatorial. However, Nigeria’s most diverse feature is its
people. Hundreds of languages are spoken in the country,
including Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, Hausa, Edo, Ibibio, Tiv, and
English. The country has abundant natural resources, notably

Flag of Nigeria
large deposits of petroleum and natural gas.

The national capital is Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory,

which was created by decree in 1976. Lagos, the former capital,
retains its standing as the country’s leading commercial and
industrial city.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Wole Soyinka, in full Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, (born July

13, 1934, Abeokuta, Nigeria), Nigerian playwright and political

Nigeria activist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.
activist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. He
sometimes wrote of modern West Africa in a satirical style, but
his serious intent and his belief in the evils inherent in the
exercise of power usually was evident in his work as well.
Soyinka was the
A member of the Yoruba people, Soyinka attended Government first black
College and University College in Ibadan before graduating in African to be
1958 with a degree in English from the University of Leeds in awarded the
England. Upon his return to Nigeria, he founded an acting Nobel Prize for
company and wrote his first important play, A Dance of the
Literature.
Forests (produced 1960; published 1963), for the Nigerian
independence celebrations. The play satirizes the fledgling
nation by stripping it of romantic legend and by showing that the
present is no more a golden age than was the past.
river. We shall be lost.

Soyinka was the first black African to be awarded the Nobel

Prize for Literature. An autobiography, Aké: The Years of
childhood, was published in 1981 and followed by the
companion pieces Ìsarà: A Voyage Around Essay (1989) and
Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years: A Memoir, 1946–1965 (1994).
In 2006 he published another memoir, You Must Set Forth at
Dawn. In 2005–06 Soyinka served on the Encyclopædia
Britannica Editorial Board of Advisors.

Soyinka has long been a proponent of Nigerian democracy. His

decades of political activism included periods of imprisonment
and exile, and he has founded, headed, or participated in
Wole Soyinka
several political groups, including the National Democratic
Organization, the National Liberation Council of Nigeria, and
Pro-National Conference Organizations (PRONACO). In 2010
Soyinka founded the Democratic Front for a People’s
Federation and served as chairman of the party.
 for a People’s Federation and served as chairman of the party.

POEM:

‘HOW DARK?’... I The price seemed reasonable, location

Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived
had not
Off premises. Nothing remained
misheard... ‘ARE
But self-confession. ‘Madam,’ I warned,
YOU LIGHT ‘I hate a wasted journey—I am African.’
Silence. Silenced transmission of
OR VERY
Pressurised good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
DARK?’
Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled
Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was, foully.
‘HOW DARK?’... I had not misheard... ‘ARE YOU LIGHT
OR VERY DARK?’ Button B. Button A. Stench
Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.
Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered
Omnibus squelching tar. It was real! Shamed
By ill-mannered silence, surrender
Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification.
Considerate she was, varying the emphasis—
‘ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?’ Revelation came.
‘You mean—like plain or milk chocolate?’
Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light
Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted,
I chose. ‘West African sepia’—and as afterthought,
“down in my passport." Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness changed her accent
Hard on the mouthpiece. ‘WHAT’S THAT?’ conceding
Racism
‘DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.’ ‘Like brunette.’
‘THAT’S DARK, ISN’T IT?’ ‘Not altogether.
Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should see
 The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet
Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused—
Foolishly madam—by sitting down, has turned
My bottom raven black—One moment madam!’—sensing
Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap
About my ears—
About my ears—‘Madam,’ I pleaded, ‘wouldn’t you rather ‘Madam,’ I
See for yourself?’ pleaded,
‘wouldn’t you
rather
See for
yourself?’

Old Telephone Booth

 REFLECTION
Poetry is an effective medium for making people aware of
racial prejudice and social injustice.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Pause for a while ___________________________________________________
and reflect on ___________________________________________________
the statement. ________________________________________________
Share your ___________________________________________________

thoughts on the ___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________
lines provided.
___________________________________________________
________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
________________________________________________