NAME:_________________________

ANANSI
By Alistair Campbell

STUDY GUIDE
(CSEC prep, 2023-2027)
to be used in conjunction with the Oxford Playscripts text ISBN 978-1-4085-1999-8
and CXC CSEC English B Study Guide

1st 2nd 3rd

CLOSE READING Checklist Level Level Level
About the Play; Characters - pp.4-6
The Good Ship Hope West African Coast, 1791 - pp.7-13
The Forest of Stories - pp.14-18
On Board - pp.19-22
The Forest of Stories - pp.23-29
QUIZ #1
On Board - pp.30-34
The Forest of Stories - pp.35-41
On Board - pp.42-43
Kingston Harbour - pp.44-45
The Forest of Stories - pp.46-52
Kingston Harbour - p.53
QUIZ #2
ESSAY EXAM

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Studying DRAMA:

● There is particular vocabulary that is used when writing about drama (versus fiction or
poetry). Some of the most important of these words and concepts include:
o Act, Aside, Allusion, Backdrop, Chorus, Costume, Comedic Device, Conflict (external
and internal), Context (social, cultural, historical), Dramatic Device (i.e. Irony),
Dialogue, Dialect, Diction, Facial Expression, Figurative Language, Hyperbole, Imagery,
Irony, Language, Lighting, Malapropism, Metaphor, Mood, Music, Motif, Mythology,
Parallel, Paradox, Playwright, Plot, Prop, Prose, Pun, Rhetoric, Rhyme, Rhythm, Scene,
Script, Set, Setting, Soliloquy, Speaker, Spectacle, Stage Direction (right-center-left from
audience), Stress, Sub Plot, Syllables (strong or weak), Theme
● In addition, there are particular types of language that are used in drama.
o Blank Verse
o Rhyming Verse
o Prose dialogue
o Lyrical Prose
o Iambic Prose
● Keep in mind that everything you read is also meant to seen and heard – it is a play, a
literary work created to be acted. For example, pay attention to the stage directions,
and to how the dialogue might sound. Also, remember that dialogue is generally the
only way in which a playwright can deliver information to us, the audience.
● There is also the concept of the “Unities of Place, Time, and Action” in drama.
● CSEC’s Drama-specific questions will focus on the characters (including relationships
between characters and the situations in which the characters find themselves), the
setting where the action takes place, and the language of the play. These topics are
in addition to plot, themes, imagery, and (both internal and external) conflicts.
● Generally, plays may be placed in one of four categories: comedy, tragedy,
tragicomedy, or melodrama. Anansi is considered a tragicomedy, which is usually a
play which contains elements of both tragedy and comedy. The characters are often
exaggerated and there are some elements of comedy throughout.
● Due to its “unconventional form and seemingly estranged scenes … Anansi is a modern
… drama.” (CXC, 48) The play could also be considered “political satire” (CXC, 48) due
to its approach to and perspective of issues of power.
● Because this play is also a “folk-fable” or “folktale” (a traditional story or narrative
told to entertain or teach a moral point), it is implicit that we, the audience, should
be looking for elements of West African (Ashanti) and Caribbean culture throughout.

Studying Anansi
Learning about the CONTEXT of the story
● This drama is set on a ship sailing from somewhere in West Africa to Kingston
Harbour, Jamaica in 1791. People who are about to be enslaved are the ship’s
primary “cargo.” The Captain and crew of the ship are European, most likely

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 English. This drama depicts events that happened during the transatlantic slave
trade, or Middle Passage.
● Watch:
o Impact of the Slave Trade: Through a Ghanaian Lens. 14:47 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-To3HWs9l8
o The Atlantic Slave Trade: Crash Course Black American History #1 13:07
minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S72vvfBTQws&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNYJO8JWpXO2JP0ezgxsrJJ&index=2
o Life Aboard a Slave Ship. 05:00 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmQvofAiZGA
o The Atlantic Slave Trade: Crash Course World History #24. 11:07 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnV_MTFEGIY
o The Atlantic slave trade: What too few textbooks told you - Anthony
Hazard. 05:38 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NXC4Q_4JVg
● Consider the importance of oral storytelling as a cultural tradition; according
to the CXC Study Guide, “this is why in the play, you can see that Anansi has
good oral skills and can manipulate all the animals that cross his path.” (46)

Learning about Anansi Stories

● See the uploaded “Anansi Background Reading” .pdf
● From the CXC Study Guidde, “Based on an African myth, it is said that Anansi
was once a man and his father, a great sky god, changed him into a spider due
to his bad ways. As such, the stories that center on Anansi all delve into his sly
and manipulative ways.” (47)

Studying SYMBOLS, IMAGERY, and LITERARY DEVICES in Anansi:

Consider the following in your 2nd Level Analysis
● “The Good Ship Hope” ● Irony
● Nature ● Imagery
● Animals ● Simile
● Anansi ● Metaphor
● Tiger ● Personification
● Girl ● Rhyming Couplets
● Captain ● Biblical Allusion

Studying THEMES in Anansi:

Consider the following in your 3rd Level Analysis
● Good v. Evil ● Power
● Colonialism ● Identity
● Nature (and humanity’s place in the ● Dreams/ Imagination
natural world) ● Resistance

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 ● Hope ● Perspective
● Alienation ● Prejudice
● Violence ● Greed
● Nonviolence ● Freedom

Use the following as a Guide to help hone your studies …

The Good Ship Hope West African Coast, 1791 - pp.7-13
Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Boy
● Captain
● Girl
● Sailor
● Woman
Questions to consider:
● What is ironic about the name of the ship?
● What mood does Campbell create with the first three lines of dialogue?
● What is Campbell’s purpose in using a common noun to define a character?
● What is the impact of stage directions given in an imperative tone (i.e. “Listen” and “Look”)?
● Why does Campbell create the character of Boy to be sensitive and inquisitive? What impact
does this have on the audience?
● How does Boy’s use of diction differ from that of his father? Why does Campbell do this?
● What is Woman’s goal in her interactions with Girl?
● What is the impact of the structure (or lack of structure) on the plot, characters, and overall
themes?
● How is setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?
~~~~~~~~~~
CLOSE READING, pp. 8-9
GIRL Where are we? Are we going to die? What is this place, with all the people tied together
and so much crying and fear? And why has the world come to an end? … Where is my
mother? Where did all the pale men come from? Why don’t you answer me?
…
BOY [Reading] Yesterday we put in to the West African coast for the last time before the long
haul to the Indies. I was looking forward to coming on this trip with Father: I really was. I
thought we’d be away for a few months, and I knew we’d be coming back to Bristol with
rum and coffee. I did not think to be so puzzled. No answers come to my questions. Who
were those people on the shore? Herded together like cattle. Some of them were crying
and falling down with fear. Some were whipped and beaten. …

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The Forest of Stories - pp.14-18
Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Anansi (is he a villain or a hero?)
● Tiger
● Snake
Questions to consider:
● How does this section of the drama serve to highlight the cultural and contextual importance of
oral storytelling?
● After reading page 14, see Question 24 on page 63 of the Oxford text.
● When Anansi says, “Tiger, Tiger burning bright” on page 15, the playwright is referencing
William Blake’s famous poem, “The Tyger.” Read that poem and consider why the playwright
makes this literary link.
● How does Campbell use typical poetic forms (i.e. rhyming couplets) in the dialogue in this
section? How does this impact the audience?
● Why does the playwright shift from poetic form to prose form, going back and forth?
● What moral issue(s) is(are) explored in these particular stories?
● What is the impact of the structure (or lack of structure) on the plot, characters, and overall
themes?
● How is this setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?
● At the end of this section, see Question 4 on page 54 of the Oxford text.

On Board - pp.19-22
Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Girl
● Woman
● Boy
● Captain
● Sailor
Questions to consider:
● What is the impact of stage directions given in an imperative tone (i.e. “Listen” and “See”)?
● What is Campbell’s purpose in using a common noun to define a character?
● What is Woman’s goal in her interactions with Girl?
● How does Campbell use ironic diction in this section?
● What is the purpose of the Sailor/Boy interlude on page 22?
● What is the impact of the structure (or lack of structure) on the plot, characters, and overall
themes?
● How is this setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?

The Forest of Stories - pp.23-29

Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Animals
● Servant
● King
● Gran

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 ● Soliday
● Mancrow
● Anansi (is he a villain or a hero?)
● Patricia
● Arabella
● Bob
● Servants
Questions to consider:
● What is the impact of alliteration at the beginning of this section?
● What moral issue(s) is(are) explored in these particular stories?
● What is the purpose of the title, “The Initiation,” for the section starting on page 25?
● What is the role of Gran in “The Initiation” section? Why is her diction repeated by King on
page 29?
● What is the impact of the structure (or lack of structure) on the plot, characters, and overall
themes?
● How is this setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~QUIZ #1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Board - pp.30-34
Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Girl
● Woman
● Sailor
● Boy (in what way is his behavior ironic?)
● Captain
Questions to consider:
● What is Campbell’s purpose in using a common noun to define a character?
● What is Woman’s goal in her interactions with Girl? Why does Woman teach compassion and
nonviolence? Why does she invoke issues of morality and choice on page 30? In what way is this
ironic?
● What is the impact of stage directions given in an imperative tone (i.e. “Smell” and “Hear”)?
● How does Boy’s use of diction differ from that of his father and of Sailor? Why does Campbell
do this?
● What are Girl and Woman revealing to us about Anansi’s WEB?
● What is the impact of the structure (or lack of structure) on the plot, characters, and overall
themes?
● How is this setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?
● Why does this section end with the imperative, “Listen to my story”?

The Forest of Stories - pp.35-41

Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Ratbat
● Anansi (is he a villain or a hero?)

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 ● Tiger
● Monkey
● Parrot
● Centipede
● 23 Gerbils
Questions to consider:
● Why does the playwright have Ratbat sing a 1960s pop song (Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow
Polka Dot Bikini)? What might Campbell be trying to achieve with the diction “itsy bitsy”?
● How does Campbell highlight the importance of songs and music in these pages? Why does he
do so?
● What moral issue(s) is(are) explored in these particular stories?
● What is the impact of the structure (or lack of structure) on the plot, characters, and overall
themes?
● How is this setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?
● Why do we have the stage direction, “Appearing out of thin air” on page 41?
● What is Campbell saying about pride and ego in this section?
● How does Campbell use rhyme/ repetition/ simile/ all capitals/ ellipses in this section?

On Board - pp.42-43
Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Girl
● Woman
● Boy
● Captain
Questions to consider:
● What is Campbell’s purpose in using a common noun to define a character?
● What is Woman’s goal in her interactions with Girl? What was her ultimate lesson?
● What are Girl and Woman revealing to us about Anansi’s WEB?
● After reading page 42, see Question 5 on pages 54-55 of the Oxford text.
● What is the role of song and music in this section?
● What is the impact of the structure (or lack of structure) on the plot, characters, and overall
themes?
● How is this setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?

Kingston Harbour - pp.44-45

Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Sailor
● Boy
● Auctioneer
● Girl
Questions to consider:
● What is Sailor “swigging” from his flask?
● What tone do you imagine Boy is speaking in? Has his character developed since we first met
him on page 7?

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 ● How is this setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?
● Does Auctioneer’s diction sound more like Captain’s or more like Boy’s? What is your analysis of
this?
● What is the impact of the scene freezing and Girl breaking the fourth wall to talk directly to
“us”?
● Do an analysis of the diction Girl uses to introduce her Anansi story.

The Forest of Stories - pp.46-52

Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Her (why this pronoun?)
● Dog
● Cat
● Crab
● Anansi (is he a villain or a hero? is he “an archetype of the imagination of the black slaves to
survive the hardships of slavery”? [CXC, 51])
● Girl (why do we see her in “The Forest of Stories” section this time?)
Questions to consider:
● What moral issue(s) is(are) explored in these particular stories?
● What is the role of the calabash? What might it symbolize?
● What happens “At the River” and what might the river symbolize?
● How is this setting portrayed? What is the impact of the setting? How does Campbell make the
setting clear? Does Campbell associate a mood with the setting?
● Why is her name “Lillibet”? To whom could this allude?
● At the end of this section, see Question 3 on page 54 of the Oxford text.
● What is the overall message/ didactic purpose of this particular section in the Forest of Stories?

Kingston Harbour - p.53

Characters (Appearance, Speech, Personality [motives, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts])
● Auctioneer
● Girl
Questions to consider:
● What was Woman’s goal, in the stories she told Girl? Did she achieve this goal?
● What is the impact of the final declarative statement from Girl, “Remember her”?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~QUIZ #2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Overall Questions to Consider (from CXC Study Guide)
● How many serious scenes are in the play? How many comic scenes? How do they relate
to each other?
● Consider a revision table, similar to this (49):

Ship Scenarios in the play Forest Scenarios in the play Similarities/ Differences

● How are the themes of the play explored through character contrasts?
● What moral issues are explored in this drama?
● What stereotypes has the playwright captured in this drama?
● Examine the relationships of these characters at the beginning and at the end of the
play (51):
○ Boy + Girl
○ Woman + Girl
○ Boy + Captain
○ Anansi + Soliday
○ also consider the different perspectives of the characters
● “In the play, several characters … have abused their power … explain how they have
abused their positions of authority.” (52)
● How does the playwright show Boy and Girl in terms of childhood experiences and loss
of innocence?
● How does Campbell portray the female characters in this play?
● “Consider Boy’s opportunities on the ship for growth and development. Comment on
the father’s response to his logs in the diary. Also, comment on the words of the Sailor
when he says to Boy, ‘you think too much and some thoughts is plain dangerous.’” (53)

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 EXAM Prep; Possible Exam Questions

1. Discuss the themes of power and oppression in the drama, in relation to each of the
characters below:
a. Anansi
b. Tiger
c. Her

2. Discuss the dramatic role that each of the following characters plays:
a. Woman
b. Captain
c. Explain how these two characters contribute to the themes of this drama

3. Discuss Campbell’s use of two contrasting settings throughout this drama.

4. Discuss Campbell’s use of character parallelism in this drama.

5. Discuss the symbolic importance that each of the following plays throughout the drama:
a. The ship itself
b. Boy’s diary
c. Explain how these symbols contribute to the themes of this drama

6. Discuss the metaphoric significance of the Middle Passage itself, as a journey, in relation
to:
a. The theme of identity
b. The theme of power

7. Discuss the dramatic impact of Anansi’s unique speech patterns throughout the drama
(sometimes use of rhyme or song; quick-witted responses, etc.) relative to one of the
themes in this drama.

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