Africa, my Africa 5 10
by David Diop Africa, my Africa Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs Africa of whom my grandmother sings On the banks of the distant river I have never known you But your blood flows in my veins Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the field The blood of your sweat The sweat of your work The work of your slavery The slavery of your children Africa, tell me Africa.
Glossary warriors: fighters
ancestral: belonging to the ancestors
savannahs: wide grasslands distant: far away
irrigates: to water the land for growing crops
After reading Answer the following questions about the poem.
1 Work in a group to answer these questions. a. Do you think the poet lives in Africa? Say why or why not. b. What is really irrigating the field in line 7? c. Where are the fields that are being irrigated in line 10? d. What message about Africa does the poet want to tell us? Give a reason for your answer.
e. What is the mood of the poem? Choose one of the options below. Use information from the poem to give a reason for your choice. A sad
B proud C angry
2 Below are some examples of personification and of metaphor. Work with a partner. Copy and complete the table on page 28. Identify whether each example is personification or metaphor. The first one has been done as an example. a. The clouds wept grey tears b. And the hills frowned angrily in the distance c. And the thorn bushes tore at them with their sharp claws d. But at last the sun smiled down at them e. And the travellers pricked up their ears when they heard the sounds of music.
Term 1: Unit 2, Tell us about it 27
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