English Literature / Unit 18 ENL 1729 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Reading a Postcolonial Work by Description
The idea
Postcolonial works appear on the exam described rather than quoted, so read the description for four things. First, the place: Nigeria, South Africa, the Caribbean, India, Canada, Australia or migrant London. Second, the relation to empire: a story of colonial arrival, as in Things Fall Apart; of independence, as in Midnight's Children; of apartheid, as in Gordimer; or of migration, as in The Lonely Londoners. Third, the language choice: English, creolised English or a turn to an African language, as Ngũgĩ chose. Fourth, any classic the work answers: Jane Eyre, Homer or Conrad. Then name the work and author by combining the place, the moment and the response.
In practice
Place, empire, language, the answered classic.
Where people slip
A description of a classic rewritten points to writing back. Check which classic is answered before choosing.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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