Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

Lesson 1
African History and Literature
Table of Contents
Learning Competencies 1
Specific Objectives 1
Learning Content 1
Topic 1
Materials 1
References 1
Time frame: 90 minutes 1
Learning Activities 2
Essential Question 2
Motivation 2
Warm Up! 2
Lesson Proper 2
Springboard 2
Unlocking of Difficulty 3
Presentation of Lesson 3
Discussion 3
Evaluation 5
Analysis 5
Short Response Questions 6
Values Integration 7
Synthesis 7
Synthesis Activity 7
Possible answers to the Essential Question: 7
Assignment/Agreement 8

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

Unit 1 | African Literature

Lesson 1: African History and Literature

Learning Competencies
The learner
● describes the notable literary genres contributed by African writers (EN8LT-Ia-8).

Specific Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to:
● describe the notable literary genres contributed by African writers.

Learning Content
A. Topic
African History and Literature

B. Materials
● Presentation slides
● Study guide
● Copies of “​The Gift of a Cow Tail Switch​”
● Copies of an excerpt from “​To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth​,”
a poem by Phillis Wheatley
● Copies of “​I Am Prepared to Die​” (an excerpt) by Nelson Mandela

C. References
Quipper Study Guide: ​Grade 8 Unit 1: African Literature

D. Time frame: 90 minutes

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

Learning Activities

Essential Question
1. If using technology, refer to slide 4 of the slide presentation.
2. If not using technology, write it on the board.
“How did African history contribute to the development of its literature?”
3. Instruct students to reflect on the question for a minute; to aid in the reflection, you
may ask them to recall their lessons on history and relate these to their lessons on
literature (e.g., Filipino history and how it affected Filipino literature). Call on a few to
give responses, while ensuring that there are enough responses that show how
African history might have affected African literature.

A. Motivation

Warm Up!

1. If using technology, instruct students to take a look at slide 5 of the presentation

slides.
2. If not using technology, give/write the following instructions:
a. On a sheet of paper, write everything that comes to your mind when you think of
African literature.
b. After five minutes, find a partner and share your work with each other.
3. You may call volunteers or selected pairs to share their work. You may ask the
presenters to write their ideas on the board, or write them yourself as they speak.

B. Lesson Proper

Springboard

After the warm-up activity, you may transition into the lesson proper by having the
class re-examine the ideas that they shared. You may say, “These are our existing
ideas about Africa and its literature. Let us see how these relate to the experiences
of Africans throughout history and how this collective experience influenced their
literature.”

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

Unlocking of Difficulty

The following vocabulary words may be discussed prior to the discussion proper, or
as the discussion proceeds. If using technology, refer to slide 6 of the presentation.
If not, you may write the sample sentences on the board, and/or ask volunteers to
come up with a sentence of their own.

1. servitude​ - (noun) the state of being under control of someone more powerful
Filipinos lived in s​ ervitude​ under the Spanish for 333 years.
2. diaspora​ - (noun) dispersion or the scattering of a group of people
Scholars refer to the migration of millions of OFWs as the “Filipino ​diaspora​.”
3. pseudonym​ - (noun) a pen name or a fictitious name used by some authors
Our literature teacher wrote romance novelettes under a ​pseudonym​ to earn
extra income while remaining anonymous.
4. emancipation ​- (noun) freedom from slavery
Filipinos and Mexicans alike fought for e​ mancipation​ from Spanish rule.
5. secular​ - (adjective) not bound by religious control
A s​ ecular​ government is better able to provide the needs of a citizenry with
multiple religious groups.

Presentation of Lesson

1. After introducing the vocabulary, proceed to the lesson proper.

2. Instruct the students to read an excerpt of the poem, ​“To the Right Honourable
WILLIAM, Earl of Dartmouth”​ by Phillis Wheatley.
3. A link to the PDF copy is embedded in slide 17.

Presentation File Link

Discussion

Reading Selection

After discussing the lesson in the study guide, distribute copies of the following
folktale for discussion. You may print out the story from h​ ere​.

The Gift of a Cow Tail Switch

A West African Tale

A great warrior did not return from the hunt. His family gave him up for dead, all
except his youngest child who each day would ask, "Where is my father? Where is
my father?"

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

The child's older brothers, who were magicians, finally went forth to find him.
They came upon his broken spear and a pile of bones. The first son assembled
the bones into a skeleton; the second son put flesh upon the bones; the third son
breathed life into the flesh.

The warrior arose and walked into the village where there was great celebration.
He said, "I will give a fine gift to the one who has brought me back to life."

Each one of his sons cried out, "Give it to me, for I have done the most."

"I will give the gift to my youngest child," said the warrior. "For it is this child who
saved my life. A man is never truly dead until he is forgotten!"

Analysis of the Text

Use the following analysis as reference:

The folktale T​ he Gift of the Cow Tail Switch​ is a tale about the importance of memory.
It emphasizes how remembering people, historical events, traditions, and other
aspects of culture are vital in preserving the identity of a community.

In the tale, the past that the community must preserve is embodied by the “great
warrior” who “did not return from the hunt.” The family, representing the tribe or
community, gave up on the great warrior, except for the youngest child, who
continued to ask about his missing father. This youngest child represents the
present generation of the tribe, who remember their father, the great warrior of the
past, and are determined to find him.

The older magician brothers, who represent the rest of the tribe, go forth to find
their father because of the youngest child’s persistence. They possess the means to
bring the great warrior back​—​and they do so, with their magic​—b​ ut it is clear that
they were motivated not just by their youngest brother or even love for their
missing father. Later, it is revealed upon their triumphant return to the village that
these brothers craved reward and recognition for their feat. Each brother claimed to
have done “the most” as soon as their restored father offered a gift.

The resurrected warrior then decides that the youngest child is most deserving of a
gift. The actions of the older brothers may have restored his life, but the act would
not have been possible at all without the youngest child’s memory and insistence.
The warrior’s last statement, “A man is never truly dead until he is forgotten,” drives
home the point that memory was what kept him alive. In the same way, a tribe that

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

remembers its past reaps all the rewards that both the past and the present have to
offer.

Guide Questions

Use the following guide questions to elicit a discussion among students. This may be
done as a whole class or in smaller groups.

1. What motivated the magician brothers to find their missing father?

2. Why did the great warrior choose to reward his youngest child?
3. What do each of the characters represent?
4. What does the warrior mean by his statement, “A man is never truly dead until
he is forgotten”?

Evaluation
Analysis

Distribute copies of the excerpt below for the students to read and analyze. You
may print out the poem from ​here​.

The following is an excerpt from a poem by Phillis Wheatley, the first published
female writer of African descent. Read and analyze the text, then answer the
questions that follow. Cite textual evidence to support your answers.

To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth (an excerpt)

Phillis Wheatley (1773)

No more, America, in mournful strain

Of wrongs, and grievance unredress’d complain,
No longer shall thou dread the iron chain,
Which wanton Tyranny with lawless hand
Had made, and with it meant t’enslave the land.

Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song,

Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,
Whence flow these wishes for the common good,
By feeling hearts alone best understood,
I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy seat
What pangs excruciating must molest,

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

What sorrows labour in my parent's breast?

Steel'd was that soul and by no misery mov'd
That from a father seiz'd his babe belov'd:
Such, such my case. And can I then but pray
Others may never feel tyrannic sway?

For favours past, great Sir, our thanks are due,

And thee we ask thy favours to renew,
Since in thy pow'r, as in thy will before,
To sooth the griefs, which thou did'st once deplore.

Short Response Questions

Instruct students to answer the following questions comprehensively. Responses
must be at least one (1) paragraph long. The rubric below will be used to grade each
response.

1. Why does the persona (speaker of the poem) address the newly-appointed
Earl of Dartmouth?
2. What personal experience of the persona is related in the poem?
3. What other aspects of African history are reflected in the poem?
4. What are the persona’s hopes in William of Dartmouth and his position?
5. How do you think the persona’s experiences influenced the writing of the
poem?

Criteria Score

Content
(Focus on details is clearly evident; all pieces of information are clearly
related to the topic) 2 pts

Organization
(Logical progression of details/events; clear transitions between ideas)
2 pts

Language
(Use of proper spelling, mechanics, grammar and word choice) 1 pt

Score​: ​/5

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

Values Integration
To relate the students’ learnings to real-world situations, ask them this question:
“How can knowledge and appreciation of history help you and your classmates
become better students?”

Synthesis

Synthesis Activity

1. Divide the class into groups of 5 to 6. Each group will come up with a short
role-play.
2. Assign each group one of the following situations (to be kept secret from other
groups):
a. The Europeans rounding up Africans to be sold into the slave trade
b. The beginning of the Negritude movement
c. African writers using their literature to address apartheid and neocolonialism
d. The protest at the University of Nairobi
3. After each group has presented, have the rest of the class who served as the
audience make a few brief comments or reactions on the group’s portrayal. You
may ask some of these questions:
a. What did the event mean to the Africans both local and displaced?
b. What effects of these events can be felt up to the present day?
c. How can students from all over the world help further their cause today?

Possible answers to the Essential Question:

Possible answer 1: The experiences of Africans throughout their history influenced their
writers to portray their hardships and aspirations in their writing.

Possible answer 2: African historical experiences inspired African writers to oppose

slavery and oppression through writing and communication.

Possible answer 3: In the midst of slavery and colonization, Africans preserved what they
could of their culture and heritage through their literature.

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

Assignment/Agreement
Instruct students to read and analyze the following selection, then answer the guide
questions that follow. You may print the selection from ​here​.

The following is an excerpt from Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela’s speech, “I
Am Prepared to Die,” which he delivered before serving 27 years in prison. He was later
elected president of South Africa.

The lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of the policy of
white supremacy. White supremacy implies black inferiority. Legislation designed to
preserve white supremacy entrenches this notion. Menial tasks in South Africa are
invariably performed by Africans. When anything has to be carried or cleaned the
white man will look around for an African to do it for him, whether the African is
employed by him or not. Because of this sort of attitude, whites tend to regard
Africans as a separate breed. They do not look upon them as people with families of
their own; they do not realize that they have emotions - that they fall in love like
white people do; that they want to be with their wives and children like white people
want to be with theirs; that they want to earn enough money to support their
families properly, to feed and clothe them and send them to school. And what
‘house-boy’ or ‘garden-boy’ or labourer can ever hope to do this?

1. What African experience is shown by the selection?

2. How does this experience influence the writing of the selection?
3. What is the selection trying to say as a whole?
4. How is this experience relevant in the context of Filipinos?

Criteria Score

Content
(Focus on details is clearly evident; all pieces of information are clearly
related to the topic) 2 pts

Organization
(Logical progression of details/events; clear transitions between ideas)
2 pts

Language
(Use of proper spelling, mechanics, grammar and word choice) 1 pt

Score​: ​/5

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 Unit 1: African Literature ​•​ Grade 8

Web Box

Alternatively, if Internet access is feasible for most, the students may be assigned
to look up short works by African writers on the Internet, and write about these
works instead. The same guide questions apply.

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