General Information

Prompt

In an interview, Maryse Conde explains, “I was attracted to write the particular story of Tituba because this woman was unjustly treated by history. I felt the need to give her a reality that was denied to her because of her color and her gender.” Choose one or two literary devices and explain how Conde uses it/them in the novel to give Tituba her subjecthood. Examples could be: narrative voice, allusion, irony, dialogue, etc.

Joys of Motherhood highlights the plurality of duties for the reader women have to undertake in order to succeed in Nigerian society. Women represent 80% of agricultural labor in Nigeria—a dangerous job, yet is significantly underrepresented in knowledge-based work.

Prior to gaining ownership to her own stall, Nhu Ego has to “spread her wares on the pavement” (Emecheta 113) selling goods in order to make ends meet—despite Nnaife’s money from employment which he often squanders.

Even if the education system provides a ticket for its successful students to gain social advancement, it is often difficult or even arbitrary. Access to education is also frequently dependent on race.

In Black Shack Alley, Zobel frames the value of schooling as a “gateway … to escape.” (Zobel) Zobel highlights that the main way to escape the oppression in the colonies is by leveraging the itself oppressive systems of education.

• Quote
• Explanation of quote (“understanding lived experience”)
• Implication (“understanding Duets/Othello”)

Sharpe Wake; Sears Duet

Wake, p 16: ANALYZE ON TOP, CONNECT HERE

To be in the wake is to live in those no’s, to live in the no-space that the law is not bound to respect … To be in the wake is to recognize … the ongoing locations of Black being: the wake, the ship, the hold, and the weather.

Traditional values in Caribbean and African societies often place womens’ value in the context of other men. When women pursue independent careers such as midwives and healers, they could be called “witches.”

Maryse Condé demonstrates this bias in the novel I, Tituba. She writes that “Yao’s love had transformed [Tituba]’s mother”, making her a “young woman.” (Condé 7) In the passage, the womanhood of Tituba’s mother is framed as only being granted when she encounters Yao; in contrast, Mama Yaya’s womanhood exists independently, yet she is viewed as a witch.