The+Palm-Wine+Drinkard

=Teaching //The Palm-Wine Drinkard// by Amos Tutuola=

Book Information:
The narrator was a "palm wine drinkard from the age of ten." When his palm wine tapster dies, not satisfied with the palm wine he taps himself, the narrator decides to follow him into the world between heaven and earth where he now resides.//The Palm-Wine Drinkard// is a mystical tale about a young man's obsession with finding his dead palm-wine tapster. The narrator takes us on a journey through the likes of Death Town, Wraith-Island, Unreturnable Heaven's Town, The Land of the Faithful Mother, Red-Town, and the town of the Wise-king. The protagonist uses his magical powers of ju-ju to transform into numerous creatures or objects (birds, lizard, pebble). The story reads like Homer's //The Odyssey// while granting us a glimpse of the West African Yoruba oral folktale tradition.

Challenge #1: Comprehending Tutuola's writing style
//The Palm-Wine Drinkard// can be a difficult text for students to follow due to Tutuola's unique framework of imaginative figures from the folklore of his native Nigeria. Tututola strings together episodes of fascination and mystery connected by nothing more than the narrator. Before reading the text, students should begin with an introduction to Amos Tutuola's background. Growing up, his persistence to overcome the roles of servant and student provide us with a glimpse of his magical motifs. [|Answers.com: Amos Tutuola]

One suggestion before delving into this text might be to review some supplemental pieces by well-known authors. //Favorite African Folktales// by Nelson Mandela is a collection of some of the oldest African tales. The book presents such themes as cunning animals, magic spells, and people who change forms. Also, Chinua Achebe's Nigerian folktales and children's stories may be a good starting point (i.e. //How the Leopard Got His Claws//).

Challenge #2: Turning visual writing into effective storytelling
Storytelling is becoming a dying art. Yet all students have a story to tell. Although the fantastical adventures from //The Palm-Wine Drinkard// seem unrealistic, students may become engaged by Tutuola's "visual hyperbole." Teaching this writing technique could be quite challenging but fun (remind them of Tutuola's magical framework). Here are a few tips:

1. Have students select a significant event from their past 2. Review the following writing strategies as a reminder a. showing (strong action verbs) vs. telling (linking verbs) b. adequate use of adjectives and adverbs c. building characterization through the use of dialogue d. avoiding passive sentence structure e. working hyperbole into their writing 3. Give them a few writing sessions (two or three full class periods) to compose a draft of the event 4. Workshop the drafts (peer editing or writing circles) 5. Revise rough drafts into final drafts

Once students have final drafts completed, let the storytelling begin. Teachers can put students into small groups first, and then reconvene as a larger group with students volunteering to read. I envision this activity as a success especially with students who like science fiction or mythology.

Additional Resources:
[|Nigerian Literature: Oral and Written Traditions] This website is a project funded by [|the University Scholars Programme], National University of Singapore. This particular link focuses on African post-colonial literature.

[|Traditional Storytelling in Africa] Comprehensive collections, for storytellers, of articles, links, and information on the oral tradition and the art of storytelling //- compiled by Tim Sheppard.

[|Exploring African Culture (PBS.org)]// In this lesson students will learn about the role of storytelling in the African culture.