English B

• African thunderstorm


  Powerful, deadly storm representing colonialism, oppression, racism, injustice, and social turmoil faced by African people
• Title: "An African Thunderstorm"

  • Evokes images of lightning, thunder, and incredible forces of nature
  • Suggests a connection between the storm and Africa, either belonging to Africa or happening to Africa
  • Storms in literature often represent problems, trials, and conflicts
• Clouds and wind approaching

  1. Coming from the west

  2. Hurrying, moving quickly and abruptly

  3. Turning sharply here and there
• The west


  Symbolic of the western world, powerful countries like the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe
• Clouds and wind coming from the west

  Represents the problems and issues brought to Africa by colonialism from the western world
• The poem is an allegory, using the story of the thunderstorm to explain political and social issues</b>
• Poem's form

  • Short, sharp lines with few punctuation marks, depicting the speed and relentlessness of the storm
• Plague of locusts


  Biblical allusion to a plague that destroyed crops, representing the destruction and suffering brought by the storm/colonialism
• Pregnant clouds


  • Riding stately, dignified and noble, representing the pompous pride and perceived superiority of the colonizers
• The poem uses the theme of man vs. nature to illustrate the more important theme of colonialism and its effects on African people
• African village children are screaming delightedly and these screams toss and turn in the din in the noise of the storm
• The storm is wreaking havoc

  Kids are screaming in delight
• The light is usually used to describe a pleasant kind of excitement
• Why are the children delighted in this storm? This is irony, perhaps dramatic irony
• Dramatic irony


  A special type of irony where something probably danger is obvious to the reader but not obvious to the characters in a text
• The storm is dangerous but the kids see it as something exciting
• In 2004, hurricane Ivan hit Jamaica. As a child, the author felt anticipation, excitement, and a kind of delight, even during the storm itself
• The children in the village are naively excited about the storm, hence the screams of delighted children
• The word 'screams' provides an undertone of anxiety, perhaps their delight soon turns to dread as they realize what the storm is capable of
• There is personification - the screams of the children are 'tossing and turning' in the din of the whirling wind
• The wind is so strong that it is drowning out the screams, people can't even hear the children screaming because of how loud the storm is
• The storm's power and noise is shown through alliteration and irregular line lengths
• Women with babies on their backs are darting about, running around trying to find some safety
• The language of madness reminds us of the 'madman chasing nothing' seen earlier, suggesting colonization has affected the people's minds
• The babies seem to sense the danger through their mother's behavior, clinging to them
• The rhyming couplet 'dart about in and out' suggests sporadic, quick movement
• The line about trees bending to let the storm pass is repeated, showing a comparison between how trees and humans deal with the storm
• Humans become agitated and fearful, trying to resist or escape, while the trees just bend and allow the storm to pass
• There is more windy alliteration in 'wind whistles wilds going down'
• The tattered flags could be a metaphor for the loss of national identity and colonization
• The exposed, dangling breasts could be a symbolic reference to sexual violation during slavery and colonization
• The 'jagged' and 'blinding' imagery of the lightning connects to the sharp, dangerous nature of the storm
• The 'rumbling, trembling and cracking' sounds refer to the loud noises and things breaking/shaking due to the storm
• The 'fired smoke' could refer to extinguished cooking fires, fireplaces, or even gunshots from white men
• The poem depicts themes of colonization, social and political turmoil, and the contrast between man's and nature's response to the storm
• Critics may interpret the poem as just depicting a literal storm, or as representing colonization - both interpretations are valid if supported by textual evidence