Voices from the Continent: A Curriculum Guide to Selected North and East African Literature

by Sara Talis O'Brien

This curriculum guide provides anthropological and historical research as well as literary criticism on five narratives from North and East A Sister to Scheherazade by Assia Djebar, Fountain and Tomb by Naguib Mahfouz, Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol by Okot p'Bitek, and A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. The background and critical materials are integrated into well-developed lesson plans which include reproducible student handouts, teacher resources, and reading resources. Voices from the Continent will be a useful tool for college professors and teachers of English and social studies on the high school level who seek to diversify the standard curriculum by introducing students to modern African literature written or translated into English. The featured literary works are available in the United States and appropriate for use in a variety of courses with students at different reading levels. These literary works introduce a wide range of universal themes while simultaneously presenting the experiences of particular ethnic groups in different regions of North and East Africa. The lessons contained in this guide may be used in whole or in part, and they may be integrated into larger units on world literature, cultural diversity, psychology, social studies, sociology, and women's studies.

306 pages, Hardcover

First published May 14, 2004