Essays and Research Papers on African Literature

This 4 page paper discusses two works by African women writers, "Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter" by J. Nozipo Maraire, and "Nervous Conditions" by Tsitsi Dangarembga and compares them. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

This 6 page paper discusses the play "Death and the King's Horseman" by Wole Soyinka. The play is set in Nigeria during WWII, but the playwright argues that it is not to be seen as a statement about colonialism. This paper discusses the story, and Soyinka's assertion. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 4 page analysis of the themes in Athol Fugard’s play “No-Good Friday.” Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 6 page paper which examines and analyzes various types of relationships in J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace. No additional sources cited.

A 6 page paper which analyzes various aspects of Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. No additional sources cited.

This 3 page paper discusses Senegalese author Sembene Ousmane’s novel “God’s Bits of Wood,” about the 1947-48 railroad strike in then-French West Africa. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 3 page comparison and contrast of John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale and Chinua Achebe’s Dead Man’s Path. No additional sources cited.

A 4 page paper which examines how the character of Harold responds to a common reality as seen in Master Harold…and the Boys by Athol Fugard. No additional sources cited.

A 10 page research paper that, first of all, analyzes a novel by Bushi Emecheta's novel entitled Second-Class Citizen, which was first published in 1974, and concerns the life of a Nigerian woman of the Igbo tribe. Emecheta's protagonist, Adah Obi, is pictured from childhood through early adulthood, with Emecheta charting her personal development within ...

This 3 page paper discusses the way in which the characters in "Dead Men's Path" by Chinua Achebe and "Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros respond to outside influences. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 4 page research paper/essay that discusses Althol Fugard’s play Valley Song, which primarily focuses on an adolescent and her efforts to carve a life for herself in the new South Africa that differs from the past. In portraying this story, Fugard pictures a strong young woman who has the courage to come to grips ...

A 10 page paper which examines two characters from Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 4 page paper discusses the African oral tradition that tells of Sundiata, and how he founded what became the nation of Mali. The paper considers the text as a text and as a story. There are 3 sources listed in the bibliography.

This 5 page paper discusses the commonalities among several characters in the story, “A Walk in the Night” by South African writer Alex La Guma. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

In five pages this paper provides a comparative character analysis of similarities in terms of how both Olunde and Obi are caught between cultures and how their stories end tragically, differences in circumstances, feeling, and meaning, and how these differences imply different political and cultural situational differences in Nigeria presented by the authors. Four ...

A 6 page research paper/essay that discusses Ambiguous Adventure by Cheikh Hamidou Kane, a novel that traces the coming of age of Samba Diallo, a member of the Diallobe tribal aristocracy who is considered by this elders to be his people’s best hope for a spiritual leader. As this suggests, this novel addresses a decisive ...

A 6 page paper which examines imperialism and women in Guanya Pau: A Story of an African Princess by Jeffrey Walters. No additional sources cited.

A 3 page book review of Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje, which is a novel that explores the reality or “truth” of terrorism on multiple levels. While various characters take center-stage in the narrative, it can be argued that the central figure of the novel is the ghost of one of the many victims of ...

A 3 page book review that offers a summary and comments on this novel by Mongo Beti, which offers a highly critical view of European-led Christian evangelism in southern Cameroon in the 1930s. The main thrust of the novel serves to refute the relevancy of Christianity to traditional African life and, in so doing, indicates ...

This 9 page paper examines the seminal African novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe from a feminist perspective; it also argues which critics seem to have made cogent statements and which are less convincing. Bibliography lists 10 sources.

A 3 page book review that offers an overview of the characters, both female and male, and how their lives are influenced by patriarchy and colonialism. No additional sources cited.

A 3 page essay that discusses, first, European imperialism and then relates this topic to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. No other sources cited.

A 3 page paper which examines the tragedy of Okonkwo, in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, as seen through Marxism. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

In six pages this comparative essay examines how the theme of colonialism is depicted in each African novel. There are no additional sources listed in the bibliography.

This paper uses four literary works to argue that violence is endemic in society. Frankenstein, Heart of Darkness, War Child and How to Tame a Wild Tongue are used to give various examples of violent behavior. Bibliography lists 4 sources.