Please respond to the following questions based on Gabriel Okara's "Once Upon A Time".
- Describe the aspect of society with which the speaker is not happy.
- Discuss the aspect of the persona's self he is not happy with.
- Examine One device the poet uses to portray the speaker's wish for a different life and its impact.
| Describe | Provide a detailed explanation as to how and why something happens. |
| Discuss | Essentially this is a written debate where you are using your skill at reasoning, backed up by carefully selected evidence to make a case for and against an argument, or point out the advantages and disadvantages of a given context. Remember to arrive at a conclusion. |
| Examine | Look in close detail and establish the key facts and important issues surrounding a topic. This should be a critical evaluation and you should try and offer reasons as to why the facts and issues you have identified are the most important, as well as explain the different ways they could be construed. |
Please post your responses.
1.The speaker is not happy with society because it is not what it used to be before. The society will do things and not mean it for instance I would talk with you and say I had a nice chat when I really didn't or I would smile at you making it seem as though I am happy with you when I'm not.
ReplyDelete2.The persona's self wasn't happy that he have learned how to portray the things society is doing and wanted to go back to the way it was when he was like his son.
3.So show me, son,
how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
1) The speaker is not happy with society because it has changed.They would say things or do things that they didn't mean for example I would smile at you Making it seems as though I am happy with you when I'm not.
ReplyDelete2) The persona wanted things to go bk to the old days he wasn't happy about what he learned from society.
3) So show me son,son,
How to laugh;show me how
I used to laugh and smile
Once upon a time when I was like you.
1.The speaker is not pleased with society because he feels that the African people around him are accepting western culture to easily. The speaker notices a change in the people who used to genuine and kind become cold and unfriendly towards him. He feels that the people around him are becoming less welcoming and are only looking out for their selves. The speaker wish that today’s society could change back to when he was a child but learns to laugh and smile without meaning it.
ReplyDelete2.The persona isn’t happy with himself because he learnt to do the thing society does like faking a smile, fake laughing or faking a friendly hand shake. The persona wants society to go back to the way is was when he was young.
3.So, show me, son,
how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
In this line the poet wishes that his son could teach him how to laugh and smile. The poet wishes to be happy once more like when he was young as his son.
NIA BANFIELD
ReplyDelete1. In the poem Once upon a time by Gabriel Okara's the poet industriously portrays how the harsh view of society is actually.
The poet reveals that how society has change to become manipulative and hypocrite. He says that “they used to shake hands with their hearts” This image reveals true and genuine emotion of the people before then he goes on to say, “that has gone, now they only shake hands without hearts while their left hands search his empty pockets”. This shows that again the people are not true and seem to be using the man to see what they can get. He then goes on to say “feel at home”, “come again”, but then goes on to say that he will come again, “once, twice” but there will “be no more thrice” for the “I find doors shut on me”. This shows that the people lie when they say the positive phrases and after a few visits they have all that they want from the man. Their falseness is reflected in the language they use. The poet notices that the early values, which always existed in the African society like sincerity, good-natured ness, simplicity, wholeheartedness, hospitality, friendliness, originality, identity, uniqueness and overall satisfaction, have now faced a drastic, dramatic change to become vindictive manipulative and great hypocricy. The speaker regrets about a time in the speakers’ life when people were sincere and caring in their dealings. He speaks regretfully about the present time when people are not like before.
2. Over these times the persona has changed just like society. He finds himself behaving in the same way as those around him. He feels a great sense of guilt and self-loathing and thinks about how fake he has become losing his identity and donning different, the fixed expression for different occasions, an unnatural smile plastered across his face.
He confesses to his son that he does not like the person he has become and wants to change, and go back to the way he was before, in his childhood. He asks his son to help him go back to who he was, and get back his lost identity. He expresses a desire to unlearn whatever he has forced himself to learn, in order for him to gain his sense of self back. He asks his son to help him be happy once again and acquire the childlike innocence he once possessed as a child. He confesses to his son that he does not like the person he has become and wants to change, and go back to the way he was before, in his childhood. He asks his son to help him go back to who he was, and get back his lost identity. He expresses a desire to unlearn whatever he has forced himself to learn, in order for him to gain his sense of self back. He asks his son to help him be happy once again and acquire the childlike innocence he once possessed as a child.
3. The repetition of the title both at the beginning and the ending of the poem suggests a sort of fairy tale like tone to the poem which raises the question of whether the past that the poet is remembering so fondly ever did exist, or if the lost time that he so desperately wants to return to is just something that he has thought up in his mind as a defense mechanism that once upon a time things were really not all that bad. He wishes for things to go back to when people were genuine and not hypocrite.
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ReplyDelete1. The aspect of society the speaker is not happy with is the ways of the people and how it has changed overtime. Base on their attitude and behaviour towards others in society. The speaker shows how hypocrite and fake the people have become throughout the poem mainly in stanza 1-3. In these stanzas the speaker explain how things were to how they have become. Okara states that "they used to shake hands with their hearts: but that’s gone, son. Now they shake hands without hearts while their left hands search my empty pockets." (Line 8-12). This shows how nice people were when the greeted you before; and how fake they've become that they only greet you only when they can get something from you. This is the aspect of society the speaker is not happy with.
ReplyDelete2. The persona is not happy with the way society have change him as a person. He states all the attributes he have learned from them (stanza 4 & 5) and how much he wants to unlearn them (stanza 6). He wants to relearn how he used to be before this hypocrisy came about. Okara said "I have also learned to say,’Goodbye’, when I mean ‘Good-riddance’..." (line 28-29); and line 35-36 "I want to unlearn all these muting things." These lines tells us that the speaker himself have become a fake and hypocrite person and since he wants to unlearn them proves he is not happy about it.
3. One device the poet uses to portray the speaker's wish for a different life and its impact is the use of an irony. It was use in the last stanza when he is asking his son to show him how to laugh and smile. This is an irony because the son should be learning from the father yet the father wants to learn from him.
1. The speaker is unhappy because the practices before aren't practiced in the speaker's current time. The society had very fake personas, for example they'd say they had a good conversation when they really didn't, and also smile at you to make it seem as if they were happy with you when they aren't.
ReplyDelete2. The persona's self wasn't at all happy with the practices of the society, and wanted things to return the way they were.
3.One device the poet uses to portray the speaker's wish for a different life and its impact: in this line he shown his wish for things to go back the way they were.
"So show me son,
How to laugh,show me how
I used to laugh and smile
Once upon a time when I was like you"