An Ex-Mas Feast Summary Uwem Akpan’s story, “An Ex-Mas Feast” is a story of the struggles that one family goes through to give gifts on their upcoming Christmas season. Akpan introduces the reader to the struggles of the main characters, which directly ties into the details of impoverished town that they live in. Jigana, one of the story’s main characters, starts off as a naïve 8 year old little boy who was anxious to start going to school. In a stark contrast, Maisha, the eldest sister at 12 years old, held her own and prostituted to bring in money for her family. The second oldest, Naema, was closer to Maisha than any of the others, and Maisha gave her tips and tricks of her trade. Akpan begins the story by saying that the …show more content…
As a result of this newfound concept that Maisha is considering going into the brothel, Jigana undergoes a big transformation. He states adamantly that if she is going to the brothel, he will not go to school. This begins the climax of the story, and in response to his claim, she says that she will not support the family any more if Jigana doesn’t go to school. When he brings up their parents in front of the other prostitutes, Maisha gets extremely angry and ends up ignoring him for weeks. From there, their life continues, and the siblings continue struggling to make ends meet; nevertheless, they still take Baby out to earn a little extra money. When Naema comes home from her shift with Baby, she announces that Maisha is moving out tomorrow, full time. Akpan makes an important point at this point of the story saying that “no matter how rootless and cheap street life may be, you could still be broken by departures” (21). Consequently, Jigana begins feeling guilty that Maisha is leaving, as if he could have stopped her from leaving if he had just joined a street gang so that she wouldn’t be tempted by the musungu men to make money. Jigana then starts to have nasty thoughts, now blaming the white tourists who lure Maisha in their Jaguars and take advantage of her young self. He begins plotting ways he could get back at them, by enlisting the help of Naema’s powerful boyfriend, and hurting them with their dull blades.
Holidays are always celebrated no matter religion, beliefs, or culture. Some are recognized more than others but none two are as highly recognized like the cherished Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays. The pair may seem vastly different, as they are two completely separate occasions, but in actuality they do share very similar attributes. Many of the similarities and differences are about to be explained, so here goes.
A Christmas Carol In a Christmas Carol, Dickens uses some of his past childhood experiences to show us that Christmas is very important and many messages come across in this book. It is split up into five ‘staves.’ The reason that they are staves instead of chapters as staves are used in music and it is called a Christmas ‘carol.’
“Every Thanksgiving I travel to Saint Louis Missouri to stay with my grandmother. Our first day off school for Thanksgiving break, be begin packing for our trip. I had ordered a black Columbia jacket that was supposed to arrive that Wednesday, so I hoped it would come before we left. My brother in college comes to decatur and brings his dog Dino (pronounced deno) so we can travel together. That day all we had to do was wait on my brother Anthony to come back from his Richland classes. It took a couple more hours than we were expecting, and everyone got impatient. I felt slightly ticked but also glad my jacket came before we left.
Mardi Gras is a Christian holiday, which was brought by the French when they colonized a part of the United States of America. The first time that Mardi Grass was celebrated in America, was on March 3, 1699 (History, 2016) in what is today known as Louisiana, later in this carnival would be moved to New Orleans. Since the carnival was moved out of New Orleans, every year is celebrated between February and March; it all depends when is going to be Easter.
With the rush of people coming in the door ready to eat. Starting to make the silence die. The wind starts to pick up with the refreshing november air blowing through. Some people pitch in to help set the plates and put the final touches on the food. While the turkey is being cut everyone knows the feast is about to begin. As everyone floods into the dining room with chairs and the dogs following preparing to have thanksgiving as well. Once everyone is there and all the food is set in the middle of the table we say our prayers and begin to eat.
While children are growing up in America, they are told several tales of America’s establishment and history. However, these stories are generally not told as they actually happened. An instance of this is the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is explained as this elaborate ceremony where the Pilgrims and Indians gathered in harmony at this large harvest in celebration of their coming together. According to the primary document of William Bradford’s journal, Thanksgiving didn’t pan out quite as it is explained to Americans today. In the film, The Addams Family Values, the Addams children take part in a traditional, yet misconceived celebration of the first Thanksgiving. This
WHAT: The holiday season is in full gear and the best way to get in the spirit this weekend is with Mokena's Christmas Fest. This jam-packed day will be full of Christmas fun for the whole family. Start the day off at Santa's workshop where your kids can create Christmas decorations, write letters to Santa and more while you start your Christmas shopping as you browse through a variety of local crafters and vendors. Enjoy a delicious lunch and then head over to see Santa to take a holiday picture while enjoying a magic and balloon show from Master Ron. Grab your newly crafted decoration and head outside to proudly hang it on the Village Christmas tree. Then head over to FNBC Bank to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate and some cookies before you set off to join Santa for the annual parade of lights followed by some caroling. End your exciting day with the family Christmas dance where a DJ will supply the music and fun holiday vibes.
In Uwem Akpan’s short story “An Ex-mas Feast,” we are presented with a sad story narrated by a boy named Jigani. His older sister is only twelve and is already a sex worker. Throughout the story, the reader is more and more informed on the relationship between stigma and sexuality in this area. Like many foreign countries outside the United States, women are viewed as these things that were created to cook, clean, take care of the house, and take care of the children. Jigani’s father, Baba, displays this when he is having a heated conversation with Jigani. Jigani tells Baba that he does not want to go to school anymore because he doesn’t want his older sister, Maisha to leave. Upset at what he hears, Baba responds by saying “You
Aquinas: Friendships consists between beings of certain equality. Before the Incarnation, God was on a level much higher than man was; therefore, there was a great inequality. By nature, there is a common friendship between man and man. The Incarnation made the friendship between God and man become much
Every Christmas dinner we have three specific food items. They are enchiladas, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs. To prepare the enchiladas my mother and sisters buy chicken breast, corn tortillas, cream of mushroom soup, Hatch green chili from New Mexico, onions, garlic, and cheddar cheese. The Enchiladas that we eat are New Mexico style. The enchiladas are served with refried pinto beans and rice. We also get vegetable oil. In addition to buying white rice my family also gets onions, garlic, olive oil, water, salt, pepper, tomato sauce, and chicken bouillon. To prepare the cheeseburgers we buy ground beef, buns, ketchup, mustard, onions, tomatoes, lettuce American cheese, olive oil, and steak seasoning. To prepare the hot dogs we buy beef hot
pastor. The movie quickly shows his silent dominance over his two daughters. He keeps them under his wings until the day he dies, and then even after that they continue to live in his shadow. Everything he preached is believed and followed by them and members of their community. The father taught them that “the only thing which we may take with us from our life on earth are those things which we have given away.” Because of their father, the two devoted their lives to carrying on
In 1949, December 24, the day before Christmas, Hattie E. Brown, an African American, was born. Being born and growing up in Covington, Georgia, Newton county, where her mother, father and nine of her siblings also lived she was the fourth out of ten. Despite the year she was born in and the census of her family, Hattie became a mother and grandmother, living though the events that happened.
In all honesty, I didn’t think I’d enjoy Babette’s Feast. But, I am pleased to say that I was proven wrong, this film while hard to get into proved to be very entertaining and enlightening. This was a beautiful display of God’s love and grace and his ability to do amazing works through us. This film encouraged me to look at the condition of my heart and adjust accordingly.
Located in the middle of the civilization is the temple it is a tall building made of white marble. A dome at the top of the roof, and customized columns. I front of the building is a sculpture of SSuerniforna, draped in this years animal skins from The Festival of the Strong. Inside are precious artifacts from each of her stories, and her belongings from when she was here on earth. Last but not least and altar for praying to her or animal sacrifices offered for forgiveness for anyway they have wronged her. Next to it is the government building made from stone with majestic
We walk in and the atmosphere fills me with joy; I hear children yelling on roller coasters, the amazing aroma of greasy, fried pork rinds, seeing smiles everywhere, it just sets the mood of having a great day. My family and I are at the famous theme park, Silver Dollar City. We have had a lasting tradition of visiting, every Christmas holiday and enjoying the sights and sounds of this amazing place. Our first stop is the store, Christmas Hollow, where Christmas is everywhere. Bright lights are throughout the whole store, while the smell of cinnamon and peppermint fill the air. I walk very carefully; not wanting to break any of the very fragile glass all around me. Finally, my favorite item, the nutcrackers; even though I have a crowd of them at home, I always want another. I love the way they stand so tall and so straight, almost as if they were real.