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Informative Essay

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African Poem Informative Essay “In your ears my song is motor car misfiring stopping with a choking cough” (Okara 19). This quote is from the first line of the poem “You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed” by Gabriel Okara. Gabriel Okara is a famous author who spent the majority of his life in Nigeria. During that time there were many cultural differences between people in Africa versus people in other parts of the world. In the poem, Okara addresses the reader as a selfish person who is unwilling to listen to what he has to say about his African culture. Through contrast, metaphors, and tone Okara expresses the fact that people from other cultures aren't always welcoming towards African culture. The first important literary device that Okara uses to convey the theme of the poem is metaphors. Metaphors play a major role in the development of Okara’s message; some people refuse to listen to information about African culture, by making specific comparisons that help the reader better understand the poem. To Okara, the reader seems to listen to him as if he were a “motor car misfiring” (Okara 19). This suggests that the reader doesn't care about what Okara has to say nor does the reader pay much attention to him. The second metaphor that Okara chooses to use is a comparison between the reader's laugh and ice. By comparing the reader's laugh to “ice-block laughter” Okara is making a connection to how harsh their laugh is to the bitterness of the cold (Okara 19). The

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