In this blog, I am going to analyze a rhetorical situation from a reading that I have dealt with in my major. Last semester, I was in English 203, which is World Literature. In this class, we read an abundance of short stories that included the struggles and culture of the people located in different countries. The short story that stood out the most to me was Anowa by Ama Ati Aidoo. This particular story was based on the culture and people in Africa.
The author of this short story was Ama Ati Aidoo. We learned that she was a Ghanian author and playwright that later moved to the United States. Since the author was originally from Ghana, she was very intelligent about the culture, language, and the people who lived in Africa. Ama Ati Aidoo was writing to a worldwide audience. She was not choosing one particular group to be her audience. She wanted everyone throughout many countries to know about the culture in Africa. She wanted them to realize it is not what is portrayed to be. When one thinks of Africa, an abundance of animals, safari rides, or flat land might come to mind, but when one reads Anowa, their view of Africa will be changed completely. Through this short story, one is able to see the culture of the people and how they think and feel towards others located there. I think the author created this story for the purpose of showing others that Africa is not generally what people think about it. Yes, there are animals, safari rides, and an abundance of flat land and beautiful sceneries, but Africa is so much more than that. Many people do not think about the people or culture located in Africa. When reading the story, it is very easy to realize that was Ama Ati Aidoo’s purpose of writing the short story. One can easily tell especially through her language and how persuasive she is in her writing. She uses many slang terms that portrays the African language very well. At times, it was hard to read what the characters in the story were saying because the author included many terms to demonstrate the language.
This short story was very interesting to read, and I am very glad we were able to read it. Whenever I thought about Africa, I always thought about the safari rides and the animals. The culture and people did not come to mind very often. After I read this story, I look at Africa in a different way. I even am able to understand the language that African people speak, and I knw much more about their culture. I believe that Ama Ati Aidoo was successful at what she was trying to accomplish to other people throughout the world. I do not think she needed to have written the short story any differently. She was very persuasive in her writing, and I view Africa in the way she wanted it to be portrayed.
