The Awakening Age Summary
The speaker in the poem makes a call for unity, cooperation and coordination among the African people. He wishes that the vision of a new world shines among the African people who are migrating to other countries in search of new opportunities and better quality of life. The speaker wants to make a point that the people suffering in extreme poverty hope should see through the glory of the awakening age. He further states that all African people are linked to each other in hopes that are interconnected in their long and old history.
In addition to this, the poet also states that the African people together can ascend to a new height if they are all guided by their heart’s clearest light. This heart’s clear light in fact refers to the bonding of African people that are guided by the new principles and morals. The poet through the poem also points out that the perception of African people needs to be changed in order to gain success. When the current perceptions of African people get changes, then they can overcome the poverty that is prevailing in Africa. Not only this, this can eventually lead to the work, wisdom and creativity among the African people.
Eventually, the poet in the poem concludes that the unity and cooperation among African people and their love for soil can lead them ultimately to a happy and prosperous life. Hence, the poet through his poem has a vision where African people rather than travelling to foreign countries in search of opportunities, should possess the vision of the awakening age’ and transform Africa from poverty to prosperity.
The Awakening Age Exercises Solution
Understanding, the Text
Answer the following questions.
a.Who are the people ‘who travel the meridian line ?
Ans.: In the poem, the people ‘who travel the meridian line’ refers to African people who have struggled hard all their life with poverty and are now travelling the meridian line for better opportunities.
b. What does the poet mean by ‘a new world’?
Ans.: By the phrase ‘a new world’, the poet means the world with peace, harmony and prosperity developed by the understanding and unity of African people.
c.How are people connected to each other?
Ans.: People are connected to each other with hope as well as the same history they share with one another.
d.What can we gain after our perceptions are changed?
Ans.: The poet in the poem states that we can gain a flowering of truth instead of pain and we can ultimately ascend to a new height after our perceptions are changed.
e.How are we benefited by new people?
Ans.: We are benefited by new people as new people can overcome poverty and attain work. wisdom and creativity.
f.Describe the rhyme scheme of this sonnet.
Ans.: The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is ‘aabbccddeeffgg’. The sonnet having this ryhyme scheme is termed as ‘couplet sonnet’.
Reference to the context
a. What does the poet mean by ‘the awakening age?
Ans.: The poet in the poem ‘The Awakening Age’ portrays the hardships of the African people and makes a call for unity, peace and solidarity among human beings from different parts of the world.
The poet reflects the struggles and hardships African people are going through due to the presence of long conflicts and civil wars among them. Minimum progress in the country’s developmental sectors and lack of opportunities has created ‘brain-drain’ in the country. So, the poet requests all the people to see through the glory of the awakening age. The phrase the awakening age’ refers to the transition of people from war and conflict to peace and harmony. The poet also reflects the message to change the perception of people from poverty to harmony. Furthermore, the poet tries to convince people that All the African people are united with hope and the same history and if all of them stand together united, they can overcome the poverty and other problems prevailing in Africa.
b.Why, in your view, have these people lived with poverty’s rage’?
Ans.: The poet indicates the African people and the hardships they are going through. African tribes since colonial times have been engaged in civil wars and conflicts. This ongoing war among the African people has created the current situation that is prevailing there. People are divided among themselves and lack of common beliefs and principles has resulted in ongoing conflicts. Such conflicts and divisions among the people affect not only the individual life of people but also the development of the country in the long run. So, due to the wars, there is no development and people are leaving the country for better opportunities in one way or another. Lack of vision and development in the country has resulted in poverty. People, there are not provided with enough opportunities to uplift themselves and are living with poverty’s rage.
C.Why does the poet appeal for solidarity among the people?
Ans.: Solidarity refers to unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest and mutual support within a group. In fact, it is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. The poet in the poem appeals for solidarity among the African people in order to attain the awakening age. As African people are struggling with hardships and extreme poverty throughout their life, the poet makes an appeal to all the people to unite together and create a vision to change the future of their country. He refers to solidarity as a tool for reducing inequality and social injustice in the world. Solidarity leads all people to the sustainable development of the resources. The purpose of solidarity is to build our movement and to embody our mutual care and concern for justice. We must respect each other’s differing needs and life circumstances and understand that there are many ways of being in solidarity and coordinate our responses. If only people unite and fight against the wrong then it is possible to turn over the current crisis and to shape the future of African people.
d.Does the poet present migration in a positive light? Why? Why not?
Ans.: No, the poet does not present migration in a positive light. The poet instead appeals to createunity among the African people and he wishes that the vision of a new world should shine among these people. The poet also tells us that the people who are living in poverty and anger should see through the glory of the awakening age. By this, the poet means, leaving
the country for better opportunities will not solve the problem in the long run. Migration results in a brain drain that can make a country further collapse in development. People need to stand together and have a coinmon vision and principle for the betterment of themselves and their country.
e.Nepal is also known for its economic as well as educational migrants. Have you noticed any change in the perceptions and behaviours of these migrants when they return home from abroad?
Ans.: Many Nepalese people migrate to countries abroad in order to seek better educational and employment opportunities and even some migrate to those countries in order to settle permanently there. It is found that most people who migrated from Nepal seek permanent residency in the destination countries, however, some people either return on their own or are compelled to return from the country. As far as I have noticed the returnees, I have observed various changes in their perceptions and behaviours when they return home from abroad. The first and foremost issue with them is the reverse culture shock with symptoms like frustration, boredom, restlessness, changes in goals and priorities, depression, and negative feelings towards home country. They find themselves with very limited opportunities here and get frustrated. People again try to migrate from here for better settlement and lifestyle. And, another change is many of these returnees have returned to the country back with the sole aim of doing something good in the motherland. They commit themselves to some sort of new works here in the country and are full of patriotism and doing something good for the sake of the people and the country.
f.Relate the rhyme scheme of this sonnet to the kind of life idealized by the poet.
Ans.: The sonnet ‘The Awakening Age comes under the ‘couplet sonnet’ – a fourteen-lined poem that possesses a fixed rhyme scheme and is usually written in iambic pentameter. In the sonnet, Ben Okri, the poet pleads African people not to go to foreign countries in search of better opportunities, rather stay in Africa and do something good for the sake of the nation and the continent. The poem argues that when African people will see through the glory of the awakening age, they can overcome poverty and can foster their work, wisdom and creativity beyond time and space. And, in order to pass this writer has written the sonnet in ‘aa bb cc dd ee ff gg’ rhyme scheme and the sonnet falls message, the under the category of couplet sonnet – the sonnet of which every pair or couple of lines rhyme with each other. The sweet and melodious rhyme scheme of the poem makes its readers (the African people) believe in their sweet dream of the awakening age as presented by the poet in the poem. Likewise, through the poem, the poet also wants to give the message that the lines of the poem yield sweet and melodious rhyme and tone only when they stay in unity and in a similar vein, African people can have their sweet dreams of work, wisdom and creativity fulfilled only when they will stay in unity, co- operation and peace. Hence, the rhyme scheme of this sonnet can be related to the kind of life idealized by the poet.
a.Write an essay on ‘The Impacts of Migration on Nepali Society’,
Ans:
The Impacts of Migration on Nepali Society
Migration is a way to move from one place to another in order to live and work. The movement of people from their home to another city, state or country for a job, shelter or some other reasons, is called migration. Migration especially from rural areas to urban areas and from Mountain and Hilly regions to Terai Region has increased in past few years in Nepal.
Nowadays, many Nepalese people make the decision of migrating from one place to another place in order to have a better life. The search for better employment opportunities is the main reason Nepalese people migrate from one place to another place and even from one country to another country. Besides this, the lack of opportunities, better education, better health faculties, security, better transportation and communication facilities, construction of dams, globalization, natural disasters such as flood and drought and sometimes crop failure forces people to migrate from one place to another, especially form villages to cities.
There are many impacts of migration and these impacts include both positive as well as negative impacts. Talking about some positive impacts of migration, we can state that the migration of people helps people to get better jobs and other employment opportunities. Likewise, the quality of life of migrants improves and migrants get a hance to learn about new cultured, customs and languages. The migration of skilled orkers leads to a greater economic growth of the region. The learners can get better opportunities for higher education. Likewise, many Nepalese have migrated to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and many more countries of Europe, America and the Arabian World. These migrant workers send a huge remittance to our country and this has considerably contributed to the economy of the country.
In contrary to this, there are some negative consequences too, of migration. The migration makes some places, especially city and plain areas overcrowded whereas the rural areas lack sufficient population to utilize the resources. As a result, the villages and rural areas remain undeveloped. Similarly, Many Nepalese students leave their country and settle outside in the name of education and better opportunities too. There is the risk of ‘brain-drain’ too owing to the migration. The large influx of people in urban areas leads to haphazard urbanization and industrialization, which in turn leads to different types of pollution, as we can notice in cities of Nepal such as Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Birgunj, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj and many others. Likewise, due to the movement of many people to foreign countries, our country is lacking skilled man powers and youths required for the country’s development and prosperity. It has not only affected the social life and economic sector of the country but also the mental health of people.
Hence, there are both positive and negative impacts of migration to any place and so is the case with our country Nepal too. Nepal is particularly affected by migration because of the reason that more than 30 million Nepalese youths have migrated to different countries in search of better education as well as employment opportunities.