Purple Hibiscus

• What class level do you think is appropriate to deal with the delicate issue of domestic violence?

• Through what media could you explore intercultural education in a inclusive way along with literature?

Purple Hibiscus

€1.25

Monday, February 24, 2014

Sinéad Keogh & Christina Donnelly

Literary Criticisms

Symbol of Freedom and Hope

• 'As teacher educators, we use multicultural children’s literature... because it allows students to reflect on cultures that are different from their own as well as to examine their own cultural and linguistic backgrounds.' (Perpetua, 2013).

• ‘Watching a child character respond to such dilemmas touches on the experience of us all.’ (Vincent, Summer 2008, 41).

• 'We knew that with global literature the children would “immerse themselves in story worlds [and gain] insights into how people feel, live, and think around the world.." (Rochman cited in Martens and Martens, 2013).

About the Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Reasons for choosing this novel

Plot Summary

• Compelling storyline
• Set in a different culture
• Very-well written
• Written in the Realistic Contemporary genre

• Born September 15, 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria and raised in Nsukka near the University of Nigeria.
• Moved to America at the age of nineteen and attended Drexel University in Philadelphia on a scholarship.
• Completed a masters degree in Creative Writing in Johns Hopkins University.
• First published novel is ‘Purple Hibiscus’, published in 2003.

Characters

Main Characters

Kambili

Jaja

Mama-

Papa- Eugene

Aunt Ifeoma

Father Amadi

Minor Characters

Ade Coker

Amaka

Obiora

Chima

Fifi

Genre

We did that often, asking each other questions whose answers we already knew. Perhaps it was so that we would not ask the other questions, the ones whose answers we did not want to know.

Purple Hibiscus

Questions

Realistic Contemporary

• Deals with SPHE or DICE issues
• Is written in 2003 about the present time
• Has a realistic storyline
• Is written about a non-fictional society
• The author lived in Nsukka (location of the book).

References

Themes

Awards for Purple Hibiscus

• Vincent, Zu (Summer 2008) 'The Tiny Key': Unlocking the Father/Child Relationship in Young Adult Fiction'. The ALAN Review Volume 3: (issue 3), 36-44
• Harris, V. (1997) Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classrooms. Normood, MA: Christopher Gordon.
• Perpetua, M., Liwanag, S. and Kim K and Duckett, P (2013). Exploring Cultural Identity Through Literature ‘Children Revaluing Themselves as Readers and Writers: Critical Dialogues about Identity in Children’s Literature’ 3:(3). Available from: http://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/stories/storiesiv6/4/
• Martens, P. and Martens, R. (20130) ‘Learning About Ourselves and Others: Developing Intercultural Understandings through Global Literature’. Learning About Ourselves and Others through Global Literature. Available from: http://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/stories/iv5/3/
• [accessed March 2013].
• Anonymous [photograph]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/apr/11/americanah-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-review [accessed March 2014].
• Anonymous [photograph]. Available from: http://www.hurstonwright.org/ [accessed March 2014].
• Anonymous [photograph]. Available from: http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/about/ [accessed March 2014].
• Anonymous [photograph]. Available from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag-map_of_Nigeria.svg [accessed March 2014].

• Hurston/Wright Legacy Award 2004 (Best Debut Fiction Category), Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2005: Best First Book (Africa)
• Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2005: Best First Book (overall)
• Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2004
• Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2004
• Nominated for the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Best Books for Young Adults Award (2004)
• Shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2004/2005.

• Domestic violence
• Family and friendship
• False appearances
• Love and hate
• Civil unrest
• Teenage rebellion

Optimal Audience

While men and women have their biological differences, those differences should not be used for the disadvantaging of women.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

• We think that this book is suitable for children from age 12 and upwards due to the difficult theme of violence.

• Young Adults can relate better to Kambili as she develops and deals with changes in her life through her teenage years.