THE CHARACTERIZATION AND STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF A.H MOHAMMED’S “LAST DAYS AT FORCADOS HIGH SCHOOL

Chapter one

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

It is not unusual to observe the major and salient happenings pervading the modern African society. Especially in Lagos Nigeria, an average perspicacious individual can pinpoint some of the untold events and changes transpiring in institutions such as schools, etc. One of such individuals is A. H. Mohammed, a graduate of Medicine, University of Lagos. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, A. H. Mohammed uses his first novel to picture the modern day lifestyle of high school Nigerian students and everyone who affects them. He also uses the novel to communicate his stance towards parental irresponsibility, association, child abuse and transition to adolescence.

It is still early in the morning of the first day of school resumption. Jimi Solade, the main character, wakes from his peaceful slumber and notices his immediate elder brother, Wole, beside him. Jimi is the youngest of the three sons of Mr. Solade. He is surprised to see his prodigal elder brother in the house. Meanwhile, Mr. Solade awakes and finds the prodigal. Flared up with anger, he drives Wole out of the house without regard to the pleas of his dear wife and loving youngest son.

Jimi leaves for school with his neigbouring schoolmate, Ansa, affected by the tumult in his household. In school, the sociable Jimi is wholesomely welcomed by his schoolmates. He is also welcomed by his teachers and principal. Although he is with the timid Ansa, the greetings seem to be canalized to him alone.

About the author

Summary of the novel

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

The linguistic stylistic analysis of a given text is usually an attempt at evaluating the use of language in order to unravel the synthesis of the thought in the text. This is necessary with particular reference to this study because in the study of African Literature as a whole, relatively little attention has been given to Linguistic Stylistics (and more to Literary Stylistics). Put simply, an analysis seeks to unveil the meaning the text conveys, and interestingly too, those strands of meaning not obviously presented, those subtle nuances a writer tries to pass across.
Most readers do not find it easy to understand the literary text they read, especially because they belong to an overlapping speech community, which may be differentiated by lexis, pronunciation, forms of address or any other distinguishing stylistic feature, such as that of code switching and mixing.

1.3       Research Questions

The study seeks to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the linguistic features used by H Mohammed’s “Last Days At Forcados High School
2. How does A.H Mohammed’s “Last Days At Forcados High School style enable his to pass across intended meanings?

3. To what extent does the writer‟s cultural and linguistic background contribute to the way he code switches and code mixes?

1.4      Significance OF THE STUDY

style is studied in order to explain something, and in general, literary stylistics has the goal of explaining the relation between language and artistic function. However, stylistics is also a dialogue between a literary reader and linguistic observer, in which insight and not mere objectivity, is the goal. Linguistic analysis does not replace the readers intuition, what Spitzer (1948) calls the „click‟ in the mind, but it may prompt ,direct, and shape it into an understanding. Leo Spitzer insists that the smallest detail of language can unlock the „soul‟ of a literary work; and by explaining how a particular effect or meaning is achieved, one understands better than not just how it is achieved (which in itself is essential to the critical task of explanation) but also gains a greater appreciation of what the writer has created.

Therefore this study will help English language users appreciate a writer‟s style of writing from another. It will inform language users on how to express what they want to communicate, including the understanding of the workings of a language and can situate the verbal technique of a particular text among the range of available repertoires for writing and speaking, as A.H Mohammed’s “Last Days At Forcados High School has revealed how language can be creatively used to present culture and the variety of language use that exist. It hopes also to expose them to the creative use of language by the author so as to guide their writing skills creatively. Toolan (1992:9) asserts that:

One of the crucial things attempted by stylistics is to put the discussion of textual effects and techniques on a public, shared, footing- a footing as shared and established and inspectable as is available to informed language users, who agree that „she‟ is a pronoun, „herself‟ is a reflective pronoun. „Clarissa‟ is a proper name, and the „vivacious white-haired woman‟ a definite description.

In the same line, since stylistics tries to lay bare what occurs in the process of textual understanding and interpretation, it is obvious that the findings of the study will enable students and other language users to be more precise and analytical in their thinking about the linguistic structure of texts and in understanding them. The findings will not only be important for enhancing the academic performance of students but can also be easily seen as a resource for the development of valuable transferable creative stylistic writing skills for future use.

THE CHARACTERIZATION AND STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF A.H MOHAMMED’S “LAST DAYS AT FORCADOS HIGH SCHOOL