The Hands of the Blacks

by Luis Bernardo Honwana

I dont remember now how we got on to the subject,
but one day, Teacher said that the palms of the Blacks
hands were much lighter than the rest of their bodies.
This is because only a few centuries ago, they walked
around with them like wild animals, so their palms
werent exposed to the sun, which made the rest of their
bodies darker. I thought of this when Father Christiano
told us after catechism that we were absolutely hopeless,
and that even the pygmies were better than us, and he
went back to this thing about their hands being lighter,
and said it was like that because they always went about
with their hands folded together, praying in secret. I
thought this was so funny, this thing of the Blacks hands
being lighter, that you should just see me now. I do not
let go of anyone, whoever they are, until they tell me why
they think that the palms of the Blacks hands are lighter.
Doa Dores, for instance, told me that God made Blacks
hands lighter so they would not dirty the food they made
for their masters, or anything else they were ordered to
do that had to be kept clean.
Seor Antunes, the Coca-Cola man, who only comes
to the village now and again when all the Cokes in the
cantinas have been sold, said it was a lot of baloney. Of
course, I do not know if it was really such, but he assured
me, it was. After that I said, All right, it was baloney,
and then he told me what he knew about this thing of the
Blacks hands. It was like this: Long ago, many years
ago, God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, St.
Peter, many other saints, all the angels that were in
Heaven, and some of the people who had died and gone
to Heaventhey all had a meeting and decided to create
the Blacks. Do you know how? They got hold of some clay
and pressed it into some second-hand molds and baked
the clay of creatures, which they took from the heavenly
kilns. Because they were in a hurry and there was no
room next to the fire, they hung them in the chimneys.
Smoke, smoke, smokeand there you have them, black
as coals. And now, do you want to know why their hands

stayed white? Well, didnt they have to hold on while their

clay baked?
When he told me this, Seor Antunes and the other
men who were around us were very pleased and they all
burst out laughing. That very same day, Seor Frias told
me that everything i had heard from them there had been
just one big pack of lies. Really and truly, what he knew
about the Blacks hands was rightthat God finished men
and told them to bathe in a lake in Heaven. After bathing,
the people were nice and white. The Blacks, well. They
were made very early in the morning and at this hour, the
water in the lake was very cold, so they only wet the
palms of their hands and the soles of their feet before
dressing and coming to the world.
But I read in a book that happened to mention the
story, that the Blacks have hands lighter like this because
they spent their lives bent over, gathering the white
cotton of Virginia and I dont know where else. Of course,
Doa Estefania did not agree when i told her this.
According to her, it is only because their hands became
bleached with all that washing.
Well, I do not know what to think about all this but
the truth is that however calloused and cracked they may
be, Black hands are always lighter than the rest of him.
And thats that!
My mother is the only one who must be right about
this question of a Blacks hands being lighter than the
rest of his body. On the day that we were talking about it,
I was telling her what I already knew about the question,
and she could not stop laughing. When I was talking, she
did not tell me at once what she thought about all this
and she only talked when she was sure that I wouldnt get
tired of bothering her about it. And even then, she was
crying and clutching herself around the stomach like
someone who had laughed so much that it was quite
unbearable. What she said was more or less this:

God made Blacks because they had to be. They had

to be, my son. He thought they really had to be.
Afterwards, He regretted having made them because
other men laughed at them and took away their homes
and put them to serve as slaves and not much better. But
because He couldnt make them all white, for those who
were used to seeing them black would complain, He
made it so that the palms of their hands would be exactly
like the palms of the hands of other men. And do you
know why that was? Well, listen: it was to show that what
men do is only the work of men... that what men do is
done by hands that are the samehands of people. How,
if they had any sense, would know that before anything
else they are men. He must have been thinking of this
when He made the hands of those men who thank God
they are not black!
After telling me all this, my mother kissed my
hands. As I ran off to the yard to play ball, I thought that I
had never seen a person cry so much as my mother did
then.

Idioms
An idiom (Latin: idioma, "special property", from Greek: idma,
"special feature, special phrasing, a peculiarity", f. Greek: dios, "ones own")
is a phrase or a fixed expression that has a figurative, or sometimes literal,
meaning. An idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. There
are thousands of idioms, and they occur frequently in all languages. It is estimated
that there are at least twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in the English
language.
Examples
The following sentences contain idioms. The fixed words constituting the
idiom in each case are bolded:
a. She is pulling my leg. - to pull someone's leg means to trick them by
telling them something untrue.
b. When will you drop them a line? - to drop someone a line means to send
a note to or call someone.
c. You should keep an eye out for that. - to keep an eye out for something
means to maintain awareness of it so that you notice it as it occurs.

d. I can't keep my head above water. - to keep one's head above water
means to manage a situation.
e. It's raining cats and dogs. - to rain cats and dogs means to rain very
heavily (a downpour).
f. Oh no! You spilled the beans! - to spill the beans means to let out a
secret.
g. Why are you feeling blue? - to feel blue means to feel sad.
h. That jacket costs an arm and a leg. an arm and a leg means something
is very expensive.
i. It is not rocket science. not rocket science means something is not
difficult.
j. Put a cork in it. - put a cork in it is an impolite way to say, "shut up!"
(another idiom), be quiet, and stop talking.
k. I'm screwed . - to be screwed means that one is doomed, is in big trouble,
or has really messed up.
Each of the word combinations in bold has at least two meanings: a literal
meaning and a figurative meaning. Such expressions that are typical for a language
can appear as words, combinations of words, phrases, entire clauses, and entire
sentences.
l. The devil is in the details.
m. The early bird gets the worm.
n. Break a leg.
o. Waste not, want not.
p. Go take a chill pill.
q. I have butterflies in my stomach.
Expressions such as these have figurative meaning. When one says "The
devil is in the details", one is not expressing a belief in demons, but rather one
means that things may look good on the surface, but upon scrutiny, undesirable
aspects are revealed. Similarly, when one says "The early bird gets the worm", one
is not suggesting that there is only one worm, rather one means there are plenty of
worms, but for the sake of the idiom one plays along, and imagines that there is
only one worm. On the other hand, "Waste not, want not" is completely devoid of a
figurative meaning. It counts as an idiom, however, because it has a literal meaning
and people keep saying it.

The Arab Psyche

As we approach the 21st century, the Arab nation is experiencing a
crisis that it must overcome to move successfully into the new millennium. In
the second of a series of articles, Al Shindagah looks at the Arab psyche,
past and present
The Arabs Before Islam
The Arabs are an ancient Semitic

people of the Middle East. They are proud in their belief that they are
descended from the Prophet Noah's son Shem, and honoured that the last of
the lineage of God's prophets was from their midst, and humbled that God
enlightened mankind by revealing the Holy Word in their language.
The complex history of the Arab is conveniently divided into two parts
of before and after by the Revelation. In the pre-Islamic period, the social
structure which evolved in the harsh environment of the Arab Peninsula was
based on the tribal unit. Some tribes from the era survive even to this day,
while others perished during the process of God's unfolding plan.
The Holy Quran is a source of much sociological history of the Arab. In
it is revealed information about some of the disappeared tribes. Among them
were the people called the Aad, to whom God sent the prophet Hud:
Such were the Aad, they rejected the signs of their Lord, disobeyed His
messengers, and followed the command of every powerful, obstinate
transgressor. They were pursued by a curse in this life, and on the Day of
Judgement (it will be said to them): 'Ah! The Aad rejected their Lord.
Away with them, the people of Hud!'
(Chapter of Hud, v.59-60)
Another tribe which became extinct was the Thamoud, to whom God
had sent the prophet Saleh, as evidenced by the following verse from the
Quran:
To the Thamoud people We sent Saleh, one of their own brethren. He told
them, 'My people, worship God, you have no other God but Him. Now a clear
sign has come to you from your Lord! This she-camel of God is that sign.
Leave it to graze on God's earth, and let her come to no harm, or you will be
stricken with a grievous punishment.
(Chapter of the Aaref, v.73)
The Arabic tribes which did not perish but which survived to the
modern era can be divided into those clans of pure lineage and those
peoples who have gradually become naturalised within the Arabic family.
The core tribe of the pure Arab is the Qahtan, whose land of origin is found
within Yemen. Arab historians identify the first king of Yemen as Yar'ub bin
Qahtan, who was succeeded by his son Yashjub, who in turn was followed by
his son Abdu-Shams. This latter ruler was an early king of Sheba, and it was
in his reign that the famous Dam of Ma'rib was constructed. That dam pooled
the waters of the Yemeni mountains, and provided the basis of an advanced
irrigation system to make this homeland of the Arab fertile and bountiful.
The al Qahtani established a number of civilised states, such as Maeen,
Sheba and Himyar. The rulers of Himyar were known as the Tubba. Five
hundred years after the birth of the Christ, the last of these Tubba was
named Dhu Nuwas al Himyari. It happened that this king converted to
Judaism and forced his people to do likewise. Dhu Nawas was responsible for
a terrible incident which has been seared on the memory of the Arab ever
since. In the year 525 AD, he gathered the Christians of Najran (currently a
province of Saudi Arabia) into a large pit. For their crime of having refused to
embrace Judaism, the Tubba burned them alive. According to the Quran:
Woe to the makers of the pit of fire supplied abundantly with fuel!
They sat to watch and witnessed all that was done against the Believers.
(Chapter of the Burooj, v.3-8)
Arab historians believe that the ancient
civilisation of Yemen was as signifi-cant as that
of ancient Egypt and Phoenicia. It featured
prosperous towns, advanced agriculture, and
far-reaching commerce in precious fragrances
and the tree sap now called gum arabica. For

the wealth generated by the trade in frankincense and myrrh, the Romans
called Yemen 'arabia felix', happy Arabia!
The great Dam of Ma'rib was the keystone to Yemeni civilisation. In the
following Quranic verse, however, the story is recounted of its destruction:
There was for Saba a long time ago a Sign in their homeland, two gardens to
the right and to the left. Eat of the sustenance provided by your Lord, and be
grateful to Him for your fair and happy territory and for His forgiving nature.
But Saba turned away from God, and We destroyed their great dam to send
against them a flood. We caused their two gardens to then grow bitter fruit
and tamarisks and some few stunted lote trees.
(Chapter of the Saba, v.15-16)
It should be noted that several years ago the great Ma'rib Dam was
recently rebuilt to collect the waters of Yemen once again. Its reconstruction
will hopefully herald a new age of prosperity for the Yemenis. One of the
generous financial backers of this achievement was His Highness Sheikh
Zayed bin Sultan al Nahayan, President of the United Arab Emirates.
The second group of Arabs who have survived from the pre-Islamic era
are those which are referred to as naturalised, being from the peoples which
mixed and intermarried with the Qahtan. These
Arabs descended from the Prophet Ismail who
had settled in the holy city of Mecca. They are
also known as the Adnani and the Nizari after
their great-grandfather Adnan and their father
Nizar bin Maad bin Adnan.
Among the prominent tribes of this group are the Madar, the Rabeea,
the Iyad and the Anmar. These Arabs were concentrated in the upper region
of the Arab Peninsula and were thus known as the northerners. One of the
tribes which descended in this lineage was the Quraish into which the
Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was born.
Today's modern Arabs therefore consist of the descendants of these
southern and northern Arabs, and their off-spring due to intermarriage with
other peoples. With the emergence of Islam and the subsequent Muslim
conquest, their nation has spread far and wide across the world.
Pagan Beliefs
Prior to the revelation of God's Word, the early Arabs did not have the
benefit of a unified dogma to explain their world to them and to discipline
their unruly habits. Though there were some Christians and Jews among
them, these Arabs were primarily pagans who worshipped idols. During those
dark days, Mecca's holy shrine (called even at that time al Kaaba) was
burdened with statues and images of these false gods. The tribe of the
Prophet, the Quraish, worshipped one of them, calling it by the name of
Hobal. With the emergence of Islam and the conquest of Mecca, the Prophet
Mohammed, peace be upon him, cleansed the Kaaba of idols. The Holy
Quran cites the names of some of the graven images which were smashed,
such as Lat, Uzza and Manat, as evidenced by the verses, 'Have you seen
Lat and Uzz, and the third goddess,Manat?'
(Chapter of the Najirn, v.19-20)
The pagan Arabs believed that these images provided a medium which
somehow brought them closer to the divine, as shown in the Quranic verse:
Is it not to God that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for
protectors others than the One God say, 'We only serve them in order that
they may bring us closer to God.' Truly God will judge between them in their
differences, but God guides not the false and ungrateful.
(Chapter of the Zumar, v.3)

Tribal System
During the pre-Islamic era, the tribe was the primary social and
political unit of the Arabs. The primary function of the clan structure was to
defend its members, whether right or wrong. Correspondingly, the tribesmen
devoted themselves to protect their collective honour and they obeyed the
dictates of their tribal elders. A pre-Islamic poet eloquently expressed this
unquestioning loyalty as follows:
I am nothing but a member of my tribe.
If it goes astray, I will too,
and if it follows the right path, so will I.
The Holy Quran preached strongly against this blind loyalty and the
destructive prejudices which resulted. The Word of God decreed a better
criteria to differentiate between people, being their devotion to Islam. A
Quranic verse posits "The closest of you to God is the most pious." In the
Hadith, the collection of traditions collected from the life of the Prophet,
Mohammed is quoted to have said, "An Arab is by no means better than a
non-Arab, for piety is the only base for distinction."
Unfortunately tribal allegiances and prejudices have continued
throughout Arabic history. Sad to say, but this tendency has been one of the
primary factors which has weakened the Muslim nation by provoking
disputes among the believers. Even during the modern era there is abundant
evidence of this divisive devotion to tribalism. The fragmentation of the Arab
nation is only of benefit to its enemies, as disunity denies the Arab his
strength.
Practical Knowledge and Science
The Arabic culture of the pre-Islamic era did not
invent the sort of complex mythologies and creation
myths which characterised ancient cultures such as
Greece. Hellenic mythology was based on a belief system
featuring many rival gods and goddesses in constant
struggle against each other. Each of this godly pantheon
had their devotees among men. One consequence of such
a ritualistic and complex method of understanding the
world was to broaden the classic imagination. Thus did
ancient Greece gift mankind with such epics as the Iliad
and the Odyssey.
Early Arabic tribesmen were more prosaic in their
perceptions of the reality they inhabited. Of utmost concern were the skills
needed to survive their harsh environment and the predators in it, both
animal and human. As a consequence, the scientific knowledge which
developed among the early Arabs was practical in nature, such as the
astronomical knowledge useful for predicting the weather, for animal
reproduction and for travel and migration.
The ancient Arabs also exhibited a full awareness of genealogy which
they used to keep track of the complexities of tribal kinship. And as would be
expected of a pastoral and nomadic people, skills gradually evolved for
veterinary and popular medicine, with techniques such as herbal treatments,
cautery and cupping among those in which they gained extensive expertise.
The always quarrelling tribes developed skills of warfare. Animal husbandry
evolved not just for alimentary reasons, but for breeding faster, stronger
horses and camels for battle. The settled Arabs, called the hathar, became
skilled craftsmen of metal working, which was useful for fashioning the lethal
daggers and swords for which Arab warriors gained fame.
The classic framework of philosophy and rhetoric which the Greeks
developed was therefore far from the more mundane considerations of the

early Arabs. The tribal lack of advanced urban centres meant that schools of
specialised intellectual skills did not develop. The pre-Islamic Arabs were
either villagers, pastoralists or traders, who existed with the less effete goal
of simple physical survival.
The Need for Revenge
Pre-Islamic Arabs were adamant about the unquestionable law of
revenge. In their view, a disgrace must be avenged, no matter what the
consequences. One of their poets expressed this cultural fixation thus:
I shall wash disgrace with the edge of my sword,
no matter what this may bring about.
In this context, the pagan tribes believed that if the murder of a
kinsman went unavenged, a bird named 'al Hama' would come out of the
victim's skull and hover over his grave shrieking "Satisfy my thirst!" This
would be the victim's demand to avenge his death and to quench his terrible
thirst with the blood of the murderer.
The momentous revelation of the Word of God changed that mentality. The
Holy Book prohibited revenge, as shown in the verse, "An evil deed must not
be countered by another evil deed." Moreover, the new religion organised
the political life of the believers in such a manner that judgement and
punishment under the Sharia law was a right reserved to the state. The fact
that the practice of revenge and even clan feuds still erupt within the Arab
world merely proves the strength of the pre-Islamic legacy. That should serve
to remind all believers that complete submission to God's will is a daily
obligation for every Muslim.
A People of Eloquence
The early tribes did not commonly express their artistry with
architecture and statuary. Instead they gloried in the intricacies of their
splendid Arabic language. The tribes loved eloquent speech and the
expression of their folk wisdom in clever proverbs. Story-telling and
recitations of poetry were standard features of the social gatherings of both
hathar and bedouin.
The abundant poetry which still exists from that era demonstrates
deep insight into the human condition. Witness the erudition displayed by
the following extract from the work of an early Arab poet by the name of
Labeed:
Personal possessions and family are merely entrusted with us,
such trust must one day be returned.
Among the distinctive features of pre-Islamic Arabic literary expression
are the skills with which its masters exploited the complexity of their
language, and the precision of expression about real-life experience. The
proverbs from the era are still in common usage among today's Arabs, which
surely is an indication of their eloquence. A brief sampling:
Men perish as a victim to their greed.
Words are deadlier than the sword.
Prudence starts with seeking advice.
A free man honours his promise.
Whims are the enemy of wisdom.
The verses of the Holy Quran are indicative of the standard of rhetoric which
existed at the time of the revelation, as the Arabs quickly recognised its
brilliance. Muslims believe that the Word is so perfect in the language of its
delivery that it represents a linguistic miracle. This perception explains
therefore the insistence that the believers of all nations must learn the
Quranic verses and prayer in the language which God chose for their
revelation.

To those sceptics who doubted the divine source of the Holy Word, the Lord
challenged them to produce one verse similar to those of the Quran.
If you are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our
servant, then produce a sura similar to these, and call your witnesses or
helpers (if there are any) to stand beside you if you are truthful. But if you
cannot, and surely you cannot, then fear the fire whose fuel is men who
reject the faith.
(Chapter of the Cow, v.23-24)
The Character of Respect
For a tribesman to hold his head high among his fellows during the
long epoch of the pre-Islamic period, he had to display certain elements of
character which were highly valued in his culture. These qualities included
courage, generosity, integrity and pride.
An unfortunate aspect of the life of both hathar and bedouin was a
condition of constant insecurity. Attack from hostile forces could take place at
any time. For members of the tribe, courage was imperative if family and
property and honour were to be defended. Audacity therefore came to be a
highly regarded attribute, whereas cowardliness and fear of the enemy was a
disgrace.
Another highly valued element of character was generosity. The social rituals
of the pre-Islamic Arabs enshrined this trait as the most worthy mark of a
man. He must welcome the guest with lavish hospitality and do everything
possible to make the visitor feel welcome. This obligation was so paramount
that even an enemy had the right to enjoy hospitality for a limited period. A
poem of the period declares:
I am a slave to my guest so long as he is my guest,
but I have no other trait that brings me
closer to being a slave.
To indicate their eagerness to be
hospitable, pre-Islamic bedouin used to light
bonfires on hilltops at night to guide
wandering strangers to their tents. It was
said that some eager hosts used aromatic
wood for their fires so as to guide even the
blind to a warm welcome!
For such fiercely proud and
independent tribesmen, a pre-requisite to
manhood and leadership was integrity. The
Arab thought of this attribute as indicative of
self-esteem and decency. This was eloquently
portrayed by the pre-Islamic poet and folk
character named Antara, who was quoted as
saying, "May I spend the night hungry and
remain in that condition until I have earned
my way in a decent manner." It was reported
that when the Prophet Mohammed heard this line, he said, "I have never felt
anxious to meet bedouin because of what is reported about them, except for
Antara." The pride which was so central to the Arab's self-esteem was such
that he could never accept disgrace. A free man was unwilling to live under
the shadow of shame, as it would be akin to slavery. The person who would
accept disgrace was considered akin to a donkey tied to a wedge in the
ground, as shown by the following proverb:
No one will tolerate injustice except the donkey and the wedge.
The latter is beaten into the ground, while the other is beaten
above the ground and no one feels sorry for either of them.

The pre-Islamic Arabs possessed many other characteristics, such as

love for prominence and charity for the needy. One of the poets of the time
summed up these virtues as follows:
She reviled us for our small number.
I said that decent men are few.
We do not mind our small number when
as a result our neighbour is treated well.
This is not so with the neighbour of
those who are large in number.
And if one of our leaders passes away,
he is replaced by another whose deeds
are those of honourable men.
The Emergence if Islam
The Word of God was revealed to mankind in the year 610 AD. The
message brought by the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, introduced
drastic changes to the political, social, intellectual and cultural life of the
Arabs. The teachings of the Holy Quran were a blunt instrument to suppress
the cruder aspects of the Arabic culture, and a fine instrument to uplift their
better selves.
The revealed system was complete, as it established all of the laws
necessary to regulate both personal and political life. Islam instilled in the
Arab the high ideals and holy fire which enabled the miraculously rapid
expansion of the Muslim world. Such is the power of the word of God!
The Revelation of the Word had a powerful impact on the Arab psyche, and
the transformation which resulted will be the subject of the next segment of
this historical investigation into the Arab nation.

Sentence Patterns
In its simplest form, an English sentence has two parts: a subject and a
verb that express a complete thought when they are together.

The subject shows who or what is doing the action. It is always some form of
noun or pronoun.
The verb shows the action or the state of being. It can be an action verb, like
run, or a state verb, like seem.

Examples of simple two word sentences include:

Marvin slept.
Dogs bark.

Isotopes react.

Real sentences are rarely so short. We usually want to convey much more
information, so we modify the main subject and verb with other words and
phrases, as in the sentences below:

Unfortunately, Marvin slept fitfully.

Dogs bark louder after midnight.

Heavy isotopes react more slowly than light isotopes of the same element.

Despite the extra information, each of these sentences has one subject and
one verb, so its still just one clause. Whats a clause?
A clause is the combination of a subject and a verb. When you have a
subject and verb, you have a clause. Pretty easy, isnt it? Were going to
concentrate on clauses in this handout, with emphasis on these two in
particular:
1. Independent clause: a subject and verb that make a complete thought.
Independent clauses are called independent because they can stand on their
own and make sense.
2. Dependent clause: a subject and verb that dont make a complete thought.
Dependent clauses always need to be attached to an independent clause
(theyre too weak to stand alone).

Well talk more about dependent clauses later on, but also see our handout
on fragments for a more detailed description of these types of clauses.
Something tricky
Before we move on to the sentence types, you should know a little trick of
subjects and verbs: they can double up in the same clause. These are called
compound subjects or verbs because there are two or more of them in the
same clause.
Compound subject (two subjects related to the same verb):

Javier and his colleagues collaborated on the research article.

Compound verb (two verbs related to the same subject):

Javier conducted the experiment and documented the results.

Compound subject with compound verb:

Javier, his colleagues, and their advisor drafted and revised the article several
times.

Notice that they dont overlap. You can tell that its only one clause because
all of the subjects in one clause come before all of the verbs in the same
clause.

Four Basic Patterns

Every sentence pattern below describes a different way to combine
clauses. When you are drafting your own papers or when youre revising
them for sentence variety, try to determine how many of these patterns you
use. If you favor one particular pattern, your writing might be kind of boring

if every sentence has exactly the same pattern. If you find this is true, try to
revise a few sentences using a different pattern.
NOTE: Because nouns can fill so many positions in a sentence, its easier to
analyze sentence patterns if you find the verbs and find the connectors.
The most common connectors are listed below with the sentence patterns
that use them.
In the descriptions below, S=Subject and V=Verb, and options for
arranging the clauses in each sentence pattern given in parentheses.
Connecting words and the associated punctuation are highlighted in brown.
Notice how the punctuation changes with each arrangement.
Pattern 1: Simple Sentence
One independent clause (SV.)

Mr. Potato Head eats monkeys.

I refuse.

Try this: Look for sentences in your own text that have only one clause.
Mark them with a certain color so they stand out.
Pattern 2: Compound Sentence
Two or more independent clauses. They can be arranged in these ways: (SV,
and SV.) or (SV; however, SV.)
Connectors with a comma, the FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (See
our handout on commas for more info.)
Connectors with a semicolon and comma: however, moreover, nevertheless,
nonetheless, therefore
Example compound sentences:

Mr. Potato Head eats them for breakfast every day, but I dont see the
attraction.
Eating them makes him happy; however, he cant persuade me.

Try this:

Scan your own text to find the compound connectors listed above. Circle
them.
Find the verb and the subject of the clauses on both sides of the connectors.
Highlight your compound sentences with a color thats different from the one
you used to mark your simple sentences.

Pattern 3: Complex Sentence

One independent clause PLUS one or more dependent clauses. They
can be arranged in these ways: (SV because SV.) or (Because SV, SV.) or (S,
because SV, V.)
Connectors are always at the beginning of the dependent clause. They
show how the dependent clause is related to the independent clause. This

list shows different types of relationships along with the connectors that
indicate those relationships:

Cause/Effect: because, since, so that

Comparison/Contrast: although, even though, though, whereas, while

Place/Manner: where, wherever, how, however

Possibility/Conditions: if, whether, unless

Relation: that, which, who, whom

Time: after, as, before, since, when, whenever, while, until

Examples of complex sentences:

He recommends them highly because they taste like chicken when they are
hot.
Although chicken always appeals to me, I still feel skeptical about monkey.

Mrs. Potato Head, because she loves us so much, has offered to make her
special monkey souffle for us.

She can cook it however she wants.

Although I am curious, I am still skeptical.

Try this:

Scan your own text to find the complex connectors listed above. Circle them.
Find the verb and the subject of the clauses that goes with each connector,
remembering that the dependent clause might be in between the subject and
verb of the independent clause, as shown in the arrangement options above.

Highlight your complex sentences with a color thats different from the one
you used to mark your simple sentences.

Pattern 4: Compound-Complex Sentence

Two or more independent clauses PLUS one or more dependent clauses. They
can be arranged in these ways: (SV, and SV because SV.) or (Because SV, SV,
but SV.)
Connectors: Connectors listed under Patterns 2 & 3 are used here. Find the
connectors, then find the verbs and subjects that are part of each clause.

Mr. Potato Head said that he would share the secret recipe; however, if he
does, Mrs. Potato Head will feed him to the piranhas, so we are both safer
and happier if I dont eat monkeys or steal recipes.

Try this: Use a fourth color to highlight the compound-complex sentences in

your text (the ones with at least two independent and at least one
dependent clauses).
Look at the balance of the four different colors. Do you see one color
standing out? Do you notice one missing entirely? If so, examine your text
carefully while you ask these questions:

Could you separate some of the more complex sentences?

Could you combine some of the shorter sentences?

Can you use different arrangement options for each of the sentence patterns?

Can you use different connectors if you change the order of the clauses?

TAG QUESTIONS
A question tag or tag question (also known as tail question) is a
grammatical structure in which a declarative statement or an imperative is turned
into a question by adding an interrogative fragment (the "tag"). For example, in the
sentence "You're John, aren't you?", the statement "You're John" is turned into a
question by the tag "aren't you". The term "question tag" is generally preferred by
British grammarians, while their American counterparts prefer "tag question".

Uses
In most languages, tag questions are more common in colloquial
spoken usage than in formal written usage. They can be an indicator of
politeness, emphasis or irony. They may suggest confidence or lack of
confidence; they may be confrontational, defensive or tentative. Although
they have the grammatical form of a question, they may be rhetorical (not
expecting an answer). In other cases, when they do expect a response, they
may differ from straightforward questions in that they cue the listener as to
what response is desired. In legal settings, tag questions can often be found
in a leading question. According to a specialist children's lawyer at the
NSPCC, children find it difficult to answer tag questions other than in
accordance with the expectation of the questioner using or tagging a
question.

Forms
Question tags are formed in several ways, and many languages give a
choice of formation. In some languages the most common is a single word or
fixed phrase, whereas in others it is formed by a regular grammatical
construction.
Single word forms
In many languages, the question tag is a simple positive or negative.
Russian allows ?, yes?, whereas Spanish and Italian use no? and no?
respectively. In Indonesian, sometimes ya? ("yes?") is used but it is more
common to say kan?, which probably is a contraction of bukan (negation for
nouns).
Another common formation is equivalent to the English correct? or the
informal form right?. This more often is realised as the word for true or truth,
such as in Polish prawda?, or Spanish verdad?, which in turn can be
presented in a negative form, such as in the Polish nieprawda?, German
nicht wahr? (not true?) or Lithuanian ar ne?. Alternatively, a word or short
phrase indicating agreement can be used, such as the French d'accord?.
A plain conjunction may be used, such as the Czech e? (that). Various other
words occur in specific languages, such as German oder? (or) and the
Chinese ma (literally what but never used in the way English uses that word).

Finally, some languages have words whose only function is as a question tag.
In Scots and certain dialects of English, eh? functions this way. French has
hein?, Southern German dialects have gell? (derived from a verb meaning "to
be valid") and Portuguese has n? (actually a colloquial contraction of no
?, literally "isn't it?", while ?, pronounced much like English eh?, would
have a different intended meaning, that of English right?).
Grammatically regular forms
In several languages, the tag question is built around the standard
interrogative form. In English and the Celtic languages, this interrogative
agrees with the verb in the main clause, whereas in other languages the
structure has fossilised into a fixed form.
Grammatically productive tag forms

Grammatically productive tag forms are formed in the same way as

simple questions, referring back to the verb in the main clause and agreeing
in time and person (where the language has such agreement. The tag may
include a pronoun, such as in English, or may not, as is the case in Scottish
Gaelic. If the rules of forming interrogatives require it, the verb in the tag
may be an auxiliary, as in English.
Punctuation
In most languages, a tag question is set off from the sentence by a
comma. In Spanish, where the beginnings of questions are marked with an
inverted question mark, it is only the tag, not the whole sentence, which is
placed within the question bracket:

Ests cansado, verdad? (You're tired, aren't you?)

ASIAN TRADITION THEATRE AND

DANCE
In many cultures the origins of theatrical arts can be traced
back to early religious rituals. In ancient Greece, for example, the
classical tragedies evolved from earlier, powerful rituals
performed in honour of the god Dionysos, and the origins of
dance in China are both found in ancient shamanistic
performances. In the West, as mentioned above, the connection between
theatre, dance and religion was broken after the
Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
In Asia, particularly in South and Southeast
Asia, the bond between religion and theatre and
dance is very strong even today. This may be at least partly explained by
religious attitudes. In the monotheistic religions that originated in the Near
East, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, the human body is regarded as
something sinful and thus corporal art forms were banished from their
rituals. God may be praised through the visual arts, architecture and even
singing, but more physical expressions were more or less prohibited in a
religious context.
In most of the Asian religions, such as Hinduism and
Buddhism, such a strict division between the sinful
body and pure spirituality has not existed and thus
the human body has retained its holiness; it has been
accepted as a worthy medium to praise even spirits and
gods.
Many forms of performance, for example temple dances, are, in fact,
regarded as offerings, prayers, gaining merit or a kind of spiritual meditation.

One example of how theatrical practice evolved from rituals is the mudras or
symbolic hand gestures, so crucial to Indian dance and theatre traditions.
They developed from the age-old sacred gestures used in religious rituals by
the Brahman priests.
An abundance of ceremonial elements can still be found in many of the Asian
theatrical traditions simply because most of them stem originally from earlier
rituals, and actually a dance or theatre performance itself can, in many
cases, still be regarded as a ritual.

Trance Rituals and Shamanism

As a broad generalisation, one could say that the rituals connected
with trance elements seem to represent a very early stage of ritual
performances. They often seem to precede the present institutionalised
religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and
Confucianism. In many of the Christian and Muslim cultures
these early examples of religious expression were forbidden and
destroyed. This is not, however, the case in many of the Asian
cultures in which later religions, such as Hinduism and
Buddhism, did not abandon the earlier layers of belief systems
but rather assimilated them into their own ideologies and
practices.
Trance indicates a kind of hypnotic or half-conscious state
of mind, which can be attained by several means or techniques. They include
suggestive, rhythmic music, whirling movements, the control of breathing
(hyperventilation) and the use of mind-altering substances such as
hallucinogenic drugs.
In this other state of mind the
performer/performers of the ritual, and sometimes also
members of the audience, are able to contact the spirit
world. Trance rituals are strongly associated with the
early belief system usually called shamanism. The term
was earlier related to the so-called Northern Shamanistic Belt, which extended from
northern Scandinavia to Siberia, Manchuria, and Korea in the east.

In this form of shamanism the shaman priest had various roles. He or she
could act
1. as a healer, or
2. as an oracle, or the shaman could function
3. as a mediator between the ancestors or sprits and the community he or she
was serving.

This northern form of shamanism has now mainly disappeared with the
exception of Korea, where the tradition is still thriving today.

Shamanistic Ritual as a Form of Theatre

Shamanistic rituals often include features which relate them to
theatrical performances. During the ceremony the spirit priest often wears
clothes which refer to the particular spirit the shaman is getting in touch

with. In Nordic countries the shaman often wore animal furs, feathers and
horns associated with local sacred animals such as bears, eagles, and deer
or elks.
Sometimes a shaman is transformed into a kind of transsexual being,
since it has been believed in many cultures that during the trance a male
spirit prefers to manifest himself through a female body and female spirit
through a male body. These elements, the transforming of the performer with
costuming into a kind of stage character and the transformation, through the
trance, into the other, relate these rituals to theatrical practices.
There is, however, a crucial difference between a shamanistic ritual
and a conventional theatrical performance with its make-believe
agreement. It is a fact that shamanistic ritual has generally been regarded to
be true or genuine, not a kind of fictional stage presentation we are usually
familiar in the theatre. These kinds of ritual trance performances have
generally been regarded as very important for the spiritual life and wellbeing of the community in which they are performed. They have offered a
channel in which to communicate with sprits and ancestors or to grant, for
example, a good harvest etc.
Trance rituals can be almost uncontrollable in their
spontaneity and power. This creates an element of actual danger for
the performer and sometimes for the audience as well. It can
actually be a question of life and death, as will be seen later in
connection with some Indian and Balinese traditions. This, of
course, is a crucial difference between an authentic trance ritual and our
conception of a theatrical performance.

Trance Rituals in Asia

Above, some of the characteristics of trance rituals were described
with a reference to the kind of shamanism as has appeared in the region of
the so-called Northern Shamanistic Belt. If shamanism is slightly more widely
defined, as it now tends to be, it is possible to find trance traditions with
shamanistic features almost everywhere, in Africa, Central and South
America and especially in Asia. As has been pointed out, most of this kind of
traditions seems to stem from archaic, mostly animistic belief systems
preceding the present institutionalised religions. Later, powerful trancerelated traditions from India, Korea and several Southeast Asian countries
will be described.
Structurally, the trance rituals are not always strictly divided into a
possessed spirit priest and his or her passive spectators. Sometimes there is
no clear borderline between the executor of the ritual and its observers. One
example of this kind of ritual is the famous kris dance in the so-called
Calonarang dance drama of Bali.
One of its main protagonists is a horrendous witch, who has
the power to make people turn against themselves. The
performance reaches its culmination in the self-stabbing dance,
where part of the village audience, incited by blind rage, attack
the witch. She, however, is able to hypnotize the villagers so that
they start to stab themselves with their daggers. This extremely dangerous
dance is controlled by the village priests, who bring the dancers back to
normal consciousness.

This kris dance is not only an example of how the borderline between
the performer and audience in a trance performance can melt away; it is also
an example of how an ancient trance ritual can be assimilated into a later
type of performance since the trance section is absorbed into later story
material. As mentioned above, many of the Asian religions assimilated the
earlier belief systems and their practices. Similarly, the trance element has
been assimilated into later theatrical forms, Calonarang being but only one
example of this phenomenon.
As in the kris dance, the element of danger is also strongly present in
many other trance performances. One example is a certain tradition of the
teyyam tradition from Kerala in southwestern India. There a young man is
chosen to perform the ritual, before which he meditates and fasts for a
longer period. Before the ritual he is dressed with leaves from the trees and
elaborate make-up is painted on his face while his eyes and mouth are
covered with a kind of silver mask. Torches are added to his costume and
they are set on fire when the performance starts. During the ritual the
performer whirls around. If he himself catches fire, it is interpreted as a
negative sign. If, however, he does not catch fire, it is seen as a sign that the
gods are satisfied. The element of danger is alarmingly concrete!

The Actor in Ritual Performances

The role of an actor in ritual performances differs from the role of an

actor in mainstream western theatre. In western theatre it is common that
the actor uses his or her own personality, memories, expressions and
particular physiognomy to create a role. This is not the case in most of the
archaic ritual performances. In contrast, the performer often tries to weep
out his or her personality by, for example, fasting and meditating. The
performer is often expected not to act the role of the god, spirit or
mythological character, but rather to receive it in order to be able to serve as
its embodiment.The embodiment of a sacred being or character is also
possible by employing fixed costuming, masks or complicated make-up
systems. By these devices, the personality of the performer is dispelled and
performers are able to embody the sacred being in a similar way, generation
after generation. It is probably because so many Asian theatre and dance
traditions have their origins in archaic rituals that the conception of acting in
many classical traditions also still bears similarities to the actors role in
archaic rituals. Fixed role categories, costuming, masks or make-up keep
stage characters alive for centuries and only an actor-dancer with decades of
training is able to add something new to the interpretation of the role.

Poetry Terms and Poetic Traditions

With all of the different tools that poets can use to construct
a poem, it's not surprising that poets sometimes like to recreate
the structures and themes of other poems.
There are many existing structures and themes to choose from.
These structures have rules, such as the number of lines in the
poem, the type of meter that is used, the rhyme scheme needed
or the subject of the poem. Some of the most popular include:

A sonnet is fourteen lines long and has a specific rhyme scheme. Two
of the most popular sonnet types are the Petrarchan sonnet (such as
"1492" by Emma Lazarus) and the Shakespearean sonnet (such as
"Altruism" by Molly Peacock), which each have slightly different rhyme
schemes.
A ballad is usually written in stanzas of four lines each and has a
meter that alternates between iambic tetrameter (four feet) and
iambic trimeter (three feet). A famous example of a traditional ballad is
Robert Burns' poem "A Red, Red Rose."

A haiku is structured based on the number of syllables in each line. A

traditional haiku is three lines long, has five syllables in the first line,
seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line. A
fun example of a haiku is "If Not for the Cat" by Jack Prelutsky.

A sestina is unusual because instead of a rhyme scheme, it repeats

words. It's broken up into several stanzas, each with six lines. The six
words that end each line in the first stanza are then repeated as endwords in every other stanza in a prescribed order. Take a look at how
John Ashbery makes the repeated words flow in "Farm Implements and
Rutabagas in a Landscape."

A villanelle is made up of only two end-rhyme sounds that are

repeated throughout the poem. To make things more complicated, the
first and third lines of the poem are repeated in a specific pattern all
through the poem. A great example of a villanelle is Dylan Thomas's
"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."

An ode is a poem written to celebrate a person or thing, such as the

poem "The Snail," by Richard Lovelace.

An elegy is written for or about someone who has died, such as "An
Elegy for Five Old Ladies" by Thomas James Merton.

An epigram, is a poem that is meant to be funny or satirical. See if

you can catch the punch line in Stephen Crane's "A Man Said to the
Universe."

An aubade is a poem about the arrival of the morning. It's usually a

love poem expressing disappointment that an evening rendezvous has
ended, such as Schuyler van Rensselaer's "Under Two Windows."

An epistle is typically a poem addressed to someone the poet is close

to, though many are written as open letters to people the poet may or
may not know, such as "Dear Mr. Fanelli" by Charles Bernstein.

Of course, there are many other poetic structures and forms that
a poet can follow, if he or she chooses, but these are just a few.
So where did all of these styles and forms and structures and
devices come from? Well, they've developed over many centuries.
Let's look now at the poets who gave us these tools and how
different movements in poetry over the years have both brought
rules to poetry and taken them away.