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Kwame AlexanderA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“I hang on to all his words,
the lulls in between,
and I remember
the stories
like a pigeon remembers
its way home.”
This section shows The Power of Storytelling and Oral Tradition through Kofi’s love of Nana Mosi’s stories. This sensory-based simile of a bird remembering its way home acts as figurative language, but also foreshadows that Kofi should follow the birds toward shore in the ocean much later.
“[B]ut I do feel the scorch
of the rod
across my hand
and in my bones.
I even taste its sting
in my mouth.
Queen’s English, please, Mr. Phillip says,
as calm as rain...”
Cultural Identity and Colonialism is highlighted as Mr. Phillip insists they speak English instead of their native Twi language. This is a major conflict in the book, displayed through Kofi’s intense physical pain.
“Ei! The bird who dares to fall is the bird who learns to fly!”
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