Stickfighting

"The whole village talk 'bout him. They say that in the stickfighting ring, the gayelle, it don't have a man to stand up in front of him. They say he don't fight just to win battles for himself, for him stickfighting was more the dance, the adventure, the ceremony to show off the beauty of the warrior." Chapter 2: The War Still Fighting The Wine of Astonishment

Have you ever witnessed a stickfighting competition? To see the dance of the stickfighter, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVle9Cs3Tqg&feature=related

Tongue Twisters

• Sometimes what children wonder can make us wonder how they wonder such interesting wonders.


• Bad money mad bunny. Try to repeat this as fast as you could.


• The trickiest tongue twister in the English language is apparently, "Sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick". Give it a try and see for yourself. What literary device is this?

These tongue twisters were submitted by Martin Philbert.

The Wine of Astonishment

Psalm 60:3

You have showed your people hard things: you have made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

How is this title appropriate?

And I never get weary yet!

"I never get weary yet
I never get weary yet
Forty long years I work in the field
And I never get weary yet"

Do you know this song? If you're never heard it before, you could listen to it here: http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pJtQp9mgVY

So you've read Chapter 1 of The Wine of Astonishment, how are these lyrics significant?

"..and be as little vain"

Comic strip submitted by: Akil Bernard
"BRAVE flowers--that I could gallant it like you, And be as little vain!" --A Contemplation Upon Flowers
What does this line mean?

"Son of the Soil"

In what ways has Ivan Morton transplanted himself from the soil that has nurtured him?

BEE, the Christ-figure

"Bee there too, standing up by the kitchen door, with his two hands stretch out across the door like Jesus Christ had his hands when they try crucify him on the cross..." Chap 1

Bee is established as a Christ-figure at his very first appearance in the novel The Wine of Astonishment. As the plot develops, what evidence is given to show this Christ-likeness?

Bonasse

The Wine of Astonishment is set in Bonasse, Trinidad. Do you know this area? Have you been here before?

"taking the pounding"

"Evening, as I say. I sit down on the stool in front of the mortar, lifting the pestle and watching my hands bring it down to crush the plantains lying down there to take the pounding that will break them down, mix them up and make them stiff and good for eating; and I wondering if the world is a mortar and we is the plaintains below the pestle, taking the pounding".

The Wine of Astonishment Chap 1 p 4

Earl Lovelace

Name: Earl Lovelace

Date of birth: 13 July 1935

Place of Birth: Toco, Trinidad

Current Address: Matura, Trinidad (With the exception of some brief periods, Lovelace is one of the few Caribbean writers who has never left the region)

Novels:

While The Gods Are Falling (1965)

The Schoolmaster (1968)

The Dragon Can’t Dance (1979)

The Wine of Astonishment (1983)

Salt (1996)

Is Just A Movie (2011)

A Contemplation Upon Flowers

Brave flowers—that I could gallant it like you,
And be as little vain!
You come abroad, and make a harmless show,
And to your beds of earth again.
You are not proud: you know your birth:
For your embroider’d garments are from earth.

You do obey your months and times, but I
Would have it ever Spring:
My fate would know no Winter, never die,
Nor think of such a thing.
O that I could my bed of earth but view
And smile, and look as cheerfully as you!

O teach me to see Death and not to fear,
But rather to take truce!
How often have I seen you at a bier,
And there look fresh and spruce!
You fragrant flowers! then teach me, that my breath
Like yours may sweeten and perfume my death.

Henry King, Bishop of Chichester (1592-1669)