Dear Senior Opupulepu,
How are you do? I hope you are do fine, just as me and my household are all do fine.
Senior, you remember during your secondary skuul hey days, when there was a category of brilliant students, namely the bright and brilliant who knew the answers to the questions during examinations, and the bright and brilliant who knew all the answers only after examinations.
Senior, going forward, there are some students who say they came to skuul to learn, and so they do nothing but study and study and memorise all the text books from cover to cover, top to bottom, bottom to top, and even sideways. Then, there are students who, somehow, believe that skuul is a holiday camp, so they play and play until the examination week is about two weeks to go, then they spend every second of their time trying to identify every word, every full stop, every comma, and all other marks in the book, and try hard to make paddies with them in order that they know their words and their words know them, so that during the examination they can call upon the name of the words, and they will never to put them to shame.
Senior, even in that class of the easy-does-it students, some have got the gift of prophecy to prophesy which questions will drop and prepare only on these, so that they will not waste time learning what will not come. Lo and behold, the questions will always drop from such sections.
Senior, so, if instead of learning you join such students to play, during the examinations, while they are calling out for more paper every five minutes, you will be wondering how you can even spell your name correctly.
Senior, and it is also during the True or False section that after you scored zero then you know and realise that you should have trued where you falsed, and should have falsed where you trued.
Senior, one thing about that category of brilliant students who know all the answers only after the examinations is that when the paper is over and they walk out of the exams room, they will find time and space and violating the social-long distance law, set the question paper close to the text book and get all the answers ditto-ditto, scoring a virtual hundred per cent. Sadly, they know that these marks will not reflect on the answer sheets they presented to the examiner.
Senior, you know of the much-talked about scenario, where students, given the chance, would re-set the questions to be in tune with what they had confidently studied. So that if they had studied rat as in kusie or obishi and the question is rather on Brother Long as in snake, they will make sure that they will start answering the question, and then without prior notice, lead the examiner to the palm tree growing in the forest and the fruits that fall on the ground which are eaten by rats.
Then from thence through to tomorrow to go, everything will be about Wofa Kusie. And in this flight mode, this student will be asking for more paper every minute, further confusing the confused minds of the students who have very little to write about Brother Long and creating unnecessarily and unwarranted fear and panic.
Senior, this year’s preparation towards the lot casting festival is witnessing this performance. In fact, it is the case where the two aplankes were given an examination to write about the kenkey and fish situation of Ogyakrom. Kenkey and fish is as in what the Umbrella people call ecomini and the Elephant people say economi.
The Elephant’s aplanke, the one and only Bar-Woman aka Smiling Face, was born with an economics book in his right hand and a calculator in his left hand, but the same cannot be said about the Umbrella’s Mama J. She was born with colouring and exercise books in her right hand, and pencils and crayons in her left.
Senior, the both of the two aplankes sat in the examination room very confident that things they had studied will drop like ripe mango. While Smiling-Face had learnt all night long about how to use two cowries to generate a large enough income to build a whole village, Mama J was at peace with her soul, studying about writing skills and how to tell the most incredible stories.
Senior, so the question papers were distributed placing them face over, and at the schedule time the invigilator shouted: “Turn over your question papers and start work.”And this, both of them did, but while Smiling-Face kept smiling making it very difficult to know whatever it was smile of joy or smile of disappointment, Mama J’s face looked like it was hit by an opening umbrella. The question read: “In Not Less Than 5,000 Words, Explain How A Laissez-Faire Situation Can Help The Economy Of These Category Of People: Teachers, Writers And Kayayei To Grow To Be Able To Grow The Economy Of Ogyakrom.” There was nothing on literature, she frowned.
Senior, then Mama J saw an opportunity and smiled small, after all smile was a gift for all, not for Bar-Woman alone.
Senior, she started: In French, laissez means to let in, while faire means to do. For an economy of the teacher, the writer and the kayayei to grow in order to grow the economy of the village, we must consider what to do to let this happen. Now let us begin with the writer. As we are all aware, the writer writes books of facts and fictions which can be described as literature. So here we define Literature. Etymologically, or in simple English, in the study of history of words, the term Literature is derived from the Latin, literatura or litteratura, meaning, “leaning, a writing or grammar.” Originally, it also means “writing formed with letters” from the Latin litera or littera, which to modern language is letter.
For best results the economy must be blended with literature? This can happen if people, who understand all about literature, are made to head the village economic team, and there they will be able to grow the economy with a strong literature foundation.
It is very evident that the economy of Ogyakrom is where it is, because it is only those who know economics head the economic team. After all, they may not know about how to identify a thief, let alone how to slap one, and yet they head the professional thief slappers’ council of elders. It is time we make literature scholars to head the economic team of the village. A new subject must be taught in all levels of our skuuls, and this should be called Economic Literature. That is only how we can grow our economy in Ogyakrom. Now, let us discuss the Teacher… And finally, the Kayayei… I humbly thank you for your attention.”
Senior, Mama J was not too sure whether what she wrote was correct, and what made her even more confused and filled with fear and panic was that Smiling-Face Bar Woman was still smiling, and with his left hand perpetually raised in the air, he kept asking for more papers. On his table was a whole bundle of papers filled with over five million words, and yet he was not Dan, sorry not done.
As for me I am Dan, sorry I am Done
It’s Me!
The post Letter to Senior Opupulepu (116) The Economics Literature Exams appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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