Poetic Analysis of Doip’s Vanity – SS1 Literature-in-English Lesson Note (Second Term)

Vanity is a poem by the Senegalese poet David Diop that criticises educated and Westernised Africans who abandon African wisdom and values.

• Main message: the ancestors give sound teaching, and those who ignore the elders are warned.
• Other concerns: pain, misery and human suffering.
• Techniques: rhetorical question, sarcasm, synecdoche, simile, metaphor and enjambment.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. state the main themes of the poem;
2. explain why the poem can be read as a warning to renegades;
3. identify the poetic techniques used in the poem;
4. give examples of simile, metaphor, synecdoche and sarcasm from the poem.

What does the title “Vanity” mean?

Vanity means emptiness or worthlessness, and also too much pride in oneself.

• Link to the poem: the title points to the empty pride of those who turn away from African values.
• Link to the poet: Diop is usually grouped with the Negritude writers, who celebrate African culture and values.

What are the themes in the poem?

There are five main themes in the poem: abandonment of traditional values, the wisdom of the ancestors, a warning to renegades, pain and misery, and human suffering.

1. Abandonment of traditional ways or values

• Who: the poem comments on African educated elites and other Westernised Africans.
• What they do: they abandon African wisdom, values and traditional ways of life.
• Why: many of them have led Africans to believe that African ways of life are primitive and barbaric.

2. Wisdom of the ancestors is invaluable

• Ancestors as a source: the poem presents them as a reservoir of sound teaching and wisdom.
• Purpose: this wisdom is enough to guide their offspring through the challenges of life.

3. Warning to renegades

• Renegade: a person who abandons their own group, beliefs or values.
• The warning: the entire poem can be seen as a warning to those who refuse to listen to the elders.
• Three voices ignored: the voice of the elders, the voice of wisdom and the voice of the ancestors.

4. Pain and misery

• Idea: the poem shows the pain and misery that follow when people reject their roots.

5. The reality of human suffering and predicaments

• Idea: suffering and difficult situations are part of human life, and the poem does not hide them.

What poetic techniques are used in the poem?

The poet uses six main techniques: rhetorical question, humour or sarcasm, synecdoche, simile, metaphor and enjambment.

Rhetorical question

• Meaning: a question asked for effect, not to get an answer.
• Effect: it makes the reader think and stresses the poet’s point.

Humour/sarcasm

• Meaning: sarcasm is mocking language that says one thing and means another.
• Effect: it ridicules those who reject African values.

Synecdoche

• Meaning: a part is used to stand for the whole.
• Everyday example: “all hands on deck” means all people.
• In the poem: ‘ears’, ‘eyes’ and ‘hearts’ stand for the whole person.

Simile

• Meaning: a direct comparison using “like” or “as”.
• In the poem: “which grows in us like a tumour” compares something to a tumour that keeps growing.

Metaphor

• Meaning: a direct comparison without “like” or “as”.
• In the poem: line 4 presents Black Africa as beggars.

Enjambment

• Meaning: a sentence or idea runs from one line into the next without a pause.
• Effect: the poem flows like speech, and the argument feels continuous.

How do you answer a question on a poem in an examination?

1. Name the theme or device in the first sentence.
2. Define the device in one short line.
3. Quote the exact words from the poem.
4. Explain what the quotation shows or what effect it has.

Evaluation

1. State three themes of the poem.
2. Why can the poem be seen as a warning to renegades?
3. What is synecdoche? Give examples from the poem.
4. Quote the simile in line 13.
5. What is a rhetorical question, and in which lines does the poet use it?

Assignment

Explain the theme of abandonment of traditional ways or values, and name two poetic techniques the poet uses in the poem, with one example of each.