Saturday, March 27, 2010

Economics of Pre-Colonial South Africa

Economics of Pre-Colonial South Africa

By Jonny Barnet



Both the Ibo and San tribes have similar economics, because in each tribe, the people that were generally successful had and a way to do so . In the Ibo tribe, from the book Things Fall Apart, the people with a that had a title generally earned it from harvesting yams. This is similar to the San tribe from South Africa because people that had a lot of money, earned it from tendering cattle. These two ways from each tribe for becoming “favored” by the economy came from doing something well, and working hard with a certain job. Successful people in the Ibo tribe depended greatly on their yams, “If you split another yam of this size, I shall break your jaw” (Achebe 32). Although Nwoye is Okonkwo’s son, he is still threatening him for cutting the yam incorrectly. To someone that is successful in the San, tendering cattle is just as important to them "Men tended to spend their time tending to cattle which were not only sources of food but were seen as symbols of wealth and thus importance" (Beaton). The women of these tribes were treated poorly if they were married to someone successful (Beaton). In each tribe, the men that had money normally had around three wives. These wives were treated poorly as well, “’Sit like a women!’ Okonkwo shouted at her. Ezinma brought her two legs together and stretched them in front of her” (Achebe 44). This example of one of Okonkwo’s wives, Ezinma, being yelled at for sitting not like a female. This is a sign of Okonko being wealthy. One can tell that Okonkwo is wealthy in this situation, because the women treated like crap are normally married to someone successful. In the San, the wives of people that spent their time with cattle, would often be treated like this, and were talked to disrespectfully. The Ibo and San tribe were both tribes in which you became successful from doing one thing in particular. In the case of the Ibo’s, it was from harvesting yams, for the San’s, it would be from tendering cattle.

13 comments:

  1. Students! Although formerly, it was impossible to post comments, it is now possible. Remember to sign your name and to spell check your comment.

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  2. Hi,
    You made your two ideas very clear, and the structure of your paragraph is strong; the whole paragraph flows nicely. But I think you can make your paragraph stronger. I think that you should read it out loud(that always helps me), or just try to edit it little more throughly. There are some grammatical errors or parts of sentences that don't make sense.
    Overall nice job!
    -Anna

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  3. Jonny,
    Overall the paragraph was very well done and your commentary and main idea was thoughtful. However, in the future perhaps be a little more thorough in proof reading your paragraphs. Although your ideas were very interesting, sometimes they were hard to understand due to mechanical errors. Otherwise, Good Job!
    -Ayluonne

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  4. Hey Jonny,
    I thought that this was very well written, and you had very good ideas, which were well supported with evidence. Also, I really like the way that you used your voice to support your ideas as well. The fact about the San tribe and the way that they also treat women poorly was well supported, and concise. One thing that you could consider doing would be to maybe try being a tad more clear with your idea portrayal. Other than that, I thought it was great!

    -- Luke

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  5. Hey,
    I feel your paragraph was well written, your ideas and evidence where superb. Bravo!
    -Walker

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  6. Hey,
    Your paragraph was good, it had good evidence that supported the topic and proved the point you were trying to make. I also thought that the last two sentences of your paragraph really concluded your thoughts and really rapped the whole thing up. Sometimes the way you wrote sentences were confusing, but I thought you showed your evidence strongly. Good job!
    -Kathleen

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  7. Jonny,
    I really like that you added your own flavor to this piece of work. Your overall argument was developed well throughout the writing and you put in good quotes that worked.
    Look over it a few times to correct some grammatical errors but otherwise don't change anything. Good work.
    -Nidalia

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  8. Hi Johnny,
    Although your paragraph was well thought out and had a great flow to it, be sure to remember to add a Intro Topic Sentence. You gave good concrete evidence and examples from the book to the facts you found, and I think that is very important and keeps the reader interested. Overall, this was a very well written paragraph, Nice Job!
    --Morgan

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  9. Your paragraph was clear and conveyed the point well. I also think the colloquial language that you used stregnthened your piece.
    -Joe

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  10. Jonny,
    Your Paragraph was well written, and had a nice syntax. Another thing I noticed was how well you included your information. The information shows that you know what you're topic is about, and you have done good research.
    Nice Job!
    -Andreas

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  11. You do a good job at getting your idea across, and the paragraph is definitely strong, but I would go over it a little and smooth over creases here and there in the writing. (Just a few dropped words or grammatical mistakes) Once these minor details are cleaned up I think this would be a great paragraph. Good job

    Marissa

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  12. it seems like a pretty straight forward idea that wealth comes from possessions of some sort. It seems as if there is room to narrow down your compassion between the two tribes until something a little more specific. Besides this its a well written paragraph and is well cited. Nice

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  13. Very good Jonny! I have little, if any criticism for this piece of writing. Everything was cited properly, the evidence was concrete, and you proved your point. Be careful with word slips though, for example, "tendering cattle" instead of tending cattle. Also, I am not sure if the quote, "if you split another yam of this size, I shall break your jaw”, is the most effective example of the Ibo relying on yams. Great job!
    -Harry Sherman

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