ninehillsRAMBLE in the JUNGLE
Trapped!
By Wanaku Verdzekov · · The Cameroons
Date note: Undated Facebook note, written between 2011 and 2014.
Tags: trap, strategy
We, bona fide citizens of the State of former British Southern Cameroons,
are living a situation I can only compare to
being caught in a cunning hunter's trap.
If you are "trapped" like this, it takes double or quadruple
the cunning to disentangle yourself and be free.
The question is: will we have
double or quadruple the cunning power any time soon?
The more days a trapped animal spends in the trap,
the smaller its chances of getting out free.
In fact, the greater its chances of rotting and dying
in the trap, if the trapper does not come first
and ready it for the pot.
Fortunately, we have all the tools to release ourselves
from this trap: physical and virtual tools.
What is the hold-up?
Something to think about,
from sun up to sun down.
— Wanaku Verdzekov
Reading & grammar
Reading level: Gr 7–9
Understand
- What does the author compare the situation of Southern Cameroonians to?
- Why does staying longer in a trap reduce the chances of escape?
- What does the author say is the "hold-up"?
Grammar focus: extended analogy. The whole piece compares a political situation to an animal in a trap. An analogy explains something unfamiliar through something familiar.
Try it: Write a short analogy that explains a school problem through a sports or cooking situation.
Discuss: What does it take to escape a situation you are "trapped" in: cunning, courage or cooperation?