Browsing by Author "Nyamekye, Emmanuel"

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    Chinua Achebe’s novels as a reflection of the
    ( 1998) Nyamekye, Emmanuel
    One issue that has been a source of debate among most scholars when they read Aristotle’s Poetics, and which has led to a series of misinterpretations, is Aristotle’s definition of the proper tragic character. The important point to note, however, is the fact that in his Poetics, Aristotle gives a brief definition of tragedy and goes on to mention plots and characters that constitute tragedy. To Aristotle, tragedy is a genre of poetry, and the best way to attain the tragic situation is by skilfully putting together the tragic action so as to achieve the tragic feeling of pity and fear. Arousing the emotions of pity and fear, according to Aristotle, is the “telos” of tragedy. Aristotle’s view with regard to tragedy has remained the cornerstone of western literary criticism, in the sense that Aristotle’s concept of tragedy has been followed through the marked literary epochs, specifically through the classical and post classical epochs up to date. It is important to note that Aristotle basically evolved his concept of tragedy from Greek plays As customs and beliefs change, however the elements of tragedy that were vital in Greek drama also changed, while the tragic purpose remains the goal. Some of the works of William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers that ever lived, have been cited in this thesis by way of lending credence to the western concept of tragedy. The tragic situations in Othello, King Lear and Macbeth have specifically been highlighted. Similarly, Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge has been discussed in this thesis to demonstrate that western tragedy can equally be perceived in novelistic genres as seen is the tragedy of Henchard. In Africa, there exists an exclusively African concept of tragedy which most African dramatists, poets and novelists explore. Besides this African concept of tragedy, African writers have also equally been influenced tremendously by Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. It is on the strength of this influence that some of the works of Chinua Achebe, one of the greatest writers ever to have emerged in Africa, have been discussed, to show the extent to which Achebe makes use of both the Aristotelian and the African concepts of tragedy in his novels under study. In order for a clear picture of both the African and Aristotelian concepts of tragedy to emerge, the study considers tragedy as experienced by Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart, Ezeulu in Arrow of God, Obi Okonkwo in No Longer At and Chris in Anthills of the Savannah. The language used in the treatment of the tragic theme in these novels is not only poetic, but also universal and this enables it to carry the author’s peculiar experience across to the reader. The thesis also highlights the three literary periods, that is, the classical, represented by Aristotle, the post classical, represented by Shakespeare and Hardy, and the African represented by Achebe. This confirms the fact that there is a continuity of the classical idea to date. So that Achebe can be said to be the “récepteur” and Aristotle the “émetteur” taking into consideration the extent to which Achebe has been influenced by Aristotle in so far as his novels reflect not only the African concept of tragedy, but more importantly, the Aristotelian concept of tragedy.
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    Cocoa farmers' knowledge and perception of hand pollination and its effect on their practices and yield. A case study of Tafo cocoa district, Eastern region-Ghana
    (2021-06-15) Nyamekye, Emmanuel;
    One of the leading products that is supplied on the world market from Ghana is cocoa. The cocoa sector alone employs millions of people and in the early 1960's Ghana was recorded to be the leading producer of cocoa. However, there has been a decline in the current production of cocoa which has been attributed to many factors such as pest and diseases infestations, poor maintenance, ineffective and inefficient extension system, lack of cocoa production among others. Currently, various researchers are dwelling into the application of hand pollination to increase the production of various food crops which cocoa is not an exception. The study seeks to determine farmers’ knowledge and perception of hand pollination and its effect on the output or yield of cocoa and on their farm practices by using the Tafo district as a case study. Using structured questionnaires, a total of one hundred and ten (110) cocoa farmers were selected by simple random sampling techniques. The socio-economic characteristics such as gender, age, educational level, marital status, migration status, farming experience, farm size, age of cocoa trees among others were the factors on which data were collected. The data was further analyzed using descriptive analysis, the probit and Tobit model was developed to also determine farmers’ knowledge and perception respectively and then the test of association between farm size and output was done using the Pearson Chi-square statistic. It was observed that male dominated the cocoa farming industry and majority of the farmers had at least basic level of education. Educational level, farm size, gender, age and farming experience were observed to have an influence on farmers’ knowledge on the application of hand pollination. While the size of farm also influences the farmer’s perception on the application of hand pollination; a positive relationship with the output of cocoa farmer existed. This implies that an increase in the productivity of cocoa might somehow depend on the size of the farm. This is because when a larger size farm is hand pollinated, there is the likelihood of an increase in output. i