Analysis

An analysis of the excerpt from the novel Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shows that the text has a non-traditional structure. The narrative is composed of two blog posts addressing racial issues in the United States from the perspective of a Nigerian immigrant.

The main character is Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman living in the US. In her two blog posts about her experiences in America, she addresses two collective characters – black immigrants, and non-black Americans. Ifemelu offers these groups of people tips on how to navigate racism in America.

The main setting of the story is the United States of America, as Ifemelu experiences it. She paints the picture of a prejudiced America, where the whites hold the power and the black experience is usually undermined or ignored.

The excerpt is told from the perspective of a first-person narrator. The narrator’s tone is mainly serious, but some humor and irony help her blog be more relatable and easy to understand.

The language used in the two blog posts helps Ifemelu better send her ideas across to her readers. The blog posts are both informal and personal, and they contain a mix of serious references and humor, which helps catch the readers’ attention.

You can read a full analysis of the novel excerpt on the following pages.

Engelsk

Short story analysis

I denne vejledning får du Studienets hjælp til at analysere noveller (short stories) i engelsk.

Excerpt from the study guide:

A flashback is introduced when Ifemelu recalls the moment she was asked to give her “black perspective” in a class and she had no idea what she was supposed to talk about:

We all have our moments of initiation into the Society of Former Negroes. Mine was in a class in undergrad when I was asked to give the black perspective, only I had no idea what that was. So I just made something up.
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