Language

Style of language

The language in the short story “Jumping Monkey Hill” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is neutral. 

The story includes many advanced words such as “incongruous”, “complacence”, “avuncular”, “prurient”, or “sanguine”, which reflect the main character’s background as a writer and her broad vocabulary. Words of African origin are also included in the narration and dialogue and offer authenticity to the text. Examples of these are “babalawo” or “Alhaji”. 

Another language feature to note is the way words are sometimes written in a way that suggests how the characters pronounce them. For example, the word marvelous is often spelled as “mah-ve-lous” to highlight Edward’s posh accent. When Ujunwa is asked if she is writing her short story about her father, her reply is “an emphatic NO”. The capitalization of the word no highlights Ujunwa’s firm answer and the fact that she does not appreciate the question or the turn their conversation had taken. 

Metaphor, similes, and symbol

When Edward critiques Ujunwa’s short story and calls it unrealistic, the narrator explains that “Inside Ujunwa, something shrank”. This metaphor highlights the idea that Ujunwa is affected by Edward’s unfounded critique. On the one han...