Wole Soyinka’s poem “Telephone Conversation”
This is a satirical poem that explores racism and prejudice through a tense exchange between an African man and a white landlady during a phone call about renting an apartment in Britain during the 1960s.
This lesson is designed to help students explore themes like identity, discrimination, and social justice through guided literary analysis.
This resource also challenges students to rethink fairness in everyday documents like rental applications.
It includes:
- Background information on British colonialism and the author
- Close reading and discussion questions
- A creative post-reading activity where students design a fair rental application
- A final written reflection to promote critical thinking
- Editable copy of student activities
- Answer key
Students will analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.