Identify the overarching argument/thesis
What is the evidence the author uses to justify his argument?
Is the evidence credible? Are the arguments logically valid?
Do you agree/disagree?
Now there’s a further step –
Pay attention to how you feel as you read parts of the text – do you feel irritated, frustrated, confused, or annoyed? If you do, then ask yourself why. That’s an exercise, you don’t need to respond to this, but it may help with answering the questions:
1. How does Akomolafe use the word ‘Truth’? How is it different, in his framing, from the word ‘story’?
2. On page 12, Akomolafe introduces the parable of the fish. What is he trying to convey using this parable? Can you identify some of the ‘water’ you may be swimming in? Is there an example form your own experience, of something you were blind to or took for granted?
3. React to the following passage. Do you agree or disagree, why or why not?
“The machinations of Truth are therefore forcefully borne out in the downgrading of other endemic ways of being in the world, and lend themselves to the establishment and preservation of an elite group over and above a perpetually exploited other.” [ page 26]
4. Watch the following Ted Talk by Michael Kimmel. Watch till 07.20, or the entire video if you prefer. Do you see any points of commonality between the argument Kimmel is making about visibility and privilege, and what Akomolafe says about ‘Truth’?
