Aké: The Years of Childhood Study Guide

Author Wole Soyinka relates his childhood, beginning from the tender age of three. He is born and raised on a parsonage compound in a town called Ake in Nigeria, Africa. The master of the parsonage is called Canon, Reverend, or Pa Delumo (depending on who one asks), and he has a multiple-story house in the compound. The only other multiple-story building is the BishopsCourt, which houses the girl students. Between BishopsCourt and the school playground is a place with many plants and fruit trees called the Orchard. Wole becomes convinced from a very young age that the succulent and rare pomegranate is the "apple" mentioned in the Bible that tempted Adam and Eve. (read more)