SUMMARY OF POTTER’S WHEEL for 2014 JAMBITES BY Raijinkizzy.

The Potter’s Wheel” tells of Obuechina Maduabuchi (mouthful), the only brother of six older sisters, prize pupil in the village school, apple of his doting mother (Mama Obu)’s eye, eight years old and hopelessly spoilt. In a vain attempt to salvage his character, his father (Papa Mazi Lazarus Maduabuchi) decides he must be sent away as a servant to a schoolmaster with a dragon of a wife. Obu goes and he comes back very different. Points to note in the potter’s wheel; The story is all about 0buechina*, Maxi is the father of Obu and he has seven children*, Obu is the 6th child and he is the only son* of the family, his best friend is oti*, while the eldest of the three friends is samuel* who is referred to as the bully and trickster*. Obu lived with his family in the village of Umuchukwu*. Obu came first in the school exam while he was 5 years old. ogechukwu(obu’s immediate sister)* is three years older than obu, but ogechukwu failed. obu ‘wished’ he didn’t want to go to school at the age of 5, but his parents refused. (Mazi, Obu’s father was a cloth dealer* and he was a dancer when he was young. obu’s father also had a bicycle but the first person to have ridden a bicycle in Umuachukwu town* was Chief Okeke Okafor Obu was given a red flute* to congratulate him on his success, when obuechina was asked to name anything he wanted and he asked for a goat*, Mazi his father said they had one for christmas already. Obu said he wanted to learn how to ride a bicycle and it was granted unto him, although, he never got to learn it. Obu’s mother over pampered him which led him to bed wetting and obu was meant to die at his 9th birthday, as a result of a mark and a stone called ogbanje stone* which was buried and which represent the life of obu. then Obu wanted david* to teach him how to ride a bicycle but by that time when he went to david’s house, david was sick, so he went to his friend, oti* who had followed his brothers to the river for fishing. obu was over pampered and his father was not pleased with his mother so his father sent him to a village called Aka*, in Mr Kanu Zaccheus’ (a schoolmaster)* place, the man was known to be wicked himself, same as his wife (frequently called ‘Missus’). on getting there, obu was maltreated by the schoolmaster’s wife. later, obu was registered in a school named central school* where he met an osu girl called Margaret, Osu means outcast, so Obu was classified as impure as a result of the interaction between him and margret. Monday* was the eldest of the houseboys, he was 19yrs old, after a long while, Obu began to play tricks on the teacher as a result of the way he was treated by the teacher’s wife, he wrote fake letters to the teacher that his Dad needed him at home but the teacher refused them, until his dad sent Madu (mazi’s friend)* to visit Aka town to check how his son, obuechina was doing. on getting there, he slept over and came back the next day with obuechina whom his mother always calls “Onyigbo”. His mother was so happy that she left what she was doing and welcomed Obuechina, then Obu has totally changed as a result of the lesson he learnt in Aka town. WORDS FROM THE POTTER’S WHEEL “It is because you have not trained him very well that I’m talking about sending him away before he dissolves completely like a bag of salt” ” The dog does not eat the bone chained round its neck” ”John whose face knows no laughter” “Vultures will eat your meat as they ate Jezebel’s if you continue answering me without putting Ma” “When the cricket knows the crime is has committed, it dabs whitewash round its eyes. KEY POINTS TO WATCH OUT FOR. 1. The writer’s Intention. 2. The title you would have given the passage. 3. The writer’s mood. 4. The writer’s point of view. 5. What figure of speech it is. 6. What is conveyed in the statement. 7. How a word is used in the passage. 8. Never add your own meanings to any of the passages probably because you know the subject or topic and have read it before..