Amma Darko's Faceless may be best described as a___________

1. Analyze the question You are asked to classify the genre or literary type of Amma Darko's Faceless (2003), a Ghanaian novel.

2. Explain the concept

• Travelogue: an account of a journey or places visited.
• Satire: a work that uses irony, ridicule, or exaggeration to expose and criticize social vices or institutions.
• Lampoon: a harsh, personal attack on an individual, usually in writing.
• Tragedy: a serious work, usually a drama, in which a noble protagonist falls because of a flaw or fate.

3. Work through the text Faceless follows Fofo, a street child in Accra's Agbogbloshie slum, who is exploited and later murdered. Around her are Kpakpo, Poison, Baby T, and MaAfia, who runs the exploitative network. The novel attacks:

• Child abuse and child trafficking
• Poverty and urban neglect
• Corruption and the indifference of the elite
• NGOs and officials who talk about the problem without solving it

Darko exposes these social ills, often with biting irony, in order to provoke change. That is the purpose of satire.

Why not the others?

• It is not a travelogue, because it is not about a journey.
• It is not a lampoon, because it targets society's failings, not one individual.
• It is not a classical tragedy, because that term fits drama about a fallen noble hero. Fofo's story is sad, but the novel's main aim is social criticism.

4. Answer The correct option is B. Satire.

5. Exam tip When a question asks you to classify a novel, ask: "What is the writer trying to do?" If the aim is to expose and criticize social vices, think satire. If it is to attack one person, think lampoon. For Darko, remember Faceless = society's ills exposed.