SO LONG A LETTER, CHAPTER ONE By Kosam The opening line, “Dear Aissatou,” is personal and confidential. It indicates that Ramatoulaye is just about to confide in her childhood friend Aissatou, issues that affect her personally. The salutation also serves to engage readers by generating a feeling that they are the ones being addressed in the letter since the text is epistolatory in nature. This sense of reader involvement is further emphasised by the use of the first person pronoun “I” which puts the reader in the shoes of Ramatoulaye by evoking sympathy towards her. Readers can be both addressees and senders at the same time. Mariama Ba, thus manages to captivate the readers by preparing them to pursue the story of Ramatoulaye in a personal way. Ramatoulaye starts off by establishing her childhood acquaintance with Aissatou, tracing their childhood experiences and highlighting the ...
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