Things Fall Apart Study Guide THINGS FALL APART (1. Study Guide: Reading & Study Questions. Part I, Chs. 1. 21- 1. URL of this page. TFA. htm. Formerly. ![]() History and Origin of Igbo people of Nigeria Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo(e), Ebo(e),Eboans or Heebo (Igbo: Nd The Nigerian Civil War, better known as the Biafran War, (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), was a war fought between the government of Nigeria and the secessionist. Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee. Another Country. James Baldwin. Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba son. References to page numbers below are from the edition used in. HUM 2. 11. Cultures. Literatures of Africa: Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann, 2. Achebe takes the title for his novel from a line in a. Western modernist poem . William Butler. Yeats (1. Irish). Paul Brians explains the. Yeats’ poem: . Yeats believed that history in. The Christian. era, which followed that of the ancient world, was about. Hardly are those words. When a vast image out of Spiritus. Mundi. Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands. ![]() A shape with lion body and the head of a. A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,Is moving its slow thighs, while all. Reel shadows of the indignant desert. The darkness drops again; but now I know. That twenty centuries of stony sleep. Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking. And what rough beast, its hour come at. Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born? Describe Okonkwo, the protagonist of Things. Fall Apart. Consider him as an Igbo heroic character: how. THINGS FALL APART STUDY GUIDE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE 2013 Context ALBERT CHINUA LUMOGU ACHEBE WAS BORN ON November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, a large village in Nigeria. Description and explanation of the major themes of Things Fall Apart. This accessible literary criticism is perfect for anyone faced with Things Fall Apart essays. Get PDF downloads, quotes explanations, Teacher Editions, and more. Join thousands who've already signed up for LitCharts A+. How does he differ from Western heroes whom you. What are strengths and. Okonkwo’s Describe Unoka, Okonkwo’s father. What are. Okonkwo’s feelings toward Unoka, and why? How does. the (negative) example of his father shape Okonkwo’s. What do the early descriptions of. Okonkwo’s success and Unoka’s failure tell us. Igbo society? How does one succeed in this cultural. What do we learn from the system of the taking. Who seems to be excluded from opportunities to. Describe the narrator of Things Fall Apart, the. In the introductory. Simon Gikandi calls the. What is the effect on you, as a. Western reader and outsider to Igbo culture? Consider how. Achebe’s language choices contribute to the novel. For example, ? The glossary explains it is used in. Europe (p. 3’s. proverb about proverbs, and look for other proverbs as. West African tales that explain why these insects. Can you think of any. What is the moral. Ch. Note that some stories are women’s. Describe the setting (time, place, culture) of the. Try to apply what you have learned from reading. Attend to Achebe’s. Umuofia, the values and beliefs of the Igbo people, and. Igbo culture. How is social life. What are the important celebrations? What is. the role of war, of religion, and of the arts? What is. the role of the individual in relation to the community. Umuofia? Compare /contrast Igbo lifeways, customs. What do we learn from the kola ceremony of hospitality? It is also one. ingredient after which Coca- Cola is named. Note how the. ritual for sharing kola is described without being. How is awareness of rank observed in the. Note how Achebe. introduces—but does not fully explain- -Igbo customs. Think about why. Achebe chooses to do this, considering that he wrote for. African audience as well as his own. Note the means of exchange- -cowry shells threaded on. African cultures. What. do they fear? How do they deal with their fear of snakes. What is the cause and nature of the conflict with Mbaino? Okonkwo. though it would be treated as a accidental manslaughter. What are the important crops? What are the seasons? How. does sharecropping work? What are the male and female. What is the relationship of. Review the discussion of Igbo. Biblical) representations of. Ch. Consider the dual roles in the human and spiritual worlds. Chielo, the priestess of. Agbala. What does her power and status in. Umuofia suggest about women’s roles in Igbo culture. Later in the novel, note. Chielo’s roles in the village (e. Ch. What. are those roles? What does the Ch. Agbala tell us about the values of the. What side of Okonkwo is revealed by his behavior. The chi or personal spirit is a recurring theme in. Okonkwo. Review the discussion of the. Interpret this proverb, spoken of. Okonkwo: . What role does Okonkwo’s chi play in shaping. Note, however, that . Trace the other. factors at work in Okonkwo’s case. Compare Obierika—a man . Consider Obierika as a kind of foil—a. Okonkwo: Note. the instances when Okonkwo fails to heed the advice of. Obierika: what are the. Three times in Part I, Okonkwo breaks Igbo taboos: what drives him to do so in each case, and what. Okonkwo, to his family, and to. Family Life: Examine family life and living. Okonkwo’s home. Describe. Okonkwo’s relationships to his wives and children. Ekwefi, Ezinma, and Nwoye. What differing. roles and functions do men and women have in Igbo society? In many. African cultures they are also the chief domestic. I n this polygamous culture, men may take. Review the section on . Each wife lives in a hut. Children are. often cared for more or less communally—another. African proverb states, . What is the crime that causes Okonkwo's to be reprimanded. Ch. What does it tell you about the values of the. Why, according to Ezeani, is wife beating. Peace Week? Briefly summarize the story of Ekwefi given in Ch. What do you think is the. Ezinma is believed to be an ogbanje. If a series of such deaths took. What is done to break. Ch. Why does Ekwefi. Ezinma so highly? What attitudes. toward children does it reflect? How does the Igbo belief. Does Achebe seem to. Consider the case of Ikemefuna, ? How does he come to stay in. Okonkwo’s home? What is Okonkwo's relationship with. Ikemefuna? Compare Okonkwo’s feelings to. Nwoye’s affection for Ikemefuna? Why is Okonkwo. disappointed with his son Nwoye? What values. does Okonkwo associate with manliness? How does Nwoye. relate to these values? What are the reasons and. Ikemefuna’s death? Why does Okonkwo. Ikemefuna (Ch. How does. Nwoye feel and (re)act? Compare Okonkwo’s attitude. Nwoye to Okonkwo’s attitude toward his. Ezinma (presented in Ch. Most traditional African cultures have considered twins. However, the people of. Umuofia do not and . We learn this shortly after Ikemefuna's death is. What do Nwoye and Obierika think of these. Umuofia culture? Consider the marriage customs of the Igbo depicted in Things. Fall Apart. Paul Brians points out that Bride- price. Common in. many African cultures, it involves the bridegroom's. Young women. were considered marriageable in their mid- teens. Why do. you think this attitude arose? It is worth noting that. European women commonly married between 1. There is nothing uniquely African about. In. Ch. 1. 2, how is the importance of family emphasized in the. Uri ceremony, when the bridewealth is paid? How are white men first introduced into the story? Why. might Africans suppose that they have no toes? What sorts. of attitudes do the Africans express about white men? The egwugwu ceremony of the Igbo is dramatized in Ch. Achebe. depicts a funeral in Ch. Paul Brians notes that we. How does the one- handed egwugwu. What tragic incident. Okonkwo into exile? Already in Part I of the story, internal rivalries and. What are these internal conflicts? What. part does the village leader Okonkwo play in the. How does Okonkwo jeopardize his own authority. Part I presents Igbo life and culture before the coming of. In what way(s) can Things. Fall Apart be considered a ? How does. Achebe’s novel ? The portrait of. this culture on the eve of its . What aspects of. pre- colonial Igbo culture does Achebe seem to question or. How does Achebe use characters like Obierika. Okonkwo, and Nwoye to offer such social criticism of Igbo society? How do the people of Umuofia react to change? Describe your initial reading experience and response(s). Things Fall Apart Part I as a cross- cultural. Igbo culture and people? Why do you think you. What seems most different. What seems most similar and/or. Photo of Band playing for Mmau Masquerade,Amuda village, featuring Isu Ochi instruments: an udu (pot drum), two small membrane drums, a. Chs. 9. 1- 1. 18)At the beginning of Part II, Okonkwo has fled his. And why. does Okonkwo despair? How does his mother’s brother. Uchendu respond to Okonkwo in his despair? In his speech to Okonkwo and other family members. Uchendu cites a song (a dirge) sung when a woman dies. Oedipus Rex, the. Greek tragedy. Many literary critics have. Things Fall Apart. Oedipus and Hamlet. European tradition. Achebe was. asked in one interview: . I don't think I was responding. This is not, of course, to say. If we are to. believe what we are hearing these days the Greeks did not. They evolved in a certain place which. Africa .. I think a lot of what. Aristotle says makes sense. Begam). Read the. Western tragedy and the tragic hero below. Aristotle's definition, then consider these. In what ways do you see the plot of Things. Fall Apart and the character of its protagonist. Okonkwo as adhering to the conventions of Western. In what ways do. they depart from the Aristotelian model? Tragedy may be defined. The classical. Western tragic hero is the main character of. The moral health of the state is. Such heroes are mixed. The plot of. tragedy traces the tragic fall of the. This fall usually comes as a. The tragic hero may. The tragic hero is supposed to move us. In the Poetics. ancient Greek theorist Aristotle also asserts. What has happened to the Abame clan? How do Uchendu and Okonkwo. Whose reaction seems wiser in responding to. What does Uchendu. Why does his friend Obierika visit Okonkwo in exile the. And the second time? What are Nwoye’s. Christianity? Trace the stages. Africans’ reactions to the Christian. Umuofia and Mbanta, and to the. Africans. What are the sources of misunderstanding. Igbo and the missionaries? What kinds of. Africans are attracted to the new religion and why? Why. does Nwoye convert to Christianity? How does Okonkwo. Nwoye’s conversion? What are these. crises? Why are the people of Mbanta largely content to. Christians to remain in their midst at this. Part II? What are the differences. Mbanta people and that of the. Christian missionaries? Uchendu and a speech by an elder of the umunna. How might these changes prepare the way for the. Africa? Top. Chs. Why does Achebe choose to bring in the European colonial. How has Umuofia changed over the seven years while. Okonkwo has been in exile? What function do the kotma, or court messengers.
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