Assignments are to the NY: Anchor Books, 1994 edition. Achebe's Things Fall Apart is probably the best-known, most widely acclaimed novel from modern Africa. 

Assignment One:

1. The epigraph of the novel is from W.B. Yeats' "The Second Coming." Click here for a copy of that poem. In a sentence or two, explain what you think is the theme (meaning) of the poem, and what  it suggests about the novel that you are about to read? (Bring your copy of the poem to class.)
2.  On your homework paper, make three columns, the first for characteristics of Okonkwo (the central character), the second for positive aspects of his society, and the third for its negative aspects. Read Part One, Chapters 1-4 (pp. 2-35). As you read, list appropriate items in each column. 

1. Read Part One, Chapters 5 - 8 (pp. 36-74). On paper, make the same three columns as you did for the previous assignment, and list appropriate items.
2. In a sentence or two, comment on the male/female roles in the novel as they have been thus far developed.
3. It has been argued that the killing of Ikemefuna is justified, but that Okonkwo should not have participated in it. What, in the novel, justifies this view? What is your view? Explain your answers in three or four sentences.

1. Read Part One, Chapters 9 - 13 (pp. 75-125). On paper, make the same three columns as you did for the previous assignment, and list appropriate items.
2.  Ekwefi's tale of the tortoise (Chapter 11) is a version of a very common African folk tale. It has been suggested that Achebe uses the tale to symbolize the conflict between white colonialists (the turtle), and the native Africans (the birds). At this point in the novel, however, the tale might also suggest a conflict between Okonkwo (an individual) and the Igbo society in which he lives. In a paragraph, explain the extent to which Okonkwo is, and is not, at one with the society in which he lives.

1. Read Part Two, Chapters 14 - 19 (pp. 126-167). On paper, make the same three columns as you did for the previous assignment, and list appropriate items.
2.  What is Okonkwo's view of the missionaries? What is it about the missionaries that attracts Nwoye? Explain your answer in three or four sentences.
3. In a sentence or two, explain the role of Obierka thus far in the novel.

1. Read Part Three, Chapters 20 - 25 (pp. 171 - 209). 
2. In two or three sentences, explain the differences between Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith.
3. Given what happens in these chapters, in a paragraph, explain how Ekwefi's tale of the turtle (Chapter 11) can be seen as symbolic of the conflict between white colonialists (the turtle), and the native Africans (the birds).
4. In a sentence or two, explain why Okonkwo violates the most sacred beliefs of his society and hangs himself.

General question for discussion: The West Indian writer Aimé Césaire wrote:

For my part, I make a systematic defense of the non-European civilizations. . . . They were communal societies, never societies of the many for the few. They were societies that were not only ante-capitalist, as has been said, but also anti-capitalist. (Lindfors, Bernth, ed. Approaches to Teaching Achebe's Things Fall Apart. NY: MLA, 1991. 112.)

What is a capitalist society? Why does Césaire contrast them to communal societies? In what ways is this conflict between capitalistic and communal societies embedded in Things Fall Apart?

At the beginning of class, you will be given two of the following sets of thesis statements. Select one thesis, and write an essay to support it.

1. a. Okonkwo fails because he is out of tune with his society.

or      b. Okonkwo represents his society and fails because the colonists destroy his society. or      c. Okonkwo fails because he fears not being a man and thus undervalues the female values of his society.

2. a. The tale of the tortoise can be viewed as symbolic of the conflict between white colonialists (the turtle), and the native Africans (the birds). 

or      b.. Although it has its flaws, the Igbo society has many good aspects.

3. a. The novel suggests that in Igbo society the word is mightier than the sword (or the sword is mightier than the word).

or     b. The novel suggests that in white society the word is mightier than the sword (or the sword is mightier than the word). or     c. The novel suggests that women in Igbo society were (were not) considered inferior.