Things Fall Apart 1.1 TUESDAY BLUE

Things Fall Apart 1.1

Do now BLUE: One person from each group needs to submit the Oedipus Rex skeleton essay via google forms (on class blog)
Do now GREEN: ORB for 15 minutes

Objectives:

• better understand the history of African colonialism through poetry

Essential Question: What is the history and lasting impact of colonialism in Nigeria?

1. Do now
2. Get a copy of TFA and sign it out on the sheet
3. Create a new subject in notability: TFA or Things Fall Apart.
4. Import the “3-2-1 Reading Journals” - review instructions and ask clarifying questions.

• As you read Things Fall Apart, please fill out a 3-2-1 Discussion Journal for each reading assignment.
•  Come prepared to discuss the book in small and large groups
• TFA Literary Devices- please identify and reflect on these as you write your 3-2-1 journals:
• -masculine power and feminine characters in the novel/ competing definitions of masculinity
• -symbols: locusts, yams, fire, food, wine
• -spiritual customs- spirits, oracles, children, evil forests
• -complexity of Igbo culture and Igbo characters that defies the “single story” previously told by Western writers
• - Creation of a counter-colonialist narrative.  (What is the white “single story” of  Africa?  How does Achebe try to counter this and change the story of the African people?)  
• - the danger of travel and invasion; religion
• - use of Igbo language, rhythm, proverbs to reflect Nigerian culture and beliefs
•       - the cultural/political/historical effects of colonialism
• - the changing relationship of protagonist to his identity

5)Colonialism in Nigeria. Groups: Import and Fill out "Nigeria Fact Sheet" with your group

6) Table Groups: Import and read the poems:

• 1. Maya Angelou,
• 2. David Diop (1927-1960), born in France to Sengalese and Cameroonian parents

Discussion questions:

-What is Angelou celebrating? What are her main poetic devices? -What are the three periods in history you can find within Diop’s poem?

7) Class: what similar themes do the poems both bring up?

HW: Import the “Conrad, Achebe, Franklin Essays Santiago” handout into notability. Read the context and annotate the excerpt from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness  (pg 1-2) at the beginning of the Achebe/Franklin packet.  Closely annotate the excerpt, looking at images, word choices, and tone.