TFA 5.1 Socratic Seminar

DO NOW- prepare for seminar by reviewing your notes

Objectives:

• draw thematic connections between Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and three poems in a group discussion, both in-person and online.

Agenda:

1. Do Now
2. GROUP 1: poem 1 (15)- The  White Man’s Burden
3. GROUP 2: poem 2 (15)- The Black Man’s Burden
4. GROUP 3: poem 3 (15)-  The Second Coming

Remember:

• Please bring in students who have not had a chance to speak.  
• Participate, but do not dominate, the discussion.  
• Use TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your ideas when possible.

5. When in outside group, join a todaysmeet.com

6. Summarizer

HW: Download and read the “Santiago TFA essay” handout.  Come to class with at least one possible topic

Ms. Santiago Out Friday

Ms. Santiago is out today-- Friday, October 28th.

All classes: Prepare for the socratic seminars on MONDAY

TFA TRIPLE

TFA TRIPLE
Do now: Sit with your book group

Objectives:

• Effectively run a book group
• Share quotes, themes, and other insights from ORB
• draw thematic connections between Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and three poems through annotation

Agenda:

1. Do now
2. Book Group- 20 minutes
3. Prepare for the socratic seminar: Download the “Socratic Seminar Poems” document to notability.  For each poem:
1. Annotate
1. Paraphrase each stanza
2. Identify literary devices (similes, imagery, allusions, etc.) - at least 5
3. Identify tone
4. Draft a one sentence summary at the bottom of the poem
2. Notes: make thematic connections between the poems and TFA
4. Summarizer

HW: Prepare for the poetry Socratic Seminar in our next class. Bring your notes to class for the seminar. Please remember to review the Rubric for a Socratic Seminar

TFA 4.4 TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY

TFA 4.4 TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY

DO NOW: Review your 3-2-1 Reading Journal to prepare for discussion of last night’s reading

Objectives:

• evaluate how well a passage contributes to Achebe’s counter-narrative to the “single story” of colonial Africa.

Agenda:

1. Do Now
2. Discuss chapters 23-24.   (10 minutes)
3. Close-Reading, Ch 25 - you will take notes as you read

• Work independently on the annotations for 15 minutes. This gives you time to examine the text up close. How and why does the narrative voice change so dramatically?

4. Group discussion:

1. In your opinion, does Achebe successfully create a counter-narrative to the colonialist “single story”? If so, how does he accomplish this?
2. Why does Achebe give the last word to the colonialist?  
3. Why does Okonkwo kill himself?
4. What is the irony of both Okonkwo’s and the village’s focus on strength and stability?

5.  (if time) Begin Crash Course TFA Part 1

HW: Prepare for Book Group TOMORROW

TFA 4.3 MONDAY/TUESDAY

DO NOW: Review with a partner (10 min):

1. For how many years is Okonkwo away from his clan?
2. Who does Okonkwo call a “great abomination”?
3. Who does Okonkwo wish was a boy?
4. Who is Ogbuefi Ugonna?
5. What is the role of the District Commissioner?
6. Why is money flowing into Umuofia?
7. What is the name of the first white preacher in Umuofia? The second?
8. Name 1 sacred rule that Enoch violates.
9. Why does the first preacher leave his flock in Umuofia?
10. What do the egwugwu do at the end of ch 22 in response to one of Enoch’s violations?

Objectives:

• identify  reasons for  Christianity’s spread in Igboland.

Agenda:
1. do now

2. Discussion ch 20-22- 10 minutes/3-2-1 journal/predictions

3. Discuss: Respond to the final paragraph on p 176- “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion.  We were amused…and we have fallen apart.” (176)

4. Brainstorm: Protocol for socratic seminars

5. Summarize: What are some of the reasons Christianity is taking such a strong hold over Igboland?

HW- Read Ch 23-24 + 3-2-1 Discussion Journal;  

Chapters 17-19

DO NOW: Please respond to one of these in a paragraph in google doc (10 minutes):

1-You are a Christian missionary visiting the land of the Igbo in the 1890s, the same time period as Things Fall Apart. Describe your mental processes throughout a day of spreading your religious beliefs to the native peoples of Igbo-land  OR...

2-You are an Igbo teenager who is exposed to Christianity for the first time. Describe your mental processes throughout a day in which you witness Christian missionaries spreading their religious beliefs to your friends/family in the village.  

Objectives:
---write from different perspectives;
---analyze the influence of missionaries on Igbo village life

Agenda:

1. do now
2. Take notes on his points as Achebe discusses TFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHF_w0gkyiI
3. Discussion: 17-19 – groups. (10)

- discuss the last three lines on p 153.

- What does the old man of Mbanta fear for the next generation? (167)

- How is the church winning converts? What about Igbo society is making this possible? Why does Nwoye convert, knowing his past experiences?

4. Summarizer: reflect on the problems inherent in missionary work.

HW = ch 20-22 + 3-2-1 Discussion Journal;

Chapters 14-16

DO NOW: Discuss “Open Letter to King Leopold” w/your group- what were some of the tactics used by European colonialists to take advantage of the people of the Congo? (5)

Objectives: debate the morality of religious colonialism.

Agenda:

1. Do now
2. ORB (BLUE)
3. Ch. 14-16- Group Discussion- 10 minutes
4. Sharing main topics of interest/ observations

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJe1W_HIWmA (colonialism)

4. Achebe’s grandfather welcomed the Christian missionaries into his Igbo village, and Achebe’s father was a church teacher.  Achebe says “All this is part of my inheritance...and I try to interpret all of it.”  How do you think Achebe feels about the coming of the missionaries into Igbo villages?

5. DISCUSS:

Is it morally justified (is it right) for one religion or culture to actively attempt to convert (persuade to change) another group away from their original religion/culture, as seen in TFA?

YES/NO-  why? Write your response down (2 min).

6. Summarizer: What do you think now about the debate question? Have your reasons/thinking evolved?

HW: Read ch 17-19 + 3-2-1 Discussion Journal for FRIDAY

Chapters 11-13

DO NOW: review your 3-2-1- Reading Journal to prepare for discussion (2 min)

Objectives:

• identify literary conventions from different cultures and analyze their influence on the literary work as a whole.

Agenda:

1. Discussion of observations from chapters  11-13. (15 min); -Sharing main topics of interest:
1. What does this tell us about the belief system of the Igbo?:

“Okonkwo’s wives, and perhaps other women as well, might have noticed that the second egwugwu had the springy walk of Okonkwo. And they might have noticed that Okonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who sat . . . But if they thought these things they kept them within themselves.”

b. How might the story about Tortoise and how he got his broken shell be related to the coming of the colonialists?

c. “And at last the locusts did descend. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass”
2,  Language and Conventions Graphic Organizer

- use examples from the book and from Franklin’s article to fill in the chart with your group.

3. Summarizer: What are some of the benefits and limitations of Achebe’s use of Igbo and western literary conventions in the novel?

HW: Read Part 2 Ch 14-16 + 3-2-1 Discussion Journal ; read/annotate article “Open Letter to King Leopold” in TFA folder

Chapters 9-10

DO NOW: Review your 3-2-1 Reading Journal to prepare for seminar.

Objectives:

• identify problems with Igbo society that Achebe believes may have contributed to its colonialist destruction.

Agenda:

1. do now
2. Socratic Seminar 9-10 – break into groups; appoint a Facilitator to keep the discussion going
3. Sharing main topics of interest/ observations
1. Discuss this quote by Achebe: “The coming of the missionaries is very complex, and I cannot simply assign blame to this man or that man. The society itself was already heading toward destruction…[but] Europe has a lot of blame...There were internal problems that made it possible for the Europeans to come in.  Somebody showed them the way.  A conflict between two brothers enables a stranger to reap their harvest.”

4. Class discussion:

-What problems with Igbo society can you point to that may  be partially responsible for its destruction during colonialism?

-How are spiritual beliefs a necessary component of the structure/organization of Igbo society?

-How is Igbo society complex in ways that Conrad and other western writers did not understand?

-How does Okonkwo both exemplify the strengths of his society, and also seriously conflict with its values?

-Achebe: “No man can be greater or wiser than his community, no matter how important he is.”

5. Summarize: How might the belief in the egwugwu spirits harm the Igbo upon the arrival of the colonists/ missionaries?

HW: Read ch 11-13 + 3-2-1 Discussion Journal

TFA 3.4 GREEN

DO NOW: Review your 3-2-1 Reading Journal to prepare for seminar.

Objectives:

• identify problems with Igbo society that Achebe believes may have contributed to its colonialist destruction.

Agenda:

1. do now
2. Socratic Seminar 9-10 – break into groups; appoint a Facilitator to keep the discussion going
3. Sharing main topics of interest/ observations
1. Discuss this quote by Achebe: “The coming of the missionaries is very complex, and I cannot simply assign blame to this man or that man. The society itself was already heading toward destruction…[but] Europe has a lot of blame...There were internal problems that made it possible for the Europeans to come in.  Somebody showed them the way.  A conflict between two brothers enables a stranger to reap their harvest.”

4. Class discussion:

-What problems with Igbo society can you point to that may  be partially responsible for its destruction during colonialism?

-How are spiritual beliefs a necessary component of the structure/organization of Igbo society?

-How is Igbo society complex in ways that Conrad and other western writers did not understand?

-How does Okonkwo both exemplify the strengths of his society, and also seriously conflict with its values?

-Achebe: “No man can be greater or wiser than his community, no matter how important he is.”

5. Summarize: How might the belief in the egwugwu spirits harm the Igbo upon the arrival of the colonists/ missionaries?

HW: Read ch 11-13 + 3-2-1 Discussion Journal