Break HW

Hello.

Let me be the last to wish you and your families happy holidays. I hope you have a chance to spend some quality time with family and friends. With that said, I did want to remind you of the work assigned over the break.

You are required to read Achebe's, Things Fall Apart. In addition, please find Yeats' Poem, "The Second Coming," in the literature links. Read this poem at least two times. Consider the poem while reading. You will have a brief assignment relating to this poem after the novel. I am posting some questions to answer during your reading. These are due when we return. The first set of questions are pasted in this post. I will post other questions throughout the week. Please check back in a day or two. There will be a final assignment relating Achebe's book to Conrad's novella. I have posted a link to a colonial map of Africa. Please explore the sight and consider the ramifications of colonialism.

Note: if you've read this book, you are required to answer these questions, but you should also read Godot.

Describe Okonkwo, the protagonist of Things Fall Apart. Consider him as an Igbo heroic character: how does he work to achieve greatness as defined by his and culture? How does he differ from Western heroes with whom you are familiar? What are Okonkwo’s strengths and weaknesses?
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 character and actions? What do the early descriptions of Okonkwo’s success and Unoka’s failure tell us about Igbo society? How does one succeed in this cultural context? What do we learn from the system of the taking of titles? Who seems to be excluded from opportunities to gain such success?
Describe the narrator of Things Fall Apart, the "voice" telling us the story of Okonkwo, Umuofia (Igbo for "people of the forest," per Brians), and the Igbo world of the nine villages. How would you describe this narrative voice, its point of view, its values and perspectives? In an introductory essay to one edition, Simon Gikandi calls the novel’s storyteller a "witness" (xiii)—to what does Achebe’s narrator bear "witness"?
Begin with these questions for the early part of the story.