Week 4 Syllabus: November 11
IN ACHEBE’S NOVEL THINGS FALL APART, Okonkwo is our protagonist and hero who attempts to protect—and fails to save—his society. Unlike Binti, Okonkwo does not leave his home and people. Just the opposite, he attempts to preserve it by destroying the invading, violent and white, British colonists. Like the Meduse, the Ibo people of Okonkwo’s village are defenseless, both in guile and in force. On the back cover of Binti, the publisher notes that “in order to survive the legacy of war not her making, [Binti] will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined in the university.” Okonkwo has his people, his culture, and the wisdom of his ancestors. But none of these will be sufficient to stop the invading European powers.
MONDAY, November 11
Discussion on “Binti.” We will start with the Eden, the mysterious, powerful cube Binti finds in the Himba desert (or does it find her?). We will explore this mysterious object as a way of accessing Okorafor’s novella and story of cultural clash.
Second part of class, we will discuss the poem quoted in Achebe’s epigraph, “The Second Coming,” by William Butler Yeats, an Irish poet, dramatist and early 20th century revolutionary.
HW: Period 1 did not discuss the novella, because too many students weren’t prepared for discussion. Finish reading and annotating the novella, “Binti.”
Spend a half-hour researching and discovering what you can about Yeats’s poem, “The Second Coming.” Use these library database resources to discover what you can.
WEDNESDAY, November 13
Select the image above to access audio to the novel.
Period 1 will be discussing “Binti.”
Period 3 will begin reading and annotating Things Fall Apart (TFA).
We ARE behind on the syllabus, because we spend an extra day getting ready for our Great Books discussion of “Binti.”
Reading chapter one of TFA together; starting with the pre-and-post reading questions to help with annotation/comprehension checks.
While reading, similar to how you annotated Binti, look for culture clash within the Ibo people. Why does Okonkwo value? How are his personal views at times in conflict with others’ cultural values? Remember to use these questions at the end of our assigned readings.
HW: Finish (re)reading chapter one and read chapter two for class on Thursday. We will discuss Okonkwo’s values and the values of the Umofia people on Monday.