Reading Response to Things Fall Apart (1958)

Reading Response to  Things Fall Apart (1958)

Length: About 350 words (one paragraph in double-space)

DUE: Thursday, April 6

Writing tip: Write about 450-500 words and then trim unimportant parts and unnecessary plot summaries, and revise your reading response multiple times.

Writing Instructions:

1. Please italicize the novel title and put the publication year - Achebe's  Things Fall Apart (1958)

2. You do not need to summarize the plot in this reading response.

3. Please do not use expressions, such as "I think," "you," or "we see" in literary analysis papers.

4. Please do not cite more than 3 lines for each quotation. Use MLA in-text citation style when you mention a character/narrator. Please put the page number of a quotation in parentheses. Do not put the word "page" or "pg." in parentheses-- (i.e.) Achebe describes Okonkwo as a man "possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death" (916). 

5. Be sure to add your detailed analysis after each quotation.

*Penalty for late submission: 1 day late (10 points off); 2 days late (20 points off)

*Please read the following questions carefully and provide your detailed analysis with effective textual examples (direct quotes) to support your analysis of the novel.

Reading Response to  Things Fall Apart (1958)

Chinua Achebe’s novel  Things Fall Apart (1958) centers on the character Okonkwo, a traditional Umuofian who has an extreme view of masculinity, while highlighting the influence of the white man's religion and the British colonial power on the clan. Why is it important for Okonkwo to act like a "manly" man on an individual and a societal level? Why did the white men introduce Christianity and bring a colonial administration to Umuofia? Can the clan's traditional customs/rules coexist with the white man's religion and court system? What influence/power does the white man's court have over the villagers and their way of life? Did the colonial government bring peace to the clan and the Ibo land? What does Okonkwo think of the influence of Christianity, and what causes the disintegration among the villagers? What causes Okonkwo's demise? Is Okonkwo’s downfall due to his obsession with being masculine or due to colonial influence, or both? Is the historical context significant in understanding Okonkwo's beliefs and his death? What does Okonkwo's death symbolize in the novel?