Things Fall Apart
as Part of a Holistic Curriculum
Eve Judith Eisenberg, IU-Bloomington, English
Overview
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Things Fall Apart
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Context and Plot summary
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Major themes/points of interest for students
Pitfalls of teaching TFA
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Stereotypes
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The novel as “ethnographic evidence”
Suggestions for a holistic curriculum
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Companion texts
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Teaching tools
A Tragic Hero,
Fatally Flawed
Major Themes
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Cultural imperialism, Clash of cultures – Students’
local culture
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Tragic hero/fatal flaw – tragic heroes
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Communal justice & judgment – trying Okonkwo
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Spiritual connectedness – comparative religion
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Dominance struggles—fathers & sons
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Telling history – relate an event from multiple
perspectives
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Proverbs, customs & beliefs – examination of local
sayings and what (and how) they mean
The “father of modern
African literature?”
Thompson, Bob. “Things Fall Into Place; Chinua Achebe Remembers How He Came to Be the Father of Modern African
Literature.” The Washington Post. Mar. 9, 2008: M01.
Pitfalls
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Reinforce stereotypes
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Africa as “backward”
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As completely rural/wild
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As racially/ethnically monochromatic
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As lacking “real culture”
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African men as “abusers,” women & children as
“victims”
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Ethnographic evidence vs. Literary artwork
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Missing the irony
Suggested Solutions
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Multiple text approach
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Paired with Heart of Darkness & with Achebe’s essay
“An Image of Africa.”
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Contextualization approach
Multiple Texts
Chimamanda Adichie, author of
Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun,
and The Thing Around Your Neck
http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
Multiple Texts
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Exploring African Life and Literature: Novel Guides
to Promote Socially Responsive Learning Jacqueline N. Glasgow, Linda J. Rice, editors.
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Tends to regard African lit as ethnographic/historic
evidence
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Wide range of novels from the continent
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Good introductory info on author, text & context
Multiple Texts
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Buchi Emecheta’s The Wrestling Match (1983) grades 7-9
(Nigeria)
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Bessie Head’s Maru (1971) grades 8-11 (S. Africa/Botswana)
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Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People (1981) grades 11-12 (S. Africa)
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Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus (2003) and selected
short stories from The Thing Around Your Neck (2010) grades 912 (Nigeria)
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Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come (2007) and selected short
stories from News From Home (2010) grades 11-12 (Nigeria)
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Zakes Mda’s Ways of Dying (1995) grades 10-12 (S. Africa)
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Yvonne Vera’s Nehanda (1993) grades 7-9 (Zimbabwe)