Cultural Relativism / Things Fall Apart
World Literature
Points:
Reading: 100
20 points: Rachels RA
20 points: Reading quizzes
60 points: TFA RA
Unit work: 100
Essay: 150
Monday
March 18
Tuesday
March 19
Block day
March 20/21
Check out TFA
Begin Rachels
Rachels
Finish Rachels
HW: Processing Rachels
assignment (TBD)
March 25
HW: Processing Rachels
assignment (TBD)
March 26
Friday
March 22
Rachels RA
Intro TFA
HW: Ch. 1-3 + RJ1
HW: Ch. 4-5 + RJ 2
March 27/28
March 29
In class: read 10-11
HW: Ch. 6-7 + RJ 3
April 1
HW: Ch. 8-9 + RJ 4
April 2
IDWA
HW: Ch. 12-13 + RJ 5
April 3/4
HW: Ch 14-16 + RJ 6
April 5
Socratic seminar
Reading assessment
HW: Ch. 17-19 + RJ 7
April 8
HW: Ch. 20-22 + RJ 8
April 9
HW: Ch. 23-25 + RJ 9
April 10/11
April 12
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
April 15
April 16
April 17/18
April 19
HW: Draft thesis
statement
HW: Work on Outline
HW: Work on Outline
April 22
April 23
April 24/25
April 26
Preview CAP assignment
STAR TESTING
STAR TESTING
May 1/2
May 3
Outline due
HW: Work on rough
draft: due Monday, April
29
April 29
Rough Draft due
HW: Work on 1st draft:
due Monday, April 29
April 30
Things Fall Apart/Cultural
Relativism essays due
CULTURAL PRACTICES NOTES: As you read Things Fall Apart, use post-its to
mark passages that focus on cultural practices (e.g. religious practices, gender
roles, social or political hierarchies). As we discuss the novel and other texts in
class, take notes on cultural practices that you can analyze in your cultural
relativism essay. Use the format below:
Specific Customs/Traditions
 include a summary in your
words and a quote from the
text
 record citation info (source
info & page #) for your
Works Cited page
What is the
underlying
value of
this
custom/
tradition?
How does this
custom/tradition/value compare
with the customs/ traditions/values
of American culture?
Cultural Difference or Ethically
Wrong?
What makes this custom/
tradition/belief acceptable as a
cultural difference OR what makes it
unethical according to your own
value system?
As a young man, Okonkwo
gained his fame and status by
being the best wrestler in the
area.
Physical
strength
defines
manhood
and social
status.
Through the description of
Okonkwo’s wrestling achievements,
it is clear that the Ibo culture reveres
physical strength. The very
definition of masculinity seems to be
defined by physicality. While these
values are evident in Western or
American culture (the reverence of
athletes in high school and
professional settings), men in
American culture can gain social
status through other avenues such as
accumulation of wealth and intellect.
Ibo culture seems to prioritize only
those that are physically strong.
Social status among one’s
community should be determined by
many factors, such as compassion for
others, fatherhood, loyalty, and
responsibility to one’s community.
A male child raised in Ibo culture
might be void of these personal
values that contribute to a peaceful
society.
“Okonkwo was clearly cut out
for great things. He was still
young but he had won fame as
the greatest wrestler in the nine
villages… And so although
Okonkwo was still young, he
was already one of the greatest
men of his time. Age was
respected among his people,
but achievement revered” (8).
ACHEBE’S PURPOSE / KEY THEMES:
As you read, think about Achebe’s purpose in writing Things Fall Apart for your reading assessments. You
may consider one or more of the following purposes or your own original idea:
o providing an accurate depiction of Ibo society and asserting the value and complexity of Ibo
culture (partially in response to portrayals of African culture in European literature)
o examining the pros and cons of ambition and pride
o examining what makes a tragic hero, such as hamartia (tragic flaw or mistake) and/or hubris
(excessive pride)
o examining what forces shape a tragedy (fate/gods, society, and/or character)
o examining the values, practices, and gender prescribed roles of a society and their
benefits/consequences
o exploring issues of cross-cultural interaction
o exploring the effects of colonialism
o commenting on the dangers of assuming one’s own culture is superior
Tragedy and Tragic Heroes
Tragedy is a work of literature that arouses pity and fear for the characters.
Tragedy always ends in a catastrophe, where the Tragic Hero undergoes great suffering and often death.
This suffering is brought about by any combination of three forces:
 Fate, or the will of the gods.
 Hamartia, which can be translated as either a “character flaw” or a “mistake.”
o The character flaw is often an excess of something good (Example: Romeo and Juliet are too in
love.).
o Most common is hubris, which is excessive pride.
 Society
The catastrophe causes the characters to suffer, but the audience gets to feel catharsis. We get to feel pity
and fear and thus get a release for those emotions, but we never actually have to go through the catastrophe
ourselves.
Tragedy is therefore different than disaster, which is the correct name for horrible events that happen in
real life. Hopefully, we get to experience and release the same emotions without ever truly having to
experience the events that cause them.
Reading Questions #1, Chapters 1-9
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Describe Okonkwo’s character.
Explain how Ikemefuna comes to live with Okonkwo’s family.
Describe Unoka and how he affects Okonkwo.
Explain how Okonkwo violates the “week of peace” and his punishment.
Describe the relationships between Okonkwo and his wives and the relationships between the wives.
Describe Nwoye’s personality and how his father, Okonkwo, feels about him.
Describe how the village reacts to the arrival of the locusts.
Describe what happens to Ikemefuna.
Describe how Obierika’s daughter, Akueke, is given a husband.
Describe Ekwefi and her problems as a mother.
Describe how Ekwefi and the village deal with Ezinma’s illness.
Reading Questions #2, Chapters 10-13
1.
2.
3.
4.
Describe how the egwugwu resolve the issues in the village.
Describe Ekwefi’s journey in the night, following Chielo and Ezinma.
Describe the ceremony in which Obierika’s daughter Akueke is married.
Explain why Okonkwo is exiled from Umuofia.
Reading Questions #3, Chapters 14-19
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Describe the advice that Okonkwo receives from his uncle, Uchendu, when Okonkwo begins living in
Mbanta.
Describe the story that Obierika tells about the arrival of the white man in Umuofia.
Describe Nwoye’s interest in the Christian church and Okonkwo’s reaction.
Describe how the church in Mbanta develops and how the people of Mbanta react.
Describe the feast Okonkwo arranges to mark the end of his exile.
Reading Questions #4, Chapters 20-25
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Describe Okonkwo’s experiences in returning to Umuofia.
Describe how “the white man’s court” affects life in Umuofia.
Describe how Mr. Brown begins to win converts to his mission.
Describe how the new missionary reverend, Mr. Smith, is different from Mr. Brown.
Describe what Okonkwo hopes to do about the growing influence of the Europeans.
Describe how the Europeans deal with the rebels.
Describe what Okonkwo does to the court messenger when they tell the Umuofians to end their
meeting, and what happens to Okonkwo as a result.
Explain the significance of how Achebe concludes the novel.