Things Fall Apart and NOLA in Exile
Unit Summary:
Students will investigate communities in transition by looking at contemporary and historic examples. The
students will investigate through two main pathways: 1) the creation of a community profile through
personal histories and possible library research and 2) the analysis of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in
the context of colonialism. The unit products include the publication of a community profile, an essay
comparing two presentations of imperialism, and a character-perspective narrative.
Essential Understandings:
 A novel, newspaper article, and a family scrapbook all stand as time capsules of sorts, recording a
particular moment in time.
 Culture is not fixed but constantly changing and being exchanged.
 A work of literature is often written in response or to fill a void, to say something that must be said.
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Essential Questions:
What is a community?
How does a community fall apart?
What happens when we join or leave a community?
What role does ritual and tradition play in a community?
How does an individual and their community interact?
How best can we communicate to others about our community?
Unit Vocabulary:
Figurative Language
imagery
Prose
foreshadowing
narrator
proverb
metaphor
simile
conflict
theme
protagonist
flashback
parable/fable
Texts to be considered:
Fiction
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
Poetry
“White Man’s Burden” Rudyard Kipling
“The Congo” by Vachel Lindsay
Non-Fiction
Selections from Henry Morton Stanley
“Black Man’s Burden” by Edward Morel
Nacirema essay
Key Concepts:
Reading Concepts
 Theme is a central message a text carries. In fiction, it is normally implicit rather than explicit.
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Writing Concepts
 An essay is a presentation of an argument and must include a thesis statement and supports.
 Properly cited quotations from the work analyzed are necessary for illustrating points.
 Quotations should be introduced and explained.
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Standards: Grade Level Expectations
3. ELA-1-H2 Identify, synthesize, and analyze diction and tone.
5. ELA-1-H3 Draw conclusions and make inferences in a variety of genres (reader response journals)
7. ELA-6-H1 Analyze the impact of historical period on literature.
8. ELA-6-H2 Identify and analyze the elements that distinguish a variety of literary periods.
9. ELA-6-H3 Identify and analyze the elements that distinguish a variety of literary forms.
10. ELA-6-H4 Identify and analyze the ways that a variety of literary forms relate to real life (i.e. a parody mocks
people and institutions)
11. ELA-7-H3 Draw connections between works and their authors.
12. ELA-2-H1 Write compositions that utilize appropriate organizational elements (e.g. thesis, transitions)
13. ELA-2-H2 Write compositions suited to a particular audience as evinced through word choice, vocabulary, and
topic.
14. ELA-2-H4, ELA-2-H6 Write a literary analysis incorporating research.
17. ELA-2-H5 Use appropriate literary and rhetorical devices in writing.
18. ELA-3-H2 Write using standard rules of mechanics, usage, and punctuation.
20. ELA-4-H4, ELA-4-H6 Actively participate as an audience member during presentations and discussions
Assessments
 Class and small group discussion centering on enduring ideas and essential questions.
 Literary Road Maps
 Analytic essays
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Timeline – 6 weeks
Week 1 –
Week 2 –
Week 3 –
Week 4 –
Week 5 –
Week 6 –
Spark Notes
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Think about the role of weather in the novel. How does it work, symbolically or otherwise, in relation to
important elements of the novel such as religion? Are rain and draught significant? Explore the ways in
which weather affects the emotional and spiritual realms of the novel as well as the physical world.
2. Women suffer great losses in this novel but also, in certain circumstances, hold tremendous power. What
role do women play in Okonkwo’s life? Is there any difference between his interaction with specific women
and his understanding of women and femininity in general?
3. Animal imagery abounds in the folktales and proverbs circulated among the clan members. What is the
significance of some of the animals they discuss? What does the prominence of animal figures suggest about
Igbo culture and about Achebe’s larger goals?
4. In what ways does the idea of progress shape the novel? If Unoka, Okonkwo, and Nwoye are symbolic of
three successive generations, how does society in Umuofia change over the course of their lifetimes? Where
does Ikemefuna fit into this picture?
5. Throughout the novel, drums, music, and the town crier’s voice punctuate the narrative at key moments.
When does silence occur and what does it mean? Is there more than one type of silence? Can silence be
characterized as a positive or negative occurrence? What are the implications of the fact that Unoka takes his
flute with him to the Evil Forest when he dies?
Some Teacher
 Define protagonist. Would Okonkwo, Umuofia, or neither be the protagonist in this novel? Justify your
answer. Application
 The plot of Things Fall Apart is guided by conflicts that affect Okonkwo's family and clan. Choose three
different types of conflicts (man vs. ______), each from a different section of the novel (Part I, II, and III).
Explain why Achebe includes this particular conflict to show his readers and its overall effect on the story.
Application
 Explain the importance of family to the people of Umuofia and the surrounding villages. Include three (3)
examples - one from Okonkwo's family, one from another family, and one from the general society. Cite
chapter and page. Analysis
 In chapter 15 (page 141 for many books), Uchendu says to his company, "The world has no end, and what
is good among one people is an abomination with others."
1. What is a Ibo practice that was good for their people, but seen as an abomination by outsiders?
Comprehension
2. Justify that practice in Ibo terms. Analysis
3. What is a British or Christian practice that was good for their people, but seen as an abomination to
the Ibo? Comprehension
4. Justify that practice in British or Christian terms. Analysis
5. Obierika is a foil for Okonkwo. That is, when compared to Okonkwo, the contrast between the two
characters emphasizes the distinctive characteristics of Okonkwo. Compare the two characters—Obierika
and Okonkwo.
6. Achebe suggests that Igbo culture is dynamic (constantly changing). Find evidence in the novel to
support this notion.
7.
What is the significance of Nwoye’s Christian name, Isaac?
8. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe includes stories from Igbo culture and tradition, proverbs, and parables.
What is the significance of Achebe’s integration of African literary forms with that of Western literary
forms?
9. Achebe resents the stereotype of African cultures that is presented in literature, such as Heart of
Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Identify instances in Things Fall Apart that portray variations in African
cultures.
10.
What is the role of women in the novel?
11. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the social structure portrayed in Things Fall Apart. For
example, the culture is polygamous; the husband, wives, and children live in their own compound; children
are cared for communally.
12.
Explain why you think Okonkwo kills himself.
13.
In your opinion, what contributes most to things falling apart in Umuofia? Explain.
14.
How are the womanly or feminine qualities of the Igbo culture important to its survival?
15. Compare Mr. Brown and Reverend Smith. How does the black and white thinking of Reverend
Smith contribute to Umuofia’s downfall? What would have prevented Umuofia’s downfall?