Things Fall Apart: Socratic Seminar
Goal: to synthesize main ideas across a whole text in order to develop your own point of view
on the text and consider different perspectives on the same subject.
We will be having a Socratic Seminar over Things Fall Apart. This discussion will be your final
on the text and the semester. In a Socratic Seminar, participants seek to answer an essential
question and gain deeper understanding ideas, issues, values, and/or principles presented in a text
or texts through rigorous and thoughtful dialogue.
How you will be graded:


Completion of the preparation sheet (30 points)
Contributing to the discussion
(30 points)
1. Asking questions
2. Responding to questions
3. Citing textual evidence
Total: 60 points
In order to participate, the preparation sheet MUST be completed BEFORE class starts on the
day of the seminar.
Guiding Question: What was Chinua Achebe’s purpose in writing this novel? What issues and
themes does he illustrate through the novel and what is he trying to say about them? Think about
these questions and how your perceptions and opinions of Africa/Imperialism/Okonkwo have
changed over the course of reading the novel.
Preparation for Seminar
Answer each question with a complete paragraph (use cited evidence, a main idea sentence
and explain your examples/evidence) on a separate piece of paper. Use textual support or
specific examples that you can cite in class for each answer. Be prepared to share your answers
in seminar but keep in mind this is not an opportunity to read your answers. The expectation is
that you think on your feet and contribute to the larger conversations it develops before you in
class. Socratic seminars are an opportunity for everybody to come to a greater understanding of
ideas in a piece of writing by following a question “down the rabbit hole.”
1. Think about the contrasts and similarities between masculinity and femininity in the novel.
How is masculinity defined throughout the novel? How does this definition shape the
development of characters and the ultimate outcome of the novel? How is femininity portrayed
throughout the novel? What might Achebe be illustrating about the Ibo (and many other
cultures’) definition of masculinity and femininity? Does the traditional role of masculinity need
to change?
2. What is the role power plays in the novel? How are the characters driven and shaped by fear?
What is Achebe trying to illustrate about fear and power and the way it is seen in the text?
3. How does Okonkwo evolve from the beginning of the text to the end? Thinking about the title
of the text, what “falls apart” for Okonkwo and his civilization? What is the meaning of his
death? Is a tragic hero or a coward? Is his death necessary?
4. Is change destructive? Explore how change reshapes the Ibo culture and community. Is change
a good or bad thing? Is it necessary, or is it inevitable? Should change come only from within,
or is it only possible from an individual or group arriving from the outside? What might Achebe
be saying about the colonizing force that arrives in Umuofia?
5. Write 5 questions you could pose during discussion. Below are some sentence frames to
stimulate your thinking about the novel. You may use any of these frames to help you with
creating your questions. Remember, DO NOT ASK yes/no type questions or point to the answer
type questions. These need to generate a discussion.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
What puzzles me is...
I'd like to talk with people about...
I'm confused about...
Don't you think this is similar to...
Do you agree that the big idea seems to be...
I have questions about...
Another point of view is...
I think it means...
Do you think...
What does it mean when the author says...
Do you agree that...
6. After the completion of the seminar, write down a summary of what you learned from the
discussion in a paragraph.
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