Learning From Society

During this semester we have been able to learn about the literature of the post colonial time. More importantly, we have learned about the people and the society of these people. Authors such as Jamaica Kincaid, Jean Rhys and Chinua Achebe made me go deeply into the understanding of their different societies and they also made me get a broader view of how the postcolonial time affected their societies’ development. It is essential for students to understand all of the changes that people went through during this time. Therefore, in this paper I will discuss the importance of taking a piece such as Things Fall Apart into the class and how I can do it.

Things Fall Apart by China Achebe describes the society of Umuofia before and after the colonization and its people. It principally narrates the story of Okonkwo who is a very well known and respected man in this society. He has a large family because he has three wives and many children. The people in Umuofia were not Christians, but they believe in many Gods who were represented in their priests and priestess. After the arrival of the European colonizers, the people in Umuofia suffered because all of their traditions were being removed by these colonizers who were imposing their religion of one and only God, their laws and their customs.

Things Fall Apart describes a very patriarchal society where older men were very respected and they were in charge of making decisions. However, their Gods defined the destiny of every person in the village. Thus, any order the Gods commanded needed to be executed and no one could oppose to it. The role of women was a very secondary role, mainly that of the obedient wife and mother. Women were not allowed to make any decision, not even regarding their children’s lives. The title represents exactly what the text is about. Due to the arrival of European colonizers, every aspect of their society was falling apart: religion, family, laws, Gods, traditions and customs. It was easy to see that after the missionaries got to Umuofia there was no intention of converging both different cultures and blending them into one. The goal was to colonize and impose European culture to the villagers.

This short novel really called my attention because I think the author was very clear about how to transmit what really happened in the colonization. Some important concepts such as patriarchic society, chauvinism, law, religion, destiny and legacy are clearly explained and students should be able to discuss and learn about them. Also, by using this novel I can commit to a cross-curricular project with the History department and deal with the topic of Imperialism differently. Apart from that, dealing with this piece inside the classroom can help students understand the Umuofian society and learn about how to deal with different issues that still occur nowadays. As Gail Ellis states “Storybooks address universal themes and allow children to play with ideas and feelings and think about important issues” (Ellis, 2002). Literature has a sense of universality which makes it incredibly accessible for people and simplifies the work we can do with it and with our students inside the classroom.

I have increased my knowledge of Methodology for working with a literary piece. I still believe the best approach to work with literature is the Reader Response. As Gail E. Tompkins and Lea M. McGee “The reader response perspective focuses on reading as a lived-through experience that involves the feelings, images, thoughts, and associations called to mind at the moment of reading. Readers respond to those feelings during and after reading” (1993). I will explain different activities that can be used with Things Fall Apart in any secondary class. It is important to mention that this book can be used with any student, but my main focus here is to work with teenagers because I think literature is essential in their process of finding their identity and developing higher thinking skills. All of the activities have been taken from the book 50 Literacy Strategies by Gail E. Tompkins.

Book Boxes

As we know, many times teachers do not consider other intelligences children may have or other learning strategies children may use for learning. Therefore, Book Boxes are fit for students with artistic talent such as drawing, painting and handcraft skill. Book Boxes is an activity where the teacher can separate the book into the 24 chapters the book has and designate each one to a couple. This couple will be in charge of reading the chapter and filling their box with characters, settings and situations. For example, in the first chapter we have the characters of Okonkwo, his father, the wrestler and the three wives and the different situations such as the wrestling match, his father’s laziness, his father’s death and the marriages. Children use their artistic abilities to make the characters and the situations: this can be drawings or any other element. When all students have finished their book box, they come together and retell the story using the elements from the box.

Double-Entry Journals

Double Entry Journal is an activity where students can relate to any quote from the book and write their own reflections for the quote. For example,

Quotes

1. A few years later, Okonkwo had married three wives. He owned a large farm and he had a large compound with a thick wall of red earth round it.

2. Nwoye cried when he heard that Ikemefuna was going away.

Reflections

1. I think Okonkwo should have never married more than one wife because marrying to more than one woman is very disrespectful.

2. Nwoye never had a friend before he met Ikemefuna; therefore, he was very upset when he heard that he was going away. He knew that he would never have another friend.

These quotes can be either chosen by the teacher or the students and can be written throughout the entire reading process. Thus, students will be constantly reflecting about different topics and themes that are shown in the story.

K-W-L Charts

A K-W-L Chart is an activity where students can monitor their own process of learning about the story. K stands for “What We Know”, W stands for “What We Wonder” and L stands for “What We Learned”. The teacher can divide the class into groups and before reading the story the teacher can give a small introduction to the piece and students can complete the K column. This column can be also complemented after reading the first chapters. The W column is completed with all the questions about things students would like to know. After we finish reading the book, students complete the L column which shows all the important ideas they have learned from the story. By using this activity, students feel that they have accomplished learning and that they have a complete understanding of the story.

Open-Mind Portrait

An open-mind portrait is an activity where students can illustrate how they feel about any character and what characteristics called their attention. The idea is simple: students draw the face of any character and in the back of the page students write or draw any characteristic about the character. With this activity, students can use their imagination if they choose a secondary character because they will have to infer certain characteristics from the reading. Students will also be able to relate themselves to the characters in the story because they will connect their characteristics to those of the characters. By using this activity, I will be giving my students the opportunity to give their opinion through drawings and writing because what they draw is what they think.

Quickwrites

A quickwrite is an activity where students write freely about a topic in particular, to answer a question or to write their reflections about a quotation. The idea is to ask students to think deeply and reflect; therefore, students can write in Spanish if they have difficulties with English because the focus is on their ideas, not on their language use. Students have 5 minutes to write without stopping about the prompt, so they will be writing and constantly making connections among the ideas they write. Some prompts to use with Things Fall Apart are the following:

1. What is your perception of Okonkwo? Give reasons
2. “A few years later, Okonkwo had married three wives”
3. How important is religion for Okonkwo’s community?
4. Why do you think Ikemefuna was given to Okonkwo?
5. What was the relationship between Ikemefuna and Nwoye? What feelings can you associate with their relationship?
6. “‘Where is Ojiugo?’ Okonkwo asked his second wife. ‘She has gone to see a friend,’ she replied. Okonkwo bit his lips and became angry. Okonkwo went back to his own hut and waited for Ojiugo to come home. When she came back, he beat her very hard. He was so angry that he forgot it was the Week of Peace”
7. Do you think the society of Umuofia is chauvinistic? Give reasons

Things Fall Apart is a great piece of literature because it provides a closer glance of what the colonization was like in Africa. Using it in class is very innovative and attractive because children are not used to reading in English neither reading about Africa. Students will be able to learn about the Umuofian society and how alike we are. By using all of these activities, students will be able to work wholly with the story and put themselves into it. Reflection, imaginative and creative thinking and connections are present in all of the activities. It is important to mention that the focus here is not the English language, but students’ abilities to think and relate to the people in the story. In the end, students will have learned about and from the Umuofian society and hopefully they will apply the learning into other areas.

Bibliography

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, 1974.

Ellis, Gail. Learning English through Children's Literature. December 2002. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/learning-english-through-childrens-literature

Tompkins, Gail E. 50 Literacy Strategies: Step by Step. Boston: Pearson, 2009.

Tompkins, Gail E and McGee, Lea M. Teaching Reading with Literature: case studies to action plans. New York: Macmillan Publishing CO, 1993.