Flowers of Freedom: Voice, Defiance, and Coming of Age in Purple Hibiscus

Lesson 16
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ELA

Unit 2

10th Grade

Lesson 16 of 24

Objective


Analyze how Adichie develops parallels between political and domestic events.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  pp. 206 – 229 — "Speaking With Our Spirits: Before Palm Sunday"

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Target Task


Discussion & Writing Prompt

Describe the role that telling the truth plays in this chapter. In your response, analyze Ade Coker's assassination, the threat to Aunty Ifeoma's position at the university, the student rioters, and Kambili speaking the truth to Amaka. What theme about speaking the truth does Achichie develop in this reading? In your response use at least one of the following vocabulary words: subdued, thwarts, or microcosm.

Sample Response

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Key Thinking


Close Read Questions

How does Ade Coker's death impact Papa? How does it impact Kambili? Why might the description of the rain on the day of his death be significant?

Consider the scenes when Papa discovers the painting of Papa-Nnukwu and when Kambili is in the hospital. What details from Kambili's narration of these scenes show that she has changed? How so?

Obiora explains how the university is a microcosm of Nigerian society. How is the Achike family also a microcosm of Nigerian society?

Vocabulary


Text-based

microcosm

n.

(p. 224)

a community, place, or situation regarded as having the typical features of a much larger one and so seems like a smaller version of it 

invigorated

v.

(p. 228)

strengthened or energized

Homework


  • Book: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  pp. 229 – 253

While reading, answer the following questions.

  • What do the men who come to Aunty Ifeoma's house accuse her of? What do they do to her house?

  • What does Obiora suggest they do after the men leave their house? What does Amaka say back to him?

  • What does Kambili notice about the way Jaja kills the chicken?

  • What is Aunty Ifeoma's reasoning for why Okafor should not have beaten his son?

  • What does Aunty Ifeoma's colleague say to her when she hears that Aunty Ifeoma sent her CV to Phillipa in America?

  • What type of silence does Kambili have with Amaka as they pick the stones out of rice? How is this silence different from the silence in Papa's house?

  • What does Mama say Papa did to her? What does she decide to ultimately do, and what is her reasoning?

  • What does Kambili notice about the way Papa looks when he comes to pick them up?

  • What does Jaja notice as he gets out of the car?

Notes for Teachers

The homework reading includes descriptions of physical abuse that result in pregnancy loss. Be mindful of how this content might impact students. 

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Standards


  • RL.9-10.2 — Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • RL.9-10.3 — Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
  • RL.9-10.5 — Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

Supporting Standards

L.9-10.1
L.9-10.6
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.4
RL.9-10.6
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.6
W.9-10.9
W.9-10.10

Next

Analyze how Adichie foreshadows the events of Palm Sunday. 

Lesson 17
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