Things Fall Apart

Lesson 3
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ELA

Unit 2

11th Grade

Lesson 3 of 25

Objective


Predict the major themes of the novel.

Analyze the author’s characterization of the protagonist, Okonkwo.

Readings and Materials


  • Poem: “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats 

  • Book: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe  pp. 3 – 8

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Target Task


Question 1

Achebe’s choice of an excerpt from “The Second Coming” as his title

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Sample Response

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Question 2

Which of the following best describes the relationship between Okonkwo and his father, Unoka?

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Sample Response

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Question 3

“If a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.” Interpret this proverb from p. 8, and explain what it reveals about Okonkwo.

Question 4

Describe how Achebe characterizes Okonkwo in chapter 1. Use specific details from the chapter to support your answer.

Key Questions


  • Who is the speaker? What does he seem to see/know that we don’t?
  • What is a falcon? What does this metaphor convey?
  • What is the speaker’s tone in the first stanza of the poem?
  • Describe how the speaker’s tone changes from the beginning to the end of the second stanza.
  • What is the overall mood of this poem? What does it seem the poet is conveying?
  • What is ironic about Achebe’s choice of a poem from the European “canon” as both the epigraph and title for Things Fall Apart? What might be his purpose(s) in this choice?
  • How does the author characterize Okonkwo in the first pages of the novel?
  • How does he characterize Okonkwo’s father? 
  • Who is Okoye and what do we learn about his purpose for visiting Unoka on pp. 6–7?
  • What is the impact of Achebe’s inclusion of the kola nut tradition?
  • What does Achebe reveal in the line “Among the Igbo the art of conversation…words are eaten.” on p. 7? What does Achebe’s use of traditional proverbs in the novel accomplish?
  • How does Achebe use the characters of Okonkwo and Unoka to reveal conflict? Okonkwo’s motivations? Theme?
  • Who is introduced at the end of the chapter? What is the narrator’s tone here? How do you know?

Notes


  • Beginning class with the full text of the Yeats poem, perhaps as a Do Now, will add to students’ understanding of Achebe’s choice of it for the epigraph.
  • The teacher should include an examination of the features of the book in today’s class: the epigraph, the text on the rear cover, and the Igbo glossary at the end of the novel.

Next

Analyze the continued characterization of Okonkwo in chapter 2.

Describe how the author uses setting, nonlinear plot, and characterization to develop theme.

Lesson 4
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