Jomo Kenyatta - The Gentlemen of the Jungle (full text)biography
1. Briefly summarize the story.
2. Identify the main subject matters of the tale?
3. What is the genre? List characteristic features?
4. Whom do the animals in the tale symbolize?
5. What is the main conflict?
6. Why are there only animals in the Commission? Why does the man not object to this?
7.What is elephant's explanation of his behavior?
8. Comment on the role reversal (animals = Europeans, people = Africans) in relation to stereotypized images used in colonial literature.
9. What does the story imply about the colonial presence in Africa and what were the African' s views of it?
10. Interpret the meaning of the Swahili proverb: "Much silence has a mighty noise."
Chinua Achebe - Dead Men's Path
a complex website on Achebe
Achebe's provocative essay on Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness - "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness"
influences - concept map
1. Briefly summarize the story.
2. Identify the main subject matters of the story.
3. Comment on the historical context of Nigeria (position of the British in the country).
4. Are there any sings of foreshadowing at the beginning of the story?
5. Characterize Nancy. What does the text suggest about her personality? What is important to her?
6. Is Nancy more influenced by modern Western culture or by traditional African culture? Are her views different from that of her husband? What character traits do the garden reveal about Nancy?
7.Characterize Michael Obi. Comment on the information provided at the beginning of the story. What impression does one have of him at the beginning and at the end of the story? 8. Analyze Obi's motivations in valuing the flowerbeds and hedges more than the villagers' beliefs.
9. Comment on the significance of the path to the villagers.
10. Describe the priest of Ani and the conversation of the two men. Could a compromise be achieved? Which character shows more toler-ance toward the other's attitudes?
11. How are Michael Obi’s beliefs different from those of the village elders?
12. Discuss the narrator. Is he impartial or does he sympathise with one of the parties? Is he reliable?
Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel.
2. Who are the main characters? Characterize them within their traditional setting. Who is Okonkwo? What are his major personal traits?
3. What is the setting (time and place)?
4. What elements of Igbo culture are presented in the text? How are Igbo people depicted? Contrast their depiction with that of the white colonialists (stereotypes).
5. What is the major conglict of the novel? List the main subject matters.
6. Comment on the style of writing? How does the writer explain the elements of Igbo culture to his international audience? What strategies does he use?
7. Interpret the title of the novel.
8. Discuss the ending of the novel. Why did Okonkwo commit suicide? How can we interpret this act?
9. Comment on the language used in the novel.
10. Discuss the meaning of the chi - personal spirit - for the villagers.
11. What are the main subject matters and the theme of the novel.
12. Reconnect Achebe's novel with Joseph Conrad's The Heat of Darkness.
2. Identify the main subject matters of the story.
3. Comment on the historical context of Nigeria (position of the British in the country).
4. Are there any sings of foreshadowing at the beginning of the story?
5. Characterize Nancy. What does the text suggest about her personality? What is important to her?
6. Is Nancy more influenced by modern Western culture or by traditional African culture? Are her views different from that of her husband? What character traits do the garden reveal about Nancy?
7.Characterize Michael Obi. Comment on the information provided at the beginning of the story. What impression does one have of him at the beginning and at the end of the story? 8. Analyze Obi's motivations in valuing the flowerbeds and hedges more than the villagers' beliefs.
9. Comment on the significance of the path to the villagers.
10. Describe the priest of Ani and the conversation of the two men. Could a compromise be achieved? Which character shows more toler-ance toward the other's attitudes?
11. How are Michael Obi’s beliefs different from those of the village elders?
12. Discuss the narrator. Is he impartial or does he sympathise with one of the parties? Is he reliable?
Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel.2. Who are the main characters? Characterize them within their traditional setting. Who is Okonkwo? What are his major personal traits?
3. What is the setting (time and place)?
4. What elements of Igbo culture are presented in the text? How are Igbo people depicted? Contrast their depiction with that of the white colonialists (stereotypes).
5. What is the major conglict of the novel? List the main subject matters.
6. Comment on the style of writing? How does the writer explain the elements of Igbo culture to his international audience? What strategies does he use?
7. Interpret the title of the novel.
8. Discuss the ending of the novel. Why did Okonkwo commit suicide? How can we interpret this act?
9. Comment on the language used in the novel.
10. Discuss the meaning of the chi - personal spirit - for the villagers.
11. What are the main subject matters and the theme of the novel.
12. Reconnect Achebe's novel with Joseph Conrad's The Heat of Darkness.
Queen Victoria Giving the Bible to an African Chief - Thomas Jones Barker
