Things Fall Apart: With Related Readings

by Achebe, Chinua

• ISBN13: 9780821924129
• ISBN10: 0821924125
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Emc Pub

Summary

THINGS FALL APART tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a "strong man" of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first of these stories traces Okonkwo's fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict between the individual and society. The second story, which is as modern as the first is ancient, and which elevates the book to a tragic plane, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world through the arrival of aggressive, proselytizing European missionaries. These twin dramas are perfectly harmonized, and they are modulated by an awareness capable of encompassing at once the life of nature, human history, and the mysterious compulsions of the soul. THINGS FALL APART is the most illuminating and permanent monument we have to the modern African experience as seen from within.

Author Biography

Nigerian Chinua Achebe is often called the father of modern African literature. His classic novel Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, was one of the first books to portray Africa from an African point of view, contradicting European stereotypes about the so-called "dark continent." Achebe has written more than sixteen books, including novels, short stories, poems, and essays. His works tell in unsentimental, moving detail how Western influences have affected traditional Nigerian ways of life

Table of Contents

The Life and Works of Chinua Achebe	v
Time Line of Chinua Achebe's Life	viii
The Historical and Cultural Context of Things Fall Apart	xi
Technique and Theme in Things Fall Apart	xvi
Characters in Things Fall Apart	xviii
Places in Things Fall Apart	xxi
Echoes	xxii
Map of Africa	xxiv
Map of Nigeria	xxv
Images of Igbo Life	xxvi
PART ONE
Chapter 1	2	(5)
Chapter 2	7	(5)
Chapter 3	12	(7)
Chapter 4	19	(7)
Chapter 5	26	(10)
Respond to the Selection, Chapters 1-5	33	(3)
Chapter 6	36	(4)
Chapter 7	40	(8)
Chapter 8	48	(11)
Respond to the Selection, Chapters 6-8	56	(3)
Chapter 9	59	(9)
Chapter 10	68	(6)
Chapter 11	74	(11)
Chapter 12	85	(7)
Chapter 13	92	(8)
Respond to the Selection, Chapters 9-13	97	(3)
PART TWO
Chapter 14	100	(5)
Chapter 15	105	(5)
Chapter 16	110	(4)
Chapter 17	114	(4)
Chapter 18	118	(5)
Chapter 19	123	(9)
Respond to the Selection, Chapters 14-19	127	(5)
PART THREE
Chapter 20	132	(5)
Chapter 21	137	(4)
Chapter 22	141	(6)
Chapter 23	147	(4)
Chapter 24	151	(5)
Chapter 25	156	(3)
Respond to the Selection, Chapters 20-25	159	(3)
Glossary of Igbo Words and Phrases	162	(4)
Plot Analysis of Things Fall Apart	166	(4)
Related Readings
``Going Home Was a Sad Awakening,'' Marjorie Coeyman, The Christian Science Monitor (news article)	170	(4)
``An African Voice,'' interview with Chinua Achebe by Katie Bacon, Atlantic Unbound (interview)	174	(8)
``The Second Coming,'' William Butler Yeats (poem)	182	(2)
``Lament of the Sacred Python,'' Chinua Achebe (poem)	184	(3)
from Kehinde, Buchi Emecheta (novel excerpt)	187	(13)
``Heaven is Not Closed,'' Bessie Head (short story)	200	(9)
``Should My Tribal Past Shape Delia's Future?,'' Dympna Ugwu-Oju, Newsweek (personal essay)	209	(4)
Creative Writing Activities	213	(1)
Critical Writing Activities	214	(2)
Projects	216	(2)
Glossary of Words for Everyday Use	218	(4)
Handbook of Literary Terms	229