Monday: Quiz and discussion of TFA part three.
Tuesday: In-class essay on TFA. Prompts and notes are at bottom of this post
For Wednesday: Read pages 1-20 of Heart of Darkness
1997. Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
2003. According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.
2010. Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said has written that “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Yet Said has also said that exile can become “a potent, even enriching” experience. Select a novel, play, or epic in which a character experiences such a rift and becomes cut off from “home,” whether that home is the character’s birthplace, family, homeland, or other special place. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching (you may focus on entirely on alienating if you choose), and how this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
At the end of your short introduction, write a clear thesis that states the meaning/vision of the work as a whole. Use concrete examples as evidence in your body paragraphs.
Ceremonies:
>Wrestling ceremonies, such as the one in which Okonkwo throws the Cat and Obierika’s son prevails bring the village together.
>Obierika celebrates the uri, a ritual in which the suitor presents palm-oil to everyone in the bride's immediate family, her relatives, and her extended group of kinsmen.
>The village holds a ceremonial gathering to administer justice. The clan’s ancestral spirits, which are known as egwugwu, emerge from a secret house into which no woman is allowed to step. The egwugwu take the form of masked men. Various wedding rituals are also presented.
>As the time approaches for his family's return to Umuofia, Okonkwo instructs his wives and children to prepare a huge feast for his mother's kinsmen in Mbanta in a gesture to show his gratitude for kindness over the years of exile. Uchendu’s comments at the beginning of the feast also reveal cultural values.
Exile is to Mbanta, the home of Okonkwo’s mother before she married his father. Okonkwo feels he wastes seven years. Old Uchendu explains to Okonkwo the origin of the saying mother is supreme and the value of family and friendship. Also, when Okonkwo returns to Umuofia his home has changed so much some readers think that it is as if he is exiled again.
Tragedy: Okonkwo feels fated by his chi. Perhaps he angered the gods by taking part in Ikemefuna’s killing. Does he have a hamartia, and tragic flaw or a tragic mistake? To what extend does he control events? Does the tragic vision of the novel extend to his klan and all of Nigeria?
Characters
Okonkwo A young leader of the African Igbo community of Umuofia, he is known as a fierce warrior as well as a successful farmer.
Unoka Okonkwo's father
Nwoye Okonkwo's oldest son
Ikemefuna A boy of fourteen who is given to Umuofia by a neighboring village to avoid war. He is a clever, resourceful young man.
Ekwefi Okonkwo's second wife; the mother of Ezinma, her only living child.
Ezinma Daughter of Ekwefi and Okonkwo
Ojiubo Okonkwo's third wife; the mother of several of Okonkwo's children.
Obierika Okonkwo's best friend. He is the father of Maduka (son) and Ekueke (daughter).
Chielo A village widow who is also the priestess of Agbala.
Agbala The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves
Uchendu - The younger brother of Okonkwo’s mother. Uchendu receives Okonkwo and his family warmly when they travel to Mbanta.
Mr. Brown The first white Christian missionary in Umuofia and Mbanta.
Mr. Kiaga The native interpreter for the missionaries. He is a teacher and a leader of the new church in Mbanta.
The Reverend James Smith A strict white Christian missionary, he takes over the church after Mr. Brown's departure.
The District Commissioner A white colonial administrator of Umuofia.
Tuesday: In-class essay on TFA. Prompts and notes are at bottom of this post
For Wednesday: Read pages 1-20 of Heart of Darkness
1997. Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live. Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
2003. According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.
2010. Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said has written that “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Yet Said has also said that exile can become “a potent, even enriching” experience. Select a novel, play, or epic in which a character experiences such a rift and becomes cut off from “home,” whether that home is the character’s birthplace, family, homeland, or other special place. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching (you may focus on entirely on alienating if you choose), and how this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
At the end of your short introduction, write a clear thesis that states the meaning/vision of the work as a whole. Use concrete examples as evidence in your body paragraphs.
Ceremonies:
>Wrestling ceremonies, such as the one in which Okonkwo throws the Cat and Obierika’s son prevails bring the village together.
>Obierika celebrates the uri, a ritual in which the suitor presents palm-oil to everyone in the bride's immediate family, her relatives, and her extended group of kinsmen.
>The village holds a ceremonial gathering to administer justice. The clan’s ancestral spirits, which are known as egwugwu, emerge from a secret house into which no woman is allowed to step. The egwugwu take the form of masked men. Various wedding rituals are also presented.
>As the time approaches for his family's return to Umuofia, Okonkwo instructs his wives and children to prepare a huge feast for his mother's kinsmen in Mbanta in a gesture to show his gratitude for kindness over the years of exile. Uchendu’s comments at the beginning of the feast also reveal cultural values.
Exile is to Mbanta, the home of Okonkwo’s mother before she married his father. Okonkwo feels he wastes seven years. Old Uchendu explains to Okonkwo the origin of the saying mother is supreme and the value of family and friendship. Also, when Okonkwo returns to Umuofia his home has changed so much some readers think that it is as if he is exiled again.
Tragedy: Okonkwo feels fated by his chi. Perhaps he angered the gods by taking part in Ikemefuna’s killing. Does he have a hamartia, and tragic flaw or a tragic mistake? To what extend does he control events? Does the tragic vision of the novel extend to his klan and all of Nigeria?
Characters
Okonkwo A young leader of the African Igbo community of Umuofia, he is known as a fierce warrior as well as a successful farmer.
Unoka Okonkwo's father
Nwoye Okonkwo's oldest son
Ikemefuna A boy of fourteen who is given to Umuofia by a neighboring village to avoid war. He is a clever, resourceful young man.
Ekwefi Okonkwo's second wife; the mother of Ezinma, her only living child.
Ezinma Daughter of Ekwefi and Okonkwo
Ojiubo Okonkwo's third wife; the mother of several of Okonkwo's children.
Obierika Okonkwo's best friend. He is the father of Maduka (son) and Ekueke (daughter).
Chielo A village widow who is also the priestess of Agbala.
Agbala The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves
Uchendu - The younger brother of Okonkwo’s mother. Uchendu receives Okonkwo and his family warmly when they travel to Mbanta.
Mr. Brown The first white Christian missionary in Umuofia and Mbanta.
Mr. Kiaga The native interpreter for the missionaries. He is a teacher and a leader of the new church in Mbanta.
The Reverend James Smith A strict white Christian missionary, he takes over the church after Mr. Brown's departure.
The District Commissioner A white colonial administrator of Umuofia.