Things Fall Apart Web Quest

“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”

Directions:  Today you will be going on an internet based web quest to get a deeper sense of the historical and biographical references in the novel.  Things Fall Apart is a critically diverse novel that explores several different aspects African history, society, and culture.  Using google docs share your answers with me at bmarshall@rbchs.com

1.  Content Area- Geography:

Using the following links http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/countries.html and http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/countries/Nigeria.html

·         Draw a map of NIGERIA only.  Label cities, mountains, rivers, Highlight Igbo* (the setting for our novel)

·         Locate the 4 major peoples, identify and read the linked information.  Write down 1 fact per people!

·         Using the following link:  http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Igbo.html

·         Read the information about the Igbo culture and people.  Identify 5 facts about the people. 

·         Using the back of your novel, or a site on the internet, write down 5 native Igbo words and their English translation.

·         Use the following links to research Igbo customs, foods, traditions, festivals, ceremonies, and the very important Kola Nut: 

http://www.igboguide.org/HT-chapter8.htm

http://www.igboguide.org/HT-chapter9.htm

http://www.igboguide.org/HT-chapter11.htm

Explain and identify the following:

o   FuFu (use Google search)

o   The Kola Nut

o   1 Igbo Tradition

o   1 Igbo Ceremony

o   1 Igbo Custom

 2.  The Author- Chinua Achebe

ACHEBE, Chinua,

full name Albert Chinualumogu Achebe (1930- ), Nigerian novelist, poet, broadcaster, and educator. He was born in Ogidi, an Ibo village near the Niger River, and educated at University College, Ibadan (1948-53) and the University of London (1953). From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s he pursued a career in broadcasting, holding executive positions with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of Nigeria. In recent decades he has held a succession of teaching posts, notably a professorship at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Achebe's first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), set the theme for his subsequent work: the impact of Western influences on traditional African society. Among his later novels are Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). Achebe's other works include a short-story collection, Girls at War (1972), and Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems (1973), winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize.

Using the following link, and your own internet sourcing (NO Wikipedia!) http://www.learner.org/workshops/isonovel/Pages/Achebepage.html

research the life of Chinua Achebe.  Among the information you are looking for, answer the following questions:

1.    Achebe was born in the country of?  In what year?

2.    What village was he raised in?

3.    He graduated from where?

4.    Why did he leave Nigeria?

5.    Professor of English for what 2 American colleges?

6.    Became a famous ________ after he was appointed senior research fellow at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

7.    The Sunday Times of London named Achebe what?

8.    Achebe has how many honoray doctrites from universities all over the world?

9.    He currently lives and works where?

10. List 1 other piece he has written.

3.  Final Article:

Read the following article, and list 3 major issues in African history.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/history/giblinhistory.html