Due Dates:
B4 - Wednesday, 12/15 (Before Class)
A1/A2 - Thursday, 12/16 (Before Class)
Read through page 154
Respond to the following prompts in complete sentences. You must use quotes in your responses.
1. Look at page 120, can the opening paragraph be viewed as a foreshadow of what will occur later in this chapter?
2. Argue which one is more of an 'individual,' Obierka or Okonkwo.
3. What event causes Okonkwo's exile?
4. How can water be viewed symbolically in Chapter 14?
5. How is one's "motherland" viewed in Chapter 14? Why is it so important to the characters in the novel?
6. Explain the generation gap one begins to see emerge in Chapter 15.
7. Who were persuaded to join the missionaries? What kind of people were they. Ch. 16.
1. I think that paragraph represents that there is a news. It's because those sound effects sound like that they want people's attention, and the news is bad. "Go-di-di-go-go-di-go...talking to the clan"(Achebe 120).
ReplyDelete2.I think Okonkwo is more of an "individual". It's because Okonkwo is a person who tries to live by himself and who is stoic. Also, he isn't very intrested in festivals which includes many people. Obierika is a person who thinks about others and worry about them. Even though he doesn't have a family with him, he seems like he trust in God. "When the will of the goddess had been done, he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend's calamity"(Achebe 125).
3. In the funeral of Ezeudu,his gun exploded and the piece of iron pierced a boy's heart. But that wasn't on purpose so he committed the crime of female. "Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart"(Achebe 124).
4. Water can be viewed symbolically because the water makes the crops grow. So when rain comes, people become happy because the plants will grow. Also, nature comes back and the birds start singing and there is a image of the peaceful forest. "As the rain began to fall...refreshed and thankful"(Achebe 130).
Shiori Hishinuma, B4
part 2
ReplyDelete5. Motherland is viewed in this chapter when Uchendu asks a questions Okonkwo related about it and he explains it. It is important because a child beaten up by its father goes to its mother for sympathy. And in this novel, there's problem between a child and its father, like Okonkwo and his son. "But when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut"(Achebe 134).
6. Genration gap is represented when Okonkwo and the others talk about the white men and the horse. Obierika is a bit scared and says that people never thought it was true. But Uchendu is wise and calm that he says the there is no people who come to somebody's clan by mistake. "Do you not think...is like them"(Achebe 141).
7. Women were mostly persuaded to join the missionaries. Women with children, and with husbands who dosn't care about joining the missionary."Her husband...it was a good riddance"(Achebe 151).
Shiori Hishinuma, B4
1. The opening paragraph can be viewed as a foreshadow of what will occur later in the chapter. "Diim! Diim! Diim! boomed the cannon at intervals" (Achebe 120). In this chapter, Okonkwo mistakingly kills Ezeudu's son. The gun sound can be represented with the cannon sound, diim.
ReplyDelete2. I think Okonkwo is more of an individual than Obierika. Firstly, we know that Okonkwo doesn't like festivals and likes working in the fields better. He also only thinks about himself and only his ranks. Also, Obierika is not an individual man since he follows and does anything other people do. "They set fire to his houses, demolished his rd walls, killed his animals and destroyed his barn. It was the justice of the earth goddess, and they were merely her messengers. They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo. His greatest friend, Obierika, was among them" (Achebe 125).
3. In this chapter, Okonkwo accidentally "murders" the sixteen year old son of Ezeudu. It was a big crime and he had to flee from the land. He could only come back to the clan after seven years. "It was the dead man's sixteen-year-old son, who with his brothers and half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart" (Achebe 124).
4. Water is viewed symbolically in chapter 14 in a positive way. It is an important element which helps crops grow, and it signals the start of farming. " Each of Uchendu's five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm, for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin" (Achebe 130).
5. One belongs to his motherland when his life is full of sorrow. He seeks refuge in his motherland because his "mother is there to protect you...that is why we say that mother is supreme" (Achebe 134). Motherland is important for Okonkwo because he has seeked refuge here. He did not seek refuge in his fatherland because "a man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet" (Achebe 134).
6. We can see a generation gap in chapter 15. When Uchendu meets Obierika, Uchendu talks about his past. " I knew your father, Iweka. he was a great man. He had many friends here and came to see them quite often. Those were good days when a man had friends in distant clans. Your generation does not know that. You stay at home, afraid of your next-door neighbor. Even a man's motherland his strange to him nowadays" (Achebe 137). This shows that there are differences between the past and present.
7. The people who were persuaded to be come missionaries were people that were called efulefu. "None of them was a man of title. They were mostly the kind of people that were called efulefu, worthless, empty men" (Achebe 143). They were the complete opposite of Okonkwo.
Lisa Shimazaki A1
Janet Choi
ReplyDeleteLiterature A1
1. I think the opening paragraph can be viewed as a foreshadow of events that are going to happen later. Cannons first appear in the story. Usually, people do not fire cannons very often, unless in special occasions or in times of war. “Diim! Diim! Diim! Boomed the cannon at intervals” (Achebe 120). Also, the firing of cannons may have predicted Okonkwo's future, where his gun exploded.
2. I think Okonkwo is more of an individual than Obierika. Okonkwo tries to live without depending or leaning on anyone else but himself. He always keeps distance from his family and lives in his world completely alone. The fact that he brought a gun to a funeral shows that he is very in secure. “All was silent. In the center of the crowd a boy lay in a pool of blood...Okonkwo’s gun had exploded and a piece of iron had piercedthe boy’s heart” (Achebe 124).
3. Okonkwo’s gun exploded in Ezeudu’s funeral, and a boy was killed. Although it was inadvertent, he still commited a crime and had to seek refuge outside of the clan. “The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land...He could return to the clan after seven years” (Achebe 124).
4. Water is viewed symbolically as an important thing in people’s lives. When rain came, the people of the village were all happy and joyful and they enjoyed the rain. “As the rain began to fall more soberly and in smaller liquid drops, children sought for shelter, and all were happy, refreshed and thankful” (Achebe 130). Water can also symbolize refreshing. It refreshed the earth and the crops, and it also shows Okonkwo starting again in his motherland.
5. In the story, one’s motherland is viewed as a place where one seeks peace. The people of the clan view motherland less important than one’s fatherland. Because of this reason, Okonkwo was very depressed when he came to live in his motherland. Then, Uchendu talked about how one’s motherland is important, and his words made Okonkwo relax. “’A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there” (Achebe 134).
6. A generation gap appears when Uchendu talks with Obierika. In his words, we can know that the younger generations were becoming different. “’Those were good days when a man had friends in distant clans. Your generation does not know that. You stay at home, afraid of your next-door neighbor. Even a man’s motherland is strange to him nowadays’” (Achebe 137).
7. The people who joined the missionaries were called efulefu, which meant worthless and empty men. “They were mostly the kind of people that were called efulefu, worthless, empty men. The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle” (Achebe 143).
Lisa He A1
ReplyDeleteThe first paragraph can be a foreshadow of what will happen later in the chapter because it says “Go-di-di-go-go-di-go. Di-go-go-di-go” (Achebe 120). This is the sound made by a drum and there is also a cannon going off at intervals. Therefore, it can be predicted that there is news for the village because they are making noise to attract the villagers’ attention. Also, it can be predicted that the news will be bad.
I think Okonkwo is more of an individual than Obierka because he is always trying to work things out by himself without relying on others. He works hard to become a lord of the clan. Obierka is not an individual man because he does what everyone is doing because they believe that it was “the justice of the earth goddess” (Achebe 125).
Okonkwo’s exile is caused by his unintentional act of killing the sixteen-year-old boy of the man’s funeral they were at. His gun had exploded and a bit of iron shot out and killed the boy. Even unintentional, he cannot return to his clan until seven years later. “Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan after seven years” (Achebe 124).
Rain, in Chapter 14, symbolises the beginning of the farming season. Crops cannot grow without water so for farmers, rain is a positive sign. Rain gives them food and hope because it relieves the dryness of when it wasn’t raining. “At last the rain came. It was sudden and tremendous. Or two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on earth. All the grass had long been scorched brown, and the sands felt like live coals to the feet” (Achebe 130).
In Chapter 14, motherland is viewed as a place you go to when you are sad or sorrowful and want to be comforted. Motherland is a place where “he finds refuge” (Achebe 134). Okonkwo’s motherland is important to him because it was the only place he could go when he was banished from his village. He sought for refuge in his motherland.
The generation gap can be seen when Uchendu talks to Obierka about how in his days, they used to travel a lot and had friends from different clans. “Those were good days when a man had friends in distant clans. Your generation does not know that. You stay at home, afraid of your next-door neighbour. Even a man’s motherland is strange to him nowadays” (Achebe 137). However, nowadays, people are more cautious and are scared to make friends with people in other clans.
The people persuaded where the efulefu. They were considered worthless and empty. However, Nwoye was also persuaded by the missionaries and caused a fight between him and his father. He was captivated by this new religion and felt like the hymn answered a question about Ikemefuna and the twins crying in the bush. “He did not understand it. It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul-the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed” (Achebe 147).
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ReplyDelete1. I slightly anticipated that something important could happen in this chapter. “One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument. Diim! Diim! Diim!” (Achebe 120).
ReplyDelete2. I say Okonkwo. Okonkwo has shown his character in this book. Especially, in middle of the book, he acts both good and bad. For instance, he mistakenly shot an old man, therefore he had to be exiled. I felt that Okonkwo is a troublesome person. “Violent deaths were frequent, but nothing like this had ever happened” (Achebe 124).
3. During the funeral of Ezeudu, Okonkwo’s gun accidentally goes off and killed son of Ezeudu. As a result, Okonkwo had to atone by spending seven years in Mbanta. “Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky. And then from the center of the delirious fury came a cry of agony and shouts of horror” (Achebe 124).
4. The water, rain symbolizes the African agriculture. The rain contributes bountiful of crops and gives people hope. “At last rain came. It was sudden and tremendous” (Achebe 130).
5. Uchendu advised Okonkwo that a man should belong to the fatherland. Because Okonkwo stayed with his fatherland when things went great, but he seek refuge in his motherland when life isn’t good. “Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme” (Achebe 134).
6. I saw a generation gap where Uchendu talks about his feeling towards younger people to Obierika. “I am an old man and I like to talk. That is all I am good for now. He got up painfully, went into an inner room and came back with a kola nut” (Achebe 137).
7. Christian missionaries, called efulefu wanted to make converts of the African native people. “The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle” (Achebe 143).
I posted this yesterday but someone told me it hadn't shown up. so I'm guessing the website didn't recognize it or something.
ReplyDeletehere is what I wrote:
Yes, the opening paragraph can be viewed as a foreshadow of what will occur later in the chapter. This is because the cannons made a “Diim! Diim! Diim!” (Achebe 120) sound which could represent the blast of Okonkwo’s gun that happened in the future.
I personally think that Okonkwo, is more of an individual than Obierika. I believe this because he was more of a independent and leader-like character. “Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after 7 years” (Achebe 134). I believe this quote represented how much pride he had, and being told this, kind of hurt his ego, and did, in the past, all his best to provide for both his wives and his children.
The reason behind Okonkwo’s exile was the fact that he was an accidental murderer. He had been at the funeral of Ezeudu when his gun had exploded and debris of iron shot out, one of it piercing Ezeudu’s sixteen year old son. This was a major crime that he had comitted, therefor he had to stay away from the clan for 7 years. "Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart"(Achebe 124).
Water, in this chapter is portrayed in a positive manner. This is true because water, was a sign of healthy crops to come and harvesting. People would rejoice at the idea of rain because it was an important element in their lives. “At last the rain came. It was sudden and tremendous” (Achebe 130).
One’s motherland is considered to be a place for sympathy and reassurance. It was considered shameful to go back to your motherland due it it having a feminine image and an overall feminine feeling to it. This meant that going back to your motherland was usually out of sorrow and it was one’s last choice. “...If you allow sorrow to weigh you down and kill you, they will all die in exile” (Achebe 134).
The generation gap can be seen in Chapter 15 when Uchendu gives some wise tips to Obierika. While Obierika was making a big deal out of these “white men”, Uchendu, being older and wiser, said that no one stumbles across a clan for no reason. "We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas, but no one thought the stories were true” (Achebe 122).
7. The people who were “brainwashed” by the missionary were called efulefu, which meant empty and worthless. This meant that they had not standing or title within the clan, therefor people did not care too much about them. Among these converted people was Nwoye. He was captivated by this new and unfamiliar religion and he “joined” after a fight with his father. “ The imagery of an efulefu in the language of the clan was a man who sold his machete and wore the sheath to battle” (Achebe 143).