Things Fall Apart

1. Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe

2. Chinua Achebe Albert Chinualumgu Achebe 1930 - • Prominent Igbo (Ibo) writer, critic and essayist • Born in Ogidi, Nigeria to devout Protestant missionary parents • Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, was his first novel • His writing is a unique blend of standard English combined with traditional Igbo vocabulary, proverbs, images and speech patterns • Additional works include novels, critiques, short stories, poetry, and stories for children

3. Colonialism • Specifically, the Western (European) colonialism of Africa during late 19th and early 20th centuries Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Colonialism is a process whereby sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the intruding power, and the social structure, government, economy and culture of the colony are changed by colonists. Colonialism is a set of unequal relationships: between the colonial power and the colony; between the colonists and the indigenous population. Areas of Africa under the control, influence, or claimed control, of the colonial powers in 1914

4. Geography Maps are from 1998 and represent post-colonial Africa.

5. Political System Patriarchal collective political system. Decisions were not made by a chief or by any individual but were rather decided by a council of male elders. Religious leaders were also called upon to settle larger debates and disputes. Kola Nuts

6. “Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten” • Rich linguistic tradition • Stories traditionally told orally • Speech is highly stylized and particular, with specific rules on how to addresses a neighbor, a superior, an ancestral spirits, and the gods. One Ofu Two Ibua Three Ito Four Ino Five Ise Six Isi  Seven Isa Eight Isato Nine Itenani Ten Iri