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You should set up pages of your RRJ notebook to include the following

SUMMARY: In this box, write 4-5 complete sentences summarizing the chapter. Write the most important events or ideas.

QUOTATION: In this box,

1. Copy a sentence from the book that you think is important because it reveals something important about a character’s personality. Use proper MLA citation for the quote.

2. Write 2-3 complete sentences explaining why the sentence you chose is important and what it means.

QUESTIONS: In this box, write TWO questions that you have about This chapter. Yes, you must think of two.

LITERARY TERMS: In this box, you must copy one examples of each of the literary devices listed with the chapter questions. For example, notice that for chapter 1 you need to show an example of 1 simile, 1 proverb, and 2 foreshadowing. Use proper MLA citation for each quote.

VOCABULARY: In this box, you must write the words that are listed with the chapter questions. Next to each word, write a short definition (that fits the context of the word’s usage in this chapter) and the sentence in which it appears. For example, the vocabulary words for Chapter 1 are harmattan, kite, stammer, and improvident.

ENTRY #: _______ CHAPTER #: ___

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Planning Ahead: Things Fall Apart

Comprehension Questions and Reader Response Guide

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following questions on lined paper in complete sentences. Turn in questions on the date assigned (see calendar). Use the Reader Response Guide sections to complete Reader Response pages in your Notebook each week. Chapter 1:

1. List 10 things you learn about Okonkwo in Chapter 1. 2. Who is Unoka? How is he different from Okonkwo? 3. Explain what people do with the kola. Why do you think it is important to

their culture? 4. How does Okonkwo feel about his father? Why?

Chapter 2:

5. What is the name of the village? 6. Chinua Achebe uses constant details to let the reader know what village

life was like for the Ibo. Words like “bamboo,” “town crier,” “ogene” help the reader be part of the story world. Make a list of at least 10 words or phrases from Chapter 2 that help create a picture of life there.

7. Why is a meeting called in the village? What two choices do they have? What do they decide?

8. Describe Okonkwo’s home and family in a paragraph. Chapter 3:

9. Who is Agbala? Why and how would a person visit Agbala?

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—harmattan, kite, stammer, improvident Literary Terms—1 simile, 1 proverb, 1 foreshadowing

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—sinister, perpetual, agbala, obi Literary Terms—1 proverb, 1 foreshadowing

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—dispute, sow, ill-fated Literary Terms—1 simile, 1 proverb, 1 personification

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10. When Okonkwo goes to visit Nwakibie, he is careful to show his respect. Write a list of five things that happen during this visit that show respect for elders.

11. What does Okonkwo ask Nwakibie? 12. Describe the harvest season that year.

Chapter 4:

13. How is Ikemefuna treated by Okonkwo and his family? 14. Explain two things that Okonkwo does that he show he is a quick-

tempered man. 15. Explain one thing that Okonkwo does that show he has respect for the

beliefs in his culture. Chapter 5:

16. Explain what happens during the Feast of the New Yam and why it is important.

17. Who is Ekwefi? How did she and Okonkwo end up together? 18. Who is Ezinma? Describe her relationship with Okonkwo. 19. List three things that are mentioned in this chapter that let us know how

women are treated in Ibo society.

Chapter 6:

20. Describe two highlights of the wrestling matches. 21. Who is Chielo? 22. Ekwefi says that she hopes her daughter Ezinma will “stay.” What does

she mean?

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—brusqueness, contradicted, benevolent, provoked Literary Terms—1 imagery, 1 proverb, 1 personification

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—foo-foo Literary Terms—1 simile, 1 foreshadowing

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—consulting, intoxicating, miscalculation Literary Terms—1 simile, 1 personification, 1 metaphor

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Chapter 7:

23. In your own words, summarize the story of the Sky and Vulture that Nwoye’s mother told him.

24. Okonkwo is pleased Nwoye is becoming a man. Explain what it means tob e a man in his culture. Give at least two specific examples from the book.

25. Find two examples of foreshadowing before Ikemefuna’s death. 26. Describe what happens the day Ikemefuna dies and how Okonkwo is

involved. Chapter 8:

27. What do Okonkwo and Obierika disagree about? 28. Explain two examples of things Okonkwo says that show his views about

how men should behave and show his fear of seeming unmanly. 29. Explain how the men decide on Akueke’s brideprice. Does the bride or

the groom’s family pay the brideprice? What does this tell you about how women are viewed in Ibo society?

Chapter 9:

30. Explain what an ogbanje child is. Describe two techniques that people try to stop an ogbanje child from returning.

31. What is Ezinma’s iyi-uwa? Why is it important to find? Chapter 10:

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—prosperous, feigned, copiously Literary Terms—1 simile, 1 imagery, 1 foreshadowing

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—valor, jest, suitor, iigida Literary Terms—1 simile, 2 proverb

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—audacity, delicacies Literary Terms—2 similes, 1 metaphor

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—emerge, trifle Literary Terms—1 simile, 1 imagery

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32. Explain what the egwugwu are. What dispute are the egwugwu asked to settle? Explain both sides.

33. What two phrases are repeated in this ceremony that show this is an old custom where everyone knows what is supposed to be said.

Chapter 11:

34. Briefly summarize the story that explains why the tortoise’s shell is not smooth.

35. Who is Chielo? Why does she visit Okonkwo’s compound? 36. Describe Ekwefi’s feelings and thoughts during the nighttime journey. 37. Based on the end of the chapter, what do you think Okonkwo was

thinking and feeling throughout the night? How is this unlike him? Chapter 12:

38. What feast/ceremony is happening? Describe how this occasion is celebrated.

39. During the feast, a cow runs loose. The people react in a way that shows there are rules or habits that they live by. What rule do they following during and after the cow is caught? Who makes sure these rules are followed?

40. For each action, write whether it is the responsibility of the BRIDE’s FAMILY the GROOM’s FAMILY.

a. Pays the bride price b. Brings palm wine to the uri c. Cooks for the whole village at the uri feast d. Brings a goat for the feast e. Presents kola nuts to in-laws

41. At this point in the book, what beliefs or ideas do you think are important to the Ibo people? Explain in a paragraph.

Chapter 13:

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—folk story, cunning, faine orator Literary Terms—1 simile, 1 imagery, 1 synesthesia

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—uri, closefisted, prominent Literary Terms—1 simile, 1 hyperbole, 1 imagery

Reader Response Guide: Vocab—lamentation, tumult, subside, inadvertent Literary Terms—2 similes, 1 proverb, 1 personification

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42. The egwugwu visit the clan on two types of occasions. What are these? 43. Explain the unexpected tragedy that happens during the burial ceremony.

What must Okonkwo do? 44. Explain two internal conflicts that Okonkwo is experiencing at the end of

this chapter.

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Cowrie Shells The Ancient Currency of Africa

Cowrie shells were the most popular currency within Africa. Pictures of cowrie shells adorned cave walls. The Egyptians considered them to be magical agents and also used them as currency in foreign exchange transactions. Archaeologists have excavated millions of them in the tombs of the Pharaohs. In the thirteenth century, cowrie shells were brought to Africa from the Maldives in the Indian Ocean by Arab traders. They first came to Egypt, then across the Sahara to the western Sudan region. Later, they were brought in by Dutch and English traders through the Guinea Coast ports of West Africa. The Europeans were astonished that the Africans preferred cowrie shells to gold coin and in places where gold was the international unit of foreign exchange, cowrie shells were used to purchase small necessities. Cowries were used in many other ways. One use was as special-purpose currency: bride wealth, payments for fines, divination ("the money of Ifa"), funerals, and initiation into secret societies. Another was as decoration: on clothing, drums, divining chains, headdresses, ritual masks and furniture, and in games and in computation.

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Igbo Information

The Igbo are a Nigerian ethnic group, formerly referred to at the “Ibo.” The protagonist in Things Fall Apart is a member of this ethnic

group.

Location: Southeastern Nigeria

Population: 8 million

Language: Igbo (Kwa)

Neighboring Peoples: Ibibio, Ijo, Ekoi, Igala, Idoma, Nupe

Types of Art:

Due to the diversity of the Igbo people, it is impossible to generalize about a pure Igbo art style, which has characteristically been representative of numerous geographical regions. It could be said, though, that most Igbo do carve and use masks, but the function of these masks vary from village to village. They are famous for Mbari architecture.

History:

It is believed that the Igbo originated in an area about 100 miles north of their current location at the confluence of the Niger and Benue Rivers. They share linguistic ties with their neighbors the Bini, Igala, Yoruba, and Idoma, with the split between them probably occurring between five and six thousand years ago. The first Igbo in the region may have moved onto the Awka-Orlu plateau between four and five thousand years ago, before the emergence of sedentary agricultural practices. As this early group expanded, so too did the Igbo kingdom. The earliest surviving Igbo art forms are from the 10th century (Igbo Ukwu), and the fine quality of those copper alloy castings suggest that Igbo society had already achieved a level of technology rivaling contemporary Europeans.

Economy:

The majority of Igbo are farmers. Their staple crop is yam, and its harvesting is a time for great celebration. They are able to produce yam efficiently enough to export it to their neighbors. With the assistance of migrant labor, they also harvest the fruit of the palm tree, which is processed into palm oil, and exported to Europe in large quantities, making it a fairly profitable cash crop.

Political Systems:

The Igbo are a politically fragmented group, with numerous divisions resulting from geographic differences. There are also various subgroups delineated in accordance with clan, lineage, and village affiliations. They have no centralized chieftaincy, hereditary aristocracy, or kingship customs, as can be found among their neighbors. Instead, the responsibility of leadership has traditionally been left to the village councils, which include the heads of lineages, elders, titled men, and men who have established themselves economically within the community. It is possible for an Igbo man, through personal success, to become the nominal leader of the council.

Religion:

As a result of regional and political fragmentation, which is mirrored in the several distinct languages traditionally spoken by the hundreds of different village groups, it would be reductionist to attempt to illustrate the traditional religious practices of the Igbo as a whole. Before the influence of Europeans and Christian missions, however, most Igbo practiced some form of ancestor worship, which held that in order to gain success in this world, one must appease of the spirits of the deceased. This might be accomplished in any number of ways. One of the primary ways of showing respect for the dead was through participation in the secret men's society, Mmo, which is the name used only in the northern part of Igbo land. In other parts, similar societies exist under different names. The second level of initiates was responsible for carrying out the funeral ceremonies for the deceased and inducting the departed spirits into the Ebe Mmo, so that they would no longer cause mischief in the village.

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A Brief History of Nigeria Geography

Nigeria, one-third larger than Texas and the most populous country in Africa, is situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Its neighbors are Benin, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. The lower course of the Niger River flows south through the western part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea. Swamps and mangrove forests border the southern coast; inland are hardwood forests.

Government

Multiparty government transitioning from military to civilian rule.

History

The first inhabitants of what is now Nigeria were thought to have been the Nok people (500 B.C.–c. A.D. 200). The Kanuri, Hausa, and Fulani peoples subsequently migrated there. Islam was introduced in the 13th century, and the empire of Kanem controlled the area from the end of the 11th century to the 14th.

The Fulani Empire ruled the region from the beginning of the 19th century until the British annexed Lagos in 1851 and seized control of the rest of the region by 1886. It formally became the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. During World War I, native troops of the West African frontier force joined with French forces to defeat the German garrison in the Cameroons.

On Oct. 1, 1960, Nigeria gained independence, becoming a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and joining the United Nations. Organized as a loose federation of self-governing states, the independent nation faced the overwhelming task of unifying a country with 250 ethnic and linguistic groups.

Rioting broke out in 1966, and military leaders, primarily of Ibo ethnicity, seized control. In July, a second military coup put Col. Yakubu Gowon in power, a choice unacceptable to the Ibos. Also in that year, the Muslim Hausas in the north massacred the predominantly Christian Ibos in the east, many of whom had been driven from the north. Thousands of Ibos took refuge in the eastern region, which declared its independence as the Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967. Civil war broke out. In Jan. 1970, after 31 months of civil war, Biafra surrendered to the federal government.

Gowon's nine-year rule was ended in 1975 by a bloodless coup that made Army Brig. Muritala Rufai Mohammed the new chief of state. The return of civilian leadership was established with the election of Alhaji Shehu Shagari as president in 1979. An oil boom in the 1970s buoyed the economy and by the 1980s Nigeria was considered an exemplar of African democracy and economic well-being.

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The military again seized power in 1984, only to be followed by another military coup the following year. Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida announced that the country would be returned to civilian rule, but after the presidential election of June 12, 1993, he voided the results. Nevertheless, Babangida resigned as president in August. In November the military, headed by defense minister Sani Abacha, seized power again.

Corruption and notorious governmental inefficiency as well as a harshly repressive military regime characterized Abacha's reign over this oil-rich country, turning it into an international pariah. A UN fact-finding mission in 1996 reported that Nigeria's “problems of human rights are terrible and the political problems are terrifying.” During the 1970s, Nigeria had the 33rd highest per-capita income in the world, but by 1997 it had dropped to the 13th poorest. The hanging of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995 because he protested against the government was condemned around the world.

As leader of the multination peacekeeping force ECOMOG, Nigeria established itself as West Africa's superpower, intervening militarily in the civil wars of Liberia and Sierra Leone. But Nigeria's costly war efforts were unpopular with its own people, who felt Nigeria's limited economic resources were being unnecessarily drained.

Abacha died of a heart attack in 1998 and was succeeded by another military ruler, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, who pledged to step aside for an elected leader by May 1999. The suspicious death of opposition leader Mashood Abiola, who had been imprisoned by the military ever since he legally won the 1993 presidential election, was a crushing blow to democratic proponents. In Feb. 1999, free presidential elections led to an overwhelming victory for Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, a former member of the military elite who was imprisoned for three years for criticizing the military rule. Obasanjo's commitment to democracy, his anticorruption drives, and his desire to recover billions allegedly stolen by the family and cronies of Abacha initially gained him high praise from the populace as well as the international community. But within two years, the hope of reform seemed doomed as economic mismanagement and rampant corruption persisted. Obasanjo's priorities in 2001 were symbolized by his plans to build a $330–million national soccer stadium, an extravagance that exceeded the combined budget for both health and education. In April 2003, he was reelected.

Nigeria's stability has been repeatedly threatened by fighting between fundamentalist Muslims and Christians over the spread of Islamic law (sharia) across the heavily Muslim north. One-third of Nigeria's 36 states is ruled by sharia law. More than 10,000 people have died in religious clashes since military rule ended in 1999.

In 2003, after religious and political leaders in the Kano region banned polio immunization—contending that it sterilized girls and spread HIV—an outbreak of polio spread through Nigeria, entering neighboring countries the following year. The Kano region lifted its ten-month ban against vaccination in July 2004. On Aug. 24, there were 602 polio cases worldwide, 79% of which were in Nigeria.

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Since 2004, an insurgency has broken out in the Niger delta, Nigeria's oil-producing region. The desperately impoverished local residents of the delta have seen little benefit from Nigeria's vast oil riches, and rebel groups are fighting for a more equal distribution of the wealth as well as greater regional autonomy. Violence by rebel groups has disrupted oil production and reduced output by about 20%. Nigeria is one of the world's largest oil producers and supplies the U.S. with one-fifth of its oil.

In Aug. 2006 Nigeria handed over the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, in compliance with a 2002 World Court ruling.

April 2007 national elections—the country’s first transition from one democratically elected president to another—were marred by widespread allegations of fraud, ballot stuffing, violence, and chaos. Just days before the election, the Supreme Court ruled that the election commission’s decision to remove Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a leading candidate and a bitter rival of President Olusegun Obsanjo, from the ballot was illegal. Ballots were reprinted, but they only showed party symbols rather than the names of candidates. Umaru Yar’Adua, the candidate of the governing party, won the election in a landslide, taking more than 24.6 million votes. Second-place candidate Muhammadu Buhari tallied only about 6 million votes. International observers called the vote flawed an illegitimate. The chief observer for the European Union said the results “cannot be considered to have been credible.” Many expected a prolonged legal battle to determine the next step in the process.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11385436 22 September 2010 Last updated at 06:38 ET

Celebrating Nigeria's yummy yams By Fidelis Mbah BBC News, southern Nigeria

For Nigerians currently feasting on and celebrating the yam harvest with

carnival-like festivities, the starchy tuber is more than a food staple.

Traditional fertility and marriage ceremonies are not carried out in the south-east of

Nigeria unless a big unwieldy yam - which can weigh up to 70kg (150lb) - is

presented.

This is why the Igbo people refer to yam as "the king of crops" and August and

September are a time for traditional dances, drumming, masquerades and dressing

up in village squares.

"From my great grandfathers, yam has always been celebrated because it is very

important to us," said Mary Eze at a new yam festival in the village of Ukpo Dunukofia

in Anambra State.

"We can pound yam, we can boil the yam and when we eat we have a lot of energy,"

she added, boasting of its versatility.

Yams are a primary agricultural commodity across much of West and Central Africa

where tubers are planted between February and April and harvested 180 to 270 days

later.

Annual yam festivals are also observed at this time in other African countries as the

tubers of the early maturing varieties are harvested and delivered to markets.

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In Ivory Coast, for example, funerals and burials are delayed in some communities

until the local yam festival has been observed to underscore the importance attached

to the crop. Pest pressure

But there are fears for such traditions as the cultivation of the crop, consumed by 60

million people on a daily basis in Africa alone, is under threat.

"Instead of growing yams, Igbos have embraced trading," says Professor Felix

Nweke, a development economist.

"They are now only celebrating yams and not growing it."

Yam cultivation began 11,000 years ago and the tubers now grow on vines in Africa,

the Americas, the Caribbean, South Pacific and Asia.

But farmers in Africa's "yam belt" - comprising of Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast,

Central Africa, Cameroon and Togo - produce more than 94% of the world's yams.

And Nigeria alone accounts for 71% of the world's total production.

Though driving through the country's southern and middle belt regions, one would

never know there was a problem.

Fields look green and fertile and seem to promise a good yam harvest.

Yet experts say yam production is decreasing in some traditional producing areas

because of declining soil fertility and increasing pest pressure.

"Yam has come under serious threat from pests and is in competition with other less

nutritious crops like cassava," says Robert Asiedu, research director at International

Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in the Nigerian city of Ibadan. Yam bank

Another challenge facing yam production is the high cost of labour and there appears

not to be enough capital available to farmers for increasing their production.

Most small-scale farmers in Nigeria are not able to access loans because of a lack of

security or track record.

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This is the fate of farmers at Isu-Awa community in Awgu, Enugu State, who are no

longer able meet their family needs because of declining production.

"It's so difficult to get support to plant yams," says farmer Thomas Anioji.

"I have tried several times to get government loans. They promise to come today,

come tomorrow and they never give me any loan."

But hope is at hand for the long-term conservation of Africa's yams thanks to an

initiative by the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

Its scientists say the continent's yam varieties are in danger of being picked off by

pests or diseases and common disasters like fire or flooding.

This month the trust started an ambitious project to add 3,000 yam samples to an

international gene bank at IITA to guarantee the diversity of the crop.

"It's really akin to putting money in the bank," Cary Fowler, the trust's executive

director, said in a statement.

"All crops routinely face threats from plant pests, disease, or shifting weather

patterns, and a country's ability to breed new varieties to overcome these challenges

is directly tied to what they have in the bank, not just in terms of financial resources

but in terms of the diversity in their crop collections."

Using the collection, scientists hope to able to find disease-resistance traits with

higher yields - key to improving farmers' fortunes. BBC © 2012 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.