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Lesson 5

We will study Chapters 16 and 17, looking closely at the attitudes of the missionaries and the Igbo tribe as they interact with each other.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of the novel?

  • Can I use language and strategies to accomplish my intended purpose in communicating?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, Penguin Random House, 1994
  • Digital Access
    • “Igbo Culture and History,” Don Ohadike, 1994

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write

We will discuss the use of appositives and how to incorporate them into our sentences.

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that provides additional information about the subject of a sentence. See the following example:

Okonkwo, a fierce warrior and wrestler, is unable to be a kind father or husband.

The underlined section of this sentence is an appositive, as it provides additional information about Okonkwo. Appositives are a simple way to add complexity and detail to a sentence.

Try adding an appositive to the following sentence from the novel:

Uchendu, _____, pulled gently at his gray beard and gnashed his teeth.

In your Learning Log, write four sentences using appositives to describe four different characters from Things Fall Apart.

Activity 2: Read

We will examine the role of missionaries in colonized nigeria.

Read pages xli-xliv from “The Missionary Factor” and respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. What was the role of Christian missionaries in colonized Nigeria? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.

  2. What do you think the role of missionaries will be in Things Fall Apart?

Activity 3: Read

We will examine the differences in how Okonkwo and Nwoye experience the missionaries.

Step 1

Use the Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool to do the following:

  1. Write down the following guiding question in the space provided at the top: How do the missionaries impact Okonkwo, his community, and his culture?

  2. As you read the text, pay attention to details that relate to the guiding question. Depending on how long the section of text is, you might find several examples. Use the Attend to Details row to write down details that strongly relate to the guiding question. This will help you narrow down the most relevant details related to the question. Do not forget to include page numbers. You might have to come back later to get exact quotes or to provide more clarity.

  3. In the Analyze the Details row, write down your thinking. Doing so will help to ensure there is a clear connection among the details you identified, your analysis, and the guiding question.

  4. In the third row, Explain Connections, write down your thinking regarding how the details connect to each other. Do the facts and information, taken together, lead to a conclusion? Do they help you analyze a character? Are they indicators of an author’s perspective that you intend to support or refute?

  5. In the final row, form and express a claim. Look back over the tool and consider the guiding question, the details, and how they connect to each other. The conclusion you have drawn based on your analysis of the details in the previous rows should become your claim. Communicate that claim in a clear and direct sentence.

Step 2

Once you have generated an evidence-based claim (or examined an existing claim), use the tool to explain to others how you derived the claim and to provide support for your argument. To do this, begin at the bottom of the tool and work upward: present the claim, explain the analysis and evidence that led to it, and cite the key details that support it.

Step 3

Review and revise your claim, asking yourself the following questions:

  1. Is the claim clearly stated?

  2. Does the claim communicate your opinion or conclusion about your character?

  3. Is the claim based on evidence that you gathered from the text?

  4. Is the claim supported by evidence?

If you answered "no" to any of the questions, revise your claim.

Activity 4: Discuss – Read

We will discuss Okonkwo’s and Nwoye’s experiences with the missionaries.

With a small group, revisit pages xli-xliv of “The Missionary Factor.” Discuss the following question:

  1. Considering what you read in “The Missionary Factor,” explain the different perspectives Okonkwo and Nwoye hold regarding the missionaries. Cite evidence from both texts to support your answer.

Activity 5: Read

Read chapters 18–19 for homework.

Read Chapters 18-19 and respond to the following questions from the Section 2 Question Set to focus your understanding:

Chapter 18:

  1. Why do you think the missionaries arrive before the government at Mbanta? According to the Europeans, what is the purpose of the government? What other reasons might there be for the government’s presence in Mbanta?

  2. Who are the osu? How does their appearance create a conflict in the church? How is it resolved?

  3. How is the killing of the sacred python resolved?

Chapter 19:

  1. How does Okonkwo thank his mother’s relatives before he returns to Umuofia?

Write down new or interesting words from Chapters 18 and 19 in your Vocabulary Journal. Write down at least two sentences from Chapters 18 and 19 in your Mentor Sentence Journal.