Summary+Pages +Jerry

1) summary of main arguments 2) something surprising or interesting learned 3) agree/disagree with the ideas and then apply this to a scene or example from the book (one not mentioned by the critic). Please try to disagree at least once with a critic.

Summary 1 10/10 Summary 2 9/10 -- Applying to a scene? Summary 3 -- Late -- already took late pass on first summary These both work; you have a straightforward style when summarizing. For your next article, please be sure to read someone directly critiquing the book. Both of these are about his life, you want one that addresses something literary or thematic concerning the book.


 * Chinua Achebe and the African Novel: Chinua Achebe and Why He Wrote**

As expected by the title of the article, it concentrates on what has led Chinua Achebe to write and what has affected him to write in such way (meaning the whole anti colonialism and cultural difference conflict, identity confusionetc). Achebe himself had to fall in identity confusion in a relatively young age as his father was Christian while other families and neighbors he had were traditional Igbos. He had two cultures pressuring him. Nevertheless, due to his birth as a son of Christian, he was sent to a mission school. There, he encountered the works of Shakespeare and other notable authors. However, what seems to have shaped Chinua Achebe to a vigorous writer we know today is the work of Joseph Conrad and Joyce Cary--leading writers regarding colonialism. Achebe disliked the way Africans were portrayed in novels such as Joseph Conrad's __Heart of Darkness__. He strongly opposed both the idea of colonialism and the image of Africans in such literature. Achebe also questioned the church of their doubts about Africans. Achebe wanted to change the narrow sided view that Africans are tools to get money. Achebe writes to teach the world such problem and lead toword change.

I was so surprised by how much similarity there is between Achebe's life and the life of his main characters: Okwonko of Things Fall Apart and Obi of No Longer at Ease. I finally understood how a author's life can reflect his/her story. Every word I read in this article matched the path Okwonko took and all the conflict Achebe dealt was identical to what Obi had to go through.

I agree with the critic that Achebe's childhood of having to deal with two different religions gave him the motif of concentrating one of his main theme in his novels as cultural difference. I also agree that Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness have set a goal for Achebe: to input different ideas about colonialism and Africans through novels. However, I do feel that some parts in this article is overly dramatic. As I have also experienced big gap in culture when I went to US in a young age, I had difficult times getting used to the environment. But I don't think the pressure can't be that much of a great deal especially when the subject is at a young age. I'm pretty sure that Achebe's childhood plays some part in reflection to his career, but I think Achebe just loves to write about anti-colonialism and identity search through cultural differences.

7 pages analyzed

Chinwe Christiana Okechukwu, //Achebe the Orator: The Art of Persuasion in Chinua Achebe's Novels// (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001) 5, //Questia.//

This article concentrates on how Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness affected Chinua Achebe in a greater detail. Heart of Darkness was wrote after Conrad had his trip to Congo. Chinua and Conrad are probably greatest opponents in terms of theme and idea. Achebe criticized the excessive racism of //Heart of Darkness// in his four articles: **“An Image of Africa”** (1977), “Viewpoint” (1980), **“African Literature as Restoration of Celebration”** (1990), and “Africa's Tarnished Name” (1998). Conrad may not seem like a racist depending on the person's perspective. Chinua includes a great detail of African culture so that readers can learn the new sides of Africans. But Conrad includes a minimal amount of African cultures. Conrad uses Africans as a different medium in his novel. He uses them to further the atmosphere of colonialism. Achebe, although not directly, included some plot relevant to Heart of Darkness in his novel No Longer at Ease. Though both novels served to be anti-imperialism, Conrad's style made shifted its purpose to be a supplement to negative European stereotype towards Africans.

I already knew that Achebe and Conrad disagreed on many things (because we read some of Achebe's article above in class). I also thought Heart of Darkness was a very offensive work. However, after reading this article, I started to understand Conrad. I think it is a matter of cultural difference here as well. For Achebe, who devotes himself in changing the world's view toward Africa, he takes things (that Conrad might not take as serious) pretty seriously. Conrad probably didn't mean to directly offend Africans by excluding all the details that Achebe would put in his novel. Both of them aimed for anti-imperialism in their novels, but the difference of their culture and style separated those two.

 M. Keith Booker, and Simon Gikandi, eds., //The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia//(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003) 99, //Questia.

3 pages//