For Friday, you should be up to Chapter 5 in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. I’m pushing the due date back to Wednesday, September 24th. Please bring in enough copies of your essay draft to give your peer reviewers, as well as me.
By Wednesday, you should also have read up to Chapter 10 in Things Fall Apart and be prepared to discuss the book in class. There is no blog response due next week, but I do expect you to be prepared for class discussion of the book.
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY:
For those who go to any of the Fall for the Book festival events next week and write a thoughtful response to the reading or event (here on blog), I’ll give extra credit to you (equal to one blog response). Most notably, the next author we are reading, Chinua Achebe, will be honored on Monday, September 22nd between 10-11 a.m. at the Johnson Center Cinema; he will also be reading from his book, Things Fall Apart, which we are currently reading on Monday, September 22nd at 7:30 p.m. The details of this reading/event are below:
5 responses so far ↓
marycreed // September 23, 2008 at 3:20 pm |
Last night I attended a book reading by Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart. He read a couple of his poems as well as a passage from his famed novel. One of the poems he read titled “The explorer” he was reluctant to read, because he had only ever read aloud that poem once before and shortly after he had an accident which resulted in the paralysis of his legs. I found it very intrested when he explained that even after all these year of having his book critically analyzed, he himself is still finding new meaing in his own text.
berniechung // September 23, 2008 at 4:34 pm |
An Evening with Chinua Achebe and a Hundred Other People
At 6pm on Monday evening, I was weighing whether to go to my International Economics class or the Presentation of the Mason Award to Chinua Achebe. It reminded me of a decision I had to make in Texas a little over a month ago. I was torn whether to go back to the office and complete my project for the night or visit Galveston. In retrospect, I feel I made the right decision to hang out at Galveston before the recent tragedy that befell the island. Anyways, an hour later I headed out toward the Center for the Arts with my Things Fall Apart paperback in hand and not knowing what awaited me. I had never been to such an event with such a prestigious guest.
I still do not know what to feel, but I did walk away with a few impressions. The first and most powerful impression came early when Mr. Achebe spoke of the long evening ahead and told the audience that he “was just a part of it.” It did not strike me to weigh whether this was humility or something he always said before reading, but a few moments later the gravity of his opening statement grasped me. As he read his poems and spoke in between readings, I realized how much Mr. Achebe is a part of history and African literature. I admit that I wiki’d him briefly knew little about him before that quick whisk in his biography and as the concept of his history and the root of his writing sank in I felt the power of what he was saying. If Okonkwo was a man that achieved much because he was driven by fear, then Mr. Achebe has accomplished much because he is driven by the opposite of fear. I do not quite know what the opposite of fear is and I do not believe it is something as simple as courage, daring, or the absence of fear. However it does make for flavorful, textured thought.
Another great moment came when Mr. Achebe said that texts often “grow and change” after they are written. Even for him he finds that certain passages in Things Fall Apart grow and take on new meanings as he reads them half a century after his work has been published. It encourages me to bring my own set of experiences and my own interpretations to the table and to open myself to seeing the text from someone else’s point of view. I believe this was the case for the evening as well. So many different people were gathered in the concert hall and within such a small sample of the local population there was a lot of diversity. Even the people asking questions on the lower mezzanine were diverse from their ethnicity to their looks to the root of their questions. Perhaps that is what appeals so much about Mr. Achebe’s works. I feel that he is honestly seeking to put something out there and the root of his writing is his honest self. Mr. Achebe seems like he does not strive to be someone else or to use another’s voice. He has the good fortune of having a powerful, stylized, poignant voice to clearly articulate his passions and the world around him.
I am not sure what kind of impression or value I was supposed to walk away with from the evening. However, I can say that it was surely worth missing one lecture on comparative advantage and there will be some quiet moments over the next few weeks in which to unravel this evening with Chinua Achebe.
parkhannah // September 23, 2008 at 11:45 pm |
I was almost unable to make it to this book reading event on Monday evening. Good thing that I remembered it about 30 mins before it started. I didn’t expect that many people to be there, so I took my time and got there exactly at 7:30 pm. Well, I was wrong. There were at least couple hundreds of people waiting for Chinua Achebe’s reading and speech.
A group called A night eternity” (?) from Howard University came out and spoke in Egbo, kept saying somthing like Egbo Quilm, (?) which I have couldn’t understand.
Few moments later, Chinua Achebe came out, awarded, and started to read his poems.
He also mentioned one of the poem from a very good friend of his, also known as a poet, who was killed during Nigeria war.
After that, he read passages from from the book where his uncle worries about Okonkwo for his sorrow.
Almost at the end, couple of people asked questions and one of them asked Chinua Achebe what made him to write this book and his response was “I was possessed, had great desire to write this story.”
I thought to myself and wondered how would I feel to be possessed, to have this great desire to do something, show the world of my passion…
After this book reading event, I went straight to practice room, practiced, practiced, and practiced.
(Right after this event, Chinua Achebe signed my book with his initial, CA.)
marycreed // September 27, 2008 at 1:59 pm |
The night of the presentation of the mason award to Chinua Achebe was full of excitment. I had never attended any sort of book reading before, nevermind such a famed and perstegious author as Chinua Achebe. My friend and I had left our dorms early to get the best seats possible, but, as freshman will, we got hopelessly lost. Fortunately we were able to find our way by following the rythmic sound of the beating drums that were aligned around the center. When we arrived we were ushered hastily to a seat far back where I had to strain my neck to catch a glimpse of the stage. It was extremely difficult to hear very much of what was said that night, not to mention the guy sitting behind me had slumped over half way through and was snoring like a whale. The part of the ceremony I heard most clearly was the woman introducing Achebe, she told us she had the absurd to speak of his accomplishments in only five to eight minutes, she did quite well though; she talked very fast. I was also able to hear the mayor of fairfax butcher Achebe’s name, which was admittedly a little amusing. When Chinua Achebe finally began I was surprised at his humility. Before beginninig he explained what he would be reading and said “I hope this will be acceptable for you.” One of the passages he read from in Things Fall Apart, was about him being exiled to his motherland, and how the motherland is where you are because it is to your mother that you go in times of need of comfort and support. Overall the event was definetely worth attending in spite of a few circumstances, and now I feel I have a better appreciation for Chinua Achebe and all of his work.
thang08 // September 28, 2008 at 10:31 am |
Last Monday, I had appointment at 1 pm in the campus, and decided to wait the fall book festival. At 7 pm, I had left our school library, and headed to concert hall. I thought that the hall was in the Fine Art Building. However, it is in the Center of Art building which I pass every day. When I approached the Center of Art building, some people were playing drums in front of that building. I did not see this kind of play on the other days, and finally entered into the building. While I was looking for the concert hall, one of our classmates, Mr. Chung came out from the other side. After that we asked one of the security guards the place where celebrates the event.
I was interested when the mayor of Fairfax and the other lady’s introduction that Things Fall Apart has been translated into 50 different languages and a thousand of articles discusses about the book. Then, even many doctorate students have used the book for their academic studies. One of the passages he read from Things Fall Apart was about OKonkwo was exiled to his motherland, and how his uncle and cousins comfort and support to stable there. Today, I finished reading the book, and I realize how the drums and several Howard students’ presentation on the festival day were related to the novel.
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