I. In “An Image of Africa,” Chinua Achebe vilifies Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as “bloody racist,” giving quite a few convincing examples of the racism in the novella. Write a response to Achebe. You might suggest ways that Heart of Darkness might be read productively in a combination with other texts, the kind of content that Conrad’s novella contains that lies outside of any characterizations as racist, or where you feel Achebe may have had a blind spot. You may also agree with Achebe, and level further evidence of the problematic nature of reading such a novel. Let your own experience as a reader of Conrad guide your response to Achebe’s essay.

II. Write an essay about Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart with a focus on the character of Ikemefuna. This character is illustrative of some of the advanced character of the tribe as well as some of it’s mad logic as far as the oracle goes. He has a profound affect on the character of Nwoye, and at least temporarily, on Okonkwo. His brief stay among Okonkwo’s people showed him to be a person whose character might achieve the elusive balance that many other characters lack. Focusing on one or two attributes or issues surrounding Ikemefuna, discuss the ways that Achebve uses him as a character to illuminate central concerns in the novel.

III. Okonkwo is one of the more memorable figures in modern literature. In many ways this is not because he typifies the attributes of a man of Umuofia, but because he is different from so many of his tribesmen. In fact, there are ways where his makeup seems akin to a typical European hero: he is driven by the father/son conflict, is a victim of his pride (see definition of Classical Greek hamartia), and often acts outside of the consensus of his people. Write an essay that examines Okonkwo in the context of some of these issues. It may be useful to include some of the ways his own fellows view his actions throughout the novel. In your presentation of Okonkwo, propose what it is that Achebe is trying to achieve through this character.

IV. The central concern of Chinua Achebe in his novel Things Fall Apart is that of balance, or moderation. “Let the kite perch, and let the eagle perch too” is the proverb that reflects balance. There is also an acknowledgement of cultural relativism: “”we say he is foolish because he does not know our ways, and perhaps her says we are foolish because we do not know his.” Despite recognition of the need for balance and of differences, there is a fatal clash of cultures when religious practices come up against each other.
Write an essay that discusses the possibilities for a coexistence of the Igbo tribal practices and the new culture of Christianity. Is the eventual “falling apart” of the original culture inevitable when the new ways arise within the clans? What aspects of the belief systems make this inevitable? If, on the other hand, you feel that it might have been possible for both the kite and eagle to perch, so to speak, how might that have come to be? What kinds of events or ways of thinking (that might have been avoided) led to the falling apart of things?

V. Iyaloja is used as a proper name in Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman. In the Yoruba culture, it is also a name for the “mother of the marketplace,” a matriarchal figure of great importance. Write an essay about Woyinka’s use of women in the play, with Iyaloja as the focus of the essay. You may want to show how Iyaloja represents aspects of Yoruba culture, how she compares with other women in the play (Jane Plilkings, Elesin’s young wife, the market women), or focus on the interactions between Elesin and Iyaloja.