Chinua Achebe

and

Colonialism in Africa

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart, the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

- W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”

A Web Quest for Transitional ESL Class, Morris High School

INTRODUCTION

At the Berlin Conference from 1884-85, Africa was divided up by European powers. African colonialism had a purely economic and political purpose for the European countries. As a result, the African people were physically and economically mistreated and their culture and way of life was abused and disrespected by the Europeans. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, we see both the richness of Ibo culture and the impact the missionaries have on this enclosed culture. You are a member of the Ibo ethnic group in Okonkwo’s village. You will try to understand why and how the white man came to Africa in order to help your people protect their way of life.

TASK

Each student will research colonialism and Africa using the internet and library resources. After fully understanding colonialism and the impact it had on the African continent and its people, you will write and type a three-page report on colonialism in Africa. You will need to use the 6-step public policy approach and complete the worksheets for each step in blue, on your own. You should do the following in your paper:

q Define and describe the problem of colonialism.

q Gather evidence for this problem by first using the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe to show how the impact the missionaries had on not only Okonkwo’s life but the village life too

q Identify causes for this problem. Gather evidence for the problems created by colonialism via the internet and the resources listed below.

q Describe and evaluate the existing policy for this problem. Look at what policies were in place during the writing of Things Fall Apart, 1950’s.

q Develop solutions/policies for the problems for this policy, colonialism and/or the resulting problems of colonialism.

q Select best policy to address the problem of colonialism.

q Include a cover page with your name, a title for the paper, and an image related to your paper.

q Include at least 5 on-line sources where you obtained this information.

PROCESS

q Research the sources listed below in order to gather information for your three-page paper and your power point presentation.

q Complete the step public policy analysis work sheets and plan your paper.

q Organize your notes from the resources into a logical and coherent format and write an outline and then a first draft that will be reviewed with a peer and/the teacher

q Edit and rewrite your paper, meeting again with peers/teacher as needed

q Submit your report.

RESOURCES

Texts:

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Web sites:

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/welcome.html http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/intro.html PPA process

http://athena.english.vt.edu/~carlisle/Postcolonial/Colonialism_Africa.html

notes on colonialism

http://f.about.com/z/js/spr02.htm - brief history of colonialism, with links to numerous sites

http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa021601a.htm - description of Berlin Conference 1884-85, when Africa was divided up by Europeans

http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/nigeria/nigeriahistov.html - Nigerian History with links

http://65.107.211.206/post/achebe/things.html - site about Chinua Achebe

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/anglophone/achebe.html - Study Guide for Things Fall Apart

http://www.webster.edu/~barrettb/achebe.htm - Achebe talks about Africa and his writing

http://members.aol.com/afriforum/colonial.htm - colonialism and Africa’s technology

Search Engines:

http://www.altavista.com/

http://www.lycos.com/

http://www.yahoo.com/

http://search.msn.com/

https://www.google.com/

http://www.metacrawler.com/index.html

EVALUATION

You will be evaluated on your individual paper.

Guidelines for your 3-page typed report:

q Your report must be based on the 6-step public policy format

q You must type the report using font size 12 and double-space

q You must use paragraphs and follow the conventions of standard written English

q You must use the MLA style for citing references

q Your report must focus on colonialism in Africa in the late 1800’s-mid 1900’s

q You must have a cover page with your name, a title for the paper, and an image related to your paper.

q Your report must include at least 5 on-line sources where you obtained this information.

ELA Standards

E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2a: Produce a report of information.

E3a: Participate in one-to-one conference with the teacher.

E3b: Participate in group meetings. (peer review)

E3c: Prepare and deliver an individual presentation.

E4b: Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

E5a: Respond to non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive and critical processes.

E7a: Produce functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose.

This web quest focuses on the following New York State Standards:

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Standard 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction

The following rubric will be used to assess your work on both the paper and the power point presentation:

	4	3	2	1	Total
Written 3-page report	In-depth and insightful analysis of the topic and use of the PPA format - Clear and full development of ideas -Shows sophisticated control of conventions	Thorough analysis of topic and use of PPA format - Clear development of ideas - Control of conventions with occasional errors in sophisticated language	Basic understanding of topic and use of PPA format - Develops some ideas briefly -shows minimal control of conventions that sometimes affect comprehension	Confused understanding of topic and little or no use of PPA format. Incomplete development of ideas and lack of control of conventions numerous errors that often affect comprehension
Web Site Research	A variety of sites (5 or more) used from resource list and student researching that fully support the topic	Sufficient number of sites that support the topic. Most are directly from resource list	Adequate number of sites but few support the topic	1-2 sites used and do not sufficiently relate to topic

CONCLUSION

Through internet research of colonialism in Africa during Chinua Achebe’s time (1870’s – mid 1900’s) students will be able to learn how policies devised by the European and African governments promoted discrimination of Africans and breakdown of their social, political, and economic structures. Students will also create and analyze their own policies that may have helped change the future of Africa and promoted more equality between African countries and other developed countries.