How To Write About Women

Firstly include a creative title and a pleasing picture of a strong woman crossing her arms, because  you don't want to be seen as an anti-feminist by popular culture. Make sure to show you care; add a word like ''power'' or ''difference'' so you don't get any criticism. 

Always start the text off by giving the woman some background; a "clean job;" possibly a secretary or a teacher, a nurse if you wanna add some spice to the story. Make sure the woman reaches the high point of her life when she is a stay-at-home mother, because her main priority in life is pleasing her husband and children. Main lesson learnt about this story; emphasize taboo subjects. Love (unless death is involved), domestic scenes and music are good examples.

Moreover, Make sure she is small and graceful; she never goes one day without her makeup delicately applied and her hair curled. 

In your text, make sure to develop your woman as a typical feminine figure so the readers like her. You should be able to to include the famous "honey I'm home'" scene at a point of your text; where the husband comes home tired from a long day of work but is glad and dependant that "his" woman spent her whole day baking and cooking an appealing meal for him. If you want to make your woman single, make sure she is either studying to become a famous fashion designer or she's an extreme flirt. Make sure the highlights of her development and careers are filled with flashing lights, photographers, red carpets and an endless amount of makeup and hair products. 

Throughout the book, adopt an elegant and delicate tone to your writing. Always include scenes filled with luscious gardens and bouquets of flowers. If you want to include a conflict, make sure its love related and that it will always have a resolution.

I suggest that you end the book with the woman dancing through the ending scene, happy about all the cliché and perfect memories she reminisces about in the book. 

TFA: Paper 2 Analytical Response

-How do things Fall Apart conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre and for what purpose?

Written in 1958, Chinue Achebe's Things Fall Apart explores the life of Okonkwo; a strong willed man who is a member of the complex Igbo tribe. The story continues as the readers is engaged with the cultural changes in society by British colonizers and white missionaries. African literature was not highlighted until the 1950’s, and this is one of the primary reasons why their struggle and their side of the story is not commonly known today. It is believed that the genre of Things Fall Apart falls under realist fiction. If we look at the typical conventions of a realist fiction text, it is seen that they are stoned in events that could have actually occurred to people in a believable manner. This highly contributes to the historical, cultural and social context of Things Fall Apart as all the realities of these factors in the tribe are in parallel with the content of the novel. Also, Achebe uses characterization to further highlight this genre as he doesn't present any particular characters in a certain light so the book does not demonstrate a personal bias rather than a depiction of reality. Firstly this response will explore the conventions of a typical realist fiction novel and Achebe's purpose behind the conformity to these conventions.  

Realist fiction differs from other types of novels such as historical fiction and non-fiction. Although realist fiction creates a certain type of plot that was not exactly true to real life events, the content of the text is usually realistic and includes events that could have actually happened in a particular time and place. Firstly lets look at why Achebe decided to follow the conventions of this genre. Why has Achebe decided to write a realist fiction novel? By using realist fiction, Achebe can clearly and successfully achieve his main purpose of writing the novel; to offer a multitude of perspectives about western colonialism in Africa and to not contradict a particular culture or their philosophies on imperialism. By creating a story that depicts these realities and engages the reader at the same time, Achebe can send African messages across in a more efficient way. Achebe intentionally using this genre in his novel is significant as it allows the reader to interpret a personal form of meaning to the novel but it still allows him to write about the realities in Africa at the time. This unbiased approach allows readers to not form a certain criticism to the book and Achebe can gain a sort of authenticity from his . Now the way Achebe conforms to this genre will be discussed. 

Firstly, if we look at the historical context of the novel, this story took place at the time of the development and widespread of British colonialism in Africa. Through his use of characterization, Achebe was able to follow the conventions of realist fiction and convey the unbiased and realist focus towards the novel; He didn't exactly antagonize any particular group of people and presented different perspectives to the story. Just because the Umuofia tribe was getting colonized and oppressed, Achebe still highlights that this oppression was not solely the one factor that lead to their downfall and that there were flaws and mistakes that were also contributory. Achebe uses the main character, Okonkwo to convey this message as we see the tragic flaws that Okonkwo carried out that lead to his downfall and eventual death. Throughout the story, we see Okonkwo striving to become the exact polar opposite of his father and gain the recognition of being a dominant and masculine figure; his natural balance of manliness, recognition, anger and violence brings him to his own destruction as he couldn't accept the fact that there was gong to be a more powerful concept present in his society. which ulitmetly lead his to end his life. The use of Okonkwo as a tragic hero could symbolize the entire Igbo culture as the reader recognizes throughout the novel that the culture includes a series of flaws that lead them tot heir own downfall and it was not solely based on imperialism; While being colonized is not necessarily something that is a consequences of Igbo actions, their inability to resist the oppression and fight back about their personal culture and belief lead them to lose their history and background.  displaying Okonkwo as a normal person that suffers from the clash and conflict between natural and developed flaws with pride, readers are more able to relate to the character and develop an open opinion for things. This shows how Achebe has an unbiased and realist approach to the way he portrays his main characters and plot in the story; if Achebe portrayed Okonkwo as a perfect human being who was completely oppressed against and violated by western culture, that wouldn't be showing the true realities of what happened in Africa at the time and would be biased. 

Moreover, if we look at the way Achebe conveyed the white missionaries, he didn't necessarily portray them as "a force of evil personified in the form of christian white missionaries.'' This can be directly seen by the integration of the white reverend, Mr. Brown, as it shows how white missionaries entered the society in a peaceful way first with the use of Christianity as a tool to analyze weaknesses of a tribe and attract convert. This also shows how the Igbo culture was flawed in that particular time as they had the chance to fight back and hold onto their cultural ideals but did not. 

Secondly, Achebe conveys the realities of the social and cultural factors of the tribe in the context of his novel and allows the reader to interpret whether or not the customs of their culture are necessarily flawed. This can be exactly demonstrated in the way gender is portrayed and valued in the tribe. 

Finally, if we look at the structure of the novel, Things fall apart isn't to in a chronological order. Since it is the point of view of Okonkowo, Achebe doesn't write in a way that portrayed his life from beginning to end, which is a much more historical approach to the genre. Instead, the plot includes flash backs to significant events that drove Okonkwo to pursue certain actions and behave the way he did in certain situations. So in summation, 

Words; 1098

Paper 2: Things Fall Apart Analytical Response

3- Discuss the significance of social status in Things Fall Apart, and comment on its contribution to characterization.

In the Igbo culture, the amount of respect that one deserves really depends on one's success. The culture detrmine's ones success by the amount of wives and barns that a man has.  Achebe writes, "Okonkwo was not a failure like Unoka. He has a large barn full of yams and three wives." (page 6). This allows us to emphasize the ideas of titles and social status. Titles are something that are defined throughout a man' lifetime based on his success in the culture. The privilege of having a relevant title is the gained respect from other members of the tribe. Okonkwo had an unsuccessful father. "among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father" (page 8). Unoka lacked responsibility. During his life, he never possessed a relevant title and, therefore, never gained status or respect from the villagers. Unoka's behavior was contrary to typical Igbo tradition, so he was not taken seriously and was treated un-respectfully by the Igbo clansmen and, later, by Okonkwo, his son. In contrary, Okonkwo still had a relatively successful life, despite what his father did. From this we could see that in Igbo culture, a man’s social status is based on merit rather than inheritance. A man can gain respect by his bravery in war, his athletic skill as a wrestler, and the productivity of his yam fields; as Oknonkwo did. Thus, if a man has a “title” then he has earned an increased societal position. Achebe keeps the reader up to speed on which male characters in the book have titles. Okonkwo has two titles, so that proves he is both extremely hard working and physically capable. Okonkwo’s father, on the other hand, never earned any titles – this shows that he was both lazy and generally incompetent. the story, we see Okonkwo attempt to gain the recognition of possessing a dominant title and become the polar opposite of his father. This shows us how much he values social status at a personal level. Thus, we see that Okonkwo's attempt to gain a masculine and dominant title is the main basis for his characterization in the novel. 

Okonkwo Character Analysis

Although Things Fall Apart conveys its main protagonist Okonkwo as a self-made, well-repected member of the Umuofia tribe, Chinue Achebe creates this character in a far more complex way. Okonkwo plays a great role in developing main themes and concepts throughout the story. In a classical sense, Okonkwo can be seen as a tragic hero."A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and  gains awareness of the circumstances that lead to his fall. Firstly, Okonkwo has a tragic flaw- his natural balance of manliness, recognition, anger and violence brings him to his own destruction. Throughout the novel it is seen that Okonkwo mainly values these traits and has a strong fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo is always gruff and usually is unable to express his feelings- throughout the story we see that he holds in most of the actual emotions he felt because he wants to be recognized as a powerful and masculine figure. His emotions are indeed quite complex though- his manly values come in conflict with his unmanly emotions, such as his fondness for Ikemfuna and Ezinma. The narrator privileges us with information that Okonkwo to support this tragic flaw- fro example, a truly worried father beneath the seemingly different exterior while he follows Ekwefi in the forest in the pursuit of Ezinma. With that being said, Okwonkwo never really comes to a realization that his downfall may be a result of his wrongdoings or his tragic flaw. It is believed that Achebe chose Okonkwo as a tragic hero to reflect on the in tire Igbo Culture. Okonwo can be symbolic of the entire society and can explain how their downfall was due to their own doings. While being colonized is not necessarily something that is a consequences of Igbo actions, their inability to resist the oppression and fight back about their personal culture and belief lead them to lose their history and background. Other than showing different aspects of the Igbo culture through Okonwo, Achebe has also been successful in advancing several themes throughout the story. Firstly, there is an underlying theme that is shown through the plot of the story; fate vs. free will. Although Okonko works to reach his first priority of being the exact polar opposite of his father, he faces many obstacles that lead him to die at the same worth of his father. Again, if Okwonkwo represents the entire Igbo society, then colonization and destruction of the culture was an inevitable act. While they may have attempted to calmly drive the Europeans out, the eventual takeover of their land is something that could not have been stopped. 

From this we could see that there is an obvious conflict of fate vs. free will and it is shown that fate overpowers free will at the end of the story. Secondly, the theme of culture vs. personality is something that comes up with Okonkwo and other characters such as Obreika. While cultural beliefs are often forced upon every person in the Igbo society, there are instances where each character must question whether the actions are justified or not. many characters, including Okwonkwo, were attempting to reach and equilibrium between their cultural and personal beliefs. 

An African Voice-Chinue Achebe

Chinua Achebe's interview, "The African Voice" provided us with a great insight of the background behind the authors work and worldwide impacts. This interview has really highlighted the significance of Things Fall apart in the African community and literature, but it mostly served in uniting a number of cultures together that have been oppressed through imperialism. Personally, one of the most interesting points discussed in the interview was  in the idea of Things Fall Apart being a book about the story of dispossession. Firstly, Achebe mentions how he was surprised that people from all around the world responded to his book and somehow related to the story. This lead on to look the concept of "universal civilization." This concept looked at how the world can become united despite any difference. In the context of the novel, people from all around the world related to the book in the same way even though they didn't experience colonization similarly to the African culture. This just shows how powerful literature can be. we concluded that in order to achieve this idea of a universal civilization, differences should be understood and accepted;  Things Fall Apart was a way of meeting all the differences in cultures and finding similarities. We also discussed how African literature is a form of expression which allows African people to define themselves and portray their side of the story. looking at the theme of Oppression vs. The Opressed in African literature really opened our eyes and offered a different perspective of Africa. It is also interesting how literature can be used as a tool for expression and this reveals one of Things Fall Apart's purposes. And perhaps this relates to the idea of a universal civilization. In this situation, all the differences are set aside where they are able to agree on the impacts of colonialism.