Writing Homework Help

For this assignment you will read and write a review of Chinua Achebe’s acclaimed first novel, Things Fall Apart, which many Western scholars consider the first great African novel. Achebe was a Nigerian Christian who recounts the sometimes devastating consequences of European colonialism on indigenous cultures, sadly all-too-often mediated through Christian missionary efforts

A typical book review includes a brief account of the plot and main characters, along with identification of the key situations, themes and ideas being dealt with in the book. A review then provides an assessment of such things as the quality of the writing, the power of the story telling, the depth of the development of characters and the world they inhabit, the importance of the issues being addressed, the extent to which the book successfully addresses these issues, etc. With this assignment you should definitely connect the book to themes we are dealing with in our course, as that is the main reason I am having you read this book and write this review. Some things that you might find helpful are addressing ways in which the protagonist may represent his culture, the differences between the two missionaries in their interactions with the Igbo people and especially what Achebe might be saying to Western readers in the way that the story ends.

Prompt Ends here 

Some of the themes that we have talked about in class include: 

1) African Christianity and its development before Europeans.

2) Western Christendom and its influence on the world and its demise due to religious wars (middle East/ byzantine/ Roman) and political struggles (Mongols/ Russia)