Butterflies in Catawaba

Summer Reading: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Seniors:

Your summer reading assignment is Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Get a copy as soon as you can from the School Store at Lamar High School for $9.00. Also, if you qualify for free/reduced lunch, then you can get a voucher for the novel from the Business Office.

As you read your book, please annotate. Annotate means to use a pen or pencil to take notes directly in the book as you are reading. (You might want to use a highlighter, too, at times.) You should have notes about characters, plot, literary elements, vocabulary, and the like. You may make your notations in the margins of your paperback or underline or circle details of importance. You might even want to use “sticky notes” for various pages which contain pertinent information.

As well, for English 4A, you will have the following assignment to turn in to Mrs. Haymond or Mrs. Sainlar (Recommended IB senior English teachers) the first day of school---August 26, 2013.

Assignment:

Read each question carefully and respond on notebook paper to each one. Use the Modern Language Association (MLA) heading for your paper. An example of the MLA heading is included at the end of this page.

1. Flashback is a plot device in which an author pauses to present a scene that occurred earlier in the story or before the story began. It is often used to give a new insight into a character or explain an element in the plot. How does Chinua Achebe use flashbacks to reveal different aspects of Okonkwo’s life?

2. Foreshadowing is a hint or clue an author gives about something that may happen later in a story. How does the author foreshadow what is going to happen to Ikemefuna?

3. Chinua Achebe uses proverbs to help tell his story in Things Fall Apart. Select one (1) proverb from the novel that you particularly like and explain its meaning. Please make note of the chapter number and the page the proverb appears in the classic.