This focus paper is designed to prompt you to think about the links between the history of European imperialism and Achebe’s novel. Using specific examples from the book, answer the following two questions:
In what ways is Okonkwo’s village affected by imperialism? In other words, what changes does European imperialism bring?
Why does Achebe call this book “Things Fall Apart”?
Guidelines for Focus Paper
Focus Papers should be written in essay format containing an introduction (with thesis statement), body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Papers should be a MINIMUM of 1000 words but should not exceed 1,250 words. Papers that are significantly shorter will be penalized, and those that significantly exceed the limit are also subject to penalty. Students should be sure to answer the questions fully, offer historical context, be specific, and use plenty of examples from the book. Finally, a primary objective for these papers is to look more deeply into the histories we are learning about in the course. Students should consider information from other course readings, including the course textbooks, to support their analysis when appropriate. Please do not do additional research, or use outside web pages, blogs, or wiki pages to complete this paper, the assignment is meant to be an assessment of your understanding of the materials offered in the course.
As stated in the syllabus, the use of AI text generators to generate any assignment text for essays, discussion posts or other assignments, including but not limited to Chat GPT, etc., will result in a zero on the assignment and a report to the . If you have questions regarding this policy, please contact the instructor.
