"Nwoye Comes Home" Socratic Circle
Instructions:
Audience members: in the comments section of this post, make thoughtful observations about the conversation taking place in the "fishbowl." Good observations will do the following:
- Identify when you agree/disagree with observations and specifically state why (ASR: Apt Specific Reference).
- Observe what specific group members did that helped to
- "propel" conversation forward,
- respond to their group members,
- and provide thoughtful observations.
Fishbowl members: students who do well in the "fishbowl" will do the following:
- Come to discussion prepared, having read and researched materials beforehand.
- Work with peers to promote a civil, democratic discussion, set clear goals, and establish individual roles.
- Propel conversations forward by posing and asking questions that probe reasoning and ask for evidence.
- Respond thoughtful to diverse perspectives, synthesize (combine) comments, claims, and evidence, resolve contradictions, and investigate meaning.
I like how people compare the monster with other characters in the book, what are the differences between them.
ReplyDeleteToby begins by asking someone immediately what they thought, but provides no specifications. Daniel talks about the writing style of the article, Toby talks about differences between Christianity and the Igbo religion as highlighted by quotes in the article. This makes a lot of sense, as there are specific differences pointed out in the article that show these ideas.
ReplyDeleteGood conversation between Daniel and Toby. Jonathan asks an interesting question about Nwoye following Christianity that opens conversation.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the conversation, Daniel thinks that it is an additional chapter of the book.
ReplyDeleteDaniel proposes that Nwoye turns to christianity because he was alienated from Igbo society. However, Quinn states that it was because his father alienated him by his own standards. I think these are contradictory statements because Okonkwo himself became an outcast and was not representative of the Igbo as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThey are debating whether or not in this story Nwoye regrets his decision to join the church and how this would impact the story
ReplyDeleteQuinn talks about how the Nwoye's anger fades over time, originally he joined Christianity to spite his father, but now he truly accepts it. Noah talks about why Nwoye joined Christianity and how this affected his anger over time. He also talks about how equality pertains to Nwoye's feelings on Christianity, and I agree that there are definitely relations between the two.
ReplyDeleteQuinn points out that Nwoye seems to be more full of anger in the book than in this story. They discuss about why Nwoye followed Christianity. Jonathan asks what the mask on the cover of the book means.
ReplyDeleteWhen the conversation starts to die down, Jonathan brings up a question regarding the differences between different versions of the book's cover. After this conversation Toby asks Daniel a question about why Nwoye decided to follow Christianity which allows the conversation to propel forward.
ReplyDeleteThey discuss why Nwoye asks his father to come back and bring back their world. Daniel and Quinn agree with each other saying that he wants their traditions back. Rachel says that maybe it it’s not only about the culture but that Nwoye misses his father as well.
ReplyDeleteQuinn, Daniel, Noah, and Toby speculate on what Nwoye would do in the future if his father returned, how his emotions would be affected, and how they would reconcile their differences.
ReplyDeleteToby prompts Daniel about if he thinks the piece points out the flaws in Christianity, but Quinn suggests that Umuofian culture is criticized as well. I think both of these observations are strong and do not have to contradictory, as the spirit of Achebe's novel and thus the article may very well be towards the ideal of objective cultural criticism.
ReplyDeleteA pause in the conversation occurs, which Toby stops by asking an interesting question about how Okonkwo's death may symbolize the death of traditional Igbo culture.
ReplyDeleteQuinn asks an interesting question about what Daniel thinks would've happened if Okonkwo didn't die or get punished for his crimes.
ReplyDeleteDrake and Sage starts the conversation by asking other group members questions about the story
ReplyDeleteDrake brings up Nwoye's attitude change from the book to this article. Jay discusses
ReplyDeleteWhen Jay opens the discussion, Eunseo agrees and provides more evidence to his point.
ReplyDeleteEunseo replies to Jay elongating the discussion
ReplyDeleteJay made a good point about Nwoye's current views on Christianity, and how they changed as he grew older and experienced more of the world. Annie adds on to this point, talking about how Nwyoe started to see some of the downsides of Christianity.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how Jay talks about how Nwoye "reaps some of the benefits of Christianity..." it's just interesting word choice. Also Annie's comment of how Nwoye notes that not all men are really created equal. The two are almost talking about religion as something you can just switch to if it benefits you more... even if that wasn't their intended idea to convey.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that Jay clarifies the difference between one of his points and the other group's. He takes the topic of "war" that we mentioned and then branches out a bit, which is helpful.
ReplyDeleteJay states that the Christians were hypocrites
ReplyDeleteJay discusses how the Christians have more brutal wars than the Nigerian tribes and how this led to Nwoye to believing the false gods of Imofia might be right.
ReplyDeleteJay is calling Christians Hippocrates. It is well, an interesting point. Dually noted, however he could have elaborated on the western mindset. He simply says "they weren't equal, they were Hippocrates." I certainly agree in a regard, but some elaboration on the mindsets and why this happened could have been nice.
ReplyDeleteHypocrites, not hippocrates
DeleteDrake makes a direct connection to racism in the story
ReplyDeleteDrake remarks humorously on how Nwoye discovers the world through a white man's eyes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Drake's point about how Nwoye started to learn about the perspective white people have on the world and things like race.
ReplyDeleteDrake makes a point of how Nwoye has learned from the Christians
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of funny that Drake says it's funny that Nwoye says "we realized we were black people." Jay acknowledges this although he does note "the article is trying to be overly poetic." I agree.
ReplyDeleteSage makes a good point about how in the book Achebe talked more about religion, that was the main focus of the book, and how the short story is more about race and inequality.
ReplyDeleteSage points out how the book focuses on religion and the article focuses on race
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty interesting that Sage notes that this article doesn't really mention religion at all. That is definitely a flaw of this text.
ReplyDeleteJay discusses how the morals of each religion aren't black and white but grey
ReplyDeleteI like it that Annie and Jay talked about "The soil of Africa is still tainted by the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah." I agree that this is, well, strong wording. I'd also like to just comment that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has become twisted and tainted through the years. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed specifically for being inhospitable to travelers in the dangerous desert. They were rude, not gay, not "sinful" as we think about it in modern times. I wish that Achebe would have at least somehow acknowledged the Christian mindset in how it plays into this comment.
ReplyDeleteThey discuss the decisions that Nwoye makes throughout the story
ReplyDeleteEthan comments on the age of Nwoye, and how it is interesting. Jay agrees with this point and continues the discussion.
ReplyDeleteEthan points out that Nwoye lived to be 100
ReplyDeleteEthan and Drake bring up how the Igbo lost their culture, and how this loss is shown in the short story
ReplyDeleteSage makes an interesting note in how Smith and Okonkwo are in a sense so different, and yet in another one in the same.
ReplyDeleteThe group points out that Nyowe lived to 100 which was very odd
ReplyDeleteI think the time of this book is more towards the present as Nyowe mentions how some of his children are now pilots (I think)