Describe the setting (time, place, culture) of the novel. Apply what you have learned from reading the essay “Igbo Culture and History” (pp. xix-xlix in our text). Attend to Achebe’s presentation of the details of everyday village life ways in Umuofia, the values and beliefs of the Igbo people, and the importance of ritual, ceremony, social hierarchy, and personal achievement in Igbo culture. How is social life organized? What are the important celebrations? What is the role of war, of religion, and of the arts? What is the role of the individual in relation to the community of Umuofia? Compare /contrast Igbo ways of life, customs, perspectives, beliefs, and values to those of your own culture.
