Drafting your Thesis: Questions to Consider

Consider the following questions as you are drafting your essays:

What is ironic about the last paragraph of the novel? What does this last paragraph tell us about the misunderstandings that occur between the colonists and the Igbo?

What are the primary causes or effects of cultural clash? (use the multi-flow to help you figure this out) Which are most important?

How do the characters actions lead to a message about cultural clash?

Who gets to decide what is civilized or uncivilized?

Who or what causes Okonkwo to kill himself? Why does he kill himself?

"He has put a knife on the things that hold us together and we have fallen apart" (Achebe 176).
What are the "things that hold us together"? Who is "he"? What are we reduced to when these"things" are taken away?

What are the 5 characteristics of Okonkwo's identity that are most vital to his sense of self?
Look back at your identity journal from the beginning of the novel- how did you answer this question? What is Okonkwo ultimately left with? How might some of these elements relate to the cultural clash that ensues?

Race
Ethnicity
Nationality
Gender
Socioeconomic status
Sexual orientation
Ability/disability
Religion
Life values/beliefs
Possessions