10 Important Reminders

Things Fall Apart


Typed revisions due Friday with originals attached. Please adhere to MLA guidelines.

General Notes for Class:


1) Introductions—stick to your thesis statement. If you promise you are going to write about setting, imagery, and point of view, that’s what you need to write about. Don’t go off topic UNLESS you are using the subtopic as a means to prove your thesis statement.

2) Novels are underlined, short stories get “”quotations. A novel is “entitled.”

3) Not a bad idea to start off the intro with the quote and then paraphrase its meaning and then explain how it is related to TFA.

4) Avoid 2nd person pov when possible

5) Don’t be afraid to take a stand in your essay. This book has an agenda –to show you the African pov, don’t be afraid to vehemently articulate this.

6) Citations must be in the proper, MLA format. “ blah blah blah,” (Achebe, 62).

7) Try to neatly embed your support rather than an awkward insertion.

8) Pay attention to your verbs. If you are using lots of helping verbs,--there is a hint that your verbs aren’t strong enough.

9) Choose a tense and stick with it. Generally, the present tense is stronger.

10) Don’t forget to address the ambiguities and the complexities. Nothing is simply black and white in a text. Achebe is both a powerful warrior and a misogynist. The Christians destroyed a culture in the belief that they were “saving” it. Be sure to define your terms and the questions those terms may provoke.