WHISL
Dingle/Erickson/Gravelle
The Dice of Discussion: Things Fall Apart
First roll / Second roll1. plot / 1. What might you add to the plot to highlight a theme or make the novel more interesting?
2. What’s the most surprising thing to happen in the plot thus far?
3. What confuses you about the plot? Why did ____happen?
4. What’s the most pointless or drawn out part of the plot thus far?
5. What’s the most important thing to have happened thus far?
6. Make a prediction about what will happen.
2. culture / 1. Summarize the Ibo culture objectively in one extended sentence.
2. What the most admirable aspect of this culture?
3. What’s the most interesting aspect of this culture?
4. What’s the weirdest aspect of this culture?
5. What’s a weird custom in our/your culture?
6. What other cultures have you visited? What’s your impression? (This could be as simple as visiting Uncle Ned in Iowa).
3. Point-of-view / 1. What might you say if you narrated from your perspective?
2. What might a family member comment on if he/she narrated this story?
3. What would be different if this story were told from a Eurocentric perspective?
4. Why might Achebe have chosen third –person omniscient for his narration?
5. Owing to the point-of-view, what are we able to see about Okonkwo’s character?
6. How would the story be different if told from Okonkwo’s perspective (in first person?)
4. character / 1. What is Ekwefi like? Why do you say so?
2. How is Okonkwo a complex character?
3.What is Oberieka like? What role might he serve?
4. What is Okonkwo’s greatest strength? Weakness? Why?
5. Tie a character in this book to another book or movie.
6. Who in this novel might you best get along with? Why?
5. literary elements / 1. What elements of the Western tragedy have we seen thus far in the novel?
2. What is one proverb or story this culture tells? What might be its meaning?
3. What’s a funny idiom in our culture?
4. Where have we seen foreshadowing in this novel?
5. What is the impact of a third person omniscient narrator on the novel?
6. Is this an important novel to study? Why or why not?
6. ties / 1. Tie an element in this novel to yourself.
2. Tie an element in this novel to a current or recent event.
3. Tie this novel to the Essential Question: Is it ever justifiable for one culture to dominate another?
4. Tie this novel to another book you’ve read or a movie you’ve seen.
5. Tie something in this novel to something we studied in WHISL this year.
6. Tie something in this novel to American culture.