MY HERO

A hero is a human being, who has many different good kind of characteristics, which everyone is able to notice them. Heroes are the ones that made small things that make the difference. It can goes from helping an old woman crossing the road, to helping a whole country. The main requirements that a person most have, to be considered a hero are. First of all, give without expecting anything back, kindness, humble, truthful, selfless, wise, protective, take out a smile of a person by making people happy, shares his or her wisdom with others, so they can learn and be better people day by day. 

My hero is my dad. He has been always there for me and for all the people I know they have asked for help to him, and also for the ones that haven’t. His most important values and the ones that he has taught me since I was little were, humble, as my dad is a very simple man without possess and he always make people comfortable, he always said “never make a promise you will never fulfill”, he helps children by paying for their school every single year.

Besides helping people that he doesn’t know, he is always taking care of his whole family, and by this I mean, my uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. He will always be there for them and helping them unconditionally.

My dad is a very optimist person; he is always seeing the good side of things. He has a wonderful sense of humor, he will always make people laugh.

Every single person can be a hero if he or she wants it, they only have to make good things because they really feel them, and not only because what other people will think or said about them. My dad is a real hero, because he is a wonderful human being, always caring and worrying about others no matter what, and without expecting anything back. 

Nestorleont.files.wordpress.com (n.d.) Untitled. [online] Available at: http://nestorleont.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/941-super_hero1.jpg [Accessed: 13 May 2013].

 

 

QUOTE

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney

This quote means nothing in life is imposible, every dream that we have can become real, but we have to really go for it no matter what.

For me this quote means that no matter what dream you have, by dream I mean goals, or any achievement that you wish in life, you need always to do your best, be constant, pacient, commited, devoted . You need over all to believe you can do it and most important trust in yourself. You know that there will always be ups and downs, obstacles, and many people saying that you can´t do it. These will make you stronger by always having a positive attitud and being optimist, but realistic. You have always to keep on going on your path, and hang on to it and never give up to your DREAMS .  

 

 

 

BrainyQuote (2001) Dreams Quotes at BrainyQuote. [online] Available at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_dreams.html [Accessed: 25 Apr 2013].

PART III SUMMARY

Okonkwo returns to his village after seven years of exile, knowing that he had lost his place among the men who administered the justice in the clan. Umofia has changed a lot. The church has growth in strength and the white men set up their rules and judicial system. There is a discussion of the story of Aneto, who was hanged by the government after he killed a man. Obierika and Okonkwo finished the discussion by sitting in silence together.

Some people of Umofia are happy with the white men influence in their clan. Mr. Brown and Akunna meet often to discuss about their different points of views, including religion. Mr. Brown built a hospital and a school. He told Okonkwo that Nwoye is in a training school for teachers but he chose him away and behaved violently.

A man came to replace Mr. Brown, his name was Reverend James Smith, who was a strict and intolerant man and wanted every member of the village to obey to the letter of the Bible and disapproves Mr. Brown´s tolerant and unorthodox policies. Enoch Unmasked an egwugwu during the annual ceremony to honor the earth, this is considered as killing an ancestral spirit. The next day, the egwugwu burned Enoch´s compound the ground. They later gathered in front of the church to confront Reverend Smith and his Christians. They wanted to destroy the church in order to clean their village of Enoch´s. Smith said to leave the problem on his hands. They ignore him and burn the church.

Okonkwo and his people are on the guard and armed themselves with guns and machetes. The District Commissioner came and met with the leaders of Umofia. They went, but no sooner they put their machetes on the floor than a group of soldiers surprises them. They were all put in jail and suffered insults and physical abuse. A fine of two hundred and fifty bags of cowries was asked to set them free. A day later, the clan decided to collect the cowries to pay the fine and set them free.

The prisoners return to the village, they were very bad looking that the women and children were afraid to greet them. The village crier announces a meeting for the next morning. But Okonkwo decides on a course of action to which he will stick no matter what the village decides. He took out his war dress. The meeting is packed with men from all the clan´s nine villages. During the meeting five court messengers approach, their leader orders the meeting to end, but Okonkwo killed him with two strokes of his machete. Unfortunately the villagers allowed the messenger to escape and concluded the meeting. Okonkwo understood that his clan will not go to war. He wiped his machete from blood and left.

Finally Obierika agreed to lead him. They went behind a small bush and discovered Okonkwo´s body dangling from a tree. He has hanged himself. Obierika explains that suicide is a grave sin and his clansmen may not touch Okonkwo´s body. The commissioner, who is in the middle of writing a book about Africa, imagines that Okonkwo´s death will be an interesting paragraph but not an entire chapter. The title of his book will be “The pacification of the primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger”.

ThingsFallApart. [online] Available at: ThingsFallApart part IIl [Accessed: 15/04/2013.
 

PART II SUMMARY

Part number II from the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, starts with Okonkwo´s exile from his clan. He started a new life in a different place and clan. He was received by his mother´s kinsmen in Mbanta and by an old man who was his mother´s youngest brother, Uchendu. Okonkwo was “taking his family of three wives and their children” to look for some refuge in his motherland. He was given a part of land and he and his family worked very hard to plant and build a new farm.

Few days after Okonkwo arrival, there was going to be a wedding ceremony as Amikwu, the youngest of Uchendu´s five sons was marrying a new wife. In the ceremony the sister in law will ask questions to the bride such as “How many men have lain with you since my brother first expressed the desire to marry you”? From that day the bride Amikwu will take the young bride to his hut and she became his wife. Two days after the wedding Uchendu gathered all his sons, daughters and his nephew Okonkwo. He wanted everyone to know why was Okonkwo with them today and let everyone asked questions about this fact…”Why is Okonkwo with us today?”…”a man belongs to his fatherland, not to his motherland”.Uchendu replied that he wanted Okonkwo himself to give the answers, but Okonkwo replied..” I don´t know the answer”. Then, Uchendu said that he didn´t know the answer because he was still a child even though he had three wives, he then continued saying that..”it´s true  that a child belongs to his father”, but when a father beats his child, it was ok for him to look for love and comprehension in his mother´s hut.

Two years passed from Okonkwo´s arrival when Obierka his friend came to visit him. He came with two young men, each of them were carrying a heavy bag on their heads. Obierka started to tell the story about a white man who came to their clan during the last planting season….and “he was riding an iron horse”… The elders of the clan consulted the Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them, and that other withe men were on their way. So, they killed him and the point is that he didn´t say anything when they killed him, not a word. For many markets weeks nothing happened, but one day three white men and a very large number of other men surrounded the market and began to shoot. Everybody was killed, except for the old and the sick because they were home. Their clan was completely empty.  The message that Obierka wanted to give with this story is “never killed a man who says nothing”. Then, Obierka pointed at the two heavy bags and said that it was the money from Okonkwo´s yams and gave it to him.

Two years later Obierka came to visit his friend in exile again, but this time things were not very happy because the missionaries had come to Umofia and had built their church there, won a lot of converts and were already sending evangelists to the other towns and villages around them. Obierka found out that Nwoye was already one of them but he could barely talk to him. He came back to talk to his friend Okonkwo but he didn´t say a word. It was Nwoye´s mother who explained Obierka what was happening and told him that those missionaries said that there was just one God and they worshiped him all the time with strange songs and noises in the church and that Nwoye was unfortunately one of them now.

Things Fall Apart. [online] Available at: Things Fall Apart Part II [Accessed: 21 Mar 2013].

CHAPTER 15 MOTHER KITE STORY

“Never kill a man who says nothing”, this is how Uchendu starts telling the story. The story is about an eagle called Mother Kite, who one day sent its daughter to bring some food; the daughter came back with a ducking. Its mother said it was fine but she wanted to know what did the duckling´s mother said when she took the duckling away from her. The daughter answered that it said nothing and just walked away. Then, Eagle Mother Kite told her that it most returned the duckling, because there was something hidden behind the silence, so the daughter went back and returned the duckling and took a chick instead. When she came back her mother asked again what did the mother of the chick did and the eagle daughter answered that it cried, raved and cursed her. After that, Mother Kite said that there was nothing to fear because it shouted, and “There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts”, so they could eat the chick.

After reading this story I could understand that the message that Uchendu wanted to give is that we most fear or be careful with people that doesn’t speak or doesn’t express feelings, that to the ones that are always yelling, screaming or preventing us about their acts. Because when someone is going to do something bad to you he or she will do it, without preventing or telling you. For example, a robber will not prevent you when he is going to robe you, he will just go and do it. On the other hand, people who will be telling you that he or she will be doing something bad to you; they will probably never do it.  There is a Mexican proverb that says “Perro que ladra no muerde”, this means that “dog that barks will not bites”.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

 

 

 

SUMMARYCHAPTERS 7 - 13

Ikemefuna lived with Okwonkwo´s family for 3 years, until Okwonkwo kill him. He help Nwoye to be responsible and more masculine, he was like a guide to him. The time came when Gods told Okwonko that it was time to kill Him. After that, Okwonkwo said to Ikemefuna that he needed to return back to his village. When they were on their way, a man came out and hit him with a machete; Ikemefuna was in such a deep pain and Okwonko started feeling pity for him. As Okwonko didn’t want anyone to realize that he had feelings for Ikemefuna, he finally killed him himself.

After killing Ikemefuna, Okwonkwo fell in a deep depression. He went to visit Obierika, she was looking for her future son-in-law. Okwonkwo started feeling better day by day.

Days pass Enzima started feeling very sick, she´s Ekwefi´s only child. A medicine man told them that an “ogbanje” which is like a wicked child, was the cause of her illness.  Days later the village holded the “egwugwu”; this ceremony consist, the men got masked and they emerged from a secret house where women are not allowed and it´s an spiritual ceremony were ancestral spirits came.

Meanwhile Enzima´s mother, Ekwefi started to tell her daughter a story about a tortoise and other birds.  Chielo came to inform Ekwefi and Okwonkwo that the God of the hills and caves Oracle wanted to see Enzima. The mother followed Chielo to the cave with the intention to save her daughter even against the Gods. Okwonkwo arrived with a machete and calmed her.

At dawn, Chielo took Enzima back from the cave. Okwonkwo was really worried. It was time for Okwonkwo´s family to prepare Obierika´s daughter´s Uri the Betrothat Ceremony in which all the village will help with food and the mother got a coat. But there was an interruption when a woman was running after a cow.

Finally, the dead of the elder Ezeudu was announced with a musical instrument called “ekwe”, this for the other villages to know it. At the ceremony which is a big funeral men usually beat drums and fire their guns. Okwonkwo accidentally killed one of Ezudu´s  childen with his gun. As this is a crime, Okwonkwo was exhilated with all his family and they went to Mbanta.

 

 

OKWONKWO SUMMARY

Okonkwo lives in the town of Umofia, sharing his life with three wives and eight kids. Since he was a kid he has made strong efforts to has a succsesful future.

A very bad news came to the village, a woman who married with Ogbuefi Udo, went to buy some things to Mbaino and had been killed. In exchange they sent a virgin woman and a lad of fifteen because they didn't wanted war. The boy was named Ikemefuna and stayed in Okonkwos house in company of his wives and other kids.

Okonkwo is a very cold man who related weakness with woman. He now lived with three in his house, since he had always been working hard. He gained his first yams with the help of a man called Nwakibi who knew that he wouldn't betray him. He beated his son hard when he didn't want to make things in the correct way.

Woman had to do everything Okonkwo wanted. One day he arrived to his obi and his wife Ojiugo wasn't there, although his other wives tried to help her, he was so angry that he hit his woman heavily, without caring that they were in The Week of Peace to show honor to the great godess, ani. In another ocassion he shot her wife because she had cut some leaves from a banana tree, luckily he failed and didn't kill her.

Umofia was celebrating New Yam, to thank the goddess for all the things she had done. The wrestling competition took place in the second day of the celebration. The whole town went to see the big game. Ekwefi, one of the wives of Okonkwo, loved wrestling so she attended the event happily. There she had the opportunity to talk with Chielo a woman who appreciated Ekwefi's daughter Ezinma.

Okonkwo started to feel angry in the conpetition because a young man was about to win the battle and he remember himself in the old times.

AFRICAN LITERATURE

African Literature began in North Africa (Egyp), 2300 B.C.  When ancient Egyptians begin using burial text to acompany their dead, this included the first written acount of creation “Memphit Declaretion of Deities”.  African literatura is important in oral and written woks, because they provide useful knowledge, historical knowledge, ethnical wisdom. Oral culture has many formes such as proverbs and riddles, epic narratives, oration and personal testimony, praise poetry and songs, chants and rituals, storys, legends and folk tails.

During the period of colonisation African Literature came under a serious outside threat. It was until the 1920s and 1930s emerged from Paris, the “Negritude” movement established it selfs one of the first literary movements of its time. This started with the desire to stablish an identity that they were black and they have a history, wich values that could make an important contribution to the world. Leopold Sedar Senghor was one of the first thinkers of this movement, he later became president of Senegal creating a tradition of African writters and becoming active political figures. In 1948 African literatura became very important with Alan Paton with his work “Cry the Beloved County” and other African writter was Fraz Fanon who became famous in 1967 through a powerful analysis of racism in his work named “Black Skin, White Mask”.

After all this authors Chinua Achebe presents his native African Culture in his amaizing work “Things Fall Apart”. This is probably the most read work of African Literature every written, Achebe psycological insight combined with his deep realism make this novel classic. Achebe was the one who opened the door from many other African writters to attain international recognition.

 

Unc.edu (1930) African Literature. [online] Available at: http://www.unc.edu/~hhalpin/ThingsFallApart/literature.html [Accessed: 22 Mar 2013].
 

BIOGRAPHY ALBERT ACHEBE

Albert Chinualumogu Achebe,was born in Ogidi in Eastern Nigeria, in 1930. Was a novelist, poet and critic. He studied in the University College of Ibadan. He was an English professor at the University of Massachusetts and a literature professor at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka. One of the most famous African novels in English was Things Fall Apart which he wrote in 1958, this novel has been translated in to many languages and it recreates the traditional life in African villages, before the coming of modernity. It focuses mainly on the head strong Okonkwo who opposes with tragic consequences, to both the converted Christians as well as the British invasion.

He also wrote many other novels, such as, No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, The African Trilogy and A Man of the People and others. As a literary and critic Achebe has always focus on the fact that an African novel most show social realities and avoid huge universality. He is known as the avocate by colonialist critics. In 1969 he went on a tour with Gabriel Okara and Cyprian Ekwensi, to help the Biafran cause. He also wrote a novel based on his reaction towards the Nigeria Civil War, this novel is known as Girls at War and other stories. After that he wrote some essays, two of his most contoversial are “The Novelist as Teacher´” and “An Image of Africa”. He wrote as well some children books one of them call Anthills of the Savannah. Achebe is also the editor of The Heinemann Book of Cotemporary African Short Stories.

En.wikipedia.org (1930) Chinua Achebe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe [Accessed: 22 Mar 2013].Bing.com (n.d.) ALBERT ACHEBE - Bing Afbeeldingen. [online] Available at: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ALBERT+ACHEBE&view=detail&id=3742E70DDA7BB522EF96DB0A0D45A00BBFA4CDAA [Accessed: 22 Mar 2013].

Literature in education and development

Why is literature important in education and development?

Literature is a way or a manner, to express your thoughts, feelings and emotions through written material.

Literature is what show us the culture and believes of a person, a country, a city or an ethnic group have had or have; this way we can understand better the way they think, or why they do the things they did.

Literature also depends on what century we are living in, because that will have a very important impact on what the authors or writers will think and express in their works.

There are many kinds of literature such as, Scientific Literature, Math Literature, etc., but the mainly, in my point of view, is poetry, drama, non-fiction, fiction, romance and tragedy.

The literature changes, in the way the world develops. This is because the human being is in constant change, and this affect the way they think and act against the world. Also because of the mistakes the human has made in the past, this way it help us not to commit them again. For example History Literature, helps us understand what had happened in the world during the past like World War I and World War II to avoid committing the same mistakes in the future and to have a better world.

Also a really important fact of literature is that it helps us to learn different cultures and to better understand why they act the way they do. We can learn about religion, politics, economy, of a different country and this will be very useful if we go to live or visit the country.

 

K-state.edu (n.d.) Untitled. [online] Available at: http://www.k-state.edu/womenscenter/Violencework%20Advocacy/Womens%20Center%20Materials/Materials/Images/Literature3.jpg [Accessed: 27 Feb 2013].