Cowart Linked Text Set

Linked Text Set: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Using Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe as an anchor text, this text set seeks to introduce
students to and immerse them in multiple perspectives on reading stories about other cultures;
specifically, this text set centers on perspectives on the African continent, focusing on the
narratives perpetuated by the colonizers and the colonized. This text set is created for my 10th
grade ELA students and is intended to focus on the overarching concept of author’s POV and
purpose, with particular respect to the development of narratives and counter-narratives. We
have yet to intentionally study the concept of how people tell their own stories and others’
stories, though we have had informal conversations about race as they have organically
developed in the classroom. Thus, I want to spend the last month of the school year intentionally
discussing race and the impact of perspective on narratives.

This text set seeks to accomplish two main goals: 1) introducing students to and immersing them
in the exploration of multiple perspectives and avoiding a single story, and 2) making
interdisciplinary connections to both history classes and concepts of perspective in my students’
art forms. This unit will provide ample opportunities for critical conversations surrounding race
and perspective. The included texts come from a variety of authors and perspectives, and they
are intentionally paired to provide multiple perspectives on and interpretations of similar themes.

This unit centers around the essential question, “How can we intentionally seek out nuanced
perspectives and avoid single stories?”

Alignment to Standards:

9-10.RL.KID.1: Analyze what a text says explicitly and draw inferences; cite the strongest, most
compelling textual evidence to support conclusions.

9-10.RL.KID.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development;
provide an objective or critical summary.

9-10.RL.CS.6: Analyze how point of view and/or author purpose shapes the content and style of
diverse texts.

9.10.SL.CC.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric;
identify any fallacious reasoning and/or exaggerated or distorted evidence.

Text Selection Overview (Listed in order of instructional plan)

Title Author Type Reading Level

“Scramble for Varied Political cartoon N/A
Africa” political
cartoons
“The Scramble for Mike Kubic Informative article 11th Grade; 1440 L
Africa”
“Diversity Day” (The B. J. Novak TV Episode N/A
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Office)
“How to Write About Binyavanga Satirical article 9th Grade
Africa” Wainaina
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe Novel 890 L
(Anchor Text)
“The White Man’s Rudyard Kipling Poem College Level
Burden”
“The Black Man’s H. T. Johnson Poem 7th Grade
Burden”
“The Second William Butler Yeats Poem 11th Grade
Coming”
“The Danger of a Chimamanda Ngozi TED Talk N/A
Single Story” Adichie
Aya Marguerite Abouet Graphic Novel 10th Grade

Annotated Text Selections

1. “Scramble for Africa” Political Cartoons

a. Summary: The three selected political cartoons that depict the idea of the “scramble
for Africa” display various interpretations and visualizations of European and North
American leaders attempting to divvy up the continent for political and financial gain.
Beginning the unit with a gallery walk, chalk talk, or Voice Thread created with these
political cartoons will assist students in contextualizing Things Fall Apart within the
larger narrative of groups of people taking over the continent of Africa with unsavory
motives.
b. Rationale for selection: While many of my students have, at some point, studied
colonization and the slave trade, they have not covered these topics recently, nor have
we addressed them with respect to literature this year. We have done art analysis
throughout the year when studying theme specifically, and they have been highly
engaged in this process. Thus, I wanted to incorporate some form of visual analysis to
pique interest in the unit, and these political cartoons provide an opportunity for
historical connections and rich visual art critiques. They will activate some form of
prior knowledge, whether that is from our previous study of the genre of political
cartoons or historical background knowledge.
c. Usage: Students will participate in either a gallery walk/chalk talk or create Voice
Threads on each of the included cartoons. My laptops may be pulled for testing
during this unit, so I will do the gallery walk/chalk talk if that is the case. Then, we
will have a whole class discussion about students’ interpretations of the visual texts,
including their observations and analysis of design elements. This will lead into a
discussion about authorship and perspective of the artists who created the political
cartoons, which will serve as a strong basis for our continuing conversations about
narration and authorship throughout Things Fall Apart.
d. Readability Considerations: These visuals will be fairly accessible for all levels since
we have completed political cartoon analysis before. They will serve as an access
point for activating prior knowledge and will provide a foundation for the next article
about the scramble for Africa. Depending on a student’s mastery of political cartoon
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analysis, the more nuanced observations and analyses may be more difficult for them
to access, but the gallery walk/chalk talk or Voice Thread will provide an initial
opportunity to think before participating in whole class discussion.
e. Source Images:
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2. “The Scramble for Africa,” Mike Kubic

a. Summary: This article covers the historical events that led to the scramble for
Africa, including the major historical players and effects of their economic and
political choices on the continent. The article details King Leopold’s role in being
the catalyst for the scramble for Africa and the resulting economic and political
effects of his actions. The article highlights the cruelty of European leaders during
this time and discusses the downfall of “New Imperialism,” adding context about
the American Republic of Liberia.
b. Rationale for selection: This article’s inclusion in the text set provides more
context to the political cartoons analyzed previously, and it discusses the
influence of many European countries on the continent in addition to the financial
and political considerations. This article will introduce more information to
contextualize Things Fall Apart and will build upon the discussion from the
political cartoon analysis.
c. Usage: Following the chalk talk or Voice Thread, I will provide students this
article to read and annotate for connections to the critical discussion of European
perspectives and influences on the African continent. Prior to the reading,
students will complete a KWL chart on imperialism in Africa, drawing from prior
knowledge and our discussion of the political cartoons from the previous lesson.
They will then read this article individually, and we will come back together as a
class to discuss what students learned and what they still want to uncover
throughout the unit.
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d. Readability Considerations: With an 11th grade reading level and Lexile level of
1440, this text could be more challenging for my students. It has both contextual
and word-level demands than some other texts we have read or will read. Given
its position in the sequencing of this unit, however, students will have a set
purpose for reading it, and the KWL chart/discussion about political cartoons will
provide students an opportunity to utilize their schema and make connections with
other content. Since this article is from CommonLit, though, I can turn on read
aloud and guided question options as scaffolds for students who may need more
guidance through the reading process.
e. APA Citation: Kubic, Mike (2016). The scramble for Africa. CommonLit.
3. “Diversity Day,” The Office, B. J. Novak
a. Summary: “Diversity Day,” episode 2 of season 1 of The Office, provides a
humorous approach to the idea of others determining or acting on a stereotype. In
the clip from 15:22-19:05, Michael Scott gives his employees a card with races,
ethnicities, or religions, has them place the cards on their foreheads, and then
instructs them to talk to each other in such a way that helps each individual guess
their “identity.” This video clip highlights two main concepts: 1) the lack of
understanding of minorities/marginalized groups that white people often possess
and 2) the coded language often used surrounding race.
b. Rationale for selection: Many of my students watch The Office, so this clip will
probably be familiar to them. While this clip presents the discomfort surrounding
discussions of race and difference, it will provide a more open space for students
to create conversation surrounding race. Our conversations about Things Fall
Apart and the other supporting texts will be centered around single stories, and
many of them will connect to current single stories about race in our society. This
approachable clip will provide a foundation for beginning those conversations
about single stories and race. This will connect to students’ prior knowledge of
The Office (for many of them), and it can connect to our earlier satire unit in terms
of the message that the show’s writer is trying to convey.
c. Usage: I plan to show this clip prior to having students read the satirical text
“How to Write About Africa.” While this video does not directly address the
historical content of the prior scramble for Africa associated texts, it will provide
a transition into discussing perspective, authorship, and identity. I plan to show
this clip at the beginning of class on the same day as presenting the “How to
Write About Africa” text in order to have one class session focused on satire in
order to then move into Things Fall Apart. Students will complete a six-word
synthesis across both this episode clip and “How to Write About Africa.” This
clip will serve as a starting point for conversation about perspective and
discussing race, albeit in a humorous manner. We will have a whole class
discussion over the clip, ultimately continuing to discuss it as paired with the
forthcoming satirical article by Binyavanga Wainaina.
d. Readability Considerations: While this video clip has some satirical elements that
could pose potential challenges for certain students, my classes have recently
engaged in a unit about the genre of satire. If needed, I will prompt students to
recall the elements of a satire. Otherwise, many students are familiar with The
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Office and other mockumentary style shows, so this clip and its content should be
approachable.
e. APA Citation:
Novak, B. J. (Writer), & Kwapis, K. (Director). (2005). Diversity day [Television
series episode]. In Daniels, G. (Executive Producer), The office. Los
Angeles, CA: Universal.
4. “How to Write About Africa,” Binyavanga Wainaina
a. Summary: This satirical article discusses “steps” for writing about Africa that
draws on commonly used tropes and stereotypes. It takes the reader step by step
through this writing process, starting with what the title of the article or book
should be and moving into depictions of the physical and social spheres of
African life. Wainaina focuses on the generalizations that are constantly made
about the African continent, instructing readers to intentionally blur our any
details that may make any Africans seem more like the Western audience who
will assumedly be reading this text. Finally, Wainaina digs at celebrity activists,
aid workers, and conservationists, instructing the author to paint them as “Africa’s
most important people.” And, as any good book about the ubiquitous “Africa”
does, the text should be ended with “Nelson Mandela saying something about
rainbows or renaissances.”
b. Rationale for selection: I chose to include “How to Write About Africa” because
it describes the qualities of nearly every text written about the continent, including
digs at Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, which is the novella that Things Fall
Apart counters. Since my students have not read Heart of Darkness, this article
can provide a basis of understanding for the importance of the perspective and
narrative presented in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Much like the clip from The
Office, this text builds on students’ prior knowledge about satire, and discussion
surrounding it can also link to prior discussions about the scramble for Africa
because we can talk about the structural and systemic reasons for the predominant
narratives surrounding Africa as a whole.
c. Usage: As mentioned previously, I will introduce this text on the same day as the
“Diversity Day” clip to focus on satire and perspective. I will have students read
this article in small groups as a support for understanding the satirical elements of
the text. Students will list the stereotypes they identify from this text on chart
paper, which we can then reference throughout our study of Things Fall Apart and
the remaining supporting texts. After this, students will be tasked with creating a
six-word synthesis across “Diversity Day” and this article in order to hone in on
the concept of perspective and the power of narrative.
d. Readability Considerations: With a 9th grade reading level, this text will be
comfortably accessible for a majority of my students. Since they have analyzed
satirical texts before, they have supports for what to look for when reading satires
and have questions to ask themselves when reading if needed. Not all students in
my class will have background knowledge about depictions of Africa in literature;
however, as this article is predicated on stereotypes, they will most likely have
existing pictures in their minds of Africa.
e. APA Citation:
Wainaina, Binyavanga. (2013). How to write about africa. Granta.
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5. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe (Anchor Text)

a. Summary: Published in 1958, Things Fall Apart is set in pre-colonial Nigeria and
follows Okonkwo, an Igbo man, through changes as Europeans arrive to his
region in the late nineteenth century. The novel is split into three parts: the first
describes Okonkwo’s family, personal history, and customs, while the second and
third portions describe the impacts of colonizers and Christian missionaries on the
society. The novel centers around the themes of change versus tradition, the
interpretations and impacts of masculinity, and the role of language as a marker of
cultural difference.
b. Rationale for selection: This text is the anchor of this unit because it is viewed as
the seminal response to Heart of Darkness and offers an authentic look into the
Igbo culture and customs since Achebe is from that region. As this unit is
centered around the concept of multiple perspectives and avoiding a single story,
utilizing a text that offers a strong counter narrative to the westernized depictions
of the African continent. This text builds upon the stereotypes satirized in “How
to Write About Africa,” so students will have prior knowledge of the specific
authorial choices Achebe made in order to convey a specific message.
Furthermore, students will have background knowledge on the scramble for
Africa from our political cartoon analysis and reading of the informative article
from Kubic.
c. Usage: As this is the anchor text of this unit, students will refer back to this text
throughout the remainder of the unit and will be tasked with making connections
between the previously introduced texts as well. Much of the initial reading of this
novel will be independent outside of class reading for these students since there
are more texts to accompany the novel, but we will have a variety of class
discussions about the reading including Socratic seminars that will link the
depictions of the Igbo clan to stereotypes of Africa, chalk talks or Padlet creations
about the themes that run through the novel, and activities connecting the content
of the novel to the historical context.
d. Readability Considerations: With a Lexile of 890 L, the language of this book will
be accessible to a majority of students. Additionally, the content will be accessible
due to the historical and satirical texts used to introduce the overarching concepts
associated with this text. Students will have activated their prior knowledge (or
created new schema) before reading Things Fall Apart and will thus have a
stronger basis of understanding and access for this text.
e. APA Citation:
Achebe, C. (1994). Things fall apart. Penguin Books: New York.
6. “The White Man’s Burden,” Rudyard Kipling
a. Summary: This text is a “call to action” for white men to go into any uncivilized
areas in order to save those who live there. He calls them to stop famine and
disease, and tells these men that they may not be liked, may not be helped, and
may die, but that they should go regardless. He claims that this is a test that will
be used to judge how committed they are to bringing the uncivilized into the light.
b. Rationale for selection: This poem presents the narrative that Achebe is trying to
counter in Things Fall Apart. This represents the white savior complex that is still
prevalent today, and it provides the single story that many white people,
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specifically white men in this case, held about their role in “saving” those who
don’t have access to “the light.” This text will build specifically upon the
knowledge of African stereotypes that students collected and engaged with when
reading the satirical article earlier in the unit and from their six-word synthesis of
authorship and single stories from their work across “Diversity Day” and the
satirical text.
c. Usage: This poem will be introduced after students have read chapter 16 of
Things Fall Apart when the white missionaries come into the village and begin
trying to take over and institute their own customs and beliefs into this society,
completely uninvited. Some critical questions that can be asked that tie to the
overarching goal of this unit include: “How do the speaker of the poem and the
missionary view non-white people? What set of assumptions do these white men
make? How does Achebe seek to challenge these assumptions through the village
people and their response to the missionaries?” (CommonLit). This will also be
paired with “The Black Man’s Burden” as a counter narrative.
d. Readability Considerations: According to a readability calculator, this poem is
linguistically at the college level, so students will engage in a paraphrasing
activity in order to digest the text. However, with their background knowledge of
stereotypes in Africa and the intentional placement of this poem with chapter 16
of Things Fall Apart, students will be able to activate background knowledge to
access the text.
e. APA Citation:
Kipling, R. (1899). “The white man’s burden.” CommonLit.
7. “The Black Man’s Burden,” H. T. Johnson
a. Summary: This text is a response to Kipling’s “The White Man’s Burden” and
discusses the problems in the black community and the fact that white people re
constantly looking for a group of people to conquer and “fix.”
b. Rationale for selection: This provides a counter narrative to Kiping’s “The White
Man’s Burden” and provides authorship from an African-American author,
adding more authenticity to the push against single stories in this unit. This will
connect to the discussion of “The White Man’s Burden” and can provide access to
the point of view of the clan members in Things Fall Apart.
c. Usage: This will be paired with “The White Man’s Burden” and students will
discuss the two together with Chapter 16 of the anchor text. Some critical
questions that will be introduced include: “How might Johnson’s poem reflect
some of the views of the villagers as they deride the missionaries? What
assumptions to the village people make about the missionaries that arrive to speak
to them? How do their views contrast to the speaker’s views of white people in
Johnson’s poem?” (CommonLit).
d. Readability Considerations: This poem is in the 7th grade reading range according
to a readability calculator, and will linguistically be accessible to students. The
content will also be accessible since it is being intentionally paired with Kipling’s
poem and with a specific chapter in Things Fall Apart.
e. APA Citation:
Johnson, H. T. (1899). “The black man’s burden.” CommonLit.
8. “The Second Coming,” William Butler Yeats
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a. Summary: Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” is an apocalyptic view on

Europe’s atmosphere and outlook following World War I. The poem discusses the
anarchy prevalent across the continent and invokes biblical imagery in order to
convey the common belief that this was the end of the world.
b. Rationale for selection: The anchor text’s title is derived from this famous poem.
The line “Things fall apart” is in the first stanza, and the poem has thematic
connections to the village depicted in Things Fall Apart, particularly after the
arrival of the Europeans. This poem will connect with students’ discussions about
the impacts of the scramble for Africa and their discussions about the implications
of European dominance of the continent.
c. Usage: This poem will be analyzed at the close of Things Fall Apart. This text
will primarily be used as a place to discuss themes and tone, focusing on the
depictions and impacts of chaos, tragedy, and omens. Students will complete a
SIFT (symbols, images, figurative language, tone and theme) analysis on the
poem in order to make it more accessible, and this will serve as a resource when
discussing tone and theme specifically.
d. Readability Considerations: This poem is in the 11th grade reading level band, and
it has a lot of figurative language that can make it difficult to access. Additionally,
since it is focused on post-WWI Europe, the connections to Things Fall Apart are
not immediately evident. As a result, students will complete a SIFT analysis on
the text in order to digest it more easily, and whole class discussion will focus on
connections between tone and theme.
e. APA Citation:
Yeats, W. B. (1919). “The second coming.”
9. “The Danger of a Single Story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
a. Summary: Adichie’s famous TED talk discusses the importance of looking at
multiple perspectives and avoiding letting a single story shape your world view.
She specifically discusses that stereotypes are not dangerous because they are
actually founded in truth, but their danger rather lies in the fact that they are
incomplete, making one story become the only story.
b. Rationale for selection: This TED talk perfectly encapsulates what I hope students
will take away from the study of this unit—always seek out more narratives, and
find the people who have authority and experience with a particular topic or
group. This talk does not address all the themes discussed throughout the unit, but
it does specifically address the largest takeaway for students. This builds upon all
of the discussions we will have on stereotyping and authorship.
c. Usage: I will show this TED talk at the end of the unit as a precursor to our final
Socratic Seminar. Students will watch the entire talk as a whole class and then
work in groups to create Socratic Seminar questions about the anchor texts, any
connections they see to the supplemental texts, and connections to this TED talk.
Students will be expected to write out initial responses to their own questions,
citing evidence from the texts in this set as rationale for their question creation.
d. Readability Considerations: This TED talk is presented in an easy to understand
manner, relying on repetition and narrative examples to support her points. I can
turn on closed captioning for any students who need visual supports.
e. APA Citation:
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Adichie, C. N. (2009). The danger of a single story. TED: London. YouTube.

10. Aya, Marguerite Abouet
a. Summary: This graphic novel follows the 19 year old protagonist Aya and two of
her friends as they navigate their coming-of-age. Set in 1978 Yopougon in
Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast, this graphic novel’s narration and visual
supports provide insight into daily life in this country in Africa as these three girls
navigate friends, romance, and future plans.
b. Rationale for selection: This graphic novel explores class and gender politics of
1978 Ivory Coast and provides more than a counter narrative to westernized
depictions of the continent; it is intentionally a beautifully designed romantic
comedy to prove that stories set in countries in Africa can do more than serve as
just a counter narrative—these stories can be engaging and satisfying outright.
This will build upon discussions of counter narratives and will connect back to the
power of visuals as analyzed in the initial political cartoon portion of this unit.
c. Usage: This graphic novel will come at the end of this unit as an extension text to
talk about the power of visuals when combatting single stories and will provide a
more modern example of the themes and topics discussed throughout the unit.
Students will analyze both the language choices and visual choices made by the
author and will then create their own comics on a particular section of Things Fall
Apart once they’ve received this as a mentor text.
d. Readability Considerations: This text is in the 10th grade reading band, and it
utilizes a casual tone throughout. Furthermore, it has extensive visual supports
due to its graphic novel format, and it will thus be accessible for a majority of my
students. Some have not read graphic novels before, so prior to reading this text, I
would have them analyze comics and discover the terminology associated with
graphic design layout through the comic creation activity used in ENED 6340 a
few weeks ago in order to grasp the intentionality of the design and have the
academic language to discuss the illustrative and narrative choices.
e. APA Citation:
Abouet, M., Oubrerie, C., & Dascher, D. (2008). Aya of Yop City. Montréal:
Drawn & Quarterly.