Welcome to Module 10, the last module of this course! (1.5 – 2 hours)
Here’s what you need to do by next class:
- Work on your project! It’s due to my email by May 10th, 11:59pm. You will have an opportunity to revise it and submit it as a final version by May 20th, 11:59pm, but the version you send by May 10th should be a finished product to the best of your ability. See under Assessment (main menu) for detailed instructions!
- Read from the Anthology (the very last readings for this course!):
– “Contemporary World Literature” (7 pages)
– “The Headstrong Historian” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2009 (12 pages inc. author intro) also available here.
*references to slavery, death, some graphic language* - Watch the lecture below.
- Come up with one last question about the readings (or answer one of the questions I ask on the slides) and write in the comments below: Has anything confused you? Struck you? Awed you? Revolted you? Interested you, in any way? We will use your questions for discussion in class.
NB: you can’t write the same question as anyone else that has already commented before you. - Fill out your very last exit ticket so I can count your participation. Bear in mind that we still have two class meetings after the last module (they are workshop-style meetings designed to help you finish your project). See the Schedule for details!
Here is the lecture (captions included):
**Please pay extra attention to structure advice for your project (towards the end of the video)!**
Below are the PDF slides:
Wanna do more?
- The full Ted Talk of “The danger of a single story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2009: https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en
- Another famous speech by Adichie, “We should all be feminists, ” 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
- NY Times article “Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: ‘My Madness Will Now Bare Itself'” by Sarah M. Broom, May 9, 2021: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/09/books/review/notes-on-grief-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie.html
*All CUNY students have free access to the NY Times. Click here to see how.* - Time article “‘Stories Can Be War’: How Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Viral Essay Has Implications Far Beyond the Literary World” by Annabel Gutterman, July 1, 2021: https://time.com/6076606/chimamanda-adichie-akwaeke-emezi-trans-rights-essay/
- Audio interview of the writer on her latest book Notes on Grief, 2021: https://www.wypr.org/show/midday/2021-08-30/notes-on-grief-by-nigerian-writer-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie
- “Humanising History” – A Royal Society of Arts talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Ellah Allfrey, 15 May 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lx1BDdNF4w&ab_channel=RSA
Feel free to write a second comment or reply to any of your classmates’ comments if you feel like saying anything else about the module content 🙂
Congratulations on completing the last module, and thank you for your amazing contributions throughout the semester! I look forward to reading/watching/listening to your projects!
Sometimes, I am stuck in the danger of a single story from both sides. Although I can’t control others’ minds, I can do is not stereotype or criticize something I’m not familiar with. There is still a lot waiting for me to discover.
PS: Thank you so much, professor! I really enjoy this course.
It’s a sound philosophy, Laura! And thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the course!
This isn’t too much of a question. I just find it interesting that the daughter of the son who became westernized and rejected his culture in favor of European teachings and styles, was the one to become heavily focused in her culture. She even changed her name from European to her traditional style. I just would like to know, what sparked it so deeply in her to learn and change so much about herself that she even lost her husband and still pursued it.
Overall, great story and module.
Excellent point, Uzair! It’s one of the biggest dilemmas of this story around national identity. My guess is that people look for a sense of belonging, especially in countries with dual identities, so perhaps they pick the one that they think will give them greater chances to belong, even though that may not be the identity that feels most authentic. But there are so many personal reasons that can influence one’s sense of identity.
When you say “Losing identity in travel”, how exactly would we define identity? Is this related to morals? Beliefs? Character?
Good question, Kadija, it can be all of them! Somehow, it felt like Nwamgba’s son travelled away from Nigeria, but I’m not actually sure he does, at least, not physcially. In his mind, though, he travels to a Western, Anglophone country via his Irish and British masters. The whole westernized identity that they inculcate in him is akin to travelling and experiencing a change in his sense of self. He may lose a bit of his Nigerian national identity in the process, including a sense of belonging to Nigerian morals, beliefs, and character, which is what so pains Nwamgba. I think it’s a scary thing as a parent to feel your children slipping away and becoing “foreign”, but I assume it is somewhat inevitable.
Do you think Nwamgba later regretted her decision to send Anikwenwa to school after he began shunning their culture?
Great question, Shayla! One of the biggest in this story, I would say. Up to interpretation, of course, but it’s definitely suggested by the text.
How do you think the fact that this story being fiction really affected the way it was taken in by most people? Does a story being fiction sometimes add to the experience?
Do you think being educated and moving forward in life can be done without losing ones cultural roots?