Friday, March 6, 2009

Jaguar Destroyers

Today I collected the counselor assignment. Then we worked on proverbs. We completed the following activity in the notebook:

Pick three proverbs from Things Fall Apart to study more closely

For each proverb:
1. Write the meaning of the proverb (explain it using your own words)
2. Write the relevance to the novel (how it is used, why it is used
3. Consider its relevance or irrelevance to today’s world. Can you think of a time when the wisdom of the proverb was applied to a modern situation? Can you think of a time when the wisdom of the proverb should have been applied and wasn’t?

Some proverb possibilities:

“The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.” p. 8
“If a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.” p. 8
“Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break.” p. 19
“A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.” p. 19
“A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing.” p. 20
“An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.” p. 21
“The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did.” p. 21
“Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.” p. 22
“Looking at a king’s mouth, one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breast.” p. 26
“Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.” p. 26
“When a man says yes his chi says yes also.” p. 27

Pages 52-109 must be read by Tuesday. Since Monday night we are supposed to unplug, you will have a good portion of the hour on Monday to read in class.