Harkness Method

Harkness Method Reflection

1. I definitely need to work on speaking more during a discussion. I do participate every once in a while, but sometimes I tend to forget and then class is over. (spoke once)

2. I didn’t talk at all on this one, and I think this was the first time that I really tried Harkness method ever. (didn’t speak)

3. I remember this day, I had a couple ideas, but they all seemed to get pretty much covered before I got a chance to really speak. (spoke once)

4. Absent

I think that Harkness method is just one that I have to adjust to. It is not the way my English class was taught last year and is a very diverse and unique method. I have never been much of a talker in class, but I get a lot from listening and taking notes. I try my best to voice my ideas when I have them, if they aren’t said before I get a chance. I am going to try to work on thinking about this method as I am reading. I will then try to come to class with multiple ideas that I am confident about sharing.

Nervous Conditions p35-77

I can heavily relate to the way that Tambu feels at the start of chapter four. When she is on her way to a new place, she resolves to leave the old peasant, dirty version of her behind. Whenever I move or go somewhere completely new for me, I always try to be different. Not necessarily different in a way that is not myself, because I believe that would be wrong. I try to be a different, better version of who I already was. This may involve the way I act, the way I present myself, or even the way I think. Although this change is a healthy one, I'm not sure I am in agreement with Tambu's idea of leaving the "peasant" version of herself behind once she leaves for the missions. I think that this is what Nyasha did, and why Tambu grew to dislike hanging out with her back at home. She became an awkward outsider with her family because she gave up on their culture.
YOu can never get rid of where you came from, it is something you will always be and have to live with. Although, this does seem like a theme hat may reappear throughout the novel.

Chimamanda Adichie's monologue

I found Adichie's monologue incredibly interesting. Her thoughts on the "single story" are relatable to anybody. Everybody falls victim to assuming things about a society. I know that I, for one, was surprised when she said that she came from a standard middle class family given her education and intelligent sound  of speech. The whole "single story" concept really stuck with me. The fact that she, a fully educated woman, also fell victim to that idea of being so impressionable just by a couple stories was incredible.
Personally, I have only been to Mexico on a mission trip, so it is a given that the area I visited was an impoverished one. But, that is my only true reference to what Mexico is like. It is therefore very difficult to picture any wealthy are of Mexico, although I do know that many exist. Our minds are so incredibly impressionable by just one point of view. I know deep down that of course the area I visited was one of the worse areas, but it is still the only personal reference that comes to mind when Mexico is mentioned.
Then there is the idea that Adichie spoke of how she didn't think that there were anybody but white people in books. It is tragic that the only books accessible to her were not even relatable to her. She thought that in order to write, she would have to write about something she had no connection to and couldn't relate to whatsoever. This is ironic because that is the complete opposite of what writing is. Any decent writing is rooted from a deep seeded and personal connection to the topic. It is easily distinguishable those books that are based on passion rather than based on fact.

P121-158

Upon first sight of the cover of the copy of TFA that I was given, I thought it wasn't anything special. But, after reading nearly the whole book, I really feel there is not a more accurate depiction of the novel. The cover shows whom I assume is Okonkwo as part of the desert earth. This is perfect because it shows his oneness with Africa and more importantly with Umuofia (in the beginning of the book at least). The cracked desert earth is a great portrayal of his life gradually cracking to pieces. It also shows that each crack leads to another then another and so forth until you get this intricate pattern of distraught. The cover implies Okonkwo is literally cracking into pieces.The color scheme is also an ideal depiction of the mood of the book. The fact that it is all brown warns the reader of a not necessarily uplifting book. There is absolutely no false advertising going on on this cover. It tells you in a very straightforward manner that this is a story of a man's trials hitting him one after the other.

P83-118

I was very intrigued by the circumstances under which possession of the children is given. On page 69, Machi speaks to the point that it would be madness if children belonged to their mother and her family, as opposed to a father and his. Then, in the most recent reading, Achebe throws about the term "her children" or "her daughter" (91). I believe that this ownership depends on the situation. If they talk about the children as one of a man's many possessions, then they belong to the father. But, on the other hand, if Achebe is speaking about a relationship or responsibility to a child, they are most definitely the woman's.

I find this switch of male/female ownership interesting. It gives the impression that the Women of Umuofia do just as much, if not more, work than most men. Yet they still receive much less credit, if any credit at all. Another surprising event was when Ekwefi chased after her daughter. This was the first time in the book that any of the Umuofians showed any incredible connection to a family member, let alone a mother daughter relationship. They rarely even show a loving and meaningful relationship between friends. There most certainly is not any kind of sacred bond between the average husband and wife.

The fact that Ekwefi chased after Chielo with Ezinma was also intriguing because Ekwefi directly disregarded Chielo's instruction. Umuofia was a village where I thought commands and beliefs such as these were most definitely to be abided by. This is the first sign I have read of any disobedience of commands.

This chapter definitely was a turning point where a lot of things

Pages 44-82

Through this reading I recognized the alternating pattern of failures and successes in a generation. Okonkwo's father, Unoka, was an awful person in the eyes of this civilization. He was in debt to everyone that was ever stupid enough to lend him money. Although he was a failure, his son Okonkwo became largely successful. His success began when he threw "the Cat." According to this society, a measure of strength such as this proves a citizen's success. But then, following the alternating pattern, Okonkwo fathered a child whom, in his eyes, is a bad son. So bad, in fact, that Okonkwo wishes that Nwoye was a daughter because he acts more like a woman should rather than a man. In Umuofia calling a man a woman, or anything to that degree, is a very grave insult indeed. It is especially serious in Okonkwo's eyes because his father, of whom Okonkwo is very ashamed of, was frequently called a woman.

This alternating theme of success can very often be held true to any society. Many people try to do anything but be their parents. Through this, they become not necessarily failures, but certainly vastly different people. The term failure or success, however, falls in the eyes of the present society. For example in Things Fall Apart, how the men that acted "womanly" were regarded as failures.

This only leads into the clear theme of a patriarchal society. Throughout what I have read so far in the novel, women are just becoming more and more inferior. By page 69, they disregard other cultures that are female dominant as insane. When told that there are some cultures in which a woman and her family own the children, as opposed to the father and his family, Machi is flabbergasted. He replies saying that it "cannot be...you might as well say that the woman lies on top of the man when they are making the children." Given that a) I'm a woman and b) I live in the 21st century, my views are completely biased. It was a completely different time back then, but it is still difficult to look back on this story without hindsight. Hindsight is, after all, 20-20.