Things Fall Apart Character Poem
Students were asked to write a poem of 40 lines or more based on a character in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo, the novel’s main character, is a tragic hero whose strengths become weaknesses. The reader watches as Okonkwo’s pride takes the form of anger, which causes his family and tribe to lose respect for him. Students were asked to locate and list at least five references in the novel, including page numbers, to either Okonkwo and his anger or another character and their personality traits. For example, “When Okonkwo heard that he [Ikemefuna] would not eat any food he came into the hut with a big stick in his hand and stood over him while he swallowed his yams, trembling.” (Pg. 27-28)