In class to day we started by looking at this handout about proverbs. We used the first page as a sort of quiz - to see if anyone in the class knew all 25 proverbs. On the second page there is a list of paired proverbs - ones that seem to contradict each other. We discussed the nature of proverbs - where they come from, who believes them - then came up with a list of some other ones we know and use. I then asked you to work with a partner to find a proverb from the first two chapters of the novel, to explain what it means, and to think about what it tells us about the Ibo people.
We then talked about cultural knowledge. For every text we read - a new video game, a sport, a movie, a book, etc. - we always have to figure out what is "true" in that world. What are the rules? What are the expectations? What are the ways people act towards each others? What are their beliefs? We then again looked at the first two chapters to identify places where there are things specific to this culture that we do not yet understand. For example, we talked about the ceremony of the kola nut. To add to this, I played this video featuring some music played on the ogene, like Unoka enjoyed:
