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Essay Instructions: I NEED A TOTAL OF 300 WORD TO TWO ESSAY SEE BELOW:

1) I NEED 150 WORD RESPONSE OR COMMENTS: (REFLECTION PAPER)

In THINGS FALL APART, Achebe presents a variety of characters, to show the differing perspectives of the clansmen, as well as the white missionaries. By first examining each character’s perspective, then looking at how they interrelate with each other, we can get a better understanding of the impact of Christianity on the traditional African culture.
Mr. Brown has a style of getting along with others, and getting to know one another. He gets people to listen to him, by taking time to talk to the people, and learn about their beliefs, as he “…trod softly on [the clan‘s] faith“(Achebe 178). He even earns the respect of the clan, and they present him with an elephant tusk, which they consider a sign of dignity and rank(Achebe 179) He looks for common ground, making the connection of his one God, and the clan’s god Chukwu, and he doesn’t deride them, when they disagree(Achebe 179). Instead of expecting people to convert just because he tells them to, he instead elicits support through his successes, like teaching people to read and write. More people were attracted to the school(Achebe 181).
Reverend Smith sees things as black and white, and considers the conversion of people as a mortal conflict(Achebe 184). He encourages zealousness, and absolute adherence to his religion. His is a style of exclusion, instead of inclusion. He believes that “To fill the Lord’s holy temple with an idolatrous crowd clamoring for signs was a folly of everlasting consequence”(Achebe 184)
Okonkwo is a traditionalist. He is tied to the traditions of the past, and will stick to them no matter what. He fights against change, ridicules those who don’t agree with him, and sees any change in tradition as a threat to the life of the clan.
Obierika is the type of person that takes what comes, and is more the type to wait and see. He is indicative of the majority of people in the village. If the new religion does not directly effect him, he is not up-in-arms to fight it.
Nwoye is disgusted with the old traditions, especially when it comes to the killing of Ikemefuna(Achebe 147). The new religion appeals to him, and he is representative of the clansman that embrace the new religion.
Mr. Brown’s evangelical style resonates well with the clansmen. They can tolerate people of a different opinion, provided that person respects their own. They may not agree with Mr. Brown, but they respect him. The stalwart traditionalists, like Okonkwo do not feel threatened, and the clansman that seek out the new religion, like Nwoye, are allowed to pursue their own course.
Reverend Smith has a confrontational style. His style will not accept dissention, and it pushes the tensions to a breaking point. By attempting to destroy the traditional way of life, he force Okonkwo to defend himself. When he figures out that his way of life has ended, he takes his own life, instead of living in the new world.
With the white men having the superior military might, the outcome of colonization is obvious. The white man comes, the Nwoyes convert, the Okonkwos are destroyed or driven away, and the Obierikas of the clan, the fence riding middle-men, go with the flow.

Achebe, Chinua. THINGS FALL APART. New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1994.

2) I NEED 150 WORD RESPONSE OR COMMENTS:

One very simple difference between Western and African art is that of classification. Western art displays two types of art that they create. The two categories are applied and fine arts respectively. In the fine arts category we see sculptures, paintings, and things of that nature. These are the things that we typically study in class. The second category involves furniture, ceramics, and things of that nature. African art doesn't have those two categories. In African art, things of every day life, may come to someone as being beautiful. The things that they see as beautiful may be more meaningful to them than a piece on the wall of a museum. The African societies looked highly upon pieces such as masks figurines. I think it's important to do something that interests you. There'd never be anything new out if everyone kept on making changes or variations to things that have already been created. One of the pieces of African art I looked at was the Ngady Mwaash mask. It's a mask that females wear during tribal dances to show respect and honor for the deceased members of their society. I think it's important to have such traditions or rituals because I think it's important to show respect for those who have come before us and have laid the road for us to walk on. This piece of art is just a small example showing the distinction between African art and other art forms. I really like African art because it shows and has a sense of pride and meaning to it. While other forms of art have meaning as well, I think African art is very well done.

Essay Instructions: I NEED 600 WORD ESSAY: (Writer can pick from one of the art mentioned below)

ESSAY GUIDELINES:
Identify the one basic difference between Western and African Art that this unit has focused on. Select one piece of African art from the online presentation Art & Life in Africa and discuss how it illustrates this difference and shapes your understanding of the world of traditional West Africa. Please note that the slide show alone will not give you your answer.
This question requires you to make connections between various ideas presented throughout this unit. I will not grade responses that are rely only on quotes from the slide show.


ART 1 : ( ASANTE PEOPLE, GHANA FIGURE)
Newborn/Infancy 2
An African woman's roles are as life bearer, nurturer, and source of generations. For an African woman in a traditional rural community, the chief measure of success in life is her ability to bear many children. The very existence of the family and clan depends on women's ability to bear children, who will provide security for their parents in old age and who will continue to nourish the spirits of the ancestors through sacrificial offerings. As a result, much African art is directed toward encouraging the fertility of women. Many shrines are devoted to spirits that provide the blessings of fertility, and these frequently contain sculpture and other objects devoted to the concept of fertility.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/chapters/KML.html


ART 2 : (Marriage and Eligibility 1)
Marriage is a key moment that follows immediately after initiation among many peoples because both events serve to break the bonds of the individual with childhood and the unmarried state and to reintegrate the individual into the adult community. Among the Woyo people a young woman is given a set of carved pot lids by her mother when she marries and moves to her husband's home. Each of the lids is carved with images that illustrate proverbs about relations between husband and wife. If a husband abuses his wife in some way or if the wife is unhappy, she serves the husband's supper in a bowl that is covered with a lid decorated with the appropriate proverb. She can make her complaints public by using such a lid when her husband brings his friends home for dinner. The carved figure on this lid represents a cooking hearth with a pot on three stones. Divorce requires only the scattering of the stones, and it takes three to support the pot.

Essay Instructions: Traditional African Art: Identify and discuss in some detail the features of the sculptures and masks which make them characteristic of the tribal group that made them. You should look at both stylistic elements and content or subject matter, and should consider materials used as well (as a possible defining or characteristic feature).

Essay Instructions: This paper is a based on a study tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, located in Washington D.C. a critiqueof at least three pieces of african art displayed at the Museum and, the Blacks in Wax Museum located in Balitmore MD focus should be on at least three exhibits.


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