SOAN 309: Colonization and Development
DUE IN CLASS WEDNESDAY 9/29
Last Updated 9-22-99
Write a 4 to 5 page (1200-1800 word), typed, double-spaced, essay on ONE of the topics
below. Be sure to consult the general instructions, How to Write
Essays for Professor Hall.
Paper form: NO Cover pages or binders Name, course, paper, & topic in the upper LEFT-hand
corner:
Your Name
SOAN 309
RP 1, TOPIC X, where X = topic letter
Page 1
If you do not know how to set running headers, you may write it in by hand!
References: For references to class texts you need only put
author and page in parentheses [e.g., "blah, blah, blah...." (Wolf, p. 133)].
For references to material OUTSIDE OF COURSE TEXTS use " blah, blah,
blah,....." (Smith & Weson 1938, p. 45) and a bibliography at the end (NOT on a
separate page).
Remember: Essays are FORMAL exercises, no slang,
no contractions, correct spelling and grammar are required. In your FIRST draft,
work at getting your ideas on paper. In your SECOND draft, work on getting the
argument in order. In your THIRD draft work on grammar, spelling etc. Keep the
introduction, BRIEF, get right to the point. Write it last!
*** NO Bibliography for course books ***
** Label Your Topic**
GENERAL: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
is a novel about what an advanced horticultural society in west Africa, the Ibo (sometimes
spelled Igbo). It describes their life and the disruption of their society due to the
arrival of British colonial powers in the late nineteenth century. The novel is somewhat
vague about the time because Achebe sought to convey the tremendous impact of colonization
on African societies and wanted his novel to be general enough to apply to more than the
Igbo case. The following topics ask you to reflect on the sociology of what happened and
why. Helpful readings are Shannon summary of incorporation into world-systems (pp.
128-129) and parts of Chapters 2 & 7 of Wolf. Do NOT repeat the above information.
Start right in on your answer.
Topic A: Analyze the events portrayed in Things
Fall Apart in terms of colonization. How do Umuofians resist incorporation?
Which forms of resistance work and which do NOT work? WHY? What degree of resistance is
possible? Why did they not simply engage them in palm oil, or other goods, trade and leave
their religion alone? Would the end result have been any different if trade rather than
religion had been the first type of contact and colonization? Why or why NOT?
Topic B: Analyze the role of religion, a
type of information, in the incorporation of Umuofia into the British dominated
world-system. Are the events that happen a result of the content or the form
of the religion? [One way to think about this is, would the story have been different if
the missionaries had been Islamic or Buddhist?]. Why are missionaries able to work in
Umuofia? How do the people resist? Is the harm that is done to Umuofians [define and
explain what is harm] avoidable? How & Why or Why NOT?
Topic C: Some people argue that while
colonization may have been harmful at times, it generally benefits people in the long run.
If you accept that the portrayal of events in Things Fall Apart is
accurate, how would you respond to this argument? Is it appropriate for members of a more
complex society to decide what is good "in the long run" for members of less
complex societies and force them to accept change? Or, is all the religion and "good
for them in the long run" merely a coverup for a much more insidious economic agenda?
Note: the answer to "WHY" is the heart of each essay.
That is, logic and evidence, not position on the issue, is the key factor. Try to think of
arguments FOR & AGAINST your position, and state why those FOR it are more persuasive.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at thall@mail.colgate.edu