Africa+Period+Four+Day+One

Welcome to our Africa Unit…PERIOD FOUR This unit is designed to change your mind about everything you know about Africa. We will eventually get to a truly important novel titled Things Fall Apart, but before we do, we will explore the history that inspired Chinua Achebe to write his internationally recognized story of a man named Okonkwo.

It is well known that writing is a powerful tool in influencing perceptions. As well, power is also an insurmountable and intimidating force. When the powerful are also controlling the writing and thus, creating only one single story, the impact is nearly irreversible-nearly, but not impossible.

[Requires a notecard for each student] Activating Class Activity: Africa is a fascinating place with lot of interesting topics. You will need to choose a topic to do a one page min/max research paper about. You can choose anything you like that you think will be interesting for the group. Use your iPad to search for a topic. You will have only five minutes. When you have found the general area you plan to explore (that is unique from any other person at your table), write that down on a note card and hand it to your table captain.

Class Activity: Listen to Mrs. Overly's [|Powerpoint on Images of Africa] Join with one other table to categorize topics as a larger group. [|Let's Save Africa]

Reminder Racism is the act of taking away power and dignity from a person because of their skin color. The history of racism is deeply routed in the 15th century exploration of Africa. Read the following passages and pay attention to the factors that contributed to the negative categorization of the African continent.

Class Activity: Images have a huge impact on our perception and when it comes to our perception of the world, our image has been wrong for hundreds of years. For hundreds of years, the illustration of the globe was skewed and until recently, most people were misled about the size of spread of land, especially when it came to Africa. [|__Explore this website__] and [|__this collection of old African maps__] and consider what conclusions people would assume based on these renditions. Would these maps contribute to negative perceptions about Africa? Why and how?

17th Century Description of Africans



During the Scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century, European powers claimed stake to virtually the entire continent. Their knowledge of the continent was limited to a coastal view from aboard a ship for which the statesmen and diplomats never personally made the voyage to the area. Regardless, the domination of Africa was a fast spreading contagion and competing powers in Europe hoped to expand their global testosterone with quick and brutal occupation of African lands. The maps used to carve up the African continent were grossly inaccurate and paid no attention to the tribal boundaries that had been established for thousands of years. The new boundaries cut through 190 cultural groups thus separating families, kingdoms, and languages. Worse, the boundaries often grouped warring tribes together into very close proximity which would, in later years, result in the modern day civil wars and genocide that we currently see on the news (Darfur, Rwanda, Sierra Leone).

Of course, at the time, the Africans fought back. But their own rivalries prevented a divided front and even some of the more successful battles for their homeland which lasted eight years ended in white control. Some tribal leaders, in hopes to protect their people, made treaties, but these treaties had no value and European/native alliances were typically only used to help the Europeans move deeper into the continent where the Europeans would then force the natives to work. Smori Ture, Ndebele, Mandume, and other African chiefs whose family had led their respective tribes for hundreds of years would be annihilated along with millions of Africans around the continent. Other chiefs fled, only to die in exile, were banished, sold to slavery, or they 'cooperated' with Imperialists in a short lived ransom deal to protect their family. Kingdoms were lost. Stories forgotten. Names of heros washed away with blood.

Most Europeans paid no mind to the shifting of Africa, that is until WWI and many countries including France and Britain 'paid off' their military leaders with huge acreage in Africa. Before long, the African kingdoms would be dominated in white rule. In fact, 87% of the land in South Africa was designated for white farmers only and with the battles slowly subsiding, some Europeans saw Africa as an adventurous undiscovered territory...or a real estate opportunity (whatever you want to call it).

So how did European citizens support the slaughter of millions, the destruction of culture, and the exploitation of free labor when most European countries took great pride in their respect for civility? Much of the support came from the European's desire to 'help' the natives of Africa. After a few documents and a book or two described the Africans, much of the world saw Africa as a deprived, godless, and desperate nation. They viewed their countries and leaders as humanitarian heros who would bring Christianity, education, and civility to a world of lawless humans who were only slightly above the behavior of animals. The rubber, cocoa, diamonds, uranium, and poaching offered private companies great gains and the vast majority of Europeans who worked to cultivate Africa did so under the pretense of 'good intentions'; thus, their infiltration of the communities was subtle and appearingly peaceful. That is, until it was too late.

Assignment One Descriptions of Africans can be found right [|__HERE.__] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Background: Leo Africanus was a white explorer who was one of the first to venture into some parts of Africa. Admittedly, he did not go very deep into northern Africa or even visit the south, east, or west. However, being the only written account of the undiscovered land, he had quite an advantage and no challengers to his ‘findings’. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Read and complete: Create a two column list: one with virtues and one with vices of Afrikans. While reading, create a list with examples from the text. How could this description of Africa contribute to the perception of Africa in the 1500’s? Can you notice any contradictions or peculiar observations worth mentioning? How would certain details listed initiate the oversimplified categorization of Africa. Write a 1-2 page soft reaction paper.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">A reaction paper requires you to expose yourself to knowledge and then think about the significance of that knowledge. Look at the work with a critical eye. Make judgements, comparisons, consider how certain examples of what you find contribute to something bigger or minimize something positive. Consider the time period, the author, the audience. And then, when you’ve really thought this through, identify your position. What is your take away from this experience? Shape your thesis around that conclusion that you drew on your own.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Introduce the work, provide efficient background to move into your thesis, and identify your thesis while keeping in mind the page length.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Support your thesis with examples that you will embed into your essay instead of using long quotes. As you list your examples, take time after each one to analyze the significance (so what) and tie back to your thesis. Remember that you only get points for the analysis sentences. You’ll need some quotes and basic summary to get to your analysis but it’s your analysis that earns you an A.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Close your paper with a very healthy ‘so what’ that explains the value or significance of this experience.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Include your outline, cover page, and original title on this 1-2 page soft paper.