Gabriel Chan
Humanities 1c
Pre-colonial Compare/Contrast Essay
3/25/10
The Ibo people in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the Bantu settlers in modern-day Gabon have large differences in their lifestyle; While the Ibo and the Bantu both farmed and hunted for food, the Ibo’s society was militaristic and martial compared to the Bantu’s smaller fishing communities. Right after the Week of Peace in Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo and his family begin to plant the yam seeds. “. . . Okonkwo and his family went to the farm with baskets of seed-yams, their hoes and machetes, and the planting began” (Achebe 33). Okonkwo and his family begin to plant the common Ibo crop, yams. Since the entire family is involved in the planting, the yams have a high level of importance to the Ibo. While the Ibo grew yams and other crops, the Bantu in modern-day got food from oil palms, bananas, yams, fishing, and hunting (“Gabon”). The Ibo in Things Fall Apart grew crops that were similar to the Bantu, but the Bantu were also able to fish because they lived along the coast of Gabon. The Ibo and Bantu live in totally different places, but they share the similarity of farming yams.
Even though the Ibo and Bantu are similar in terms of farming, the Ibo’s villages in Umuofia were martial and organized, while the Bantu settled in small fishing villages along the coast with a lack of organization. In Things Fall Apart, a man from Mbaino kills a woman from Umuofia and Umuofia offers to wage war against them. “Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. It was powerful in war and in magic,. . .” (Achebe 11), so the people of Mbaino decided to avoid war with them. This shows that Umuofia’s neighbors fear Umuofia and the Ibo’s martial society. In contrast, the Bantu settlers in modern-day Gabon lived in small fishing villages because of the lack of threatening neighbors (“Gabon”, Africa: An Encyclopedia for Students). Even though the Bantu settlers did not need to develop a warrior society like the Ibo, the two groups of people both grew yams for survival.
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Gabriel,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good paragraph! You were very detailed and stated your opinions clearly. Yet although I see what you are comparing and contrasting, I am not quite sure what category it falls into. Is it political because it involves the structure and tendencies of the society or is it social?
-Ayluonne
Hey Gabe,
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was an excellent analysis. The way that you presented your ideas was very clear, and your evidence supported your ideas well. Also, your ideas were very well developed and concise. I think that one thing you could have done would have been to maybe introduce your evidence in a way to make it flow maybe a little bit better, but other than that I thought that this was a very well done paragraph. Great job!
Have a good one,
Luke
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI loved the way you organized your paragraph; one idea flowed naturally to the next. You used nice words or phrases to transition ideas, like "in contrast". But in your analysis/ conclusion I think you could have made your paragraph stronger by introducing a new idea.
Excellent work!
-Anna
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI think you did an excellent job both presenting and explaining your evidence. You really made your paragraph flow using transition word. Excellent work!
-walker
Hey Gabriel,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great and concise paragraph, you had some great word choices like militaristic, and the pieces of evidence you choose really proved your point and compared the two societies well. I think that your conclusion was good but that it didn't relate back to the beginning. But otherwise this was a good paragraph that really compared the two society well, good job!
-Kathleen
Gabriel,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very clear and well developed paragraph. I am very impressed that you showed all of the similarities and contrasts between the two cultures. I also like the fact that you repeated yourself on what the main topic was for clarification.
Great job.
-Nidalia
Gabriel,
ReplyDeleteYou paragraph was really fun to read. You got right to the compare and contrast of the two subjects, and gave fantastic examples as backup. I can tell you found great facts and quotes to back your contrasting as well. The citations and organization were terrific.
Excellent Work.
-Morgan
This is a good paragraph in how it really concentrates on very specific aspects of each civilization. A distinct beginning and end, and in all a strong piece of work
ReplyDeleteThis is a great paragraph in how it concentrates on a specific aspect of both tribes. It's structured well, and has a distinct intro/conclusion. In all it's a very strong piece of work.
ReplyDeleteMarissa
(sorry! it didn't 'publish' the first time so i rewrote but including my name) -M
ReplyDeleteHey Gabe,
ReplyDeleteI thought that your paragraph compared and contrasted these two tribes very well, and the word choice was excellent. Every piece of work should have a convincing title(at least i like that)! Overall great job!
-Jonny
Gabriel,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very solid piece of work. You covered both aspects of compare and contrast very well, and your quotes were all very well chosen. The flow of your words was also very smooth.
Nice Job!
-Andreas
the paragraph had a good flow to it and as said before, used good transition words. i dont see all too much you could fix. Ted
ReplyDeleteIt was very good. You were specific and said Ibo, not they, and were specific in your examples. However, you did not italicize or quote "Things fall Apart" in your topic sentence. "or The Ibo people in the book Things Fall Apart". You need to watch out for small mistakes like these, like problems in syntax or grammar, but otherwise, a thoughtful and well written essay.
ReplyDelete-harry sherman
ReplyDelete