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Character Profile Template
Introductory Information
Character’s Name
Albert Chinua Achebe
Birth–Death Years
16thNovember 1930-21stMarch 2013.
Picture of Character: Find a digital photo of the individual and paste it here.
Most Noted For
Introduction of the African literature into the global literature arena.
Character Profile Report
Biographical Information: Include life experiences that impacted thoughts and impact on education.
Chinua Achebe was born in Igbo, Nigeria, in a family of peasants and had to overcome many hurdles during his education life. Achebe lived in the time of the Biafra war. The group discouraged people from going to school and punished those who defied the order. Through an uncle, Achebe preserved his dream of acquiring formal education in the then conservative society of Nigeria. Achebe witnessed the effects of bad leadership and corruption during his youth, especially among the African leaders. He was among the few Africans who were interested in empowering the girl child to attain education in a society where there were very few feminists. Reflectively, these earlier experiences are included in his books, such as Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, and Arrow of God, among others.Achebe believed that education would be the only key to breaking the poverty cycle in Africa and other parts of the world. His struggle to get the best education has made him one of the most celebrated novelists and a poet in the world. Through Achebe’s works, the entire globe can relate to Africa by reviewing his novels and poems (Sallah and Okonjo-Iweala, 2003).
Historical/Political Context: Explain the broader historical events that shaped the character’s era. This is not about the person’s accomplishments.
The Biafra war and the coming of the Catholic missionaries into Igbo, his home town, changed the era of education when Achebe was a young person. The missionaries empowered and influenced the young Achebe to acquire formal education despite being declared an idler and good for nothing man by his peers. Chinua admired the way the missionaries would read and write in more than one language. Besides, they brought modernity, which Achebe was yearning for. Achebe wanted anything that could help him escape the Biafra war. He was not happy with the killings, maiming, and wanton destruction of property by the members of the Biafra outfit. These factors motivated the urge for formal education in the mind of the young Achebe (Emenyonu, 2004).
Beliefs on Education: Describe what thoughts were promoted about education.
Achebe promoted the need for freedom, good governance, and respect for human rights as elements of a good education. Achebe was consistent on the need to empower the African literature as a tool for promoting effective citizens and dynamic individuals who think beyond personal ambitions. Until his death in 2013, Achebe was the leading colored person promoting African literature at the global level.
Impact on Education:How did this person’s beliefs and actions affect education?
The beliefs of Achebe have transformed the world of literature and the scope of its impact on society. Achebe contributed towards transforming the significance of education in African and the rest of the world as an empowerment tool. For this role, he has received several literary legend awards at the local and international levels (Achebe, 2000).
Others’ Criticisms: Summarize the criticisms of contemporaries, historians, and scholars.
Several African historians have criticized the literary works of Chinua Achebe, citing disrespect of the African culture in his writings. For instance, Wole Soyinka, another renowned African educationalist, notes that Chinua Achebe’s works are meant to demonize the African culture (Sallah and Okonjo-Iweala, 2003). However, most of the scholars agree that Chinua Achebe’s literary works have transformed the genre of literature as education for empowerment and tracing the history of cultures as a development tool.
Your Critique: What ideas or actions do you support or reject?
I agree with the works of Chinua Achebe and their impact on the transformation of the literature genre. Specifically, his elaborate works on African literature, such as the novel Things Fall Apart, has a collection of rich literary styles that can widen knowledge on literature metamorphosis.
Reference List
List at least 3 references using proper APA format.
Achebe, C. (2000). Home and exile. London, UK: Oxford University Press. Emenyonu, E. (2004). Emerging perspective of Chinua Achebe. Cape Town, South Africa: African World Press. Sallah, T., and Okonjo-Iweala, N. (2003). Chinua Achebe, teacher of light: a biography.Cape Town, South Africa: African World Press.
