TFA+Reflections+Christina

After each literature circle discussion, please complete the following reflection in complete sentences on your page. (Clearly label each discussion reflection.) **What were the two most interesting ideas or insights that were discussed in your group meeting today?** Describe the ideas and insights in as much detail as you can, noting the ideas and connections various members came up with as well as any follow-up questions that were asked. (This reflection needs to be a paragraph in length.)

-One of the most interesting ideas discussed in our group was whether Okonkwo loved his family or not. One of our members said that Okonkwo did not truly love his family, but he just had a sense of obligation towards his family. Other members said that Okonkwo actually does care about his family members, especially the children, but he just does not express his emotions in a correct way. For instance, it is mentioned in page 33 that Okonkwo understood that the boys were too young to understand how seed-yams worked, but he still wanted his son to be a great man/farmer. Another interesting idea was about the Evil Forest. In the book, a lot of peopleㅡsick people, people who broke the Week of Peace, etc.ㅡwere driven to the Evil Forest. Some members said that the people of Igbo society feared nature, so that a forest was considered "evil." Some people said that the Evil Forest was just a fable; they said it is not because of the fear for nature that a forest was called evil, but there must be a story behind the Evil Forest.
 * Reflection 1**

-First, we discussed about how the Igbo society is obsessed with religious beliefs to go to the extent of killing an innocent life. This topic was extremely controversial with a question of whether we have the right to judge a culture positively or negatively according to our personal views. In my point of view, killing an innocent person is morally wrong. However, we do not know what is morally right or wrong since morals are decided upon our personal beliefs. Furthermore, we discussed about how the fable gives children lessons. For instance, the fable about the tortoise gives a lesson that teaches children not to be selfish. We realized that this culture is similar with some cultures of other countries. Telling fables was also discussed as a positive view of the culture, since it grants insights of life to the youth.
 * Reflection 2**

-One of the ideas we discussed about was whether if Mr. Brown or Mr. Smith is more "Christian." I argued that Mr. Brown was more of a "Christian" since he was more of a kind, generous, understanding person, which are the characteristics that Christianity focuses on. On the other hand, Mr. Smith was certainly a zealous Christian, but failed to understand the other cultures and be generous to non-Christians. Another idea that was brought up was whether or not what the Christians are doing to Umuofia is right. I believe that this depends on the point of view. In the Christians' point of view, what they were doing was right, and that is why they carried on with converting the Africans into Christianity. However, in the Africans' point of view, what the Christians are doing is not necessarily right, since the Natives have their own perspective of life and morals.
 * Reflection 3**

-An interesting idea we discussed in our last discussion was whether or not it is reasonable for the clansmen to kill other clansmen who have converted into Christians. In the village meeting, the men argued that they need to kill the other clansmen who became "evil." (p. 203) I agree to this argument. Although they were once brothers, as soon as some clansmen broke out from the clan to join the strangers, the brotherhood was broken. / I think I was a good participant in the group discussion. I stated my points clearly and contributed ideas and opinions throughout the discussion. There were some controversial issues during the discussion, but I was respectful to the other ideas that were brought up by other members and still be confident in my beliefs.
 * Reflection 4**