Taken together, the Norton’s author introductions to Lessing, Achebe, Ngugi, and Head contain at least four “concept-clusters,” each of which could be used in conjunction with the introduction to the author in question, as a key for exploring that author’s work.
Here are the four “concept-clusters:”
(1) Dual Inheritance and Bicultural Experience
(2) Cultural Conflict, Historical Change, Past Tradition, and Present Individuality
(3) The Adventure of Self-Discovery, the Adventure of Consciousness and Conscience
(4) Irony, Ambiguity, Compassion, and Conflicting Sympathies
The “concept-clusters” are derived from the works of authors with distinctive characteristics that set them apart but also some shared concerns in common; they are made up of abstract ideas and themes all of which are present in one way or another in each of the works by the authors that we are exploring here.
Choose ONE of the four concept-clusters and discuss how its themes are explored in at least TWO of our authors this module: Lessing, Achebe, Ngugi, and/or Head.
