Most Meaningful Takeaway

In the last class, we had a shared inquiry discussion about a Interview with Chinua Achebe. During this shared inquiry discussion, very interesting topics were discussed. The question which resonated with me was “Does living in foreign countries shape the way you think about your home country?”. This question resonated with me as it applies to my own life since I have been constantly moving around the world, living in various different countries. By living in foreign countries, it has shaped to an extent the way I think about my home country. By constantly being around people from other countries, I have gained a deeper insight and a new perspective into how they view my home country, which in some cases greatly differs from my viewpoint. Through Interacting with others, I have learned that stereotypes play a big part of people’s understanding of Germany. This can also be seen in some cases, but not as often, in foreign literature. I believe that stereotypes don't play as big of a role in literature, as in order to write very much about a country, one has to have a somewhat good understanding of the culture, people, and values. This knowledge will however still be far off of what a native would have, which is also seen in the book Things Fall Apart, where it is clear that the author, Chinua Achebe, has a great understanding of the culture, values and people in which his book is set in.