In your first visit to Umuofia think of yourself as a thoughtful and open-minded tourist. You want to learn the layout of the village and closely examine the people and objects you find there.

Enter into the Village of Umuofia from the WMU Literary Worlds Portal. To simply visit Umuofia you can enter as a "Guest," no password needed. Proceed first to the Things Fall Apart Room from which you can enter into the "Village Square."

You will want to visit every "room" in the village. For this it may be helpful to study the Village of Umuofia Map, which you could keep open in a separate browser window, if you wish. You will also want to look at all of the objects and images in each "room." Learn how to use the "say" command," so you can talk with others in the village. (Once in the world your character "speaks" when you click on "say," type in text, and hit the "return" key.)

Choose three images of people, places, or objects that interest you, carefully study them, and write at least a paragraph about each one. Your paragraph can address these questions:

• What do you notice in the image? What questions do you have about what you see? What might be the "back story" to this image? How does the image compare with what you might have imagined from reading Things Fall Apart?

If you enter the Village of Umuofia at the same time as other students you can share your comments with them using the "say" command.

Some of the "rooms" or objects play traditional West African Music by Yaya Diallo.

• What role does music play in the novel, Things Fall Apart? What can you learn from the internet about traditional African music? Do you like this kind of music? How has it influenced music around the world?

For your information, the images in the Village of Umuofia are authentic black and white photos used witih permission from the Jones Photographic Archive of Southeastern Nigerian Art and Culture. You are invited to further explore the images in this free public archive. Some questions to guide your consideration:

• Who took these photographs? Why were they taken? Are they consistent culturally and historically with the descriptions found in Things Fall Apart? What might the villagers have thought about the photographer and having their pictures taken? In what sense are the photographs "posed"?