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Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

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Student Question

How can I effectively answer empathetic questions for Things Fall Apart?

Quick answer:

To effectively answer empathetic questions, understand empathy as the ability to "put yourself in someone else's shoes," experiencing their feelings and thoughts. Unlike sympathy, which involves feeling sorry for someone, empathy requires thinking as the character might in a given situation. Consider how you would feel and react if you were in the character's world, which helps you understand their perspective and answer questions empathetically.

Expert Answers

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Empathy is the "intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another" (www.dictionary.com).  In other words, empathy is when someone is able to "put themselves in someone else's shoes," so to speak.  There is a difference between sympathy and empathy.  Sympathy means to feel sorry for someone and doesn't mean one necessarily tries to empathize.  To empathize, you simply must think as the character might think, for example, when he/she is in a certain situation or predicament.  Ask yourself, "How would I feel if I could step into this character's world?  How would I react if I was this character?" 

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