THINGS FALL APART TEST

I. MULTIPLE CHOICE: Choose the best response to each question.

1.
a.
b.
c.
d.

The event that influenced Ekwefis feelings for Okonkwo is ...

seeing Oonkwo perform as one of the ancestral spirits
observing him caring for his youngest daughter
winning a wrestling match with Amalinze, the Cat
the building of a huge barn for his many yams

2. Which animal is sacred to the Ibos?

a. python
b. rat
c. cow
3. The iron horse is ...
a. a train
b. the British

d. chicken

c. a type of gun

4. Mbanta is the village where...

a. Obbuefi Udos wife is murdered
c. Oknokwos mothers family lives

d. a bicycle

b. Okonkwo lives
d. an entire tribe is wiped out

5. Umuofia is a clan territory comprised of how many smaller clans?

a. 1
b. 9
c. 2
d. 7
6. Achebe sets his story in what era?
a. 1880s
b. 1760s
c. 1900s

d. 1930s

7. Which event marks the beginning of Okonkwos downfall?

a. the death of his father
b. participating in the death of Ikemefuna
c. moving to his mothers village
d. the death of Eseudus son
8. One event that foreshadows Nwoyes conversion is...
a. the death of Ikemefuna
b. the killing of the python
c. the practice of polygamy
d. the death of Eseudus son
9. What is a chi?
a. a personal god

b. evil fortune

c. a hut

d. money

10. Why does Okonkwo almost shoot his second wife, Ekwefi?
a. because she defies him
b. because she refuses to allow her child to go with the priestess
c. because he thinks she has cut down his banana tree
d. because he suspects her of infidelity
11. Why does Okonkwo strike Ikemefuna?
a. to show his impartiality
b. to prove a point to his son
c. to improve his status
d. because he disliked him

12. Whose attributes does Okonkwo see in Nwoye at a young age?

a. Obierika
b. Ikemefuna
c. himself
d. his father
13. How does Okonkwo breat the rules of the Week of Peace?
a. by yelling at Nwoye
b. by beating his wife
c. by beating his children
d. by killing a thieving tribesman
14. What can Obierika or Okonkwos friends NOT do?
a. get him out of jail
b. save him from his fears
c. cut him down and bury him
d. shed his blood
15. What is Okonkwos last attempt to save his traditional Ibo values?
a. kill Ikemefuna
b. marry two more wives
c. burn the church
d. kill the messenger
16. What is the main reason Okonkwo wishes Ezinma was a boy?
a. She is brave.
b. She is a good fighter.
c. She is strong.
d. She understands him.
17. At the town meeting, Okika brings up that if the clan wars with the British, they will
be caught in the predicament of...
a. losing their water supply
b. fighting their own people
c. losing their land
d. losing their men, reducing their chances for survival
18. The outcast osu are...
a. converted by the British
c. recruited to spy

b. killed by the clan

d. hired by the British to serve as jailers

19. What is the most influential crop?

a. rice
b. potato
c. cassava

d. yam

20. Who are the egwugwu?

a. imaginary spirits
b. oracles
c. the tribal council
d. children who die and return to the mothers womb
21. What is an obi?
a. fruit
b. mans hut

c. spirit

d. outcast

22. What causes Ekwefis bitterness?

a. her inability to raise a child
b. her husbands preference for his new wife
c. her husbands favoritism of her child
d. her jealousy over the others success with farming
23. Chielo is...
a. a priestess

b. a goddess

c. a villager

d. a worthless man

24. Okonkwo despises his father because he thinks his father...

a. does not raise enough crops
b. does not love him
c. cares too much for his flute
d. is a worthless man
25. Another name for a worthless man is...
a. egwugwu
b. nso-ani
c. ekwe

d. efulefu

26. All of the following are practices to destroy the ogbanje EXCEPT...
a. sending the pregnant mother to another village
b. mutilating a dead body
c. having an oracle care for the pregnant mother
d. destroying the iyi-uwa
27. Kola is often used for...
a. social occasions
c. keeping one awake

b. pounded yam
d. making drums

28. There is no law for killing the python because...

a. no one had ever survived it
b. no one had ever dared to do it
c. the gods would perform the punishment d. they were often a threat
29. The glue that held the Ibo society together was...
a. their farming
b. their oracles
c. their kinship
30. During the Week of Peace, no one is allowed to...
a. travel away
b. bury the dead
c. display anger
31. When the osu convert, they must...
a. shave
b. get married
c. vote

d. their leaders
d. bear a child

d. avoid the Ibo

32. In the Umuofia village, newborn twins are...

a. left to die
b. raised to be priests and priestesses
c. given to enemy tribes
d. worshipped
33. The boy who is taken ransom for a crime...
a. escaped after three years
b. became close friends with Nwoye
c. killed one of the village girls
d. fell in love with Ezinma
34. The Mbantans give a piece of land to...
a. the missionaries
b. the Abame
c. the outcasts

d. the oracle

35. All of the following are true EXCEPT...

a. Official British control of Nigeria began in 1914.
b. The British were eager to Christianize the natives.
c. The Ibo are second most populous ethnic group in Nigeria.
d. Many Ibo were taken by European slave traders in the 1800s.

36. Which was LEAST important to the Ibo?

a. eloquence
b. personal achievement c. athletic prowess

d. kinship

37. Which is not an important commodity in Umuofia?

a. salt
b. yams
c. palm oil
d. cassava
38. Which of these statements is NOT true?
a. Decisions are made by consensus.
b. There is no single leader.
c. All the adult males make decisions.
d. A man has no control over his chi.
39. The novel makes extensive use of all of these literary elements EXCEPT...
a. imagery
b. proverbs
c. folk tales
d. fables
40. The following are true of the Ibo EXCEPT...
a. A prosperous man would have 3-4 wives.
b. Women were generally excluded from decision-making.
c. Slaves were outlawed in Nigeria at that time.
d. The will of various deities was revealed through oracles.
II. TRUE OR FALSE: The statement must be entirely true in order for the answer to be
true.
41. Achebe hoped his writing would help to improve the lives of African people today.
42. Mr. Brown was better liked than his successor.
43. Okonkwo names his first child born in exile Nwofa, born in the wilderness.
44. Uchendu, Okonkwos uncle, makes it difficult for him to start a new life.
45. No one suspects the identity of the egwugwu.
46. The Oracle of the Hills and Caves dispenses advice and overlooks all aspects of life
in the village of Umuofia.
47. Ezinma is pampered by her mother.
48. Obierika questions some of the traditions of his society.
49. Mr. Smith talks to the elders about religion, trying to understand them.
50. Ezinma has never met Chielo before being taken around the villages and the cave.

III. MATCHING: Choose the name or term from the list that corresponds to the
description or translation. Some may be used more than once.
51. a dish made with mashed yams

a. Unoka

52. an outcast

b. cowry shells

53. a mans crop

c. Nneka

54. used for money

d. Chukwu

55. a child who returns to its mother

several times after dying.

e. Chielo

56. used for social occasions to show

hospitality
57. woman; man who has no title
58. wrestler beaten by Okonkwo
59. chief god
60. Okonkwos best friend
61. oldest man in the village
62. Okonkwos father
63. male living quarters
64. special kind of stone which forms a
link between ogbanje and spirit world

f. Nwoye
g. Agbala
h. Ezinma
i. iyi-uwa
j. foo-foo
k. Obguefi
l. kola nuts
m. Mr. Kiaga
n. osu
o. Okonkwo
p. Obierika

65. intolerant and self-righteous

q. Amalinze

66. welcomes outcasts into the church

r. Ikemefuna

67. Uchendu intervenes to spare him

s. yams

68. falls ill with a swelling in his

stomach and dies

t. Mr. Smith

69. compensation for a murder

u. obi
v. ogbanje

70. only one Okonkwo can tolerate

when he is angry
71. Mother is Supreme
72. Isaac
73. causes great conflict between the
church and the clan
74. drinks from a human head
75. finds comfort in the church

76. carries Ezinma to other villages and

caves

IV. ESSAYS: Choose two of the following questions and discuss them in a well
developed essay each. Use plenty of examples from the novel and other background
information to support what you say. Dont simply state the obvious, but show that you
have some understanding and insight into the novel. (12 pt. each)
77. Discuss the role of Okonkwos father and son in the novel. How are their
relationships and fates ironic? Describe Okonkwos motivation throughout the story and
how things come full circle.
78. At the end of the story, the District Commissioner thinks about including
Onkonkwos story in his novel. What do his comments and the intended title say about
his understanding of the Umuofians and their culture? How does this relate to Achebes
intentions?
79. Discuss at least four of the values that are held dear by the Ibo and Okonkwo. Give
evidence that they exist and are adhered to in the novel. Also, discuss how Okonkwos
steadfast belief in tradition and culture leads to his downfall.
80. How is this novel a social novel? What is Achebe trying to communicate? What do
you think he wants the reader to get from this novel? Name at least four specific
messages or understandings that the author wants the reader to understand.