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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the strange event that takes place in the village of Ire that Ofoedo tells Okonkwo and Obierika about?
(a) All the yams planted in the fields rotted during the night from a curse sent by evil spirits.
(b) All the people in the village of Ire awoke in the night from dreams of disasters to come.
(c) Ogbuefi Ndulue, the oldest man in the Ire village died and upon hearing about it, his wife, Ozoemena, died also.
(d) The children of Ire stopped speaking for two days and went into a trance-like state.

2. What does Ekwefi do after Chielo carries Ezinma away on her back?
(a) She screams at Okonkwo to go bring Ezinma back.
(b) She runs into her hut in despair.
(c) She runs to the other wives for solace.
(d) She follows Chielo.

3. Why does Okonkwo beat his second wife, Ojiugo, during the sacred Week of Peace?
(a) She disagrees with what Okonkwo has to say.
(b) She is at a friend's house and does not prepare Okonkwo's afternoon meal.
(c) She is caught with another man.
(d) She cooks a meal that Okonkwo does not like.

4. What hopes does Okonkwo have for his son, Nwoye's , future?
(a) He wants Nwoye to be a great warrior with many heroic victories to his name.
(b) He hopes Nwoye would be a fair, just, and wise father and husband, showing kindness and love to his family.
(c) He wants Nwoye to be prosperous, that he will have enough to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices, and he will be able to rule his women and children.
(d) He wants Nwoye to be a talented musician, performing at all the festivals in the nine villages.

5. How does Nwoye's mother treat Ikemenfuna?
(a) She is very kind to him and treats him like one of her own children.
(b) She mistreats him, letting him go for days with nothing to eat.
(c) She ignores him, resenting that he is someone else's child.
(d) She makes him work like a slave.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does eighteen-year-old, Okonkwo, bring honor to his village?

2. Which of the spectators of the wrestling match are allowed to sit around the huge circle of the wrestling ring?

3. Why is Umuofia feared by all its neighbors?

4. What descends on the land of Okonkwo, darkens the sky, settles on the rooftops, and breaks mighty tree branches under them?

5. What are the women's duties after the yams are planted?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do you think so many people in Umuofia gather with excitement to watch the wrestling matches?

2. How do the people of Umuofia justify mutilating the bodies of children who die in infancy or early childhood, refusing to bury them but leaving them in the forest?

3. Explain how Ikemefuna is a good friend to Obiageli on the day of the New Yam Festival.

4. Explain what role the egwuwu, the ancestral spirits of the clan, has in the public trials of the nine villages of the clan.

5. Do you agree with the old man who said that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit? Justify your answer.

6. Summarize the role of the women during the New Yam Festival.

7. Compare the differences in the attitudes of the people of Umuofia with regard to a dark night and a moonlit night.

8. Who do you think benefits from the judgment of the egwuwu in the trial of Uzowulu and his wife and family and why?

9. In your opinion, what is the biggest factor that makes Ikemefuna accept the fact that he is not returning to his homeland?

10. Explain why sharecropping is a very difficult way to get ahead for Okonkwo, and how it impacts his parents and sisters.

(see the answer keys)

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