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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. Ekwefi awakes Okonkwo early in the morning pounding on his door. What is she anxious to tell him?
(a) Nwoye's mother is sick and calling for him.
(b) The yam fields are on fire.
(c) Their daughter, Ezinma is sick and dying.
(d) All the men of the village are to meet in the marketplace immediately.

2. How many men are in each of the two teams of wrestlers who face each other in the wrestling ring?
(a) Nine men on each side
(b) Twelve men on each side
(c) Five men on each side
(d) Six men on each side

3. What does Okonkwo bring with him to share with the wealthy Nwakibie and his family before asking for yam seeds and share cropping privileges?
(a) Palm-wine, a cock, kola nut, and alligator pepper.
(b) Goat's milk and eggs.
(c) Campfire wood, and a pot of soup.
(d) A bamboo basket and a goatflask.

4. How do the women of the clan prepare for the Feast of the New Yam?
(a) They cleanse their bodies, wear a simple robe and sandles, and scrub their faces. They are to go to the festival free of all paint, jewelry, or ornamentation of any kind.
(b) They gather in the marketplace to share all their clothing, jewelry and sandals with one another. They wear each others belongings to prove to the goddess, Ani, that they are worthy people.
(c) They scrub the walls and huts with red earth, draw patterns on them in white, yellow and green, paint themselves with cam wood, and draw black patterns on their stomach and backs.
(d) They decorate robes with intricate patterns made of colored beans, plaite each others hair, color their faces with red clay, and make veils to cover their faces during the festival.

5. What does every man and his family do after the Week of Peace?
(a) Cuts bush to make new farms, burns the bush and flies kites over the burning fields.
(b) Plays flutes, dances and sings before planting the crops.
(c) Gathers in the marketplace to visit with neighbors.
(d) Has a feast to celebrate with each other.

Short Answer Questions

1. Okonkwo's friend, Obierika, is celebrating his daughter's uri. Why does this day put the entire neighborhood into a festive air?

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

3. Who is the powerful orator that informs the ten thousand men of the emergency facing the nine villages of Umuofia?

4. What does Okonkwo bring back from the bush while Ezinma lays sick in Ekwefi's hut?

5. What is the festival that gives thanks to Ani, the earth goddess and source of fertility?

Short Essay Questions

1. Evaluate Okonkwo's reputation in the nine villages of Umuofia.

2. Do you agree with Okonkwo when he gives the fatal blow to Ikemefuna with his machete?

3. Explain how Ekwefi defies the traditions of the clan when Chielo takes Ezinma to Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves.

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

5. 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?

6. Do you think Okonkwo is justified in being ashamed of his father? Explain why.

7. Summarize how the people pass the time during the rainy season.

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

9. Compare the stories of men to the stories of women in Umuofia.

10. Okonkwo's father dies in debt, with no titles to his name. Relate why Okonkwo does not have to worry that his father's reputation will be held against him.

(see the answer keys)

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