This space contains reference material beginning next to
Question 13.
To answer Questions 13-18, please
read the following passage from Chapter 11 of Chinua Achebe’s Things
Fall Apart. Choose the best responses to the prompts next to the
passage. There is one and only one correct answer to each prompt.
Chapter 11, pages 107-108
“Ekwefi could already see the
hills looming in the moonlight. They formed a circular ring with a break
at one point through which the foot-track led to the centre of the
circle.
As soon as the priestess stepped
into this ring of hills her voice was not only doubled in strength but
was thrown back on all sides. It was indeed the shrine of a great god.
Ekwefi picked her way carefully and quietly. She was already beginning
to doubt the wisdom of her coming. Nothing would happen to Ezinma, she
thought. And if anything happened to her could she stop it? She would
not dare to enter the underground caves. Her coming was quite useless,
she thought.
As these things went through her
mind she did not realize how close they were to the cave mouth. And so
when the priestess with Ezinma on her back disappeared through a hole
hardly big enough to pass a hen, Ekwefi broke into a run as though to
stop them. As she stood gazing at the circular darkness which had
swallowed them, tears gushed from her eyes, and she swore within her
that if she heard Ezinma cry she would rush into the cave to defend her
against all the gods in the world. She would die with her.
Having sworn that oath, she sat
down on a stony ledge and waited. Her fear had vanished. She could hear
the priestess' voice, all its metal taken out of it by the vast
emptiness of the cave. She buried her face in her lap and waited.
She did not know how long she
waited. It must have been a very long time. Her back was turned on the
footpath that led out of the hills. She must have heard a noise behind
her and turned round sharply. A man stood there with a machete in his
hand. Ekwefi uttered a scream and sprang to her feet.
‘Don't be foolish,’ said
Okonkwo's voice. ‘I thought you were going into the shrine with Chielo,’
he mocked. Ekwefi did not answer. Tears of gratitude filled her eyes.
She knew her daughter was safe.”
To answer Questions 19-24, please read the
following passage from Chapter 13 of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall
Apart. Choose the best responses to the prompts next to the passage.
There is one and only one correct answer to each prompt.
Chapter 13, Pages 124-125
“Darkness was around the corner,
and the burial was near. Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent
the sky. And then from the centre of the delirious fury came a cry of
agony and shouts of horror. It was as if a spell had been cast. All was
silent. In the centre of the crowd a boy lay in a pool of blood. It was
the dead man's sixteen-year-old son, who with his brothers and
half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father.
Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's
heart.
The confusion that followed was
without parallel in the tradition of Umuofia. Violent deaths were
frequent, but nothing like this had ever happened.
The only course open to Okonkwo
was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to
kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land. The
crime was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the
female, because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan
after seven years.
That night he collected his most
valuable belongings into head-loads. His wives wept bitterly and their
children wept with them without knowing why. Obierika and half a dozen
other friends came to help and to console him. They each made nine or
ten trips carrying Okonkwo's yams to store in Obierika's barn. And
before the cock crowed Okonkwo and his family were fleeing to his
motherland. It was a little village called Mbanta, just beyond the
borders of Mbaino.
As soon as the day broke, a large
crowd of men from Ezeudu's quarter stormed Okonkwo's compound, dressed
in garbs of war. They set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls,
killed his animals and destroyed his barn. It was the justice of the
earth goddess, and they were merely her messengers. They had no hatred
in their hearts against Okonkwo. His greatest friend, Obierika, was
among them. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had
polluted with the blood of a clansman.
Obierika was a man who thought
about things. When the will of the goddess had been done, he sat down in
his obi and mourned his friend's calamity. Why should a man suffer so
grievously for an offence he had committed inadvertently? But although
he thought for a long time he found no answer. He was merely led into
greater complexities. He remembered his wife's twin children, whom he
had thrown away. What crime had they committed? The Earth had decreed
that they were an offence on the land and must be destroyed. And if the
clan did not exact punishment for an offence against the great goddess,
her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender. As
the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the others.”
To answer Questions 25-29, please
read the following character analysis excerpt about Okonkwo in Chinua
Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Choose the best responses to the
prompts next to the passage. There is one and only one correct answer to
each prompt.
The protagonist of Things Fall
Apart, Okonkwo is also considered a tragic hero. A tragic hero holds
a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action,
possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead
to his fall. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure.
In his thirties, Okonkwo is a
leader of the Igbo community of Umuofia. Achebe describes him as "tall
and huge" with "bushy eyebrows and [a] wide nose [that gives] him a very
severe look." When Okonkwo walks, his heels barely touch the ground,
like he walks on springs, "as if he [is] going to pounce on somebody."
Okonkwo "stammers slightly" and his breathing is heavy.
Okonkwo is renowned as a
wrestler, a fierce warrior, and a successful farmer of yams (a "manly"
crop). He has three wives and many children who live in huts on his
compound. Throughout his life, he wages a never ending battle for
status; his life is dominated by the fear of weakness and failure. He is
quick to anger, especially when dealing with men who are weak, lazy
debtors like his father. However, Okonkwo overcompensates for his
father's womanly (weak) ways, of which he is ashamed, because he does
not tolerate idleness or gentleness. Even though he feels inward
affection at times, he never portrays affection toward anyone. Instead,
he isolates himself by exhibiting anger through violent, stubborn,
irrational behavior. Okonkwo demands that his family work long hours
despite their age or limited physical stamina, and he nags and beats his
wives and son, Nwoye, who Okonkwo believes is womanly like his father,
Unoka.
Okonkwo is impulsive; he acts
before he thinks.
Consequently, Okonkwo offends the
Igbo people and their traditions as well as the gods of his clan.
Okonkwo is advised not to participate in the murder of Ikefemuna, but he
actually kills Ikefemuna because he is "afraid of being thought weak."
Chua, John, and Suzanne Pavlos. CliffsNotes on Things
Fall Apart. 28 Mar 2017
</literature/t/things-fall-apart/book-summary>.
To answer Questions
32-34, please read "The Savoy." Choose the best responses to the prompts next to the
passage. There is one and only one correct answer to each prompt.
The Savoy
by Scott C. Mikula
“Them boys got magic in their feet,” Momma said, leaning out the
window while I sat on the fire escape. “You best come inside now,
Eugene. I wish God’d saw fit to put magic in your feet, but he
didn’t, and I won’t have you frettin’ over something you can’t
change.”
I hated when Momma said that. Why’d God put me right ’cross the
street from the Savoy Ballroom, if he didn’t want me to dance? Why’d
he have me born with a messed up leg just to fill my heart with
rhythms I could never express?
I crawled in through the window, but my thoughts were still on the
boys and girls down on Lenox Avenue. They had nothing but their own
clapping for a beat, but they’d practice their dance moves till the
ballroom opened. Frankie was the wildest of them, flipping the girl
over his shoulder or catching her from a flying leap—always trying
out some daring new “air step” to one-up the others.
Soon light from the windows of the second-floor ballroom would blaze
into the night, the music would strike up, and the dancers would
crowd inside. I heard that music near every night, but Momma
couldn’t ever spare me the thirty cents to go to the Savoy myself.
That’s why I let Willa Mae talk me into sneaking in.
I beat out a rhythm on the kitchen table while Willa Mae worked on
her footwork. She was one of the real dancers—one of those that
practiced with Frankie down on the street—but she was my friend,
too, and she put up with my handicapped leg. Sometimes we’d brave
Momma’s consternation and push all the living room furniture aside
so we could try out some moves. But today my leg ached, so I just
watched Willa Mae step, step, triple-stepping to the drumming of my
hands.
“Don’t you want to try dancing to a real swing band?” she called.
Sweat clung to her face, but she didn’t stop moving. “If we get
there after the bands set up, we can sneak in the delivery entrance
on 141st.”
Willa Mae was poor like me, and I knew she’d snuck in more than once
herself. Momma would be working till late, and we probably wouldn’t
get caught.
“It’s Benny Goodman tonight, battlin’ Chick Webb for King of Swing.”
Benny Goodman and Chick Webb! I’d only heard Goodman’s big band
orchestra on our tinny old Victrola. His drummer was the best,
maybe. But against Chick? My mind was made up.
The delivery entrance was halfway down a side street. Willa Mae
waved for me to follow as she tried the handle on one of the double
doors. Sure enough, it was unlocked.
“Hey, you kids!” I froze. Willa Mae’s eyes went wide. Leaning
against a parked car was one of the bandmen, a portly man in a suit
and tie. “You aren’t supposed to—”
That’s all I heard before Willa Mae yanked me through the door.
“C’mon, Gene!”
I stumbled after her as we ran down a long hallway. Tantalizing
music filtered through the floor from upstairs, but my heart was
beating so fiercely I could hardly hear it.
“I thought you said no one’d be around,” I panted.
“I got us in, didn’t I?”
Willa Mae led me up a dim staircase to the main hall.
Everyone knew music at the Savoy never stopped, but I’d always
wondered how the band could play all night without a break. The
answer was two bands, on side-by-side bandstands. As Chick’s band
wound down, Benny’s musicians jumped in, eager to prove they could
swing harder and faster. I saw the bandman from outside slip in
behind the drums.
I grinned at Willa Mae. “Dance?”
Shyly at first, I took Willa Mae’s hand and put my other arm around
her back. Then the music swept us up, and we were dancing. I’d done
the steps before at home, but it’s something else entirely when the
horns are blaring their solos and the floor is vibrating under your
feet. I was in heaven, and that band was my choir of angels!
But my angels had it in for me that night. Those bandmen played
faster and harder, like their very souls were on the line, and my
leg couldn’t keep up. It crumpled. I landed hard on my tailbone.
“Man,” said a voice, “I never seen a butt planted on the floor quite
like that.” Frankie stood in front of me, all lanky arms and legs.
He offered me a hand, but I knew the rest of his gang must be
laughing at me.
Tears stung my eyes, but I was more furious than in pain. I swatted
Frankie’s hand away, and stalked off to find a table.
Willa Mae watched me go, but I wouldn’t meet her eye. Soon enough I
saw her dancing with Frankie, and that only made me madder. He swung
her out, and she twisted her hips with practiced grace, earning some
whoops from the crowd. Frankie, made Willa Mae look like a queen.
Why'd she ever put up with my clumsy dancing?
I should’ve been able to dance like that. I could see Frankie’s
feet, almost a blur, and the syncopated rhythm of his steps. I beat
that rhythm out on the table in front of me, at first just imitating
it, but then varying it, improvising, playing with the music that
the band poured out.
Momma was right, God hadn’t seen fit to let me dance like that. But
that didn’t mean I couldn’t be resentful about it.
Somebody slid into the chair next to me as the bands switched again.
I looked up—it was the drummer that had yelled at us before.
Perfect. He might as well haul me out by my collar.
But he said, “You feel it, don’t you? Like you’re not moving to the
music, but the music is moving you.”
I shrugged. “I sure don’t have magic in my feet, not like they do.”
“I can’t speak to your feet, son, but I reckon your hands have magic
to spare.” He nodded at the table, where I still beat out my rhythm
without even realizing it. “You should try these.”
He produced a pair of well-worn drumsticks. I took them, not sure
what to say. Could I really do what he did, make the music that
brought the dancers to life?
No, it wasn’t a question. I would. I’d practice every day, just like
Frankie and his friends out on the street, until I was one of the
bandmen the dancers cheered and stomped for.
I looked out on the dance floor, found Frankie and Willa Mae, and an
impish smile crossed my face as I beat my sticks to a wild rhythm.
If they thought the music made them sweat now, just wait till I made
it behind the drums on the Savoy bandstand!
For Questions 1-12, please mark the letter of the correct definition of the given vocabulary word.
incipient
(adj.) attached
(n.) approval
(conj.) for fear that
(adj.) new
trifle
(v.) to hold
(n.) a small thing
(adv.) unassailably
(n.) grief
approbation
(n.) approval
(adj.) attached
(conj.) for fear that
(adj.) new
tethered
(n.) approval
(adj.) attached
(adj.) new
(conj.) for fear that
forsook
(adj.) abandoned
(adj.) lush
(adj.) confidential
(n.) palm fiber
brandish
(v.) to hold
(adv.) unassailably
(n.) grief
(n.) a small thing
impenetrably
(n.) a small thing
(n.) grief
(v.) to hold
(adv.) unassailably
esoteric
(adj.) lush
(adj.) abandoned
(n.) palm fiber
(adj.) confidential
luxuriant
(adj.) confidential
(adj.) abandoned
(n.) palm fiber
(adj.) lush
lamentation
(v.) to hold
(adv.) unassailably
(n.) grief
(n.) a small thing
lest
(adj.) attached
(conj.) for fear that
(n.) approval
(adj.) new
raffia
(adj.) confidential
(adj.) lush
(adj.) abandoned
(n.) palm fiber
(RL4) What type of figurative speech is being employed in the following quote, and what does it imply about the cave?
“As she stood gazing at the circular darkness which had swallowed them, tears gushed from her eyes…”
It’s personification that implies that the swallowing cave has a life of its own, which makes it seem more threatening.
It’s a metaphor that implies that the cave only looks dark because of the blazing sun shining outside of it.
It’s hyperbole that implies the cave is a perfect circle when it’s actually more oblong than circular.
It’s a simile that implies that the darkness of the cave is like a deep well that Ekwefi’s tears will fill.
(RL3) Which adjective best sums up Ekwefi’s feelings as implied by the quote?
“And if anything happened to her could she stop it?”
confident
jealous
helpless
empowered
(RL1) Which best expresses Ekwefi’s bravery and dedication to her daughter?
“She [Ekwefi] would die with her.”
“Ekwefi could already see the hills looming in the moonlight.”
“Ekwefi picked her way carefully and quietly.”
“Ekwefi uttered a scream and sprang to her feet.”
(RL2) Which of the following theme statements best summarizes this passage?
A machete in the hand is worth two in the cave.
Caves can hide secrets that only the best mothers can figure out.
A mother’s love for her daughter is stronger than the fearful belief in any god.
Mothers can do what fathers are too afraid to do themselves.
(RL6) From the passage, what can one assume Ekwefi does that goes against the values of Igbo culture?
As a wife, she values her husband over her daughter.
As a daughter, she remembers how she was once abandoned by her own father.
As an Igbo villager, she forgets the way back to her village.
As a woman, she takes it upon herself to protect her daughter.
(RL5) How does Okonkwo’s appearance at the cave contribute to the scene’s tension and then its irony?
Okonkwo comes to the cave to kill his wife and daughter but then decides that he must kill the priestess.
Okonkwo is first seen by Ezinma, who is afraid of her father, and then by Ekwefi, who loves him.
Okonkwo is lost in the jungle when he stumbles upon the cave; it’s then that he decides to kill Ezinma.
Okonkwo’s machete-wielding shadow evokes fear and then ironic relief when it’s clear he’s there to protect Ezinma.
(RL6) From the quote, what can we assume is the nature of “male” and “female” crimes in Igbo culture?
“Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent.”
Males commit male crimes and females commit female crimes.
Male crimes are intentional, while female crimes are unintentional.
Female crimes are intended, while male crimes are accidental.
Victims of male crimes are men, while victims of female crimes are women.
(RL1) Which of the following quotes best sums up the irony in the boy’s death?
“Violent deaths were frequent, but nothing like this had ever happened.”
“He could return to the clan after seven years.”
“Obierika was a man who thought about things.”
“The Earth had decreed that they were an offence on the land and must be destroyed.”
(RL4) Which of the following English proverbial sayings most closely resembles Igbo one in bold?
“As the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the others.”
People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.
(RL3) How do Obierika and the men from Ezeudu’s quarter justify the destruction of Okonkwo’s property?
They believe that they are cleansing the land that Okonkwo had polluted with a clansman’s blood.
Okonkwo intentionally killed Ezeudu’s son and therefore deserves punishment.
Ezeudu’s son was killed with profits that Okonkwo had reaped from his land.
Ezinma refused to marry Ezeudu’s son and contributed to his suicide, so her father must pay.
(RL5) Considering that Obierika is in the “war” party that destroys Okonkwo’s property, which of the following didn’t Achebe intend to be a complex irony involving Obierika’s character?
“Obierika and half a dozen other friends came to help and to console [Okonkwo].”
“When the will of the goddess had been done, [Obierika] sat down in his obi and mourned [Okonkwo’s] calamity.”
“[Obierika wondered], why should [Okonkwo] suffer so grievously for an offence he had committed inadvertently?
“It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and [Okonkwo] must flee from the land.”
(RL1) Which of the following best encapsulates the central idea of this passage?
Intentional crimes should always be punished more heavily than unintentional crimes.
Suffering of an individual is acceptable to avoid the suffering of many.
Accidents happen, and they should be forgiven as long as the guilty party is repentant.
Violence is never acceptable in any form and should be avoided at all costs.
(RI2) What is not mentioned by the writers as one of Okonkwo’s essential characteristics as a tragic hero?
He choose his course of action.
He values his family over everything else.
He possesses a tragic flaw.
He holds a position of power and prestige.
(RI3) From the writers’ perspectives, who or what is Okonkwo’s primary motivational force and tragic flaw?
his anger over inconsequential things
his wives and children
his fear of weakness and failure
his awareness of circumstances
(RI5) How, according to the authors, does Okonkwo express his tragic flaw in the structure of the text?
his wrestling abilities
his womanly ways
his anger
his farming skills
(RI4) What is the closest interpretation of the following quote from this passage?
“Okonkwo is impulsive.”
He’s violent and hurtful.
He’s demanding and stubborn.
He’s careful and methodical.
He’s unthinking and irrational.
(RI6) What can we infer is the authors’ purpose in this particular analysis?
analyze the major thematic elements of Achebe’s work
examine the tragically heroic protagonist, Okonkwo
link the story of Okonkwo with Africa’s troubled history
summarize the major plot points of
Things Fall Apart
Pick the best verbs to fill in the blanks. (HW 14)
“Here _______ the police,” the bystander observed. “There ______ about to be a sad ending to the story.”
comes; are
come; are
comes; is
come; is
Which sentence is written correctly?
Here is places in the east that cousin Jim visited last April, Central Park, the Empire State building, and the Statue of Liberty.
Here is places in the east that Cousin Jim visited last April: Central Park, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty.
Here are places in the East that Cousin Jim visited last April; Central Park, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty.
Here are places in the East that Cousin Jim visited last April: Central Park, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty.
Part A:
Which two details shape Eugene’s point of view by making it hard for him to pursue his dream of dancing at “The Savoy”?
He lacks rhythm. He is a troublemaker.
His mother disapproves of dancing. He lives far away from the ballroom.
He lacks friends in his neighborhood. He lacks rhythm.
His family is poor. He has a physical handicap.
Which statement best summarizes a central idea of “The Savoy”?
Lacking the ability to do what they love leaves some people feeling worthless.
Growing up in poverty can influence kids to commit crimes.
Exploring new places with friends can lead to discovering more about one's self.
Being true to one's self ensures the support of one's parents.
Read the excerpt from the story “The Savoy.”
Sometimes we’d brave Momma’s consternation and push all the living room furniture aside so we could try out some moves.
What does the word “consternation” mean in this context?