Be sure to choose each answer carefully. You get onlyonetry
to answer each question correctly!
This space contains reference material beginning next to
Question 26.
Use the following poem by Yeats, from which Achebe got
the title for his novel, to answer questions 26-28.
“The Second Coming” (By William Butler Yeats)
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
For Questions 1-12, please mark the letter of the correct definition of the given vocabulary word.
infuriating
(v.) to defile
(adj.) irritating
(n.) talk
(adj.) unnecessary
sonorous
(adj.) strong-willed
(n.) neutralizing
(adj.) resonant
(adj.) heathen
idolatrous
(adj.) strong-willed
(n.) neutralizing
(adj.) resonant
(adj.) heathen
resolute
(adj.) strong-willed
(n.) neutralizing
(adj.) resonant
(adj.) heathen
guttural
(v.) to yell
(adj.) pale
(adj.) throaty
(n.) a charm
pacification
(adj.) strong-willed
(n.) neutralizing
(adj.) resonant
(adj.) heathen
clamor
(v.) to yell
(adj.) pale
(adj.) throaty
(n.) a charm
palaver
(v.) to defile
(adj.) irritating
(n.) talk
(adj.) unnecessary
amulet
(v.) to yell
(adj.) pale
(adj.) throaty
(n.) a charm
desecrate
(v.) to defile
(adj.) irritating
(n.) talk
(adj.) unnecessary
wan
(v.) to yell
(adj.) pale
(adj.) throaty
(n.) a charm
superfluous
(v.) to defile
(adj.) irritating
(n.) talk
(adj.) unnecessary
What does the following passage from the novel best illustrate? “The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound was no longer separate from the village.” (44)
the importance of the drums to gather the villagers together before going to war
the drums serving as a means of communication over a long distance between the tribes
a symbol for the strength, power, and heart of the Ibo people
the skill the Ibo people have at making musical instruments
The story at the heart of Things Fall Apart can be considered a tragedy because…
...of the disastrous downfall of Okonkwo and the Ibo way of life
…of the failure of the missionaries to establish power in Umuofia
...of the inability of the missionaries to save Ikemefuna in time
...of the seven-year exile of Okonkwo after his intentional murder of a tribe-mate
What is ironic about the nature of Okonkwo’s exile from his fatherland?
He isn’t sentenced to death for his ugly crime.
He despised his father for his effeminate nature.
He doesn’t commit the crime of which he’s accused unjustly.
He murders Ikemefuna before the accidental killing that exiles him.
What best describes the story of the Earth and the Sky that withheld rain for seven years?
It’s a legend that’s part of the oral tradition and that presents an account of an historical event in the lives of villagers.
It’s a myth because it’s a story handed down by oral tradition, features non-human characters, and explains rain.
It’s a fable because it teaches the lesson that vultures, and people who are like vultures, cannot be trusted.
It’s a proverb because it is very short and tries to convey the truth about the origin of rain.
What is Okonkwo’s tragic flaw?
his cruel nature and inability to express his feelings
his violent temper, which results in Ikemefuna’s death
his pride and fear of appearing weak
his poor relationship with his son, Nwoye
What is one of the major themes of the novel?
The acceptance of new ways of thinking is the only way that primitive groups of people can survive.
Standing together can protect a group’s customs and traditions from outside influences.
Giving in to despair and committing suicide is a viable option if there is no escape from one’s problems.
Violence should be avoided under all circumstances except for those that are life-preserving.
Which of the following is true about Okonkwo’s father?
He isn’t good at growing yams and has very few.
He only holds one title and is shamed because of it.
He abandons his son when Okonkwo is a young boy.
He kills Okonkwo’s mother in a fit of anger.
Why does Okonkwo commit suicide?
If he continues to fight the white man, he will be fighting his own son, Nwoye.
After killing a clan member, he does not want to be hanged in the court of the white man.
He knows that the ancient traditions of the clan are gone, so it no longer matters how he dies.
In honor of his beloved father, he wants to die just as this great mentor and tribe dignitary died.
Why is the fact that Okonkwo’s clan members refuse to cut down the dead man’s body steeped in
irony?
They cannot touch his body without his son present, and Nwoye has left the tribe to join the white missionaries.
As Okonkwo was never afraid of death or killing, it’s unexpected that his death would make his tribe afraid.
Even after his death, the tribe is afraid of the white man’s power and refuse to bury the body until his death is proven.
Okonkwo fought hard to protect tribe customs, one of which prohibits his tribe mates from touching a suicide victim.
How is a man’s “chi” defined?
his relationship with the earth goddess
his personal god
his fate as it was predetermined at his birth
his ability to plant and harvest yams
With which custom of the clan does Obierika disagree?
Obtaining titles makes one great in the clan.
Kola nuts are served to visitors.
A man needs more than one wife.
A man should be punished for a “female crime.”
How does an Ibo man get a message from the gods at the Agbala shrine?
He crawls into the shrine and listens to a priestess proclaim the will of the gods.
He brings yams to a priestess, who then proclaims the will of the gods.
He sends his first wife to see the priestess, who tends the fire in the cave.
He prays to his personal god or chi.
Which of the following incidents from the story is justified by the following proverb? “As the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the others.” (125)
Inexperienced young men are chosen by the tribe to tap the palm trees.
Wives only get enough yams from their husbands for one meal at a time.
Okonkwo is banished from the tribe for accidentally killing a clan member.
Husbands eat exactly one dish prepared by each of their wives.
Which of the following serves as the best thematic summary statement for the poem’s first stanza?
Animals that aren’t kept in line can destabilize the civilized world.
Anarchy can be a good thing if it throws everything about the old world into chaos.
Blood in the water means that it is high time for predators to strike.
When ideas that center a culture don’t remain polarizing, society crumbles.
How does the second stanza follow up on the ideas presented in the first stanza?
It applauds anarchy as the preface for a Second Coming that will cure the ills of twenty centuries.
It suggests that the predators of the new world will be the rough beasts of our dreams.
It indicates that a Second Coming of horrid proportions is to be expected as society falls.
It references a sphinx as a dangerous animal that could signal civilization’s destabilization.
Why did Chinua Achebe choose a line from this particular poem for the title of his novel?
The “Second Coming” is something that the missionaries believe is “at hand” and preach about it to the Ibo people.
The society of the Ibo “cannot hold” in the face of missionary incursions which destroy cultural tenets that bind.
The Ibos worship sacred animals like falcons and sphinxes as well as other “indignant desert birds” like vultures.
The family of Okonkwo, especially his father, was “vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,” holding bad children.
Pick the correct verbs for the following sentence. (HW30) Every new thought and feeling _________ the prodigy in me, and neither gymnastics nor predictions _______ my real skill.
reveals; was
reveal; was
reveals; were
reveal; were
Which sentence is written correctly?
“Each of our family members always contributes to the March of Dimes,” mother said.
Each of our family members always contributes to the march of dimes, mother said.
“Each of our family members always contributes to the March of Dimes,” Mother said.
“Each of our family members always contributes to the March of Dimes.” Mother said.