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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Ekwefi awakes Okonkwo early in the morning pounding on his door. What is she anxious to tell him?

2. What is the one passion that rules Okonkwo's life?

3. Why is Okonkwo considered one of the greatest men of his time?

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

5. Okonkwo is sitting in his obi with Ikemefuna and Nwoye, eating dried locusts when Ogbuefi Ezeudu comes with a message. What is the message?

Short Essay Questions

1. Relate how Okonkwo is able to plant his first yam-seeds when his father gives him nothing.

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

3. Is it evident that the tribal rituals of marriage are important for not only the wedding couple, but the entire village?

4. How would you justify Okonkwo's harsh treatment of his family and his uncontrollable temper?

5. What is the tradition the in-laws must do for the uri?

6. Predict what might happen later in the book from the conversation of Obierika, Machi, and Okonkwo when they talk about "what is good in one place is bad in another . . ." and that the polite name for leprosy is "white skin".

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

8. 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.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Compare and contrast two characters from the novel.

2) What are their physical descriptions, their personalities, feelings, and speech and behavior?

3) Are they believable characters, and how do other characters feel about them?

4) How do they relate to one another?

Essay Topic 2

While waiting for Ezinma to be released from the cave of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves, she has a flashback.

1) What does this flashback reveal about her relationship with Okonkwo?

2) How does it compare with their present relationship?

Essay Topic 3

1) Throughout the novel, Okonkwo is afraid of being like his father. Describe the accomplishments Okonkwo achieves in his lifetime that makes him different from his father.

2) Explain why Okonkwo's final act turns his reputation into everything he feared in life.

(see the answer keys)

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