Things Fall Apart, Chapter 7 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What does Nwoye do early in the chapter that pleases Okonkwo?

   • He wins a wrestling match against an older boy of the village
   • He taps his father's palm tree for the evening wine without being asked
   • Correct answer: He grumbles aloud about women when sent to do hard household tasks
   • He asks to go with his father to the next meeting of the clan elders

   Nwoye feigns annoyance about women and their troubles, and Okonkwo takes this as a sign he will one day control his household.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Which of his mother's stories does Nwoye remember with special love?

   • How a small bird defeated the cat in a great wrestling contest
   • Correct answer: How Vulture pleaded with Sky to send rain down to the Earth
   • How a hunter outwitted the spirits of the forest at night
   • How the python came to be honored above all other creatures

   Nwoye loves the tale of Earth and Sky, in which Vulture sings for mercy; in the bird story, the bird is actually thrown by the cat.

   Read the passage
3. 3

   Question 3. Why do the elders counsel patience before the people catch the locusts?

   • The Oracle must first declare whether the locusts are safe to eat
   • Correct answer: At night the locusts' wings grow wet with dew and they are easy to gather
   • Locusts caught in daylight are believed to bring sickness to the household
   • The men must first finish covering the compound walls before nightfall

   The locusts settle in the bushes for the night, their wings become wet with dew, and the whole village gathers them.

   Read the passage
4. 4

   Question 4. What news does Ogbuefi Ezeudu give Okonkwo outside the obi?

   • Ikemefuna's own village has asked for the boy to be sent back
   • Correct answer: The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has decreed Ikemefuna's death
   • The elders want Okonkwo to lead the next war against a nearby clan
   • Ikemefuna's mother has died, and the boy must go home to mourn

   Ezeudu reveals the Oracle's decree and warns Okonkwo not to bear a hand in the boy's death.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What reason is Ikemefuna given for the journey out of Umuofia?

   • Correct answer: He is being taken back home to his own village and family
   • He is to carry palm-wine to a clan meeting in a neighbouring village
   • He is going to watch a man of the clan take the ozo title
   • He is to be presented to the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves

   Okonkwo tells Ikemefuna that he is to be taken home the next day, hiding the clan's real purpose.

   Read the passage
6. 6

   Question 6. How does Ikemefuna try to settle whether his mother is still alive?

   • He counts the birds he hears chirruping in the forests around the path
   • He decides to ask Okonkwo, trusting that his new father will tell the truth
   • He watches the pattern of light and shade falling on the sandy footway
   • Correct answer: He sings a childhood song in his mind and notes which foot it ends on

   If the song ended on his right foot, his mother was alive; it does, and he feels like a child once more.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What earlier experience does Nwoye's feeling on the night of the killing repeat?

   • Being sent out of the obi while the elders talked in low tones
   • Losing a wrestling match in front of the whole village at the feast
   • Correct answer: Hearing an infant crying in the forest on the way home from a harvest
   • Hearing the ekwe announce the death of a clansman late at night

   Nwoye first felt the snapping inside him when he heard an infant crying in the forest, where twins were put in pots and thrown away.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What is the main effect of telling the walk into the forest through Ikemefuna's thoughts?

   • It shows that Ikemefuna is eager to leave Okonkwo's household for good
   • Correct answer: It creates dramatic irony, since the reader knows the danger he only slowly senses
   • It suggests the men themselves are unsure where they are taking the boy
   • It reveals that Okonkwo has a plan to help the boy escape along the way

   The boy's hopeful thoughts of home sit against what the reader already knows about the Oracle's decree, which builds dread.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in Okonkwo's compound in this chapter?

   • Nwoye bursts into tears when he overhears that Ikemefuna is to be taken home.

     Happened

   • Okonkwo refuses to eat the roasted locusts because of a taboo.

     Didn't happen

   • Ezeudu joins Okonkwo and the boys in their meal of locusts.

     Didn't happen

   • Elders from all the nine villages of Umuofia visit Okonkwo early in the morning.

     Happened

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events actually occur on the journey into the forest?

    • Ikemefuna carries a pot of palm-wine on his head.

      Happened

    • Okonkwo walks in front of Ikemefuna to lead the way.

      Didn't happen

    • The men hear the faint beating of the ekwe from a distant clan.

      Happened

    • Nwoye follows the party into the forest in secret.

      Didn't happen

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'harbingers' mean as used in: 'They were the harbingers sent to survey the land.'?

    • Scavengers that feed on whatever others leave
    • Guards placed to protect a stored harvest
    • Correct answer: Forerunners that signal something is coming
    • Spirits believed to guard the caves of the hills

    The first small swarm announces the great mass of locusts that soon follows.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'feign' mean as used in: 'Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women'?

    • Correct answer: Pretend to feel
    • Openly express
    • Quietly hide away
    • Slowly forget about

    Nwoye only pretends to be annoyed; he actually enjoys being given masculine tasks.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'elusive' mean as used in: 'the elusive dance rose and fell with the wind'?

    • Loud and joyful
    • Slow and solemn
    • Sacred and forbidden
    • Correct answer: Hard to pin down

    The men cannot tell where the distant dance is coming from, so its source is hard to pin down.

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