Things Fall Apart Exam Review

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Things Fall Apart Exam Review
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You Should

• Take notes to use on the exam
• There are 40 multiple choice questions.-Do these
  on scantron.
• There are 20 character matching questions.-Do
  this on your own paper.
• There are 11 quotes to identify.
• There are two short essays 2 to 3 paragraphs
• There is one long essay 5 to 7 paragraphs
• Exam is worth 143 points.
• Exams are worth 85 of your grade.

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Chi

• Personal god- one makes a contract with this
  entity before birth as to what one wants to
  achieve or not in life.
• Believed to be responsible for both good and bad
  luck.
• Likened to a guardian angel that guides a human
  on earth, steering humans away from bad choices
  and towards good ones.

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obanje

• A child believed to be an evil spirit that taunts
  its mother by being born and dying shortly after
  over and over again.
• Ezinma believe to be one.
• A myth that explains why children die young.

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Iyi-uwa

• A stone used by the obanji to link themselves to
  the spirit world.
• A child could be saved if a medicine man could
  locate the stone.
• Chielo takes Ezinma to try to locate her stone
  and enlists a medicine man to help.

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egugwu

• Men of the igbo tribe that represent ancestors
  spirits.
• Priests of the Oracle of Agbala.
• Concealed by masks and costumes, not considered
  to be human when disguised and are not to be
  touched by humans.
• Address humans as body to emphasize the
  difference between the human and spirit.
• Are called on to make judgments in disputes that
  occur within the clan.

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Okonkwo

• Tragic hero begins in the story as a person of
  high status who falls from status as a result of
  bad choices.
• Revered in Umofia for being wealthy, prosperous,
  strong, good at wrestling, a brave warrior, has
  two titles of honor, three wives.
• Tragic fault his inability to express emotion,
  anger, uses his fists instead of his words,
  inability to adapt.
• Regards emotion as weakness.
• Ashamed of his father Unoka - represents weakness
  to him.
• Ashamed of his son Nwoye regards him as
  feminine and weak for converting to the Christian
  religion.
• Wishes Ezinma were a boy.
• Dies in a shameful way.
• Tall, huge, bushy eyebrows, wide nose and a
  severe look.

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Motif

• Any elements that recurs in one or more works of
  literature or art.
• Chi is a reoccurring element in this story.
• Okonkwos chi is mentioned when he is banished
  and again when Nwoye converts to Christianity.
• Okonkow thinks chi is responsible for his bad
  fortune and that his chi is his destiny.

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Themes

• Things Fall Apart literally, with the coming of
  the white man, the Igbo society unravels and
  falls apart.
• Tolerance of other cultures.
• Those who cannot adapt, cannot survive.

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Irony

• The difference between appearance and reality.
• Okonkwos death and the title of the District
  Commissioners Book The Pacification of the
  Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger
• One of Umofias greatest men dies like a dog and
  cannot even be touched or buried by his tribe
  because his suicide makes him an abomination.
• The Western European idea that the Igbo were
  savages that needed to be pacified when in fact
  they had a peaceful, working society in place.
• Europeans did not bring peace, but violence and
  confusion.

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Tragedy

• A drama or story that tells of the fall of a
  person from high status.
• Serious
• Celebrates the courage and dignity of a tragic
  hero in the face of inevitable doom.
• Okonkwo embodies these traits as does the novel.

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Mr. Smith vs. Mr. Brown

• Mr. Brown
• tolerates Igbo beliefs and traditions
• Restrains overzealous converts
• Opens schools and hospitals to help win converts.
• Criticizes the Igbo for worshiping false gods.
• Mr. Smith
• intolerant of Igbo beliefs and traditions.
• Encourages overzealous converts to behave
• badly.
• Believes in conversion by force not choice
• Horrified when a woman allows her husband to
• mutilate her child

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Men vs. Women in Igbo Society

• Male dominated
• Men hold authority in family and clan
• Men cultivate the king crop yams
• Women cultivate smaller, less important crops.
• Men judge important cases
• Women judge minor disputes
• Women serve husbands and take care of children
• Men are allowed to beat their wives and children
• Men are allowed to have more than one wife

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Okonkwo vs. Unoka

• Unoka
• Lazy, poor, cowardly, afraid of war
• Holds no titles
• In debt
• Loves music and celebrations
• Unsuccessful
• Okonkwo
• hard worker
• wealthy
• holds two titles of honor
• fierce and brave warrior
• successful

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Proverbs, Myths, Folk tales oral tradition

• Used to explain unexplained phenomenon
• Used to teach children cultural values
• Tortoise and the Snake-Lizard how the tortoise
  got the cracks in his shell.
• Obanje why children die young.
• Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad
  daylight, you know that something is after its
  life.when clan members come out to meet early
  in the morning, its obvious their lives are in
  danger.
• Enke the bird was asked why he was always on the
  wing and he replied, men have learned to shoot
  without missing their mark and I have learned to
  fly with perching on a twig.Clan members must
  be willing to kill their own brothers, something
  they have never done before.
• "Obodo N'ezu Ezu Azu Nwa Igbo Proverb "It
  takes a whole village to raise a child."

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Quotes who said these, to whom and why?

• I know you will not despair. You have a manly
  and proud heart.
• Unoka to Okonkwo
• When did you become a shivering old woman?
• Okonkwo to self
• What you have done will not please the earth.
• Oberika to Okonkwo
• Where did you bury your iyi-uwa?
• Medicine man to Enzinma
• Body of Uzowulu, do you know me?
• Evil Forest (Eguwgwu) to Uzowulu

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Quotes part 2

• We all know that the man is the head of the
  family and his wives do his bidding.
• Uchendu to Okonkwo
• Unless you shave off the mark of the heathen
  belief I will not admit you into the church.
• Mr. Kiaga to the outcasts/Osu
• Kotma of the ash buttock,/He is fit to be a
  slave.
• Song about the Igbo police
• You have all seen the great abomination of your
  brother.
• Okonkwo to his children
• I have asked you to come because of what
  happened during my absence.
• District Commissioner to the elders of Umofia

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Characters- Know them and how to identify them

• Okonkwo Nwoye Ekwefi Unoka
• Agbala Ezinma Chielo Ikemefuna
• Ezeudu Ojiugo Uchendu Enoch
• Dist Commissioner Mr. Kiaga Mr. Smith
• Mr. Brown Isaac Aneto
• Oberika Akunna

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Setting

• Village/Clan of Umofia
• Nigeria
• Mbanta Okonkwos mothers village/clan
• Mbiano- neighboring clan/village
• Igbo/Ibo - Tribe

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Facts to Remember

• Ikemefuna came to Umofia as an exchange for the
  woman his father killed.
• Ikemefuna is killed because an oracle decreed he
  must die.
• Okonkwo breaks the week of peace when he beats
  his wife.
• Chielo takes Ezinma to see Agbala.
• Oberikas daughters wedding is interrupted when
  a cow gets loose.
• Oberikas daughters husbands family brings pots
  of palm wine for her bride price.
• During Ezeudus funeral Okonkwo accidently kills
  his son.
• As a punishment, Okonkwo is banished from Umofia
  for 7 years.
• People of Abame were massacred for killing a
  white missionary.

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Facts to RememberContinued

• An iron horse is a bicycle.
• Efulefu worthless people.
• People of Umofia decide that the missionaries
  were protected by their glasses which prevented
  them from being killed in the Evil Forest.
• People of Mbanta believe that the Christians
  killed the sacred python.
• Christian converts are compared to a hunters dog
  that has gone mad and turned on its master.

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Facts to RememberEnd

• Okonkwo kills a court messenger with his machete
  at the clan meeting.
• Palm oil is a source of money for the people of
  Umofia
• Enoch unmasks the Egwugwu.
• Clan members calm the Mother Spirit by burning
  down the church.

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Know This Information

• You will only have 90 minutes to complete this
  exam.
• Make sure you review this information and know
  it you wont have time to learn it during the
  exam.
• Bring something to do if you finish early,
  talking during or after the exam or relying on
  your neighbor for answers will result in a 0 on
  the exam.