Name: ____________________________________
Period: _______
Part Ia: Chapter 2 (Alternative assignment available for this chapter)
1.
Give the chapter a title.
2.
Identify some of the traditions described. What are their purposes?
3.
What determines honor in the Ibo society? Cite evidence from the story.
4.
What foreshadows Ikemefuna’s future? Cite 1 example from the text.
5.
How does the Oracle prevent Umuofia from warring with their neighbors?
Chapter 3 (In class)
1.
Identify some of the superstitions/beliefs seen in these chapters.
2.
How does Okonkwo feel about Unoka? How does he react to those feelings?
3.
What seems to be the importance of the kola nut and palm wine? How do you know?
Name: ________________________________
Period: _______
Chapter 4
1.
What are Okonkwo’s strengths? What are Okonkwo’s faults/weaknesses?
2.
What does this proverb mean: “When a man says yes his chi says yes also”?
3.
Describe the relationship between Okonkwo and Ikemefuna. (Take note of this relationship – it
will be important later). How can you connect this to a relationship in your own life?
Chapter 5 (Alternative assignment available for this chapter)
1.
What is the crime that causes Okonkwo to be reprimanded? What does this tell you about the
values of the Ibo culture?
2.
What evidence is there in Chapter 5 that customs have changed over time?
3.
Why is Ani the most important deity?
4.
Why does Okonkwo criticize Ezinma?
No questions for chapter 6 
Name: ________________________________
Period: ______
Part Ib: Chapter 7
1.
How has Nwoye begun to “act like a man”? What values does Okonkwo associate with
manliness? How does Nwoye relate to these values?
2.
Why is Okonkwo asked to NOT take part in the killing of Ikemefuna? Why do you suppose
they have decided to kill the boy?
3.
Why do you think Achebe does not translate the song that Ikemefuna remembers as he
walks along? (A machete is a large knife – Spanish machete.) Why does Okonkwo act as
he does?
4.
How does Okonkwo’s action destroy his relationship with Nwoye?
5.
Most traditional cultures have considered twins magical or cursed. Twins are in fact
unusually common among the Ibo, and some subgroups value them highly. However, the
people of Umiofia do not. Why do you think that this bit of knowledge is introduced on the
heels of Ikemefuna’s death? What predictions can you make from this?
Name: _______________________________
Period: _______
Chapter 8 (Alternative assignment available for this chapter)
1.
How do Okonkwo’s actions after Ikemefuna’s death reveal how he feels?
2.
What is Okonkwo’s attitude toward his daughter Ezinma?
3.
Obierika states, “If I were you, I would have stayed at home. What you have done will not
please the Earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families”
(67). What does he mean? Think about the character of Obierika – what role might he
play in the novel?
4.
Young women were considered marriageable in their mid-teens. Why do you think this
was common in African culture, as well as European culture, at the time?
5.
How is the notion of white men first introduced into the story? What sorts of attitudes are
associated with white men in these chapters?
Chapter 9
1.
Give the chapter a title. Explain your choice.
2.
The story of the mosquito is one of several West African tales, which explain why these
insects buzz irritatingly in people’s ears. Why does Ekwefi prize her daughter Ezinma so
highly?
3.
In this chapter the notion of the ogbanje is treated at length. Note how it balances against
the “throwing away” of twins. What attitudes toward children does it reflect?
Name: _______________________________
Period: _______
No questions for chapter 10 
Ch. 11
1.
What is the moral of the fable of the tortoise? What values does the fable reflect?
2.
What does the incident involving the priestess of Agbala reflect about the values of the
culture?
3.
Why does Okonkwo come to the shrine? How does Ekwefi feel about his presence?
Chapter 12-13 (Alternative assignment available for this chapter)
1.
Compare the uri ceremony to how we celebrate weddings/engagements in America.
2.
Why do you think a “cold shiver ran down Okonkwo’s back as he remembered the last time
the old man” Ezeudu visited him (121)?
3.
Okonkwo has killed people before this incident. What makes this killing so serious, though
it would be treated as a mere accident under our law?
4.
How does Obierika react to the punishment? How does this reaction reinforce his role in
the novel?
5.
What is ironic about the fact that Okonkwo’s crime is considered a “female” crime?
Name: _______________________________
Period: _______
Part II: Chapter 14
1.
What is the significance of comparing Okonkwo to a fish out of water?
2.
Why is a woman brought back to her kinsmen to be buried?
3.
Why does Okonkwo sit in a “silent half-sleep” (131)?
Chapter 15-16 (Alternative assignment available for this chapter)
1.
How does the story of the destruction of Abame summarize the experience of colonization?
2.
What evidence is there in these chapters that the clans do not understand the white man’s
way of life?
3.
Agree or disagree: The white men do not want to know anything about the Ibo culture
because they think it is inherently inferior and not worth learning about. Explain.
4.
Why do you think Nwoye has become a Christian?
5.
What is the first act of the missionaries which evokes a positive response in some of the
Ibo?
Name: _______________________________
Period: _____
Chapter 17 and 18
1.
How does the granting to the missionaries of a plot in the Evil Forest backfire?
2.
What does the metaphor in the next to the last sentence of the chapter (17) mean?
3.
How does the Ibo superstition about the birth of twins (seen as bad luck) compel the first
African woman to join the white man’s church?
4.
Why is Okonkwo terrified that his other children will join Nwoye in the white man’s
church?
5.
Who are the Osu? Explain.
Chapter 19
1.
Find a proverb in Chapter 19 explaining why men are superior to animals.
2.
What theme for this story is stated at the end of Chapter 19 by one of the elders in the clan?
3.
Give the chapter a title. Explain your choice.
Name: __________________________________
Period: _______
Part III: Chapter 20-21
1.
Why does Okonkwo want to maintain his old ways of life?
2.
Who are the kotma and why are they corrupt?
3.
Why does Mr. Brown believe the clan children should attend school?
4.
The god Chukwu is identified in Chapter 21. In what way is he similar to Mr. Brown’s God?
5.
Why does Mr. Brown object to the way the people worship Chukwu?
Chapter 22-23 (Alternative assignment available for these chapters)
1.
How is Reverend Smith different from Reverend Brown?
2.
What is the result of Rev. Smith’s black and white thinking? Why is this a turning point for the
clan?
3.
What does the District Commissioner say is the motive of the British in colonizing the Africans?
Why are the actions of the District Commissioner ironic?
4.
Why does Okonkwo kill the messenger?
5.
Once again (as foreshadowed) Okonkwo uses his machete rashly, bringing disaster upon himself.
But could he be viewed as a defiant hero defending his people’s way of life?
Name: _________________________________
Period: _______
Chapter 24-25
1.
Why is it ironic that Obierika and the other clan members will not touch Okonkwo’s body?
2.
To what extent may Okonkwo’s death be viewed as a tragedy?
3.
What is the tragedy of the Ibo people, which is implicit in the last paragraph of the novel?
4.
Give each chapter a title. Explain your choice.