Things Fall Apart – Lecture Review

50 fill-in-the-blank flashcards covering key characters, events, terms, and proverbs from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

The protagonist of Things Fall Apart is __.

Okonkwo

__ is Okonkwo’s father, known for his laziness and debts.

Unoka

Okonkwo gains fame by defeating the wrestler __ the Cat.

Amalinze

The village where Okonkwo lives at the start is __.

Umuofia

The novel’s title is drawn from the poem “The Second Coming” by __.

W. B. Yeats

Okonkwo’s personal god or destiny is called his __.

chi

An __ is a child who repeatedly dies and is reborn, like many of Ekwefi’s children.

ogbanje

The sacred stone linking an ogbanje to the spirit world is the __.

iyi-uwa

Okonkwo’s favorite daughter, nicknamed Crystal of Beauty, is __.

Ezinma

Okonkwo’s first son who later joins the Christians is __.

Nwoye

Okonkwo commits a “female” crime when his gun accidentally kills __ during Ezeudu’s funeral.

Ezeudu’s son

For violating the Week of Peace, Okonkwo must sacrifice a goat, hen, cloth, and __ cowries.

one hundred

Okonkwo’s exile lasts __ years.

seven

During exile, Okonkwo lives in his mother’s village of __.

Mbanta

Okonkwo’s uncle, who receives him in exile, is __.

Uchendu

The missionaries first build their church in the dreaded __ Forest.

Evil

The white missionary known for compromise and building a school is Mr. __.

Brown

Mr. Brown’s stricter successor is Reverend __ Smith.

James

The convert who supposedly kills and eats the sacred python is __.

Enoch

The traditional masked spirits of Umuofia are called __.

egwugwu

The egwugwu who represents Umueru village is nicknamed __ Forest.

Evil

Okonkwo’s clan fears the kotma, whose nickname is __ Buttocks.

Ashy

An osu is considered an outcast and literal meaning is __.

dedicated to a god

The sacred week before planting, when violence is forbidden, is the Week of __.

Peace

Okonkwo’s offense of beating his wife during the Week of Peace breaks the peace of the goddess __.

Ani

__ is the wealthy man who lends Okonkwo 800 seed yams.

Nwakibie

Okonkwo’s second wife who loves wrestling matches is __.

Ekwefi

The tragic boy taken from Mbaino who calls Okonkwo father is __.

Ikemefuna

Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna with his __.

machete

Obierika warns Okonkwo that the Earth goddess may punish his __ in killing Ikemefuna.

participation

The oracle consulted by Unoka about poor harvests is the Oracle of the Hills and __.

the Caves

The medicine containing an old woman’s spirit is called __.

agadi-nwayi

The yam is referred to as the __ of crops.

king

The wrestling contest that thrills Ekwefi is held during the Feast of the __ Yam.

New

Okonkwo’s gun explodes at Ezeudu’s funeral, exemplifying the proverb “a __ father.”

shooting

During exile, Okonkwo names a son Nwofia, meaning __ in the wilderness.

begotten

The District Commissioner plans a book titled "The Pacification of the __ Tribes of the Lower Niger."

Primitive

The court messengers arrest six Umuofia leaders and demand __ bags of cowries.

two hundred and fifty

The kotma shave the prisoners’ __ as humiliation.

heads

Okonkwo kills the court messenger with two strokes of his __.

machete

After killing the messenger, Okonkwo realizes Umuofia will not go to __.

war

Okonkwo ends his life by committing __.

suicide

Because suicide is an abomination, only __ may touch Okonkwo’s body.

strangers

Okonkwo’s suicide prevents his clansmen from __ him like a titled man.

burying

At the end, Obierika tells the District Commissioner that Okonkwo was one of the __ men in Umuofia.

greatest

The farming share-cropping rule gives a young man __ of the harvest.

one-third

The nickname for a lazy worthless man is __.

efulefu

The kola-nut proverb says, “He who brings kola brings __.”

life

When the missionary condemns twin killing, the rescued twins remain in the jungle because clan law still deems them __.

abominations

Mother is Supreme is expressed in the Ibo name __.

Nneka

The proverb explains that since men have learned to shoot without missing, Eneke the bird has learned to fly without __.

perching