1
25 marks
How far does Achebe encourage you to admire Ekwefi in the novel?
Remember to support your ideas with details from the text.
Was this exam question helpful?
Things Fall Apart (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature): Exam Questions
Exam code: 0475 & 0992
2 hours5 questions
2
25 marks
Read this passage, and then answer the question that follows it:
Everybody in the crowd was talking. It was like the market. From a distance the noise was a deep rumble carried by the wind. An iron gong sounded, setting up a wave of expectation in the crowd. Everyone looked in the direction of the egwugwu house. Gome, gome, gome, gome went the gong, and a powerful flute blew a high-pitched blast. Then came the voices of the egwugwu, guttural and awesome. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. But it was momentary, They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of the egwugwu should go towards them. The drum sounded again and the flute blew. The egwugwu house was now a pandemonium of quavering voices: Aru oyim de de de dei! filled the air as the spirits of the ancestors , just emerged from the earth, greeted themselves in their esoteric language. The egwugwu house into which they emerged faced the forest, away from the crowd, who saw only its back with the many-colored patterns and drawings done by specially chosen women at regular intervals. These women never saw the inside of the hut. No woman ever did. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men. If they imagined what was inside, they kept their imagination to themselves. No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and the most secret cult in the clan. Aru oyim de de de dei! flew around the dark, closed hut like tongues of fire. The ancestral spirits of the clan were abroad. The metal gong beat continuously now and the flute, shrill and powerful, floated on the chaos. And then the egwugwu appeared. The women and children sent up a great shout and took to their heels. It was instinctive. A woman fled as soon as an egwugwu came in sight. And when, as on that day, nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle. Even Mgbafo took to her heels and had to be restrained by her brothers. Each of the nine egwugwu represented a village of the clan. Their leader was called Evil Forest. Smoke poured out of his head. (from Chapter 10) |
In what ways does Achebe make this a dramatic and emotionally gripping moment?
Remember to support your ideas with details from the text.
Was this exam question helpful?
3
25 marks
Explore the ways Achebe reveals the pressures and expectations placed on boys and young men in Things Fall Apart.
Remember to support your ideas with details from the text.
Was this exam question helpful?
4
25 marks
How does Achebe vividly convey the tensions between individual desires and community values in Things Fall Apart?
Remember to support your ideas with details from the text.
Was this exam question helpful?
5
25 marks
Read this passage carefully, and then answer the question that follows it. Ikemefuna, a boy who has lived in Okonkwo’s household for three years and calls him father, is being led along a forest path by the men of Umuofia. He does not know that they mean to kill him.
He sang it in his mind, and walked to its beat. If the song ended on his right foot, his mother was alive. If it ended on his left, she was dead. No, not dead, but ill. It ended on the right. She was alive and well. He sang the song again, and it ended on the left. But the second time did not count. The first voice gets to Chukwu, or God’s house. That was a favorite saying of children. Ikemefuna felt like a child once more. It must be the thought of going home to his mother.
One of the men behind him cleared his throat. Ikemefuna looked back, and the man growled at him to go on and not stand looking back. The way he said it sent cold fear down Ikemefuna’s back. His hands trembled vaguely on the black pot he carried. Why had Okonkwo withdrawn to the rear? Ikemefuna felt his legs melting under him. And he was afraid to look back.
As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, “My father, they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.
How does Achebe make this such a shocking and powerful moment in the novel?
Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing.
Was this exam question helpful?