Devil on the Cross Quizzes

Devil on the Cross Quiz 1

Edited by K. Adolph · Last reviewed January 26, 2021

1 Who in Ngũgĩ's life was responsible for helping him to prioritize his education?

His stepbrother

A distant relative from Nairobi

His mother

His father
2 Forming the backdrop of Ngũgĩ's early life were ___.

the Mau Mau Uprising and French settler colonialism

the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta and a renaissance in Kenyan peasant life

the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta and a land rush in Kenya

the Mau Mau Uprising and British settler colonialism
3 While at Leeds, Ngũgĩ's peers ___.

helped to bankroll the publication of his earliest works

helped to cowrite Ngũgĩ's earliest dramatic work

helped to foment his early interest in Marxism and revolutionary ideology

recommended him for the Nobel Prize in Literature
4 "A Grain of Wheat" marked a shift in Ngũgĩ's narrative technique in that ___.

it was written in English, where all of Ngũgĩ's earlier works were written in Gĩkũyũ

it was Ngũgĩ's first novel to focus on Kenyan peasants and workers

narrative focus on the individual was foregone in favor of a focus on the collective

the novel was Ngũgĩ's first foray into satire
5 While working at the University of Nairobi, Ngũgĩ fought most distinctly to ___.

take down campus monuments to corrupt Kenyans and foreign dignitaries

center African literature and remove the word "English" from the Literature Department's name

raise the wages of graduate students and custodial staff

accept a more diverse coalition of students, including many white settlers
6 A turning point in Ngũgĩ's life came in 1977 when ___.

he met his wife Njeeri

he was fired from the university and forced into exile

an assassination attempt was made on his life

he was arrested and detained at Kamiti Maximum Security prison
7 While incarcerated, Ngũgĩ made the decision to ___.

return to his ancestral village for the remainder of his days

pursue revolutionary Marxism and foment insurrections against the government

write only in Gĩkũyũ from that point onwards

write only satire from that point onwards
8 Ngũgĩ's novel "Matigari" caused a stir when ___.

its Marxist undertones scandalized the global literary scene

the Moi government mistakenly issued an arrest warrant for its fictional protagonist

it was not translated into English, and Ngũgĩ said that he would never translate the novel

it was distributed in samizdat around Kenya, much to the government's chagrin
9 Ngũgĩ wrote "Devil on the Cross" ___.

in order to issue a direct challenge against the American presence in Kenya

on toiletpaper in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison

while in voluntary exile in the U.K.

while working on the faculty of the University of Nairobi
10 An inadvertent effect of Ngũgĩ's choice to write "Devil on the Cross" in Gĩkũyũ was that ___.

it avoided censorship by the Kenyan government, which did not have Gĩkũyũ representation

it failed to attract a large, international readership

his manuscript of the novel was spared confiscation from a prison officer

the novel spurred an international revival in interest in Gĩkũyũ
11 In writing "Devil on the Cross" in Gĩkũyũ, Ngũgĩ intended for each of the following EXCEPT:

To skirt using the language of the oppressor to criticize their own systems of oppression

To reflect reality as it is from the eyes of his own people and culture

To speak directly to peasants about their conditions in their own langauge

To alienate a wider audience in favor of something more intimate and personal
12 In the frame story of the novel, we are told that our narrator is ___.

Warĩĩnga's mother

Warĩĩnga herself

Gatuĩria

a Gĩcaandĩ Player in Ilmorog
13 The narrator begins the novel by telling us that they ___.

will enthusiastically tell us the story of Warĩĩnga

are lucky enough to have known Warĩĩnga personally

are hesitant to tell us the story of Warĩĩnga, since we are outsiders to Ilmorog

are a descendant of Warĩĩnga herself
14 Complete the quote from the novel's opening: "The voice of the people is ___."

the voice of purpose

the voice of God

the voice of a nation

the voice of our land
15 We get early evidence that our narrator may not be a wholly reliable one in that ___.

he explicitly mentions his dislike for Warĩĩnga as well as the other central characters

he starts Warĩĩnga's story in the wrong place, then corrects himself

he describes Warĩĩnga in the opening chapter with derisive and sexist language

he mentions that he was among the people who evicted Warĩĩnga from her apartment
16 Which of the following provides early evidence of the neocolonial regime's impact on Warĩĩnga?

She tries to commit suicide in front of a bus.

Warĩĩnga's lover is a young revolutionary.

She tries to lighten her skin and straighten her hair.

She is rescued not by a woman, but a man at the bus stop.
17 Warĩĩnga's recurring nightmare symbolizes ___.

the involvement in the church of the Rich Old Man from Ngorika

a dislike for the church, which Warĩĩnga recognizes as an instrument of white supremacy

horror at the compradores and tycoons who allow foreigners and other evil powers to build Hell on Earth for the people of Kenya

her desire to end her life and be scrubbed entirely from the face of the Earth
18 In telling her own story through the thin allegory of Kareendi, Warĩĩnga alludes to ___.

real locations around the city of Ilmrog such as the Golden Heights

the Gĩkũyũ ballad of Kamoongonye

a popular song about a man named Kĩhara

the Biblical Parable of the Talents
19 In propositioning Warĩĩnga, Boss Kĩhara does all of the following EXCEPT:

Woo Warĩĩnga considerately, outside of the office environemnt

Offer Warĩĩnga wealth and gifts

Attempt to shame Warĩĩnga by calling her old-fahsioned

Pervert scripture to suit his purposes
20 The man who saves Warĩĩnga at the Kaka bus stop is also the man who ___.

she is engaged to at the novel's end

invites her to the Devil's Feast in Ilmorog

speaks first at the Devil's Feast

rescued her years earlier from the railroad tracks
21 Mwaũra's use of gossip as a sales technique, as well as his sloganeering, suggest ___.

that he is sexist towards women, especially African women

that he is a person of loose morals, who will do anything to turn a profit

that, in his prior career, he was a man of the church who delivered sermons

that he places value in language, just like Ngũgĩ himself
22 When Wangarĩ tells Mwaũra that she cannot pay the bus fare, how do most of the other passengers respond?

They think Wangarĩ to be a thief, until she tells them her story.

They ignore her and allow Mwaũra to try and throw her out.

They admire her for having fought in the Mau Mau Uprising and offer to split her fare among themselves.

They are sympathetic towards her but offer her no immediate remedy.
23 While recounting her story, Wangarĩ recalls that she was arrested because ___.

of her earlier actions in the Mau Mau Uprising

of her failure to pay off the debts related to her farm

she walked through Nairobi dressed in traditional kitenge garments

a Black man who worked for a white hotel owner thought her to be a thief or spy
24 The fact that Wangarĩ faces vagrancy charges at the courts is emblematic of ___.

the way in which the European colonial establishment sees local women as aimless and lazy

the way in which people are willing to sell out their own countrymen for profits

the way in which women are often reduced to prostitutes in the eyes of local men

the way in which foreign powers and money have made locals feel alienated in their own country
25 Wangarĩ ultimately says that she is going to Ilmorog in order to ___.

stop the Devil's Feast before it even is allowed to begin

visit her parents in Njeruca, from whom she is estranged

attend the Devil's Feast as a distinguished guest

cooperate with the police and reveal thieves and robbers, so as to lighten her own sentence

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What is the relevance of the title DEVIL ON THE CROSS to the book Devil on the Cross

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Devil on the Cross

by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Devil on the Cross Quiz 1

Devil on the Cross Questions and Answers

Study Guide for Devil on the Cross

Essays for Devil on the Cross

Lesson Plan for Devil on the Cross

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