Devil on the Cross Quizzes

Devil on the Cross Quiz 1

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

A distant relative from Nairobi

His father

His stepbrother
2 Forming the backdrop of Ngũgĩ's early life were ___.
the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta and a land rush in Kenya

the Mau Mau Uprising and French settler colonialism

the Mau Mau Uprising and British settler colonialism

the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta and a renaissance in Kenyan peasant life
3 While at Leeds, Ngũgĩ's peers ___.
helped to bankroll the publication of his earliest works

recommended him for the Nobel Prize in Literature

helped to cowrite Ngũgĩ's earliest dramatic work

helped to foment his early interest in Marxism and revolutionary ideology
4 "A Grain of Wheat" marked a shift in Ngũgĩ's narrative technique in that ___.
the novel was Ngũgĩ's first foray into satire

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
5 While working at the University of Nairobi, Ngũgĩ fought most distinctly to ___.
raise the wages of graduate students and custodial staff

accept a more diverse coalition of students, including many white settlers

take down campus monuments to corrupt Kenyans and foreign dignitaries

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

he was arrested and detained at Kamiti Maximum Security prison

an assassination attempt was made on his life
7 While incarcerated, Ngũgĩ made the decision to ___.
write only in Gĩkũyũ from that point onwards

write only satire from that point onwards

pursue revolutionary Marxism and foment insurrections against the government

return to his ancestral village for the remainder of his days
8 Ngũgĩ's novel "Matigari" caused a stir when ___.
its Marxist undertones scandalized the global literary scene

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

the Moi government mistakenly issued an arrest warrant for its fictional protagonist
9 Ngũgĩ wrote "Devil on the Cross" ___.
while working on the faculty of the University of Nairobi

on toiletpaper in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison

while in voluntary exile in the U.K.

in order to issue a direct challenge against the American presence in Kenya
10 An inadvertent effect of Ngũgĩ's choice to write "Devil on the Cross" in Gĩkũyũ was that ___.
the novel spurred an international revival in interest in Gĩkũyũ

it failed to attract a large, international readership

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

it avoided censorship by the Kenyan government, which did not have Gĩkũyũ representation
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 speak directly to peasants about their conditions in their own langauge

To alienate a wider audience in favor of something more intimate and personal

To reflect reality as it is from the eyes of his own people and culture
12 In the frame story of the novel, we are told that our narrator is ___.
Warĩĩnga's mother

a Gĩcaandĩ Player in Ilmorog

Gatuĩria

Warĩĩnga herself
13 The narrator begins the novel by telling us that they ___.
are hesitant to tell us the story of Warĩĩnga, since we are outsiders to Ilmorog

will enthusiastically tell us the story of Warĩĩnga

are a descendant of Warĩĩnga herself

are lucky enough to have known Warĩĩnga personally
14 Complete the quote from the novel's opening: "The voice of the people is ___."
the voice of a nation

the voice of God

the voice of our land

the voice of purpose
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 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

he starts Warĩĩnga's story in the wrong place, then corrects himself
16 Which of the following provides early evidence of the neocolonial regime's impact on Warĩĩnga?
She is rescued not by a woman, but a man at the bus stop.

She tries to lighten her skin and straighten her hair.

Warĩĩnga's lover is a young revolutionary.

She tries to commit suicide in front of a bus.
17 Warĩĩnga's recurring nightmare symbolizes ___.
her desire to end her life and be scrubbed entirely from the face of the Earth

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

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

horror at the compradores and tycoons who allow foreigners and other evil powers to build Hell on Earth for the people of Kenya
18 In telling her own story through the thin allegory of Kareendi, Warĩĩnga alludes to ___.
the Gĩkũyũ ballad of Kamoongonye

the Biblical Parable of the Talents

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

a popular song about a man named Kĩhara
19 In propositioning Warĩĩnga, Boss Kĩhara does all of the following EXCEPT:
Pervert scripture to suit his purposes

Attempt to shame Warĩĩnga by calling her old-fahsioned

Offer Warĩĩnga wealth and gifts

Woo Warĩĩnga considerately, outside of the office environemnt
20 The man who saves Warĩĩnga at the Kaka bus stop is also the man who ___.
invites her to the Devil's Feast in Ilmorog

she is engaged to at the novel's end

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 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

that he is sexist towards women, especially African women
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 are sympathetic towards her but offer her no immediate remedy.

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

They ignore her and allow Mwaũra to try and throw her out.
23 While recounting her story, Wangarĩ recalls that she was arrested because ___.
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

of her earlier actions in the Mau Mau Uprising

of her failure to pay off the debts related to her farm
24 The fact that Wangarĩ faces vagrancy charges at the courts is emblematic of ___.
the way in which people are willing to sell out their own countrymen for profits

the way in which foreign powers and money have made locals feel alienated in their own country

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

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

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

visit her parents in Njeruca, from whom she is estranged

attend the Devil's Feast as a distinguished guest

Discuss the stylistic techniques employed by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o in the devil on the cross

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Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Devil on the Cross

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The theme of post colonialism

Perhaps more than anything else, Devil on the Cross is a biting satire directed against the powers of neocolonialism and the corruption that is bred by a faulty process of decolonization. As Ngũgĩ shows us through characters like Boss Kĩhara, the...

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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

Wikipedia Entries for Devil on the Cross