Course outline
Module 1
Module 1: Chinua Achebe and the Colonial Novel
Chinua Achebe and the Colonial Novel
Knowledge check
Q1. In which novel by Chinua Achebe does the protagonist Okonkwo struggle against the changes brought by British colonial rule to his Igbo village of Umuofia?
- A. Arrow of God
- B. Things Fall Apart ✓
- C. No Longer at Ease
- D. A Man of the People
Why: Things Fall Apart (1958) follows Okonkwo, a respected wrestler and leader in Umuofia, as he resists and ultimately falls victim to the disruptions of British colonialism and Christian missionary activity.
Q2. What is the name of the Igbo village that serves as the main setting of Things Fall Apart?
- A. Abame
- B. Mbanta
- C. Umuofia ✓
- D. Okperi
Why: Umuofia is the fictional Igbo village at the centre of Things Fall Apart, representing a traditional community whose social and religious order is transformed by colonial encounter.
Q3. What is the title of the famous line from W.B. Yeats's poem 'The Second Coming' that Achebe borrowed for the title of his 1958 novel?
- A. Dawn of Empire
- B. Things Fall Apart ✓
- C. The Centre Cannot Hold
- D. Mere Anarchy
Why: Achebe took the title Things Fall Apart from the line 'Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold' in Yeats's poem, signalling the novel's theme of social collapse under pressure from outside forces.
Q4. Which Igbo cultural concept, central to Okonkwo's sense of self-worth, is tied to his fear of appearing weak like his father?
- A. Ogbanje
- B. Chi ✓
- C. Ilo
- D. Egwugwu
Why: Chi refers to one's personal spirit or guiding deity in Igbo belief. While the broader concept of self-worth is shaped by cultural values, Okonkwo's drive to avoid being seen as 'agbala' (weak or womanly) like his father Unoka is his central motivation, and chi is the personal destiny concept that frames how he understands his fate.
Q5. In Things Fall Apart, which British character is portrayed as a relatively tolerant and respectful colonial figure who tries to understand the Igbo people, in contrast to the rigid Reverend Smith?
- A. District Commissioner
- B. Mr. Brown ✓
- C. Reverend Smith
- D. Captain Wrigley
Why: Mr. Brown, the first missionary, adopts a conciliatory approach, building relationships with the Igbo and attempting to understand their beliefs, while Reverend Smith represents a more intolerant and fundamentalist stance.
Module 2
Module 2: Things Fall Apart: Culture, Conflict, and Change
Things Fall Apart: Culture, Conflict, and Change
Knowledge check
Q1. In Things Fall Apart, what is the name of the protagonist who is a wrestling champion and leader in the village of Umuofia?
- A. Obierika
- B. Okonkwo ✓
- C. Nwoye
- D. Ezeudu
Why: Okonkwo is the central protagonist, a respected warrior and wrestling champion whose fear of weakness and failure drives much of the novel's tragedy.
Q2. What is the name of the Ibo village where most of the novel's events take place?
- A. Mbanta
- B. Abame
- C. Umuofia ✓
- D. Ezeulu
Why: Umuofia is the Ibo village at the center of the novel, representing traditional society and its customs, governance, and religious life before colonial contact.
Q3. Which of Okonkwo's sons is drawn toward the Christian missionaries and the new faith?
- A. Ikemefuna
- B. Nwoye ✓
- C. Obierika
- D. Maduka
Why: Nwoye, Okonkwo's eldest surviving son, is attracted to the message of the missionaries, which deeply disappoints and angers his father.
Q4. According to the Ibo tradition depicted in the novel, what is the 'Osu' social category?
- A. A type of farming tool used during harvest
- B. A group of outcasts dedicated to a deity and considered taboo ✓
- C. The council of elders who judge disputes
- D. A festival honoring the harvest god
Why: Osu are people dedicated to a deity and treated as outcasts, shunned by the community. Their marginalization is one of the social hierarchies that makes the new religion appealing to some.
Q5. What does Okonkwo's accidental killing of a clansman at a funeral cause him to do as punishment?
- A. Pay a fine and remain in Umuofia
- B. Be exiled from Umuofia for seven years ✓
- C. Become a servant to the Christian church
- D. Leave the village to marry in another clan
Why: Under the customs of Umuofia, Okonkwo's accidental killing of a clansman forces him into a seven-year exile to his mother's village of Mbanta, a central turning point in the novel.
Module 3
Module 3: Wole Soyinka and Yoruba Drama
Wole Soyinka and Yoruba Drama
Knowledge check
Q1. Which Nigerian writer was the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?
- A. Chinua Achebe
- B. Wole Soyinka ✓
- C. Ben Okri
- D. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Why: Wole Soyinka received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, becoming the first African writer to be honored with the award.
Q2. Wole Soyinka's drama frequently draws on which cultural tradition for its themes and mythic structure?
- A. Hausa oral praise poetry
- B. Igbo folktales about the tortoise
- C. Yoruba mythology and ritual ✓
- D. Fulani pastoral legends
Why: Soyinka's plays often draw on Yoruba cosmology, gods such as Ogun and Obatala, and ritual performance traditions, reflecting his Yoruba heritage.
Q3. Which Soyinka play adapts the Yoruba myth of the god Ogun and the theme of sacrifice and communal renewal?
- A. Death and the King's Horseman ✓
- B. The Lion and the Jewel
- C. A Dance of the Forests
- D. Things Fall Apart
Why: Death and the King's Horseman (1975) centers on the ritual suicide of a Yoruba horseman meant to accompany a king into the afterlife, drawing on Ogun mythology about sacrifice and the boundary between worlds.
Q4. In Yoruba drama and Soyinka's theory of tragedy, what concept does he associate with the ritual drama of the god Ogun?
- A. Chorus of ancestors
- B. Epic satire
- C. Dionysian-style tragic ritual ✓
- D. Griot storytelling
Why: Soyinka compared Yoruba ritual drama honoring Ogun to the Greek dithyramb and Dionysian tragedy, arguing that tragedy originates in communal ritual.
Q5. Which Nigerian novelist, rather than dramatist, is most closely associated with the first major English-language novel depicting pre-colonial Igbo society?
- A. Wole Soyinka
- B. Chinua Achebe ✓
- C. Cyprian Ekwensi
- D. Buchi Emecheta
Why: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) is widely regarded as a landmark novel portraying pre-colonial Igbo society and its encounter with colonialism.
Module 4
Module 4: Women's Voices: Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa
Women's Voices: Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa
Knowledge check
Q1. Which Nigerian writer is widely regarded as a pioneering female voice in African literature and authored 'Efuru' (1966), often cited as one of the first novels published by an African woman writer in English?
- A. Buchi Emecheta
- B. Flora Nwapa ✓
- C. Chinua Achebe
- D. Wole Soyinka
Why: Flora Nwapa published 'Efuru' in 1966, a novel centered on an Igbo woman, and is often celebrated as the first woman from Africa to publish a novel in English. Buchi Emecheta, Achebe, and Soyinka are important writers but did not author this work.
Q2. Buchi Emecheta's semi-autobiographical novel 'Second-Class Citizen' (1974) follows a young Nigerian woman living in which city?
- A. Lagos
- B. Enugu
- C. London ✓
- D. New York
Why: The novel follows Adah, a Nigerian woman who moves to London with her husband and struggles with motherhood, poverty, and gender and racial discrimination. Emecheta drew heavily on her own experiences in London.
Q3. In Flora Nwapa's 'Efuru,' the title character is associated with which important aspect of Igbo spiritual life?
- A. The goddess of the lake, Uhamiri ✓
- B. The ancestral masquerade cult
- C. The harvest festival of the yam
- D. The sacred python oracle
Why: Efuru is connected to Uhamiri, the lake goddess, a recurring figure in Nwapa's work. Her spiritual bond with the lake and its deity is central to the novel's exploration of womanhood and identity.
Q4. A major theme in Buchi Emecheta's writing is the struggle of women against which combination of pressures?
- A. Colonial taxation and land seizure only
- B. Religious persecution and political exile only
- C. Patriarchal expectations intertwined with economic hardship and cultural displacement ✓
- D. Military rule and censorship only
Why: Emecheta repeatedly depicts women negotiating male-dominated traditions, financial insecurity, and the dislocation of migration. These intersecting pressures are central to her portrayal of female experience.
Q5. Flora Nwapa is often remembered for founding which publishing initiative in Nigeria, supporting African writing after independence?
- A. Heinemann African Writers Series
- B. Ibadan University Press ✓
- C. Nwapa Press
- D. Penguin African Library
Why: Flora Nwapa founded the Ibadan University Press in the 1970s, and she was also the first female Nigerian publisher of a book in English. She worked to make African literature available to local readers.
Module 5
Module 5: Postcolonial Identity in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Postcolonial Identity in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Knowledge check
Q1. In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel 'Half of a Yellow Sun,' which historical event forms the backdrop of the story?
- A. The Rwandan Genocide
- B. The Nigerian Civil War (Biafran War) ✓
- C. The Mau Mau Uprising
- D. The Ghanaian independence movement
Why: 'Half of a Yellow Sun' is set during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970, when the secessionist state of Biafra fought against the federal government. The war shapes the characters' identities and relationships.
Q2. Which Adichie novel follows the character Kambili and her family in Enugu, exploring religious fanaticism and domestic abuse under a father who is a devout Catholic?
- A. Americanah
- B. Purple Hibiscus ✓
- C. Half of a Yellow Sun
- D. The Thing Around Your Neck
Why: 'Purple Hibiscus' (2003) centers on fifteen-year-old Kambili, whose rigid, abusive Catholic father shapes her world. The novel examines how colonial-era religion and postcolonial authoritarianism intersect in family life.
Q3. In 'Americanah,' what is the primary way Ifemelu's identity changes after she moves from Nigeria to the United States?
- A. She becomes fully assimilated and abandons her Nigerian roots
- B. She becomes aware of race as a social category for the first time and begins to see herself as 'Black' in a new way ✓
- C. She becomes a successful politician in Lagos
- D. She returns to Nigeria and never leaves again
Why: In America, Ifemelu encounters racial categories she had not experienced in Nigeria, where her identity was shaped by ethnicity and nationality. Her blogging about race reflects her growing understanding of how identity is constructed differently across cultures.
Q4. Adichie's TED talk 'We Should All Be Feminists' was later adapted into a book. What central idea does it emphasize?
- A. Feminism is a Western concept with no place in African societies
- B. Gender inequality is a problem that affects everyone and should be addressed through a broader understanding of gender roles ✓
- C. Men should be excluded from feminist discussions
- D. Women should focus solely on economic independence
Why: Adichie argues that gender inequality harms both men and women and that everyone should work toward equality. She presents feminism as a shared human project rather than a women-only or Western concern.
Q5. A recurring theme in Adichie's work is the 'single story.' What does this term refer to?
- A. A story told from only one character's perspective
- B. The danger of reducing a people or place to one narrow, simplified narrative ✓
- C. A novel with only one plot line
- D. Stories that are written in a single language
Why: In her TED talk 'The Danger of a Single Story,' Adichie warns that stereotypical or incomplete portrayals of Africa and Africans create misunderstandings. Her fiction often works to present the complexity and multiplicity of postcolonial Nigerian identities.
Module 6
Module 6: Diaspora and Migration in Teju Cole and Helon Habila
Diaspora and Migration in Teju Cole and Helon Habila
Knowledge check
Q1. In Teju Cole's novel Open City, what is the primary profession of the narrator, Julius?
- A. A civil engineer working on bridges in Lagos
- B. A psychiatry resident who walks through New York City ✓
- C. A journalist reporting from war zones in West Africa
- D. A university professor of Nigerian history in Berlin
Why: Julius is a psychiatry fellow in New York whose solitary walks through the city become the structure of Open City. His profession shapes his observational, detached narrative voice.
Q2. Which Helon Habila novel follows a Nigerian journalist's search for a missing poet, and is set during the Niger Delta conflict?
- A. Measuring Time
- B. Waiting for an Angel
- C. Oil on Water ✓
- D. The Chibok Girls
Why: Oil on Water (2010) follows journalist Rufus and Zina Hill-Hulme's investigation into the kidnapping of her husband, a British oil worker, in the Niger Delta. It explores oil extraction, violence, and environmental devastation.
Q3. In Teju Cole's Open City, what does Julius's wandering through New York and Brussels mainly allow the novel to explore?
- A. The mechanics of international banking systems
- B. Themes of memory, race, history, and the experience of the migrant flâneur ✓
- C. A detailed plot of a criminal investigation
- D. The agricultural economy of West Africa
Why: Julius's walks create a fragmented, essayistic narrative in which he reflects on history, memory, racism, and immigrant identity, drawing on the tradition of the flâneur.
Q4. Helon Habila's Waiting for an Angel is set in which Nigerian city and follows which type of character?
- A. Abuja; a government minister
- B. Lagos; a young aspiring journalist named Lomba ✓
- C. Kano; a Sufi religious leader
- D. Enugu; a retired soldier
Why: Waiting for an Angel (2002) is set in Lagos during the military dictatorship and follows Lomba, a young man who becomes a journalist and navigates political corruption and personal disillusionment.
Q5. A recurring concern in both Teju Cole and Helon Habila's work is the experience of which of the following?
- A. Rural subsistence farming
- B. Displacement and the tension between home and elsewhere ✓
- C. Colonial-era missionary schooling
- D. Traditional oral epic performance
Why: Both writers examine migration, exile, and diaspora, probing how characters negotiate belonging, loss, and identity when living between Nigeria and other places abroad.
Module 7
Module 7: Nigerian Literature in the Digital Age
Nigerian Literature in the Digital Age
Knowledge check
Q1. Which Nigerian author is widely regarded as the father of modern African literature in English, known for 'Things Fall Apart'?
- A. Wole Soyinka
- B. Chinua Achebe ✓
- C. Ben Okri
- D. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Why: Chinua Achebe published 'Things Fall Apart' in 1958 and is widely considered the father of modern African literature written in English. Soyinka, Okri, and Adichie are also major Nigerian writers, but Achebe's novel helped establish the field.
Q2. Which of the following best describes the role of social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram in contemporary Nigerian literature?
- A. They have replaced print publishing entirely.
- B. They allow writers to share work directly with readers and build audiences outside traditional gatekeepers. ✓
- C. They are banned from being used by Nigerian authors.
- D. They only serve as archives for colonial-era texts.
Why: Digital platforms have given Nigerian writers direct access to readers, enabling new voices, serialized fiction, and audience-building without relying solely on traditional publishers. Print publishing has not been fully replaced.
Q3. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk 'The Danger of a Single Story' became widely circulated online. What is its central idea?
- A. That African stories should only be told by Africans living in Africa.
- B. That relying on a single narrative about a people or place creates stereotypes and misunderstanding. ✓
- C. That literature should avoid discussing politics.
- D. That English should be abandoned as a literary language.
Why: Adichie argues that when a single story about a group dominates, it flattens their identity. Her talk spread widely online, illustrating how digital media can amplify African literary perspectives.
Q4. What term describes Nigerian writing that is written in English but draws on Nigerian languages, oral traditions, and local idioms?
- A. Pidgin orthodoxy
- B. Africanist minimalism
- C. Nigerian English literary hybridity ✓
- D. Colonial mimicry only
Why: Many Nigerian writers blend English with indigenous languages, proverbs, and oral forms, creating a hybrid literary style. This reflects the multilingual reality of Nigeria and is central to discussions of postcolonial writing.
Q5. Which Nigerian writer, also a Nobel Prize laureate in Literature, is known for plays and memoirs such as 'Ake: The Years of Childhood'?
- A. Chinua Achebe
- B. Helon Habila
- C. Wole Soyinka ✓
- D. Teju Cole
Why: Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, the first African to receive it. 'Ake: The Years of Childhood' is his celebrated memoir of growing up in Abeokuta.