Easiest
Which animal does Elesin tell a story about to prove that he's brave enough to pull off the ritual suicide?
The Not-I- Bird
Who says, "Yes white man, I am sure you advised it. You advise all our lives although on the authority of what gods, I do not know"?
Elesin
What challenge does Elesin face in the performance of his duty?
Denying his own ego of the new bride
Pilkings' interruption of the ritual
Who says, "I said nothing. Now we must go prepare your bridal chamber. Then these same hands will lay your shrouds"?
Iyaloja
The British and Yoruban cultures overlap in this play in several ways. What one way do we NOT see these cultures overlap?
Judgment of suicides
What religion is Joseph?
Christian
What does the metaphor of the plantain mean?
Parents are supposed to "drain" themselves for their children, not the other way around.
What does it mean in Scene 1 where the women are worried they have "wrenched the world adrift into emptiness"?
They are concerned they have offended the gods and thrown the Yoruban culture into the abyss.
When Iyaloja criticizes Elesin with the insult, "Oh you self-vaunted stem of the plantain, how hollow it all proves," what does she mean when she evokes the metaphor of the plantain?
Iyaloga tells Elesin he believed in his own semi-divine status, yet he could not follow through when the time was upon him.
Who and why does one of the market girls call "the eater of white left-overs"?
Amusa, because he is from the local tribe but he dishonors the custom and duty of Elesin by trying to stop Elesin in his ritual.
The mast and sail.
What are the Characteristics of Tragedy in the play?
-The Victimization of the Feminine
-The tragic knot is tied, no time at all exists, and the audience stands on the edge of the abyss without being able to stop the tragic hero from plunging himself and his society into the bottomless pit.
-The Yoruban culture, at the end of the play, is fractured and the audience does not know what will happen after all is said and done. (AKA - catharsis)
What does Olunde mean when he says, "I have no father, eater of leftovers"?
Elesin left the reins of the tribe in the hands of the oppressor, choosing their leftovers instead of eternal Yoruba glory.
What is the significance of the egungun masks?
This shows that the occupying force does not have a clue about how to honor the traditions of the locals
Which of the following religious figures/deities is mentioned in the play?
Allah
Mary, Mother of Christ
Ogun
Esu
Whose death makes it necessary for Elesin to commit ritual suicide?
The tribal king
What is Elesin's tragic flaw?
He wants everything from the world. He is Greedy
What is "kollison"?
The painful attempt of spirit to embody itself in space and time; the colliding of two "good" things.
Why does Olunde say, "And that is the good cause for which you desecrate an ancestral mask?"
Because Olunde believes the white people do not understand the significance of the masks.
When Elesin says in Scene 5, "Yes, ghostly one. Your twin-brother up there engages my thoughts", what does he mean?
Elesin compares the whiteness of the Moon with the whiteness of Simon's skin.
List three examples Iyaloja gives to ELesin about "Animals that leave their homes".
Birds
Rodents
Ants
Fill in the blank, "The abyss can be understood to be a sudden __________________________________."
emptying of all expected meaning from everything taken for granted, everything familial, marital, communal, political, or religious that has become so customary that it has never been recognized as a construct."
What are the different names of the Realm of Tragedy?
Purgatory
Ruin
THe Bottomless Canyon
Abyss
If Tragedy is so dark and dismantling, why do humans long for it?
Because it is strangely therapeutic.
Because the wisdom gained through tragedy liberates humans to shape their lives into the realm of Comedy.
Because it shows us the limitations of human experience.
What is the definition of aporia?
A momentary glimpse into the ruined cosmos.