AnswersCISD TX- Eng II B CR Nov 2026Character and Culture in Literature

Applying Critical Approaches to Literary Analysis Answers

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Which statement best describes the similarities between the feminist and historical approaches to literary analysis?

A
Both limit analysis to the words on the page rather than considering factors that influenced the author.
B
Neither considers how social forces affect the literary work.
C
Neither considers where and when the author lived or how those factors affected the literary work.
D
Both consider how cultural and political forces affect the literary work.
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Read the passage from "Marriage Is a Private Affair” by Chinua Achebe."Father,” began Nnaemeka suddenly, "I have come to ask for forgiveness.”"Forgiveness? For what, my son?” he asked in amazement."It’s about this marriage question.”"Which marriage question.”"I can’t—we must—I mean it is impossible for me to marry Nweke’s daughter.”"Impossible? Why?” asked his father."I don’t love her.”"Nobody said you did. Why should you?” he asked."Marriage today is different . . .”"Look here, my son,” interrupted his father, "nothing is different. What one looks for in a wife are a good character and a Christian background.”Nnaemeka saw there was no hope along the present line of argument."Moreover,” he said, "I am engaged to marry another girl who has all of Ugoye’s good qualities, and who . . .”His father did not believe his ears. "What did you say?” he asked slowly and disconcertingly."She is a good Christian,” his son went on, "and a teacher in a Girls’ School in Lagos.”"Teacher, did you say? If you consider that a qualification for a good wife, I should like to point out to you, Emeka, that no Christian woman should teach. St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says that women should keep silence.”

A
Men should marry for love, but whether women marry for love is unimportant.
B
It is not that important for men to be religious, but it is essential for women to be.
C
Men make decisions, and women accept those decisions.
D
Men may pursue many careers, while women are restricted to homemaking and teaching.
3

What are two goals of feminist literary criticism? Select two options.

A
to focus exclusively on female authors and female characters
B
to explore restrictions placed on female characters in patriarchal societies
C
to explore emotional rather than political or historical aspects of literature
D
to evaluate the work of female authors who may be unappreciated
E
to evaluate why female authors are morally superior to male authors
4

Read the passage from "Marriage Is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe. In this conversation, Nnaemeka speaks first, and Nene speaks second."You have lived in Lagos all your life, and you know very little about people in remote parts of the country.”"That’s what you always say. But I don’t believe anybody will be so unlike other people that they will be unhappy when their sons are engaged to marry.”"Yes. They are most unhappy if the engagement is not arranged by them. In our case it’s worse—you are not even an Ibo.”This was said so seriously and so bluntly that Nene could not find speech immediately. In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city it had always seemed to her something of a joke that a person’s tribe could determine whom he married.At last she said, "You don’t really mean that he will object to your marrying me simply on that account? I had always thought you Ibos were kindly disposed to other people.”"So we are. But when it comes to marriage, well, it’s not quite so simple. And this,” he added, "is not peculiar to the Ibos. If your father were alive and lived in the heart of Ibibio-land he would be exactly like my father.”

A
People in large cities and rural villages had different opinions of members of the Ibo tribe.
B
Ibos and non-Ibos had different opinions of how people should choose marriage partners.
C
People in large cities and rural villages had different opinions of how people should choose marriage partners.
D
Ibos and non-Ibos disagreed about whether it was appropriate for young men to live in large cities.
5

Read the passage from "Marriage Is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe. The first paragraph is a letter that Okeke sends to his son Nnaemeka.I have found a girl who will suit you admirably—Ugoye Nweke, the eldest daughter of our neighbour, Jacob Nweke. She has a proper Christian upbringing. When she stopped schooling some years ago, her father (a man of sound judgment) sent her to live in the house of a pastor where she has received all the training a wife could need. Her Sunday School teacher has told me that she reads her Bible very fluently. I hope we shall begin negotiations when you come home in December.On the second evening of his return from Lagos Nnaemeka sat with his father under a cassia tree. This was the old man’s retreat where he went to read his Bible when the parching December sun had set and a fresh, reviving wind blew on the leaves.

A
how a woman could be considered "proper" in this culture during this period
B
how fathers and sons interact in this culture during this period
C
how children return to their hometowns to negotiate marriages during this period
D
how weather conditions affect this culture during this period
6

Which questions may be applied to literary analysis from a feminist approach? Select three options.

A
How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?
B
Does the literature depict patriarchy uncritically or challenge it?
C
How could men be excluded from this literary work?
D
Do characterizations reflect a traditional social hierarchy?
E
Does the literature help prove that women are better than men?
F
Does the literature explain why the status quo is appropriate?
7

Read the passage from "Marriage Is a Private Affair” by Chinua Achebe. It is a conversation between a woman named Nene and her fiancé, Nnaemeka. In this excerpt, Nnaemeka is the first to speak."You have lived in Lagos all your life, and you know very little about people in remote parts of the country.”"That’s what you always say. But I don’t believe anybody will be so unlike other people that they will be unhappy when their sons are engaged to marry.”"Yes. They are most unhappy if the engagement is not arranged by them. In our case it’s worse—you are not even an Ibo.”This was said so seriously and so bluntly that Nene could not find speech immediately. In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city it had always seemed to her something of a joke that a person’s tribe could determine whom he married.At last she said, "You don’t really mean that he will object to your marrying me simply on that account? I had always thought you Ibos were kindly disposed to other people.”"So we are. But when it comes to marriage, well, it’s not quite so simple. And this,” he added, "is not peculiar to the Ibos. If your father were alive and lived in the heart of Ibibio-land he would be exactly like my father.”

A
The idea of arranged marriage has become "something of a joke."
B
Fathers are used to having total authority over choosing their children's spouses.
C
Intermarriage is allowed because the Ibos are "kindly disposed to other people."
D
Ibo fathers have traditionally married off their children to non-Ibos.
8

Read the passage from "Marriage Is a Private Affair” by Chinua Achebe."Have you written to your dad yet?” asked Nene one afternoon as she sat with Nnaemeka in her room at 16 Kasanga Street, Lagos."No. I’ve been thinking about it. I think it’s better to tell him when I get home on leave!”"But why? Your leave is such a long way off yet—six whole weeks. He should be let into our happiness now.”Nnaemeka was silent for a while, and then began very slowly as if he groped for his words: "I wish I were sure it would be happiness to him.”"Of course it must,” replied Nene, a little surprised. "Why shouldn’t it?”"You have lived in Lagos all your life, and you know very little about people in remote parts of the country.”"That’s what you always say. But I don’t believe anybody will be so unlike other people that they will be unhappy when their sons are engaged to marry.”"Yes. They are most unhappy if the engagement is not arranged by them. In our case it’s worse—you are not even an Ibo.”This was said so seriously and so bluntly that Nene could not find speech immediately. In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city it had always seemed to her something of a joke that a person’s tribe could determine whom he married.

A
People from different tribes do not marry one another.
B
This does not describe the patriarchal system.
C
Fathers in small villages arrange marriages for their children.
D
Fathers are unhappy when their children become engaged to be married.
9

Read the passage from "Marriage Is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe.The old man at once felt the resolution he had built up over so many years falling in. He was telling himself that he must not give in. He tried to steel his heart against all emotional appeals. It was a re-enactment of that other struggle. He leaned against a window and looked out. The sky was overcast with heavy black clouds and a high wind began to blow filling the air with dust and dry leaves. It was one of those rare occasions when even Nature takes a hand in a human fight. Very soon it began to rain, the first rain in the year. It came down in large sharp drops and was accompanied by the lightning and thunder which mark a change of season. Okeke was trying hard not to think of his two grandsons. But he knew he was now fighting a losing battle. He tried to hum a favorite hymn but the pattering of large rain drops on the roof broke up the tune. His mind immediately returned to the children. How could he shut his door against them? By a curious mental process he imagined them standing, sad and forsaken, under the harsh angry weather—shut out from his house.That night he hardly slept, from remorse—and a vague fear that he might die without making it up to them.

A
Okeke's willingness to accept his grandchildren from a marriage he did not arrange
B
how the weather affects Okeke's mood and his decision-making
C
whether logical appeals would have had a stronger effect on Okeke than emotional appeals
D
how Okeke's grandsons end up standing outside his house
10

What would most likely be discussed in a feminist criticism of Chinua Achebe’s work?

A
his life story and literary achievements
B
his portrayal of gender roles
C
his descriptions of the Nigerian landscape
D
his literary influences and preferences

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