Words and Definitions in Things Fall Apart

Here is the list of words, with definitions, that we used in our opening List-Group-Label activity. Knowledge of these words will help you to better understand and connect with the text.

Kola nut - caffeine laced nut offered as a gesture of hospitality
Calabash (dried gourd) full of Palm wine
Proverbs—short saying that expresses some obvious truth
Foo-foo – pounded yam and cassava
Ogbanje—a child who keeps dying and returning
Oracle—a person or place believed to be in communication with a god
Cassava—a tuber used in tapioca
Harmattan—dusty wind from the Sahara that blows along the coast of Africa
Hymns—worship songs
Gospels—new testament books that tell the story of Jesus’s life
Palm oil—oil (sap) from the Palm tree
Bride-price - converse of dowry
Egwugwu—a masquerader who impersonates an ancestral spirit
Heaven—the “good” place you go after you die
Chi – personal spirit
Anglicanism—Christianity practiced by Church of England
Jesu Kristi (Jesus Christ)—Christians believe he is the son of god
Holy Communion—literal or symbolic consumption of the body and blood of Christ
Fetish—object believed to have magical powers
Caste—class distinction based on birth
Chukwu—leading god in Ibo hierarchy of gods
Share-cropping—a farming system where part of the profits go to the landowner
Plantain—a banana-like fruit