SparkNotes: The Poisonwood Bible: Quiz

What historical slaughter did Nathan avoid by chance?

(A) The Battaan Death March

(B) The Normandy Invasion

(C) The Rape of Nanking

(D) The landing on Iwo Jima

To whom does Orleanna address her narrative?

(A) Adah

(B) God

(C) Nathan

(D) Ruth May

Which of the following best describes Leah's attitude toward her father at the start of the book?

(A) Pity

(B) Reverence

(C) Fear

(D) Apathy

What does bangala mean in Lingala?

(A) Either "most precious" or "fish bait" depending on how you say it

(B) Either "most precious" or "Poisonwood tree" depending on how you say it

(C) Either "great fear" or "fish bait" depending on how you say it

(D) Either "great fear" or "Poisonwood tree" depending on how you say it

What is the first piece of Mama Mwanza's advice that Nathan ignores?

(A) To give up on the idea of baptism

(B) To go home

(C) To plant his seeds in small mounds of dirt

(D) To stop calling Jesus a "poisonwood tree"

What gift does Nelson give to Ruth May when she falls sick with malaria?

(A) Some quinine pills

(B) A pet mongoose

(C) A baby owl

(D) A magic amulet called a nkisi

What does Ruth May choose as her "safe place"?

(A) Back home in Georgia

(B) In the skin of a mamba snake

(C) In her mother's arms

(D) With the doctor in Stanleyville

Which of the four sisters never spies on Eeben Axelroot?

(A) Rachel

(B) Leah

(C) Adah

(D) Ruth May

When does Orleanna appear to give up on life?

(A) After Ruth May dies

(B) After Ruth May breaks her arm

(C) After the evacuation plane takes off

(D) As soon as they arrive in Kilanga

What does Ruth May notice on the way to Stanleyville?

(A) Green mamba snakes in the trees

(B) A bag of diamonds in Axelroot's plane

(C) A radio in Axelroot's plane

(D) Her father's ugliness

Why does Nathan become enraged with Anatole?

(A) Because Anatole asks for Leah's hand in marriage

(B) Because Anatole refuses to translate his sermons any longer

(C) Because Anatole calls Rachel a demon

(D) Because Anatole delivers Tata Ndu's message

What decision-making procedure do the Congolese traditionally favor?

(A) The democratic system of majority rule

(B) All decisions are made by the chief alone

(C) All decisions are made by the religious leaders

(D) All decisions require unanimity, which is reached through bargaining and discussion

Which of the following best describes Brother Fowles version of Christianity?

(A) Rigid

(B) Pantheistic

(C) Wrong

(D) Papist

What does Axelroot confide to Rachel after he kisses her?

(A) That he has always been in love with her

(B) That he has a hidden stash of diamonds

(C) That Patrice Lumumba is "as good as dead"

(D) That he works for the CIA

What one object does Rachel bring with her when the Prices flee the fire ants?

(A) Her mirror

(B) Her Breck Special Formulated Shampoo

(C) Her green glass earrings

(D) Her love letters from Axelroot

Which of the following does not happen to Leah on the night of the fire ants?

(A) She suffers a crisis of faith

(B) She tells Anatole she loves him

(C) She mistakenly leaves Adah behind

(D) She loses her family in the crowd

Which of the following events makes Adah feel that she has been abandoned?

(A) Her mother choosing to save Ruth May instead of her

(B) Leah fleeing without her

(C) Her father choosing to save Rachel instead of her

(D) Anatole choosing Leah instead of her

Which of the following most angers Tata Kuvundu?

(A) Leah's participation in the hunt

(B) Adah's escape of the lion

(C) The Reverend's insistence on monogamy

(D) The Reverend's insistence on baptism

Who is responsible for placing the green mamba snake in the chicken coop?

(A) Tata Kuvundu

(B) Chief Ndu

(C) Anatole

(D) Nelson

How do the girls catch the culprit?

(A) By spying from a tree

(B) By having Ruth May hide in a corner and watch

(C) By placing ash on the ground

(D) By placing a sticky paste on the ground

When does Nathan finally baptize the children of Kilanga?

(A) When they are all in boats fleeing the fire ants

(B) On his phony Easter

(C) The night of the hunt

(D) The night Ruth May dies

Why does Leah choose to remain in the Congo?

(A) Because she hates America too much

(B) Because she feels guilty about being white

(C) Because she it too sick to make the trip

(D) Because she is in love with Anatole

What activity does Orleanna take up back in Georgia?

(A) Gardening

(B) The ministry

(C) Medicine

(D) Education

What profession does Adah take on?

(A) The ministry

(B) Education

(C) Medicine

(D) Political activism

What is Ruth May's final message to her mother?

(A) That she loves her

(B) That she misses her

(C) That she pities her

(D) That she forgives her