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Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver

Study Guide

Study Guide

Summary
- Plot Overview
Characters
Main Ideas
- Themes
- Motifs
- Symbols
- Key Facts
Quotes
- Important Quotes Explained
Further Study
- Context
- Full Book Quiz
- Study Questions
- Suggested Further Reading
Writing Help

Further Study

Full Book Quiz

Further Study Full Book Quiz

1. What historical slaughter did Nathan avoid by chance?

The Battaan Death March
The Normandy Invasion
The Rape of Nanking
The landing on Iwo Jima

2. To whom does Orleanna address her narrative?

Adah
God
Nathan
Ruth May

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

Pity
Reverence
Fear
Apathy

4. What does bangala mean in Lingala?

Either "most precious" or "fish bait" depending on how you say it
Either "most precious" or "Poisonwood tree" depending on how you say it
Either "great fear" or "fish bait" depending on how you say it
Either "great fear" or "Poisonwood tree" depending on how you say it

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

To give up on the idea of baptism
To go home
To plant his seeds in small mounds of dirt
To stop calling Jesus a "poisonwood tree"

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

Some quinine pills
A pet mongoose
A baby owl
A magic amulet called a nkisi

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

Back home in Georgia
In the skin of a mamba snake
In her mother's arms
With the doctor in Stanleyville

8. Which of the four sisters never spies on Eeben Axelroot?

Rachel
Leah
Adah
Ruth May

9. When does Orleanna appear to give up on life?

After Ruth May dies
After Ruth May breaks her arm
After the evacuation plane takes off
As soon as they arrive in Kilanga

10. What does Ruth May notice on the way to Stanleyville?

Green mamba snakes in the trees
A bag of diamonds in Axelroot's plane
A radio in Axelroot's plane
Her father's ugliness

11. Why does Nathan become enraged with Anatole?

Because Anatole asks for Leah's hand in marriage
Because Anatole refuses to translate his sermons any longer
Because Anatole calls Rachel a demon
Because Anatole delivers Tata Ndu's message

12. What decision-making procedure do the Congolese traditionally favor?

The democratic system of majority rule
All decisions are made by the chief alone
All decisions are made by the religious leaders
All decisions require unanimity, which is reached through bargaining and discussion

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

Rigid
Pantheistic
Wrong
Papist

14. What does Axelroot confide to Rachel after he kisses her?

That he has always been in love with her
That he has a hidden stash of diamonds
That Patrice Lumumba is "as good as dead"
That he works for the CIA

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

Her mirror
Her Breck Special Formulated Shampoo
Her green glass earrings
Her love letters from Axelroot

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

She suffers a crisis of faith
She tells Anatole she loves him
She mistakenly leaves Adah behind
She loses her family in the crowd

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

Her mother choosing to save Ruth May instead of her
Leah fleeing without her
Her father choosing to save Rachel instead of her
Anatole choosing Leah instead of her

18. Which of the following most angers Tata Kuvundu?

Leah's participation in the hunt
Adah's escape of the lion
The Reverend's insistence on monogamy
The Reverend's insistence on baptism

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

Tata Kuvundu
Chief Ndu
Anatole
Nelson

20. How do the girls catch the culprit?

By spying from a tree
By having Ruth May hide in a corner and watch
By placing ash on the ground
By placing a sticky paste on the ground

21. When does Nathan finally baptize the children of Kilanga?

When they are all in boats fleeing the fire ants
On his phony Easter
The night of the hunt
The night Ruth May dies

22. Why does Leah choose to remain in the Congo?

Because she hates America too much
Because she feels guilty about being white
Because she it too sick to make the trip
Because she is in love with Anatole

23. What activity does Orleanna take up back in Georgia?

Gardening
The ministry
Medicine
Education

24. What profession does Adah take on?

The ministry
Education
Medicine
Political activism

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

That she loves her
That she misses her
That she pities her
That she forgives her

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Popular pages: Poisonwood Bible

Character List CHARACTERS
Nathan Price: Character Analysis CHARACTERS
Important Quotations Explained MAIN IDEAS
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