Question

Pick one of the passages that use Igbo words or phrases and, in at least one hundred words, identify the kinds of context clues the author uses to hint at the words’ meanings.
From the story "Things Fall Apart"

Answer 1

In the story "Things Fall Apart", the Igbo ask how it is possible that the white man is able to call Igbo customs bad if he does not even know how to speak the Igbo language. There are some words in the Igbo language that can be easily understood by the context, for instance, the word "Ilo", in the text talks about an area where meetings are held, so this word is a place. In the story "Things Fall Apart", the Igbo ask how it is possible that the white man is able to call Igbo customs bad if he does not even know how to speak the Igbo language. There are some words in the Igbo language that can be easily understood by the context, for instance, the word "Ilo", in the text talks about an area where meetings are held, so this word is a place.

Answer 2

An example of a passage that uses Igbo words in Things Fall Apart is the following:

"Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken no title. And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion – to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness."

In this passage, we learn the meaning of the word "agbala." The author tells us that the word can be used as a way to refer to a woman. We learn this because the author tells us that Okonkwo already knew of this meaning. Moreover, we also learn that "agbala" can mean something else. It can refer to a man who had taken no title. This is the second clue that the author gives us about the meaning of this word. The final clue that the author gives us is that of describing the behaviour of Unoka that can be connected to the word, such as gentleness and idleness.