Dead Men's Path

By Chinua Achebe

Interactive Reading Questions

1. To what position is Michael Obi appointed in January 1949?
Michael Obi was appointed head master.
2. How does Nancy Obi see herself when she learns of her husband’s promotion?
Nancy Obi sees herself as the admired wife of the young headmaster.
3. What are Michael Obi’s foremost goals?
Michaels Obi’s foremost goals included a high standard of teaching and the school’s

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compound what’s to be turned into a place of beauty.

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4. What does Obi see one night as he is admiring his work?

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Obi saw and elderly woman from the village hobbled across the compound.
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5. Why is the path across the school important to the villagers?
The path is important to the villagers because it connects the village shrine to their
place of burial.
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6. What does Obi have done to the compound?

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Obi had heavy sticks planted closely across the path at the two places where it enters
and leaves the school premises ,they were further strengthened with barbed wire.
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7. Who comes to see the headmaster to protest closing the footpath? What does obi tell
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him is the purpose of the school?

The priest comes to see the headmaster to protect closing the footpath. Obi tells him
the purpose of our school is to eradicate just such beliefs as that.
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8. What happens two days after the priest’s visit?

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Two days after the priest visit a young woman in the village died in childbed
9. What do the villagers do to the school?
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The villages destroyed the beautiful hedges, trampled the flower to death and are one of
the schools buildings pulled down.
10. What does the white Supervisor report?

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 The white supervisor reports a very nasty report on the state of the premises but more seriously
about the tribal war situation

Recall
11. What source prompts Nancy to say “A penny for your thoughts, Mike”? What idea does
she have to beautify the school compound?
The source that prompts nacy to say a penny for your thoughts, mike was imatting the
women's magazine.
12. What does the teacher who has been at the school three years remember?
The teacher remembers that you people allowed the villagers to make use of the footpath.
13. How does the priest explain the importance of the path to the village?

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The priest explains the importance of the path of the village by saying this path was here
before you were born and before your father was born. Therefore the whole village

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depends on it.

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Interpret
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14. Is Nancy more influenced by modern Western culture or by traditional African culture?
Are her views different from her husband’s? What character traits do the gardeowing
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the n reveal about Nancy?

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Nancy was more influenced by the traditional african culture. They have the same belief
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in their african culture talking about the pathway of the garden and what it represented.
Showing that everything has a path and that their in some kind of afterlife.
15. Is Obi willing to learn from others? What adjectives describe him?
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Yes, Obi is willing to learn from others. Some adjectives that describe him are
brave,happy,and ambitious
16. Is Obi or the priest more tolerant of the other’s beliefs?
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Yes, Obi is will Yes the priest is more tolerant of the others beliefs because according to the text
it states that Mr obi said the whole purpose ture of our school,” he said finnaly, “is to eradicate
just such beliefs as that. Dead men do not require footpaths./
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Analyze
17. Analyze obi’s motivations in valuing the flowerbeds and hedges more than the villagers’
beliefs. Obi’s motivations were he cared more about how the school look such as the
hedges and flowers rather than caring for the villagers beliefs. He was so motivated on

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 how the school looked and changing things but he destroyed the villagers beliefs.

Synthesize
18. What does the path mean to the villagers?

Evaluate
19. Evaluate whether the Ani community was justified in destroying the flowerbeds, hedges,
and school building.

Extend
20. One way that the destruction of the school property might have been avoided is if the
priest and Obi had compromised. Describe a conflict in your personal life, in
government, in fiction, or in the movies. Tell what each side wanted and explain how

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the conflict was resolved.

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Understanding Literature

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21. Narrator: Whose opinion is presented in the sentence “Ndume School was backward in
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every sense of the word”? How reliable is the narrator of “Dead Men’s Path”? With
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whom do the narrator’s sympathies lie?
22. Foreshadowing: Review the cluster chart you made for Literary tools. What events do
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the sentences you found foreshadow?

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Writer’s Journal
23. Imagine you are a student reporter at Ndume Central School. Write a newspaper article
describing the destruction of school property and explaining why it happened. You may
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want to include an interview with one of the villagers.

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24. Write a dialogue in which Michael and Nancy discuss the destruction of school property
and the superintendent’s report.
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25. Imagine you are Michael Obi. Write a journal entry after the Supervisor’s report,
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explaining what you have learned about yourself and the village.
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