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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What Billy Graham movie was screened at the school?

2. As the focus of school shifted to preparing students for college, local knowledge was replaced by what at Alliance?

3. What did Good Wallace tell Ngũgĩ to do to his uniform when he visited him during break?

4. Who is the author of In the House of the Interpreter?

5. Who does Ngũgĩ say were equal to white teachers at Alliance?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the 1955 amnesty offer for the Mau Mau guerillas.

2. How does Ngũgĩ describe the homes of the loyal vs. those of the disloyal in Chapter 13?

3. What did they learn of E.K. that gravely disappoints and ultimately disbands the cabal?

4. What are the big changes Ngũgĩ describes at the beginning of Chapter 32?

5. Why does Ngũgĩ refer to Alliance as a sanctuary?

6. What is the significance of Ngũgĩ’s Alliance uniform when he saw Good Wallace. How did he feel? How did Good Wallace react?

7. What does Ngũgĩ say he learned about the power of the pawn through Chess?

8. In what ways does Ngũgĩ say Alliance used schools of the American South as a model when it first opened?

9. What did Ngũgĩ see at the event for Lord Baden Powell that he found most moving?

10. What metaphor does Ngũgĩ use to describe the struggle in Kenya?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

David Martin’s ability to speak to Ngũgĩ and have him accept Jesus is an example of a speaker able to convince its audience. What do you think it takes to be an effective speaker and to make an effective argument? Why do you think Martin’s words touched Ngũgĩ at that time in his life?

Essay Topic 2

When discussing his seeing Tell Freedom in his teacher, Allan Ogot’s, hands, Ngũgĩ says: “This would become a pattern in my intellectual growth: passing comments and fleeting images, often outside the formal classroom, would leave a lasting, sometimes pivotal mark on my life” (27). What are some of these moments in the text?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the symbolic significance of the Alliance uniform. How did it make Ngũgĩ feel? What did it represent to the outside world? Use examples from the text.

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