View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What do plums and Sissie NOT have in common?

2. Which of the following does Sissie say about Marija?

3. What does the doctor tell Sissie about Ghanainan doctors?

4. Where does Sissie fly to?

5. What does the novel say about limbs and senses?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Sissie's Christian name?

2. What does Sissie claim to expect at age 30?

3. Where does Marija live?

4. How does Sissie describe the color of the individuals in Germany?

5. What function does the castle in Bavaria now serve?

6. Why do the Bavarian women with whom Sissie works wear black?

7. What does the narrator claim that power decides?

8. What is the African name featured in Part 2: "The Plums?"

9. What is the name of the African whom Sissie meets in Europe?

10. Who orders breakfast for Sissie in Frankfurt?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you analyze how the author presents food in the novel. What does Sissie think of the food she encounters in her travels? How is food representative of a culture? Consider the various ways in which the author uses food as a recurring theme, and try to adduce evidence from several of the novel's sections.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you argue the relative merits of African students returning to Africa and remaining in Europe. In your essay, use evidence from the text (particularly Part 4: A Love Letter), and choose either the point of view of Sissie or of the African doctor quoted in her letter. Be sure to consider the opposite point of view, and use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze the role of gender in the novel. How is gender addressed in the novel, and what associations are made with each gender? Is one gender portrayed more favorably? Are genders treated differently across cultures? You may address one or several of these questions in your essay, but, as always, please use textual evidence to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 504 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample