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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 does Orleanna do with the furniture?

2. What animal did the people around Lusambo think Nathan could turn into before they killed him?

3. How much money does the United States provide for loyalty?

4. How did Orleanna stay alive after Ruth May's death?

5. What does Leah wish that she could give to her father?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does each of the girls go after Ruth May's death?

2. What does Tata Ndu want from the family in Book 3? How does the family respond?

3. How has the Congo changed the Prices?

4. What does Leah tell Anatole? What does he tell her in return? Why do you think he responds this way?

5. What happens to Ruth May at the end of Book 4? What happens after this event?

6. How is Orleanna changed when she finally gets up from bed? Who does she influence?

7. Who is Brother Fowles? How is he different from Nathan?

8. What living creature invades Kilanga? What do the villagers do?

9. What regrets does Orleanna voice about her family and the situation in the Congo?

10. Why do you think that Leah now feels uncomfortable in the United States?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kingsolver brings the United States into the novel in several different ways. What role did the United States play in the Congo at a national and village level? What does Kingsolver seem to think about the United States' role in the events in the Congo? Do you think the United States should have been involved in the Congo?

Essay Topic 2

Nathan Price can be viewed as a symbol of colonial oppression. Discuss the similarities and differences between Nathan's treatment of the villagers in Kilanga and the Belgium's treatment of the Congo. How does Nathan illustrate the racial tension and intolerance that was often practiced in Africa by colonial powers?

Essay Topic 3

Trace the development and changes in Leah's relationship with her father throughout the novel. How does Leah feel about her father in the beginning of the novel? When do her feelings toward him start to change? How does she end up feeling about and relating to Nathan?

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