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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. Who asked for a cigarette when the narrator and his driver are out in the hot sun?

2. What killed Wad and Hosna?

3. Where did the narrator fight his way to at the end of the book?

4. Why was the land of the narrator condemned?

5. What did the narrator decide to do with Mrs. Robinson?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the busy day of driving end for the narrator and his driver?

2. What were the narrator and Mahjoub talking about when they were in a drunken state before he leaves the village?

3. In pages 134-165, the narrator wonders what has happened to his world. Explain this feeling.

4. Where did the narrator go after leaving Mustafa's house and what happened there?

5. Soon after leaving the village, the narrator has to go back. Why?

6. Give your opinion about the book and its two main characters.

7. Describe how the narrator left the village again after his conversations with Hosna and Mahjoub.

8. What were all the things that are tangled up, according to the narrator?

9. What happened when the narrator and his friend Mahjoub talk about the murders?

10. What was Wad Reyyes' reaction when the narrator told him Hosna's reaction to the idea of marriage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Agriculture is very important in an African village like the one the narrator grows up in. Why is this important? How do you know it is important? Who refers to it in the book and what is discussed? What is the Agricultural Project Committee and Co-operative? Who were important members of it? How do you relate Mahjoub's influence to this Committee? What does Mustafa have to do with the Committee? What do the Committee and the subject of agriculture have to do with Mahjoub and Mustafa's relationship? How does Mahjoub feel towards Mustafa? Why? Relate these two characters to the Agricultural Project Committee and Co'operative.

Essay Topic 2

On pages 105-115, the narrator and his driver make a car trip back to Khartoum. Describe this trip. Through the trip, what do you learn about the Sudan? What decisions does the narrator make on this trip? Are the events important for the plot of the book? Why or why not? Why do you think the author wrote this chapter in the book?

Essay Topic 3

When Mustafa lives in London, he meets a woman at a party in Chelsea. Describe this episode in Mustafa's life. What do you know about this woman? What is her name? Who is she? What happens to her? How does this influence Mustafa's life? How is this woman related to other women in Mustafa's life? What is the result of this woman's fate for Mustafa?

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