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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 is the title of the poem Maxwell shows Odili?

2. How much money does Maxwell say the POP has received from British Amalgamated?

3. Why does Odili praise Edna's beauty and memory in English?

4. Why has the crowd gathered in Anata when Odili returns from Bori?

5. What does Edna bring Odili to drink on the sun porch?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the general tone of Mrs. Nanga in her first conversation with Odili's while in Anata, and why is that the tone?

2. What sort of reception does Odili's political campaign receive in Anata?

3. What is the significance of the poem Maxwell wrote seven years ago?

4. What is revealed about Edna's character in the scene on the VIP porch?

5. What significant action does Edna take toward Odili at the end of Chapter 10, and why is it significant?

6. Describe the situation with Chief Nanga and the editor of the Daily Matchet, including its significance.

7. What characterizes Odili's interaction with Chief Nanga at the Samalu house?

8. Why is Couple's heckling of Maxwell effective?

9. Why do Boniface and the other bodyguards want 25 pounds, and why does Odili object?

10. What seems to be the likely reason that Edna becomes angry with Odili in Chapter 12?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the resolution of the story. Does it seem just for a military coup to overthrow the government? What are the motives of the military? What does this say about justice and politics? How is the future of Nigeria portrayed in "A Man of the People"?

Essay Topic 2

During Maxwell's impressive but inefficacious speech, it is revealed that the people have a certain resignation as to the greater affairs of state. Analyze this resignation: how it came about, why it persists, and what implications it has for the country within the story.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 9, Timothy, the Christian carpenter, says that "Josiah has taken away enough for the owner to notice." Examine the relevance of this statement to the story. How is it shown to be true in Anata? Is it true in the country as a whole? Why is it noticed differently in a small village than in the whole country? Does this imply anything about large-scale democracy, and if so, what?

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