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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What adjectives are used to describe John's father as he walks down the street at the start of the story?
(a) Elegant and intelligent.
(b) Large and mean.
(c) Husky and strong.
(d) Frail but energetic.

2. What does John's father ask him, which John feels he has told his father many times?
(a) John's father asks him if he did his homework.
(b) John's father asks him when his journey is.
(c) John's father asks him if he got good grades this term.
(d) John's father asks him if he cleaned his hut.

3. What is John's mother doing quietly when his father asks him to sit down?
(a) Peeling potatoes.
(b) Cleaning the dishes.
(c) Washing clothes.
(d) Reading a book.

4. Where is the main character standing as he watches his father walk down the street at the start of the story?
(a) Against the tree outside his hut.
(b) At the bus stop.
(c) In the doorway of his hut.
(d) Ih his room at school.

5. What does John's father carry in his bag as he walks down the street?
(a) A Bible.
(b) His change purse.
(c) School books.
(d) His shoes.

6. What words are used to describe the way John's father treats his son, which his wife "was never blind to" (57)?
(a) Tough love.
(b) Moral torture.
(c) Unconditional love.
(d) Excessive leniency.

7. What religion did the family convert to when John was young?
(a) Judaism.
(b) Christianity.
(c) Buddhism.
(d) Islam.

8. What is John's father's occupation?
(a) Farmer.
(b) Doctor.
(c) Preacher.
(d) Teacher.

9. Where did John's parent live when John was very young?
(a) Mombasa.
(b) Limuru.
(c) Fort Hall.
(d) Nairobi.

10. How does John feel about the way his father often looks at him?
(a) He feels he looks at him with great respect.
(b) He feels he looks at him likehe is a child.
(c) He feels he looks at him with pity.
(d) He feels he looks at him like he is a sinner.

11. What does John's father think as he pauses before responding after his wife asks him why he treats John the way he does?
(a) She has a point.
(b) Women will never understand.
(c) She is just as hard on him.
(d) I am too easy on him.

12. What did John's father tell his mother to talk to John about instead of telling him the stories she had always told him?
(a) The importance of a good education.
(b) How Jesus had died for them.
(c) How to avoid trouble in the village.
(d) How to be a good man.

13. What does John's father tell him he does not want him to hear of before dismissing John from their conversation at the start of the story?
(a) He does not want to hear that John has a girlfriend.
(b) He does not want to hear that John is not doing well in school.
(c) He does not want to hear John is disobeying his mother.
(d) He does not want to hear of any trouble.

14. Who is the author of "Meeting in the Dark"?
(a) Thiong'o Achibe.
(b) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
(c) John Thiong'o.
(d) Ngũgĩ Thomas.

15. What is the main character's name?
(a) John.
(b) Joseph.
(c) Paul.
(d) Steven.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does John's mother wonder if his father's treatment of him stems from resentment?

2. Why does John's father ask him what he has done after asking him to sit at the start of the story?

3. What does John's father hope to protect his son from?

4. What does John fear as he sits before his father at the start of the story?

5. What does John's father feel his wife made him do long ago, and hopes his son does not do the same thing?

(see the answer keys)

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