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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. How old is Khalifa when he marries?

2. At what call to prayer does the officer usually pour himself his first schanpps of the evening in Chapter 5?

3. What month and day does Afiya select for her birthday in Chapter 6?

4. How long does Afiya have a cast on her hand in Chapter 4?

5. How old is Khalifa when he meets Amur Biashara?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ilyas learn about his family when he returns to his village?

2. How does Afiya spend the first few months she is with Khalifa and Asha?

3. When Nassor Biashara moves Khalifa to the warehouse and lowers his salary, what does Khalifa do?

4. Who is Qassim?

5. What do Hamza and the other recruits learn in their training sessions with German subaltern Feldwebel Walther?

6. Who does Khalifa marry and how does he come to marry?

7. How does Hamza take to the harsh regime in Chapter 3?

8. What does Hamza learn from the sick report he collects from the medical officer and takes to the Oberleutnant?

9. When and where do the British make a landing and how does their landing end in Chapter 5?

10. Who does Khalifa work for after the Gujarat banker brothers decide to transfer their business to Mombasa?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Afterlives, some characters are more thoroughly described than others. Who are some characters that are merely named in passing or have a minor role in the novel? What is the importance of these flat characters to the storyline? In what way do these characters make the main characters more colorful or interesting? When there is conflict, what type of role do these flat characters play?

Essay Topic 2

Setting is the place and time where a narrative takes place. Where and when does Afterlives take place? How does the setting evoke feelings or set the mood in the book?

Essay Topic 3

Metaphors and similes are figures of speech that are used to make comparisons between things. Metaphors seem to imply an equal comparison, while similes seem to imply a similarity between two things. Does Gurnah use more metaphors or similes in Afterlives? How does the use of metaphors or similes help readers comprehend concepts? How does the use of metaphors or similes help readers make the writing?

(see the answer keys)

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