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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. In Chapter 2, how old is the driver who takes Ilyas the last leg of his journey to his village?

2. How many hours does Afiya do chores the first thing in the morning in Chapter 4?

3. Where does Hamza notice that the Oberleutnant has scars in Chapter 5?

4. When is al Bushiri hanged?

5. What year do Khalifa and Asha marry?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Khalifa's first job?

2. How does Ilyas come to work at the sisal estate?

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

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

5. How do Khalifa's parents die?

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

7. Who is Qassim?

8. How did Amur Biashara do his business, and how did his way of doing business fail him?

9. In Chapter 5 how does the schutztruppe fight on?

10. In Chapter 5, what duties does Hamza perform as the Oberleutnant's servant before seven in the morning?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The protagonist is usually a good person in a story and the antagonist is usually a bad person. Who are the protagonists and main characters in Afterlives? Which characters create the most conflict for these characters? Why are the main characters protagonists and those who cause them conflict antagonists?

Essay Topic 2

Tone conveys an author’s attitude toward a topic. What are some techniques an author uses to convey tone? How might tone influence the reader and the reader’s attitude toward a subject? What is the overall tone of Afterlives?

Essay Topic 3

Artistic license is the way that an author creates, art, music, or writing based upon her interpretation of life. How does Gurnah use artistic license to create the realistic background of Afterlives?

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