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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 activity did Wole do every New Year?

2. Who is the only member of Wole's extended family who is angry for him wandering off in Chapter 3?

3. In Chapter 3, how does Wole manage to get back home to Ake?

4. What is a "saara?"

5. When Wole sleeps with the other children in Chapter 6, what kind of nightmare does he have?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Wole's gradual process of discovering the town around the compound at the beginning of Chapter 3.

2. What trouble does You-Mean-Mayself cause the household? How is he finally removed from the house?

3. Why, at the end of Chapter 8, is Wole's younger brother Dipo renamed Femi?

4. Describe the family's reaction when Wole returns home from his journey through Ake in Chapter 3.

5. What method of child punishment does Wole describe in Chapter 6?

6. Who is "You-Mean-Mayself"? How did he acquire that nickname?

7. Describe the "see-saw" accident that Wole gets into with Osiki.

8. What is the origin of the Jonah rock?

9. Describe the episode in which a teacher commits a sin against Essay's rose bush in Chapter 5.

10. Describe the changes that happen in the household when the new baby is on its way in Chapter 7.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Wole's view toward A) modernization, and b) Westernization. How does he contrast modern living with the world of his childhood? Use examples from the text.

Essay Topic 2

What is the nature of Wole's relationship to his community? How close are members of the community to one another? Can it be said the community is tribal? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Mr. B, "You-Mean-Mayself," and Uncle Dipo are three visitors to Wole's household. Using these three men as an example, what does Wole make of visitors? How does he regard them? Are they opportunities for strangeness and humor, or do they represent something more?

(see the answer keys)

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