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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 does Maya describe T.D. Bafoo and his wife as a couple?

2. What happens to Maya's son early in the story?

3. After Maya explains to the Chicago stockyard worker and his wife that she and her friends are simply trying to prepare the couple for the realities of life in Ghana, what does the couple decide?

4. How were Americans regarded in Ghana after an assassination attempt on the Ghanaian president?

5. Following Maya's reaction to the Senior Common Room discussion, what does the steward do?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who accompanies Malcolm X to the airport?

2. Why does Maya have a meal with a German couple?

3. What rumors does Maya hear that make her worry about her son?

4. How does Maya react in the Senior Common Room when she hears Europeans and Ghanaians making disparaging remarks?

5. What happens to Comfort, Maya's hairstylist?

6. What transpires during the meeting Maya has with her son to talk about his girlfriend?

7. What trip does Maya take before leaving Ghana for the United States?

8. What do Vicki and Alice tell a newly arrived American couple from Chicago?

9. How are the Americans in Ghana regarded following an assassination attempt on the nation's president?

10. Describe the meeting between Guy and Maya when he picks her up from the airport.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain Maya's reasons for going to Africa.

1. What does she hope to find there?

2. Where does she end up?

3. Did she intend to live there? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The importance of having a sense of community is a prevalent theme throughout this book.

1. How does Maya convey a sense of community in Ghana? In Germany? In Venice? In Egypt?

2. How does plugging into a community "save" Maya?

Essay Topic 3

Despite the challenges Maya faces as she adjusts to living in Ghana, she experiences times when she feels like an integral, vital part of the extended African community. Pinpoint and describe three instances when the author feels very much a part of Africa.

(see the answer keys)

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