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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. Which best describes Elewa's personality?

2. What is Mad Medico's job?

3. What is a crime problem in the city now, much feared by Elewa?

4. Which best describes the Commissioners' attitude toward the President as shown throughout Chapter 1?

5. In Chapter 3, who does Ikem say must be overthrown?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why, according to Chris, is it so difficult to resolve the conflicts between Ikem and himself?

2. Describe the relationship between the President and his ministers of government, as revealed in Chapter 1.

3. To whom are storytellers a threat, according to Ikem?

4. Describe the confrontation between Ikem and the taxi driver in Chapter 3. What does it reveal about Ikem's character?

5. Why is Beatrice angry with Chris? Does she have a right to be angry?

6. Why do the Abazon leaders fail to support the President's bid to become dictator-for-life, and what does the President do in response to their lack of support?

7. Why is Chris's death ironic, considering the news the group has just heard?

8. What do the cab drivers think of Ikem?

9. How, according to Ikem, do working-class people expect their leaders to live?

10. In what ways is the naming ceremony untraditional?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the use of proverbs and folk tales in the novel.

1) How do the proverbs and folk tales provide a counterpoint to "Western" knowledge?

2) Choose one or more of the proverbs or folk tales to analyze and show how it relates to a major theme of the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the critique of male chauvinism in Anthills of the Savannah.

1) How are the female characters presented--are they equals to men?

2) Which characters display sexist or chauvinist attitudes?

3) How does Beatrice experience male chauvinism in her life, as recounted in Chapter 7, and how does she confront Ikem about his sexist attitudes?

4) How are females presented in traditional African folk tales about the Sky and Idemili?

5) What, if any, significance is there in the fact that Chris dies while defending a young woman from being raped?

Essay Topic 3

Ikem says that "Writers don't give prescriptions, they give headaches."

1) Discuss what he means by this statement and tell whether you agree. Should writers provide solutions to the social problems they see, or is it their duty to simply bring these problems to light?

2) How does Ikem create "headaches" throughout the novel?

3) Do Ikem's headaches ever lead to solutions? If so, how?

(see the answer keys)

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