View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is drinking with Mad Medico at the beginning of Chapter 5?

2. Which best describes Sam as a young student?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 6, who invites Beatrice to a private dinner?

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

5. What advice does old President Ngongo once give to the President?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is meant by the "Desdemona complex," and how does it apply to the President's behavior at the party?

2. Who calls Beatrice with an anonymous tip about Chris, and what is the apparent purpose of the calls?

3. Explain what happens in the parking lot after Ikem meets with the Abazon delegation. What does this incident seem to foreshadow?

4. Interpret Chris's dying words, "the last green."

5. Why does Agatha refuse to serve Elewa? What does the incident suggest about class differences in their society?

6. Describe the male chauvinism in Beatrice's childhood home.

7. What does Ikem urge the students to do?

8. Describe Mad Medico's relationship to the President and his attitude toward him.

9. Why is the President so angry with Ikem?

10. What is happening outside the Presidential Palace in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the use of West African Pidgin dialect in the dialogue.

1) Who uses the dialect? Why do some characters use it all the time while others switch back and forth?

2) What attitude is shown toward the dialect by various characters? For instance, consider how Ikem talks "deliberately over the head" of Elewa, and how Emmanuel speaks Pidgin to Adamma on the bus.

Essay Topic 2

Examine Ikem's theory of "New Radicalism" as presented in his speech at the university.

1) What is the problem with the idea of a proletarian-led democracy?

2) Who needs to clean up their act before democracy can be achieved?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 735 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample