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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How do the Germans kill Jean-Baptiste?
(a) They run over him with a tank.
(b) They shoot his head clean off.
(c) They hang him.
(d) They stab him.

2. What does Jean-Baptiste do with the hand he steals from Alfa?
(a) Buries it.
(b) Puts it on a German flag to humiliate the Germans.
(c) Wraps it in bandages and sticks it to his helmet.
(d) Burns it.

3. What does Alfa do with Mademba's body after he dies?
(a) Leaves it on the battlefield.
(b) Cuts it up and buries it.
(c) Carries it back to his trench.
(d) Burns it.

4. Who does Alfa believe his thoughts belong to?
(a) Mademba.
(b) Him alone.
(c) His mother.
(d) His commander.

5. Who translates the words of Captain Armand for Alfa?
(a) Ibrahima Seck.
(b) Mademba.
(c) Horatio.
(d) Jean-Baptiste.

6. What, in war, is "bravery's sister," according to Alfa?
(a) Temporary madness.
(b) Fear.
(c) Peace.
(d) Pain.

7. In what way does Mademba actually die?
(a) A German soldier hangs him.
(b) A German soldier shoots him.
(c) A German solder disembowels him.
(d) He is shot by one of his own infantrymen.

8. How do Alfa's fellow soldiers react when he brings his first few "trophies" back?
(a) They are indifferent to him.
(b) They write letters to his mother about him, concerned.
(c) They shun him.
(d) They are pleased with him.

9. What was the only thing Alfa was thinking about as Mademba died?
(a) His own starvation.
(b) His prayers to his mother.
(c) Getting revenge on the soldier who killed Mademba.
(d) How he himself would survive the day.

10. Why does Mademba leave before the others on the day he dies?
(a) Alfa tells him he is about to run away and desert the war.
(b) Alfa tells him he is sick.
(c) Alfa tells him he will run faster than he can.
(d) Alfa teases him about his totem.

11. What does Alfa say that the mad fear?
(a) Everything.
(b) Only hell.
(c) Only death.
(d) Nothing.

12. What entreaty to Mademba does Alfa finish Chapter I with?
(a) He asks Mademba to tell his mother he loves her if he sees her in heaven.
(b) He asks Mademba to forgive him.
(c) He asks Mademba to avenge him.
(d) He asks Mademba to pray for him.

13. What does Alfa understand that Captain Armand wants on the battlefield, but not back in the trenches?
(a) Strength.
(b) Friendship.
(c) Compassion.
(d) Madness.

14. Who is Alfa's best friend?
(a) Moby.
(b) Mademba Diop.
(c) Jean-Baptiste.
(d) Captain Armand.

15. What analogy does Alfa use for Mademba's suffering in Part I?
(a) It is like the moon.
(b) It is like barbed wire.
(c) It is like heat.
(d) It is like a snake.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Alfa always come back to the trenches with after Mademba dies?

2. What term does Alfa's unit use to refer to Black soldiers?

3. How does Alfa always kill the enemy soldiers?

4. What work of Cheikh Hamidou Kane's does Diop reference in the beginning of Part I?

5. Where do the soldiers Alfa kills in the night always come out of?

(see the answer keys)

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