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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does Alfa think are the truly brave?
(a) Those like Mademba who are weak, but still not afraid of punches.
(b) The ones who fight for a better place at the table for themselves and those like them.
(c) The ones who are the most physically strong.
(d) The ones who bring food to the poor.

2. Who is the first love of Alfa's?
(a) Penndo Hero.
(b) Mary Ba.
(c) Rilo Meto.
(d) Fary Thiam.

3. What does Alfa say Mademba Diop looked like?
(a) He was strong and attractive.
(b) He was too tall to be considered handsome by western standards.
(c) He was weak, small, and ugly.
(d) He was average.

4. Why should soldiers not smoke in a war, according to Alfa?
(a) It is bad for their health.
(b) It is bad for morale.
(c) It helps the enemy see where the soldiers are.
(d) It uses too much lighter fluid.

5. What does Alfa wait for before trying to catch a German soldier in Chapter XII?
(a) For his hands to stop shaking.
(b) For the soldiers to stop eating.
(c) For their singing to stop.
(d) For the moon to go behind a cloud.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the second drawing Alfa makes for the doctor?

2. What does Alfa think of his doctor, as he articulates his feelings in Chapter XVI?

3. What slang term do Alfa's fellow soldiers use for the Germans?

4. How does Afla store the hands he has severed?

5. What does Alfa think of Captain Armand's treatment of the traitorous soldiers?

Short Essay Questions

1. How were Mademba and Alfa different?

2. Why does Alfa think Mademoiselle Francois likes him?

3. What method does Doctor Francois use to help patients work through their trauma?

4. What are the circumstances of Alfa's first sexual experience with a woman?

5. What is the relationship between Penndo Ba and Alfa's father like?

6. Why does Alfa suspect his father did not let him go with Penndo Ba when she left?

7. What does Captain Armand do when the soldiers disobey him?

8. Who takes Alfa in after his mother leaves and fails to return?

9. What does Alfa bring to the hospital with him, and why?

10. Why does Yoro Ba want to "give" Alfa's mother to his father in marriage?

(see the answer keys)

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