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. Why do the soldiers in Alfa's unit laugh when he sings?

2. What does Alfa do when a retreat is called, in the wake of Mademba's death?

3. What does Captain Armand tell Alfa that he needs in Part II?

4. What does Alfa do to preserve the hands he severs?

5. How old is Alfa when the novel starts?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Alfa's relationship with Jean-Baptiste?

2. What does Alfa think about his fellow soldiers and his perceptions of who is really is in Part I?

3. Why do Alfa's own soldiers begin to fear and avoid him after he brings home the fourth severed hand?

4. How does Mademba Diop die?

5. What does Afla think of the trenches as when he takes Mademba back there with him following Mademba's death?

6. What does Alfa do as a sign of honor for Mademba immediately after Mademba's death?

7. What was all Alfa could think about when he stayed with Mademba during Mademba's last hours?

8. How does Alfa repeatedly refer to Mademba in the narration?

9. What phrase does Alfa Ndiaye begin repeating immediately in Part I?

10. What was the purpose of the joking relationship between Alfa and Mademba?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Alfa begin to work through the horrors of his trauma from the war, and to what extent does he seem to successfully manage to address some of his deep psychological damage from the war at the hospital? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Judging from Alfa's own experiences in Gandiol, what is the reader's impression about the treatment of women in the culture in which he was raised? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Alfa describe his own belief in God and his own feelings about spirituality? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 614 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample