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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. How does Alfa repeatedly refer to Mademba Diop?

2. Where are most of the other Black soldiers from in the unit?

3. What forces Alfa to ignore Mademba's suffering as Mademba is dying?

4. What does Alfa always do first to the soldiers he is going to kill?

5. When does Captain Armand finally call Alfa in to have a serious talk about his conduct regarding enemy soldiers?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Alfa let the reader know, through his narration, about the way his best friend Mademba died?

3. Why does Alfa receive the Croix de Guerre, a medal of honor?

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

5. Why does Alfa not want to reveal where he is hiding the severed hands of the Germans to Captain Armand?

6. How does Mademba Diop die?

7. What does Mademba ask Alfa to do as Mademba lays mortally wounded on the battlefield?

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

9. What does Alfa often see in his enemy's eyes before he kills him?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are some of the barriers that would realistically prevent Alfa from ever being able to be with Fary Thiam for the long-term? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What are Alfa's feelings and beliefs about the relationship between sex, losing one's virginity, and manhood? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Alfa Ndiaye describe himself during his narration, and how does Alfa's view of himself change from before and after his best friend Mademba Diop's killing during battle? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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