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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. A parallel can be seen between Pilkings and which other character in the play?
(a) Olunde.
(b) Amusa.
(c) The Prince.
(d) Elesin.

2. What does Elesin claim is the center of his life?
(a) The market.
(b) The palace.
(c) Olunde.
(d) His new wife.

3. The praise singer can be seen as a symbol of ________________.
(a) Happiness.
(b) Death.
(c) Privilege.
(d) Contempt.

4. The praise-singer warns Elesin about being spoiled by what, at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1?
(a) Too much food.
(b) Women.
(c) The British.
(d) Warriors.

5. According to the praise-singer, what must happen for the fowl to know his true friends?
(a) The cockerel hides its feathers.
(b) When the women cover him in damask.
(c) The shedding of the tail.
(d) Wind blows cold from behind.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Pilkings believe Elesin's duty to be?

2. Where do the women of the market claim that the "official business" is happening?

3. Which character in the play would the author, Soyinka, most likely be comparable to?

4. What is the author's ethnic background?

5. Soyinka's story is based upon ______.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the "real" theme of the play, as stated by Soyinka in the author's note?

2. How do the Yoruban people maintain their link to the king?

3. What are Olunde's intentions for attending medical school?

4. Why does Olunde decide to take his father's place as the messenger and end his life?

5. Which agenda seems the most important to Pilkings in Act 1, Scene 2?

6. Is Elesin's death useful to the Yoruban people by the end of the story? Why or why not?

7. Iyaloja enters Elesin's cell. Whom does she blame for Elesin's failure, and why?

8. What does Amusa's note say in the dance of Act 1, Scene 4? Why does Amusa write the note?

9. Explain the scene of the "Not-I" dance.

10. Who is Amusa and what is his role?

(see the answer keys)

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