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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. What is the author's ethnic background?
(a) British.
(b) South American.
(c) Colombian.
(d) African.

2. Who is responsible if the Yoruban world were to fall off course?
(a) The mother of the market.
(b) The King's Horseman.
(c) The praise-singer.
(d) The British.

3. As stated by the praise-singer in the play, what does a man forget when he approaches a brand new bride?
(a) His children.
(b) The Yoruban people.
(c) Himself.
(d) The mother of his children.

4. In which year did the actual occurrence described in the play take place?
(a) 1943.
(b) 1946.
(c) 1941.
(d) 1945.

5. How does Amusa give his report to Officer Pilkings?
(a) He sends it in code.
(b) He sends another sergeant.
(c) He tells him.
(d) He writes it.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is it that Elesin craves before his death?

2. Elesin refers to the market place as his home of _____________.

3. The author states that this story illustrates a ____________________ between two cultures.

4. Who is supposed to make an important appearance later in the evening?

5. At which setting does the play open?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Olunde react when he sees Jane in the ancestral mask?

2. What does Joseph's confusion of the drums symbolize in regard to Elesin's situation?

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

4. Why does Soyinka claim (in the author's note) that the play is not a clash between two cultures (Yoruban and British)?

5. What will happen to the king if Elesin fails to make the transition?

6. Describe Elesin Oba's character, as presented by Soyinka.

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

8. How is foreshadowing present in the opening scene of the play?

9. What is the significance of the term, "my mother", in African culture?

10. What is the difference in music and dance in both societies? How can it be seen in the play?

(see the answer keys)

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