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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. Which literary medium does Soyinka's work fall under?
(a) Novella.
(b) Stream of consciousness.
(c) Short story.
(d) Drama.

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

3. Which genre of literature does Soyinka's work fall under?
(a) Allegory.
(b) Realism.
(c) Modernism.
(d) Victorian.

4. Iyaloja works to enforce what is good for __________.
(a) Everyone.
(b) Elesin.
(c) Women only.
(d) Her family.

5. Which of the following actions is NOT being performed at the beginning of the play?
(a) Stalls being emptied.
(b) Mats being folded.
(c) Baskets being carried.
(d) Cows being milked.

Short Answer Questions

1. Jane influences Pilkings through ____________.

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

3. What do the women of the market claim took Olunde away?

4. What does Elesin claim his response will NOT be when death comes for him?

5. Elesin's love and appreciation for life is ________________ for his community.

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Elesin confess when Pilkings leaves his cell in Act 1, Scene 5? To whom does he confess this?

3. Why is Joseph confused by the drumming?

4. What does Joseph say when questioned about Elesin's death?

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

6. Describe Elesin's reaction when Jane attempts to plead with him in the last scene of the play.

7. What are Jane and Pilkings doing as Act 1, Scene 2 opens and the two are introduced? What are they wearing?

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

9. Why does Amusa refuse to speak directly to Pilkings during their encounter in Act 1, Scene 2?

10. In Act 1, Scene 1 the praise-singer talks to Elesin about how the Yoruban people have not betrayed their culture, even in the midst of the British occupation. What does the praise-singer claim is the only way the Yoruban people will fail?

(see the answer keys)

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