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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On what days of the week did the woman from Kamĩrĩĩthũ visit the author, according to his narrative in Chapter 2, Part I?
(a) Fridays.
(b) Saturdays.
(c) Mondays.
(d) Sundays.

2. What novel of the author's did he hope to give a transcript of to Chinua Achebe at the writers' conference described in Chapter 1, Part II?
(a) Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ.
(b) A Grain of Wheat.
(c) Weep Not, Child.
(d) The River Between.

3. How many years of involvement had Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o spent writing literature in Englis when the author began writing in Gĩkũyũ?
(a) 13.
(b) 22.
(c) 31.
(d) 17.

4. What language did Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o speak growing up?
(a) Hausa.
(b) Gĩkũyũ.
(c) Ashanti.
(d) Bantu.

5. From whom does the author borrow the phrase "empty space" in Chapter 2, Part III (37)?
(a) Alan Paton.
(b) Ngũgĩ wa Mĩriĩ.
(c) Obi Wali.
(d) Peter Brook.

6. How many wives did Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o's father have?
(a) Two.
(b) Five.
(c) Three.
(d) Four.

7. In Chapter 1, Part I, the author asserts, "The choice of language and the use to which language is put is central to" what (4)?
(a) "A people's disenfranchisement."
(b) "A people's notions about literature."
(c) "A people's relationship to others."
(d) "A people's definition of themselves."

8. What is the name of the secret diary that Gakaara wa Wanjaũ kept while in political detention?
(a) Mwandĩki wa Mau Mau Ithaamĩrioinĩ.
(b) Matigari ma Njiruungi.
(c) Ngaahika Ndeenda.
(d) Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ.

9. What dance is despicted in the scene from Ngaahika Ndeenda that is presented in Chapter 2, Part V?
(a) The Mwomboko dance.
(b) The Moribayasa dance.
(c) The Kpanlogo dance.
(d) The Aduma dance.

10. When did the Kamĩrĩĩthũ Community Education and Culture Center begin functioning?
(a) 1982.
(b) 1978.
(c) 1979.
(d) 1976.

11. What was the first school that Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o attended?
(a) Luganda.
(b) Khoekhoe.
(c) Northern Ndebele.
(d) Kamaandura.

12. What language did the President of the Kamuzu Academy instruct should occupy a central place in the curriculum?
(a) Latin.
(b) Swahili.
(c) Gĩkũyũ.
(d) French.

13. When was there a declaration of a state of emergency over Kenta that led to all schools being run by the colonial regime?
(a) 1965.
(b) 1952.
(c) 1959.
(d) 1949.

14. On what date did the Kenya government ban any further performances of Ngaahika Ndeenda?
(a) October 2, 1977.
(b) September 12, 1976.
(c) November 16, 1977.
(d) March 30, 1977.

15. How large was the work force of the Bata shoe factory at the time when Ngaahika Ndeenda was produced?
(a) 3,000.
(b) 2,000.
(c) 1,000.
(d) 5,000.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Sydney Portier say he had come to associate Africa with as a result of the literature he had read?

2. When was the Ituĩka ceremony banned in Kenya?

3. What does the author refer to as being the basis of a people's identity in Chapter 1, Part IV?

4. In the book Facing Mount Kenya, the Ituĩka ceremony is described as lasting how long?

5. What does the author describe as the second aspect of language as culture in Chapter 1, Part IV?

(see the answer keys)

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