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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. During what years was Gakaara wa Wanjaũ detained in prison?
(a) 1952-1962.
(b) 1959-1962.
(c) 1955-1962.
(d) 1950-1958.

2. Who chaired the committee that organized the conference on "The Teaching of African Literature in Kenyan Schools" held at the Nairobi School?
(a) Bob Dixon and Gabriel Okara.
(b) Birago Diop and Kim Chi Ha.
(c) Eddah Gachukia and S. A. Akivaga.
(d) Gakaara wa Wanjaũ and Alan Paton.

3. Who was the military dictator and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo/Zaire from 1965 to 1997?
(a) Mobutu Sese Seko.
(b) Kim Chi Ha.
(c) Amos Tutuola.
(d) Gabriel Okara.

4. In what language was Hekaya Za Abunuwasi written?
(a) Hausa.
(b) Jalaa.
(c) Ashanti.
(d) Kiswahili.

5. Who is the trickster that is featured in Hekaya Za Abunuwasi?
(a) Okara.
(b) Gernudisi.
(c) Tutuola.
(d) Abunuwasi.

6. What was the name of the journal in the Gĩkũyũ language that Gakaara wa Wanjaũ established after being released from prison?
(a) Matigari ma Njiruungi.
(b) Kĩgũũnda.
(c) Gĩkũyũ Na Mũmbi.
(d) Maitũ Njugĩra.

7. Who wrote the poem "Speech to Danish Working Class Actors on the Art of Observation"?
(a) Bertolt Brecht.
(b) Martin Carter.
(c) Frantz Fanon.
(d) Gakaara wa Wanjaũ.

8. The author asserts in Chapter 3, Part IX that the reception of a work of art is what?
(a) Part of the work itself.
(b) Not of concern.
(c) Important to understanding audience.
(d) Secondary to the work itself.

9. Who is the protagonist in Cry, the Beloved Country?
(a) Wanja.
(b) Nderi wa Riera.
(c) Stephen Kumalo.
(d) Nyakinyua.

10. What is the competition set to choose at the feast of thieves and robbers in Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ?
(a) The two wisest of the thieves and robbers.
(b) The two most humble of the thieves and robbers.
(c) The seven cleverest thieves and robbers.
(d) The three most effective of the thieves and robbers.

11. What did a very cruel prison superintendent warn Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o against writing?
(a) Letters.
(b) Novels.
(c) Memoirs.
(d) Poems.

12. What was the literary journal at Makerere University College?
(a) Penpoint.
(b) Kĩgũũnda.
(c) Linguistics.
(d) Horn.

13. When was the conference on "The Teaching of African Literature in Kenyan Schools" held at the Nairobi School?
(a) 1982.
(b) 1974.
(c) 1979.
(d) 1977.

14. When did the author begin attending Makerere University College?
(a) 1959.
(b) 1962.
(c) 1952.
(d) 1955.

15. Where was the author working as the Chairman of the Literature Department when he was arrested?
(a) The University of Makerere.
(b) Leeds University.
(c) The University of Nairobi.
(d) Oxford University.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many copies of Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ did the publishers initially print?

2. What does the author describe as the ultimate arbiter of form in Chapter 3, Part VI?

3. Who does the author attribute with changing language all the time?

4. Where was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o detained?

5. When was Caitaani Mutharabaini published?

(see the answer keys)

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