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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. Where are the owners of the Bata shoe factory based?
(a) France.
(b) The United States.
(c) Canada.
(d) Germany.

2. Who founded the Theatre of the Oppressed?
(a) Amos Tutuola.
(b) Augusto Boal.
(c) Karl Marx.
(d) Bob Dixon.

3. When was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o arrested as a result of the production of Ngaahika Ndeenda?
(a) March 30, 1977.
(b) December 31, 1977.
(c) September 12, 1976.
(d) October 2, 1977.

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

5. When did Gakaara wa Wanjaũ earn the Noma Award for his secret diary he kept while in political detention?
(a) 1978.
(b) 1991.
(c) 1989.
(d) 1984.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In Chapter 1, Part IV, the author states that "Language, any language, has a dual character: it is both a means of communication and" what (13)?

3. What is the name of the secret diary that Gakaara wa Wanjaũ kept while in political detention?

4. When was Caitaani mutharaba-Ini published?

5. What was the first school that Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o attended?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe Kamĩrĩĩthũ? Where is it located? How many people live there?

2. What are the three aspects of language as means of communication?

3. What was the Kamĩrĩĩthhũ Community Education and Culture Centre?

4. What role did song and dance have in the original production of Ngaahika Ndeenda?

5. What are the two main strands of the petty-bourgeoisie in Africa that the author describes in Chapter 1, Part VI?

6. What led the author to his choice of language in writing Ngaahika Ndeenda?

7. Describe the Ituĩka ceremony. What was its purpose and how often did it take place?

8. What are the origins of drama, according to the author in Chapter 2, Part III?

9. Who were the Mau Mau?

10. In his Introduction, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o states that the study of African realities has been too long seen in terms of tribes. What does he mean by this?

(see the answer keys)

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