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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 central backdrop of Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ?
(a) The journey.
(b) The fall of the hero.
(c) The relationship bewteen fathers and sons.
(d) The act of heroism.

2. Where was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o detained?
(a) Ituĩka Maximum Security Prison.
(b) Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.
(c) Kĩgũũnda Maximum Security Prison.
(d) Kĩmaathi Maximum Security Prison.

3. By what number was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o called in prison?
(a) K6, 77.
(b) K4, 51.
(c) K5, 89.
(d) K3, 99.

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

5. Upon what did the author write his novel Caitaani Mutharaba-Ini?
(a) His cell walls.
(b) Store receipts.
(c) Notebook paper.
(d) Toilet paper.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where was the author working as the Chairman of the Literature Department when he was arrested?

2. When did the author begin attending Makerere University College?

3. What was the author's earliest short story, which was published in the literary journal at Makerere University College?

4. The development of the treatise on the teaching of African literature in Kenyan schools stated that the teaching of non-African literature in schools should aim to introduce the student to what?

5. When was the conference on "The Teaching of African Literature in Kenyan Schools" held at the Nairobi School?

Short Essay Questions

1. What criticisms does the author make of Cry, the Beloved Country?

2. Why does the author find fault in the orthography of Gĩkũyũ?

3. How does the author define "fiction language"?

4. What works did the author assign to his students to read just before his arrest? Why?

5. What does the author mean when he refers to a person's philosophic base of relevance?

6. Who was Bertolt Brecht?

7. What two factors have adversely affected the African novel and its development?

8. What does the author remark about Franz Josef Strauss's official visit to the Independent Republic of Togo in Chapter 3, Part VII?

9. What were the three broad categories of literature available to African children described by the author in Chapter 4, Part III?

10. How was written language largely developed in Africa?

(see the answer keys)

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