Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What does the Gĩkũyũ word "ngurukuhĩ" translate to in English?
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. What does the author describe as the second aspect of language as culture in Chapter 1, Part IV?
5. How many years of involvement had Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o spent writing literature in Englis when the author began writing in Gĩkũyũ?
Short Essay Questions
1. 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?
2. Who were the Mau Mau?
3. How does the author describe the significance of land in Kenya?
4. What are the three aspects of language as culture?
5. How are language and communication products of each other?
6. What does the author ask about writers who continue to write in foreign languages in Chapter 1, Part VIII?
7. What role did song and dance have in the original production of Ngaahika Ndeenda?
8. What does the author mean when he refers to the domination of the mental universe of the colonized?
9. What role did drama play in pre-colonial Kenyan life?
10. What are the mutually opposed forces in African realities today, according to the author in his Introduction?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the publication and distribution of Caitaani Mũtharabainĩ. How many copies were originally ordered? How well did they sell and who bought them? How was the novel consumed by a largely illiterate audience?
Essay Topic 2
What is the African bourgeoisie? How many different threads comprise this social class? What are these threads? Where does the author fall among the classes of Africa?
Essay Topic 3
What languages have dominated Africa in the colonial and post-colonial eras? How were these European languages imparted upon the residents of African countries or colonies? In what languages did early African literature of the 19th and 20th centuries emerge?
|
This section contains 815 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
