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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What character in Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ moves in a matatu taxi from Nairobi to Ilmorog?

2. Who was the President of Toto from 1967 until 2005?

3. Upon what did the author write his novel Caitaani Mutharaba-Ini?

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

5. Who wrote the poem "Speech to Danish Working Class Actors on the Art of Observation"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reasons does the author give for Africans studying Caribbean and Afro-American literature?

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

3. How was written language largely developed in Africa?

4. What is the basic demand in the statement presented by the author, Owuor Anyumba, and Taban Lo Liyong at the University of Nairobi?

5. What about George Lamming's work impressed the author?

6. What does the author remark about Faust in Chapter 3, Part VIII?

7. What does the author say about critical reception of literature in Chapter 3, Part IX?

8. What are the subject and themes in the author's book Homecoming?

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

10. Who attended the conference "The Teaching of African Literature in Kenyan Schools"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What relationship between the peasantry and the languages of Africa does the author describe in the book? How is the peasant's relationship to his native tongue different than that of the petty-bourgeoisie? How does language change as a result of this relationship?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the relationships between human experience, culture, and perceptions of reality. What role does language play as a means of communication and as a carrier of culture? What are the different subcategories of language as a means of communication and as a carrier of culture? How are culture and communication related to one another?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the author's arrest and detainment in 1977-1978. On what grounds was he detained? Where was he detained? What works did he produce during his detainment?

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