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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. Who is the protagonist in Cry, the Beloved Country?

2. Who wrote The Five Bandits and Groundless Rumours?

3. By what number was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o called in prison?

4. What did a very cruel prison superintendent warn Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o against writing?

5. Along with what other two lecturers did the author present a rejection of the primacy of English literature and cultures at Nairobi University?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe his prison cell in Chapter 3, Part I?

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

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

4. What does the author mean when he refers to Afro-European literature?

5. Who is Wole Soyinka and what works has he written?

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

7. How does the author describe the the fairly simple structure of Caitaani Mũtharabainĩ in Chapter 3, Part VI?

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

9. When did the great Nairobi Literature Debate begin? How did it begin?

10. What questions did the author face regarding linear versus nonlinear plot development when writing Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o's education and career. Where did he grow up? Where did he study? What were his major subjects of study? What books has he written?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

What is referred to by the term mental domination in the context of the book? How is language used in mental domination? Why is mental domination necessary in order to achieve economic and political domination over a people?

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