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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. Which of the following is Phyllis Okafor’s husband’s name?

2. The comment that “he felt like an understudy who hoped the actor would not show up” (79) offers an example of which of the following?

3. The word “nkem” carries which of the following meanings in the text?

4. In which of the following does Richard note having lived?

5. By which of the following names does Ugwu’s sexual partner call hum during their assignations?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reason does Ugwu voice for not killing a gecko?

2. How does Madu report having escaped the second coup?

3. What differences does Uguw mark between himself and other houseboys?

4. Why does Richard note wanting Kainene to accompany him to Martin’s wedding in London?

5. Explain the meaning of “Better be late than THE late” (32).

6. What are the chants offered at the seminar in Nsukka at which Ojukwu appears and speaks?

7. What reasons does Olanna give for her parents fleeing overseas after the initial coup?

8. Who are those named as enemies by the Revolutionary Council?

9. What chores does Ugwu adopt early in his service to Odenigbo?

10. How does Richard initially react to the attack on the airport as he travels back from London?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sources attest to the presence of Half of a Yellow Sun on best-seller lists. Assuming that sales figures reflect popularity, what accounts for the popularity of the novel? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Consider the poem Ugwu notes having memorized in Chapter 4:

I can’t forget that I’m bereft
Of all the pleasant sights they see,
Which the Piper also promised me.
For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
Joining the town and just at hand,
Where waters rushed and fruit trees grew,
And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
And everything was strange and new. (105-06)

Conduct a close reading of the poem. That is, analyze its structure and internal references to explicate its meaning.

Essay Topic 3

Consider Kainene’s comment that “it’s wrong of [a person] to think that love leaves room for nothing else. It’s possible to love something and still condescend to it” (145). Is the comment correct? What in the novel and in experience indicate that it is or is not? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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