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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. The comment that “They are killing us like ants” (181) offers an example of which of the following?

2. The comment that “she looked, for a moment, like a shapely spirit who had emerged from the sea” (115) offers an example of which of the following?

3. Which of the following is said to be Susan’s eye color?

4. The comment about “the kind of woman whose sneeze, whose laugh and talk, would be soft as the under feathers closes to a chicken’s skin” (23) offers an example of which of the following?

5. Which of the following languages does Odenigbo speak to Ugwu?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are Olanna’s eyes depicted as she flees back to Nsukka after the second coup?

2. What reasons does Olanna have for not accompanying Odenigbo to his conference in Ibadan?

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

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

5. Why does Richard initially assume Kainene is the mistress of a Nigerian politician?

6. What is the first ethical question Odenigbo poses to Ugwu?

7. What does Olanna report to Odenigbo upon her return to Nsukka after the second coup?

8. How do Olanna’s parents report planning to flee Biafra?

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

10. How does Ugwu’s aunt describe Odenigbo at the beginning of the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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)

What resonance does the poem have in its context in the novel? How does that resonance emerge?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout Half of A Yellow Sun, there are glosses presented of sections of other books that are mentioned in the novel as being composed by characters within the novel. What effect do the presentations have, and how is that effect achieved?

Essay Topic 3

Explicate the irony of the heavyset reporter Charles saying, “I wish I could do more,” while eating from a candy bar (464).

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