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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 cities reportedly sees demonstrations in response to starvation in Biafra?

2. Which of the following subjects does Olanna intend that she, Muoleku, and Ugwu will teach?

3. In which of the following societies does Olanna take office?

4. Which of the following does Odenigbo pull from a Red Cross package?

5. Which of the following does Madu bring that Richard drinks?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Olanna describe Muokelu?

2. What advice does Ifeka give Olanna after Odenigbo’s infidelity?

3. What event spurs Olanna to move back in with Odenigbo?

4. What are Olanna’s initial clues about Odenigbo’s infidelity to her?

5. What reasons does Ugwu give for wanting to see an Indian film after the festival with Richard?

6. What reasoning is given for resisting Ugwu as a teacher?

7. What lures Ugwu outside the first time a conscription attempt is made on him?

8. What reason is given for many African countries refusing to recognize or support Biafra?

9. Why does Richard confess his perfidy to Kainene?

10. For what does Olanna upbraid her father at her mother’s request?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who, ultimately, is the protagonist of Half of A Yellow Sun? How do you know?

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)

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

Essay Topic 3

Throughout Half of A Yellow Sun, characters make reference to “a Big Man.” How does the text define the term? How do you know?

(see the answer keys)

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