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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 kind of animal does Henderson farm?

2. Where do Frances and Henderson go for the party?

3. Who does Mtalba say she admires?

4. What does Miss Lennox do for Henderson?

5. What does grun-tu-molani mean?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Lily and Henderson's marriage.

2. How does the wood chip change Henderson's life?

3. In what way is Willatale sympathetic to Henderson's plight?

4. Why are Henderson's books so important to him?

5. How does Willatale describe Henderson?

6. What convinces Henderson to go to Africa with Charlie and his wife?

7. How does Dick die?

8. How does Henderson react to the corpse in Chapter Eleven?

9. Why does Henderson head off to the remote parts of Africa?

10. How does the meeting with Willatale change Henderson?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss whether you think this statement is true or false: "The character of Henderson is a portrayal of American societty's increasingly individualistic outlook. Use two examples from the novel to support your argument.

Essay Topic 2

The novel is set mostly in Africa.

1) What meaning does Africa bring to the novel? What would you automatically presume about a novel that is set in Africa?

2) How different do you think today's Africa is to the Africa in the novel? How do you think the novel's meaning would change if it were set in today's Africa?

3) How do you think the African settings of the novel contributes to the novel's spiritual meaning?

Essay Topic 3

Examine Bellow's writing style. How would you describe Bellow's prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? Does he use any specific writing techniques? What meaning does Bellow's style give to the story?

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