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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 is the name of Mary's alter ego?

2. Dr. Otuo tells Belinda emphatically that she is there to take what action?

3. From whose perspective is Chapter 10 narrated?

4. What dish are Belinda and Mary cooking together when Mary relates the tradition about the egg?

5. When Mary is able to finally pit an avocado with only her knife, she suggests that she and Belinda go to what location to celebrate?

Short Essay Questions

1. What element of the burial scene in the prologue most upsets Belinda?

2. What negative aspects of Mary's presence seem to affect Belinda?

3. What sort of coping mechanism does Belinda suggest as a remedy for Mary's unhappiness?

4. What change in narrative perspective occurs at the start of Chapter 6?

5. For what reason does Nana bring Belinda to a shopping district in London?

6. What simile does Mary employ in order to describe her idea of an automaton lifestyle?

7. What is the main source of Belinda's anxiety during the shopping trip on which Nana takes her?

8. What does the kitchen sink symbolize in relation to Mary and Belinda's relationship?

9. How does the theme of hope enter the narrative when Belinda impresses upon Amma her wish that Amma attend the Ghanafoo?

10. What types of clues does Donkor provide to suggest that Mary might have endured trauma in her past?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Trace the characterization arc of Belinda’s character throughout the novel Housegirl. Discuss whether Belinda is a round or flat character and whether Belinda is a static or dynamic character.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Donkor’s novel from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does the novel suggest hold the most meaning and with which of its themes do these beliefs dovetail?

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by Donkor in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of Housegirl. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Donkor’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

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