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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. During the phone call between Mary and Belinda in Chapter 18, Mary reports that Aunty and Uncle had allowed her to watch what event?

2. What television show do Belinda, Aunty, and Uncle watch together at the end of Chapter 34?

3. At what type of location does Chapter 28 begin?

4. On the way to Kumasi, Belinda thinks about a tro tro ride she had taken with which character?

5. Chapter 34 begins when what kind of vehicle brings Belinda to Kumasi?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reasons does Roisin offer for her ghosting of Amma and how do they all connect?

2. What is the significance of Amma's memory of the television show called Brookside?

3. To what type of location does Amma take Belinda on the girls' eighth trip home from Abacus College?

4. How does Donkor incorporate sensory detail into Belinda's long walk between Streatham and Brixton Hills?

5. What misconceptions does Belinda have about homosexuality?

6. What is Belinda's reaction to the place to which Amma takes her on their eighth trip home from Abacus College?

7. For what reason does Nana become brusque and severe with Belinda in the time around the shopping trip to Waitrose?

8. What kind of meltdown does Amma have in Waitrose?

9. What aspect of Belinda's reaction to the news about Mary causes Amma to cry "hot tears" (223)?

10. What event causes Amma to feel a sense of purpose previously unfamiliar to her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

What is the function of Mary's character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by Donkor in depicting Mary and include in your discussion the reasons that Donkor portrays Mary in these particular ways.

Essay Topic 3

Look carefully at the passages of Housegirl that describe the close relationship between Belinda and Mary. What is Donkor’s purpose for discussing at length the nature of the connection between Mary and Belinda? How does Mary’s death play into this purpose in both the prologue and final chapter of the novel?

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