View a FREE sample

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 capital city of the country?

2. How many soldiers come to the village in their first visit after the oil company men go missing?

3. What does Pexton claim about the massacre?

4. Where do the oil company laborers live?

5. What does Konga tell the men about the ones who try to save the village and the ones who try to destroy it?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did many people try to dissuade Malabo from traveling to the capital to appeal to Pexton?

2. What does Bongo think of his brother Malabo?

3. What does Bongo think when he first meets Austin?

4. What is the significance of the leopard to the Kosawans?

5. How do the villagers feel about Woja Beki?

6. Why is Thula afraid to go to school the day after Konga takes the Pexton driver's key?

7. What do the Kosawans ask the three Pexton leaders for in Part II?

8. What changes does Bongo see in Thula as she grows in Part II?

9. How does Bongo remember Thula's birth and its aftermath?

10. What is the relationship between the Pexton laborers and the villagers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Thula eventually decide to travel to America for schooling, and how do both her family and the villagers feel about her leaving? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions .

Essay Topic 2

What does Juba find out, decades later, about "The Leader" from Pexton who the Kosawans kidnapped, and how does this knowledge affect Juba's perspective about the suffering that Pexton brought to both Kosawa and others?

Essay Topic 3

Although Mbue explores dark and serious themes in this novel, she also employs humor at different points. Write an essay analyzing Mbue's use of humor in this novel, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 588 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample