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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In regards to the play, what did Ngũgĩ say the “political theater onstage was mimicking” (96)?
(a) The real theater of politics outside school gates.
(b) Dorm life.
(c) The politics of the school.
(d) Life in the village.

2. The opening of which college in 1948 meant that secondary schools began to shift their focus on preparing students for college?
(a) Cambridge.
(b) Oxford.
(c) Alliance.
(d) Makere.

3. Where does Ngũgĩ say he found refuge at the start of Chapter 43?
(a) His dorm room.
(b) His classroom.
(c) Books.
(d) The Sunday School chapel.

4. How did Ngũgĩ get to his school?
(a) Airplane.
(b) By bus.
(c) His parents drove him.
(d) Smuggled on a goods train.

5. What town do many Alliance students go to shop on Saturdays?
(a) Mbgũa.
(b) Limuru.
(c) Kikuyi.
(d) Kiambu.

6. Who was the new principal of Alliance in 1940?
(a) Edward Carey Francis.
(b) Carey Edwards.
(c) Francis Edwards.
(d) Frank Carey.

7. What word does Ngũgĩ use to describe Alliance High School?
(a) Encampment.
(b) Sanctuary.
(c) Prison.
(d) Safe space.

8. When the Russians launched Sputnik II, what animal was on it that caused outrage?
(a) A dog.
(b) A bird.
(c) A cat.
(d) A giraffe.

9. With what white student was Ngũgĩ’s first social exchange?
(a) John Brockett.
(b) Govinda.
(c) Andrew Brockett.
(d) Andrew Carson.

10. With whom did Ngũgĩ travel by train to Limuru?
(a) His father.
(b) His brother.
(c) Kenneth Wanjai.
(d) His mother.

11. What was the name of the evangelical speaker who so moved Ngũgĩ to accept Jesus?
(a) Billy Graham.
(b) David Graham.
(c) David Martin.
(d) Billy Martin.

12. What was the punishment for returning to school late in Chapter 23?
(a) Cleaning the bathrooms.
(b) Cutting the grass.
(c) Getting a license.
(d) Writing an extra paper.

13. What word does Ngũgĩ use to describe the force that would try to tell him to slow down during a race?
(a) Villains.
(b) Turtles.
(c) Devils.
(d) Demons.

14. Which communities does Ngũgĩ say the passports were meant to tighten government control of in Chapter 22?
(a) Embu, Meru, Limuru.
(b) Gĩkuyũ, Mau Mau, and Meru.
(c) Gĩkuyũ, Embu, and Meru.
(d) Gĩkuyũ, Embu, and Limuru.

15. Who does Ngũgĩ run into at a tailor shop in Kikuyi?
(a) His mother.
(b) Igogo.
(c) Kenneth Mbgũa.
(d) His sister.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose refusal to drive Ngũgĩ and his friends back to school resulted in the boys being late?

2. In Chapter 1, what is the one thing left standing where Ngũgĩ’s home used to be?

3. From whom did Ngũgĩ receive a long letter regarding whether one needed a license to write?

4. From where did Ngũgĩ hear of his brothers capture in Chapter 26?

5. What is the name of the special Saturday when students are allowed to leave the school all day?

(see the answer keys)

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