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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 did Ngũgĩ discover when he arrived at his home in the beginning of the memoir?

2. With whom did Ngũgĩ travel by train to Limuru?

3. What is the title of Part II?

4. What did Ngũgĩ’s mother believe to have sacred and healing powers?

5. Who did British soldiers capture on October 21, 1956?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Kenneth and Ngũgĩ decide to do for their village when they met at a scouting event?

2. Describe Ngũgĩ’s feelings about volunteering at Sunday School and the words or phrases he uses to express these feelings?

3. How does Ngũgĩ define villagization?

4. What are some of the things that make the new village feel like the old village when Ngũgĩ returns home for Christmas?

5. In what ways did Edward Carey Francis change the education model of Alliance?

6. How does Ngũgĩ describe the homes of the loyal vs. those of the disloyal in Chapter 13?

7. What is a memoir?

8. Why does Ngũgĩ refer to Alliance as a sanctuary?

9. Describe Ngũgĩ’s friendship with Kenneth Mbgũa.

10. Who were the Acrossians and why were they called that?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What was the significance of the nationalization of the Suez Canal? Consider what it meant for Africans from Ngũgĩ’s perspective as well as Edward Carey Francis’ response. How is this an example of the outside world seeping into Alliance?

Essay Topic 2

Write a short essay on the teacher, Joseph Kariuki and his significance to the story. Why was he an important figure at Alliance? What made him different?

Essay Topic 3

The Mugumo tree is a recurring symbol throughout the book. Consider its meaning and particularly what Ngũgĩ’s mother says of the tree on page 99. Write an essay on its significance.

(see the answer keys)

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