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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. Government officials screened students at Alliance to ensure no student had pledged allegiance to whom?

2. Which communities does Ngũgĩ say the passports were meant to tighten government control of in Chapter 22?

3. What did Jonyo Kenyatta call Kenya?

4. What did Ngũgĩ say “had come to symbolize continuity despite the many changes in my life” (117)?

5. Who ruled Egypt during the Nationalization of the Suez Canal?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why and when did the Saturday Evening paper begin and what did Ngũgĩ like about it?

3. How does Ngũgĩ define villagization?

4. What metaphor does Ngũgĩ use to describe the struggle in Kenya?

5. What are the big changes Ngũgĩ describes at the beginning of Chapter 32?

6. What events began which Ngũgĩ describes as his spiritual upheaval?

7. What words does Ngũgĩ use to describe the school when he returns from break in January 1957?

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

9. Ngũgĩ says that schools were separate and unequal, thus sports were the only way to compare abilities. What does he say the games between Alliance and other all white schools became a metaphor for?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the symbolic significance of the Alliance uniform. How did it make Ngũgĩ feel? What did it represent to the outside world? Use examples from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Define memoir and discuss why it is used for this type of story.

Essay Topic 3

What is Ngũgĩ ‘s tone when describing villagization? Use examples of word choice to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

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