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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 does July’s mother pretend not to like in Section 6?

2. What has the government promised to do to help the local chiefs?

3. What is a gumbagumba?

4. What does Bam hope Nyiko knows in Section 6?

5. What does Maureen not realize she is helping the women collect in Section 9?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does it imply that the chief can speak in English, but doesn’t at first?

2. Explain how Maureen feels about her husband after living in the village for a time.

3. After more conversation in Chapter 6, what does Martha reveal she was really concerned with?

4. Explain why the chief wants to learn to use a gun.

5. Explain the function of the black man the Smalls meet before the chief.

6. Explain Maureen’s feelings about her life, prior to the riots, as reflected upon in Section 9.

7. Where has Daniel gone in Section 10, and what does this mean for Maureen and her family?

8. Describe what Bam’s feeding of the children shows, in terms of his role in the household, compared to his previous life?

9. Why is Martha resentful toward Maureen when she asks where July has gone in Section 10?

10. Describe the scene where Bam lays face first in the bed. What happened, and what does this signify?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the character of Maureen at the beginning of the novel, and at the end of the novel. What are similarities? What are differences? How has she changed through the novel, and what caused her to change?

Essay Topic 2

Although Maureen and Bam claim to be against the life of privileged whites, their children’s behaviors betray this concept. Choose one scene in which the behavior of the children leads one to believe they are, indeed, over privileged, and that they don’t share their parents’ views of equality for blacks.

Essay Topic 3

In the story, Martha’s character dreams of keeping her husband near, while her husband dreams of returning to life in the city. What do you think explains these differences, and what do you think this means for the couple? What do you think July will do, regardless of the outcome of the riots? What will Martha do, and why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 896 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample