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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 is the mugumo?

2. Who does Gũthera say she is hiding from when she enters the bar in Part I?

3. What does the boy tell Matigari happens to them if they do not pay the guards at the garbage yard?

4. Who slept in the house Matigari built while Matigari slept on the verandah?

5. What is Matigari surprised at when he is at the bar at the Mataha hotel?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the cell Matigari is put in after being arrested at John Boy Junior's house.

2. What does Matigari think of as he watches a riderless horse pass him at the start of the novel?

3. What happens to Matigari when he does not heed the boy's warning not to enter the scrapyard?

4. How does the boy named Mũriũki help Matigari after the boys throw stones at him?

5. What does Matigari think as he watches two officers, the guard and the tractor driver divvying up the money from the children?

6. What happens to Gũthera after she leaves the bar? How does Matigari save her?

7. Why were the other prisoners Matigari shares a cell with arrested?

8. Who is at the house which Matigari says is his when Gũthera leads him to the plantation? What does Matigari do there which surprises Gũthera and Mũriũki?

9. How do the men on horseback know Settler Williams and John Boy? What do they think happened to the men?

10. What do the other women think about Gũthera's refusal to take money from a cop? What does Gũthera say about money from a cop?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Pick a character from the novel and discuss their goals and motives. Do they achieve their motive? Do they share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do their goals clash with other characters? How do the characters' goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the use of dialogue versus the use of description. Look at how each is used in the novel and what makes these uses effective or ineffective.

Essay Topic 3

Choose two characters and discuss their similarities and differences.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 773 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample