View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are children chasing after near the factory in Part I when Matigari first arrives?

2. Why is Matigari excited when John Boy Junior says he had gone to college?

3. What was the teacher in Matigari's cell arrested for teaching?

4. What does Matigari make with a strip of bark from the mugomo tree?

5. What does Mũriũki tell Matigari is happening outside of the bar after he goes out to see why they heard screaming?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the conversation between Matigari and Gũthera after she offers him "a little pleasure" (24).

3. What does Matigari tell Mũriũki he was doing in the woods and why?

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

5. What story of her past does Gũthera share with Matigari after he saves her?

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

7. 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?

8. Why is Matigari excited when John Boy Junior says his father sent him to school?

9. How does Gũthera decide she can repay Matigari for saving her, despite thinking he may be insane?

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

Even though this novel has many characters, what makes Matigari the protagonist of this novel? Compare his role in the novel to definitions of protagonists.

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

Write an essay about the author of Matigari. Who is he? What else has he written? How is Matigari similar or different from his previous works?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 832 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample