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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Julius say was the true source of second-class warrant officer Musibau’s anger at him?
(a) He saw Julius as an insubordinate soldier.
(b) He saw Julius as a colonizer.
(c) He saw Julius as a worthless African.
(d) He saw Julius as an outsider.

2. What did Julius get a reputation for, after the affair of Musibau’s stolen newspaper, at the military school?
(a) Indifference.
(b) Mendacity.
(c) Shiftiness.
(d) Fearlessness.

3. How does Julius say he and his mother responded to Julius’ father’s death?
(a) With fierce bickering.
(b) With bland indifference.
(c) With wild grieving.
(d) With stoic silence.

4. What does Dr. Maillotte tell Julius she thinks about Ghanaians?
(a) That they are genial.
(b) That they are shifty.
(c) That they are arrogant.
(d) That they are lazy.

5. What is Dr. Maillotte’s connection with Eduoard Empain, who built Heliopolis in Egypt?
(a) She is descended from him.
(b) She is married to his grandson.
(c) Just that she has visited the city.
(d) She knows his grandson.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Julius notice about people’s clothing, as he takes the subway around the city?

2. What caused Saidu to flee his country?

3. What is the first of Farouq’s two projects?

4. What happens to decrease the tension over the recent incident in Brussels when Julius visits?

5. What recent event has created controversy in Brussels, when Julius arrives there?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the style of the opening pages of Open City, and what kind of expectation do they set up in the reader?

2. What does Julius say his relationship with his mother is like?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Teju Cole’s internal, peripatetic style in Open City?

4. What memory does the rain spur in Julius’ trip to Brussels?

5. How does Farouq surprise Julius?

6. How does Julius react to the waitress who brings him his coffee in the café in Grand Sablon?

7. What are Farouq’s two projects?

8. How does Julius describe his encounter with the Czechoslovakian tourist he meets in the café?

9. What does Julius say his work requires of him, and what does he say he enjoys about it?

10. What is it about Coca-Cola that the younger Julius found so appealing?

(see the answer keys)

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