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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 color do Bavarian ladies wear?

2. What color is Marija's lipstick?

3. Which is true about the promises made by Sissie and Marija?

4. Why can not all Europeans go abroad?

5. Who is called Little Adolph?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sissie claim to expect at age 30?

2. Where does Sissie recall meeting an Indian man?

3. What is the African name featured in Part 2: "The Plums?"

4. How is God described in Part 2: "The Plums"?

5. What part of Africa does Sissie liken to the "bowels of the earth" (11)?

6. What is Sissie's nickname at the youth hostel?

7. How does the poetic cycle in Part 2: "The Plums" claim that rulers gather their wealth?

8. What fruit had Sissie never seen before coming to Germany?

9. Why do the Bavarian women with whom Sissie works wear black?

10. Who orders breakfast for Sissie in Frankfurt?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing the foreign language terms, including any racial slurs, used within the novel. In your essay, consider why the author might use foreign languages within the text, and whether foreign languages are used to a similar effect or different effects in various sections. In your essay, cite specific examples of terms used in making your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you argue the relative merits of African students returning to Africa and remaining in Europe. In your essay, use evidence from the text (particularly Part 4: A Love Letter), and choose either the point of view of Sissie or of the African doctor quoted in her letter. Be sure to consider the opposite point of view, and use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze Sissie's relationship with Marija. How do the two meet? What is the nature of their relationship? What seems to attract them to one another? Why does the relationship end? Use evidence from the text to support your analysis.

(see the answer keys)

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