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. Where does SIssie think that Ghana is?

2. According to Sissie, why are white teeth popular?

3. What does the novel say about limbs and senses?

4. What does the narrative claim about a 'moderate' black person?

5. What purpose does the castle now serve?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Sissie recall meeting an Indian man?

2. What is Sissie's father's position?

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

4. What race Marija first assume Sissie to be?

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

6. What is the name of the African whom Sissie meets in Europe?

7. In what city in Germany does Sissie's plane first arrive?

8. What drink does Sissie encounter for the first time in Europe?

9. What does the narrator claim that power decides?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay evaluating Sisseis's self-confidence as it is portrayed in the novel. Is Sissie a self-confident character? Why or why not? Use evidence from the text to support your response.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you evaluate the poetic interludes in the novel. What purpose do the poems serve? What is the effect on the reader when the poems break up the text? In your essay, you may conduct a close reading on any number of these poems as examples, and consider whether there are any common themes among these several poems, as well as what effect(s) they have on the reader.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze the role of gender in the novel. How is gender addressed in the novel, and what associations are made with each gender? Is one gender portrayed more favorably? Are genders treated differently across cultures? You may address one or several of these questions in your essay, but, as always, please use textual evidence to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 515 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample