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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 significant question does Mama ask Christian after Josephine takes Sophie and Salima out back to get washed up?

2. How old is Christian, the "perpetually cheerful traveling salesman" (5)?

3. About which character does Commander Osembenga ask Mama questions?

4. What is NOT an item Mama mentions as one of the three things she provides for the young women in her care?

5. In what decade of life is Mama Nadi, the madam who runs the brothel at the center of the play?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what reason does Salima imagine Sophie to be carefree and how does Sophie disabuse her of that assumption in Scene 3 of Act One?

2. What special talent does Sophie have?

3. What transgression does Mama watch Sophie commit in Scene 4 of Act One?

4. In what way does the theme of deception enter the narrative in Scene 1 of Act One?

5. For what reason does Mama show her raw diamond to Mr. Harari?

6. Who is Christian and why is Mama surprised to see him?

7. Describe Commander Osembenga.

8. What two pieces of information about Sophie appear to convince Mama to take her in?

9. What major revelation does Salima share with Sophie in Scene 3 of Act One?

10. What clue about Christian's true nature is revealed on his way out of the bar in Scene 1 of Act One?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sensory details are used frequently by Nottage in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of Ruined. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Nottage’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how and why Nottage instills three different humanist messages into the narrative of Ruined.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Nottage’s reasons for including Swahili phrases alongside the play’s use of English as its primary language.

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