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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. How old is the strange man in the village the narrator is curious about?

2. What did Mustafa cause to other young women?

3. What did the villagers begin to build at one point?

4. When did Mustafa travel around Europe, the Orient and India?

5. How many different women was Mustafa living with simultaneously when he was with Jean?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do you know about the legendary flooding of the Nile described in the book?

2. How was Mustafa treated during his time in Cairo?

3. What was left for the narrator after Mustafa disappears?

4. What did Mustafa want for his sons?

5. How can you relate the narrator to the Acacia tree?

6. What happened to Mustafa when he meets a man on horseback?

7. Whose story did the narrator interrupt when arriving at his grandfather's house one day and what was the story about?

8. What do you know about the narrator's grandfather as a person?

9. What does the narrator tell his family about the Europeans?

10. What does Mustafa have to do with the topic of mixed marriages?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mustafa suffered from wanderlust. How is this portrayed in the book? What does Mustafa do to fulfill this wanderlust? Where does he go? Why? What does he do there? Where does he finally end up? Is this the end of his wanderlust? Why do you think that? How is his wanderlust related to his disappearance? Compare or contrast Mustafa's wanderlust with what he wants for his sons. Use supporting evidence from the book. Relate this wanderlust to the narrator's perception of what happened to Mustafa.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, a lot of people talk about Mustafa to the narrator. Summarize the information the narrator collects about Mustafa. Who does the narrator meet that talks to him about Mustafa? In which circumstances does this happen? What does the narrator learn about Mustafa? What is being said? How does he react to this information? What is said about Mustafa that is contradictory with the narrator's information? Who, of all these people with information, actually met Mustafa in person? Why do you think all these people talk about Mustafa and praise him? How do you think the narrator feels about this?

Essay Topic 3

Agriculture is very important in an African village like the one the narrator grows up in. Why is this important? How do you know it is important? Who refers to it in the book and what is discussed? What is the Agricultural Project Committee and Co-operative? Who were important members of it? How do you relate Mahjoub's influence to this Committee? What does Mustafa have to do with the Committee? What do the Committee and the subject of agriculture have to do with Mahjoub and Mustafa's relationship? How does Mahjoub feel towards Mustafa? Why? Relate these two characters to the Agricultural Project Committee and Co'operative.

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