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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 did the narrator try to get help when caught in something at the end of the book?

2. What did the narrator feel, realizing his world turned upside down?

3. How old is Mahmoud?

4. What would Hosna not do to Wad for two weeks after the wedding?

5. Where did the narrator want to go when in the water?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the narrator tell Hosna about marriage and how did she react to this?

2. Who met the narrator when he arrives by steamer, not too long after he had left, and what do they talk about?

3. What did the narrator think about the people in the pictures?

4. What does Hosna tell the narrator about Mustafa when he visited her one day?

5. Where did the narrator go after leaving Mustafa's house and what happened there?

6. Give your opinion about the book and its two main characters.

7. What were the narrator and Mahjoub talking about when they were in a drunken state before he leaves the village?

8. Who are Mustafa's children and what is the narrator's relationship with them?

9. What had happened to Hosna and Wad while the narrator was away from the village?

10. What did the narrator find in the triangular room and what did he do while in there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The triangular room is mentioned throughout the book. What is this room? Why is it important? Whose room is it? What does the narrator have to do with this room? What happens to the room? What are the contents in this room? What does the narrator do in this room? What does he see and what is his reaction? What does he relate the pictures of the women to? How is Jean Morris' death related to Hosna's death? How does the narrator leave the room? Why is his being in the room important to the conclusion of the book?

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Mustafa's widow and the narrator have a complicated relationship. How would you describe their relationship? Why is it complicated? Why are the complicated issues not resolved? How does this relation influence the life of both characters? How would you resolve a similar situation?

(see the answer keys)

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