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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who suffers a heart attack?
(a) Modou.
(b) Samba Diack.
(c) Mawdo Bâ.
(d) Iba.

2. According to tradition, who stays with the narrator during this tragic time?
(a) All the children from all the wives.
(b) The dead person's co-wife.
(c) The deceased male relatives.
(d) The shamen of the tribe.

3. What does Aunty Nabou demand?
(a) To take little Nabou, her brother's daughter, back home with her.
(b) That her brother help her discipline Mawdo.
(c) Enough money to move to the West Indies.
(d) That they provide her a small stipend to live on.

4. Who is Aissatou?
(a) The narrator's sister-in-law.
(b) The narrator's best friend.
(c) The narrator's sister.
(d) The narrator's first college professor.

5. What does Modou complain about in his letters?
(a) The quality of the petit fours.
(b) The cold weather in France.
(c) The difficulty of the coursework.
(d) Racial discrimination.

6. What is the mirasse?
(a) A payment of 10 dollars from the government for the widow.
(b) A vision the widow finds on a quest in the desert.
(c) A family meeting required by the Koran where the deceased's secrets are exposed.
(d) A pilgrimage to Mecca.

7. What is Daouda Dieng's occupation?
(a) Lawyer.
(b) Physician.
(c) Professor.
(d) Herdsman.

8. What reasons does the narrator give for Modou's taking a second wife?
(a) Either love or madness.
(b) For money, since the second wife came from a wealthy family.
(c) For highter social status.
(d) She doesn't have any idea.

9. What do the female relatives do for the deceased?
(a) Cover their heads with yellow cloth for two weeks.
(b) Wash the dead person's body.
(c) Light the funeral pyre.
(d) Wail while walking around the outside of the home.

10. Why does Modou gain many promotions in his job?
(a) He bribes those in authority above him.
(b) His charisma and devotion to the workers' plight.
(c) His father-in-law is in charge where he works.
(d) He does not accept a salary for his work.

11. How does the narrator feel about Modou taking a second wife?
(a) Betrayed.
(b) She does not know he did so.
(c) Glad to have someone to share household chores.
(d) Indifferent since she is the first and most important wife.

12. How might one describe the culture of the Senegal people?
(a) They don't really have a distinct culture separate from other African countries.
(b) Rigid.
(c) Adaptable.
(d) Complex and difficult to understand.

13. What is the narrator's state of mind at the opening of the book?
(a) Depressed.
(b) Happy.
(c) Distraught.
(d) Angry.

14. What does Modou think of the policies of the dominant party?
(a) He thinks they are instituting wonderful changes.
(b) He thinks they are weak.
(c) He believes they are depleting the country's resources and wasting the money.
(d) He believes they are too traditional.

15. What is the goal of the narrator's education?
(a) To enable her to home school her children.
(b) To earn a degree.
(c) To make her attractive to men.
(d) To emancipate her from the traditional roles of African women.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the deceased give Lady Mother-in-Law when he desires to marry Binetou?

2. What do the narrator and her friends do at their house parties?

3. Of what does the younger generation speak?

4. How many years has the narrator been married to the deceased?

5. What does the narrator find when she rushes to the hospital?

(see the answer keys)

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