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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the narrator wonder about those who come to acknowledge the deceased person?
(a) How much each person will donate.
(b) If any were an enemy of the deceased.
(c) If she might find a man to marry among them.
(d) Whose grief is genuine.

2. When did the narrator realize that Modou was the man for her for life?
(a) After he dies.
(b) During their first dance.
(c) When he held their first child in his arms.
(d) When he asked her to marry him.

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

4. How does Aissatou respond to Mawdo's taking a second wife under pressure from his mother?
(a) She takes her four sons and moves to the United States.
(b) She is excited for help in the household.
(c) She kills herself.
(d) She agrees to the arrangement, but the second wife is not allowed in Aissatou's home.

5. What, in the narrator's opinion, does modernity do?
(a) It increases live births.
(b) It causes immoral behavior among the young people.
(c) It signifies the slow death of traditional trades.
(d) It improves the country immensely.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the participants donate to this person's funeral?

2. What is the first thing the narrator says in her letter?

3. Who is Aissatou?

4. Who is Daouda Dieng?

5. Why is this test feared by Senegalese women?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the process of "making donations." How does the narrator feel about this process?

2. Why does the narrator rush to the hospital and what does she find?

3. What is the irony in the marriage offer from Dauoda?

4. What tradition surrounding her husband's death does the narrator dislike and why?

5. How does Daba feel about her father marrying her best friend? Do you think Daba's friend, Binetou, had a choice in marrying Modou? What does the narrator think about Binetou agreement to marry the narrator's husband?

6. What does the narrator think of those who go to school instead of learning traditional crafts?

7. Why is Mawdo's life as a physician successful and what are the implications of this?

8. Describe the wake scene for Modou.

9. Discuss the ritual of taking down the hair.

10. What are the circumstances leading up to Modou marrying Binetou?

(see the answer keys)

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