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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. Who is Daouda Dieng?

2. What do the female relatives do for the deceased?

3. What does the narrator think of Aissatou's in-laws?

4. What is another secret revealed about the deceased?

5. What reasons does the narrator give for Modou's taking a second wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the narrator's living situation.

2. What does Ramatoulaye feel about Daouda and his offer of marriage?

3. What happens to the relationship between Modou and his first wife, the narrator? Do you think it is Binetou's fault for how Modou handles his two marriages?

4. Discuss the ritual of taking down the hair.

5. What is a mirasse?

6. What are some things Daouda does when he visits the narrator that implies his future offer of marriage?

7. How does the narrator learn of Modou's new wife and what is she told?

8. How does the narrator feel about Tamsir's (Modou's brother) offer of marriage to take place after the mourning period? Why does Tamsir make this offer of marriage?

9. What is Mawdo's response to Aissatou?

10. What is happening to the narrator's daughter, Aissitou, who is named for the narrator's best friend in the United States.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Ramatoulaye realizes her daughters are smoking and wearing "Western" clothes. Discuss the idea of the "ugly American" and why many countries seem to both be attracted to and repulsed by American (United States) culture, fashions, fads, ideas, etc. Do you believe Americans deserve this contempt from many citizens of other countries? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 2

Unlike many Senegalese women, the narrator is a working mother, even before her husband left her. Much research has been done on the effect of a two-parent working family on children. What does the research seem to suggest? What are some possible ways to solve the problem of the need for both parents to work outside of the home in the United States? More and more men are becoming stay-at-home fathers while their wives are the primary breadwinners. After researching the dynamics of male/female power structure in Senegal today, do you think this phenomenon is taking place there also? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Greed has been one of the strongest motivators for much of the trauma that has happened among humanity--everything from stealing, lying, and cheating to murder, war, and genocide can be traced to individual and national greed. Find four significant events in history that happened almost solely because of greed. Discuss each event. What are the similarities among the events? What was the outcome? Who profited? Who were the losers? Is greed still a big motivator?

(see the answer keys)

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