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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. Of what is Aunty Nabou proud?

2. Why does Modou gain many promotions in his job?

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

4. According to the narrator, what is the purpose of teaching?

5. Of what significance is the narrator's unconventional marriage?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Mawdo Bw's attitude towards his marriage and father-in-law?

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. Why is Farmata disappointed in how Ramatoulaye handles Aissatou's pregnancy?

5. What decision is made about Aissatou's pregnancy and how does Ramatoulaye feel about the decision?

6. How does Daouda ask for Ramatoulaye's hand in marriage and what is her response?

7. What is special about the narrator and how is this looked upon?

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

9. What is a possible reason the narrator's first name is revealed in chapter 19?

10. How does the family feel about Ibrahima?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Morality is another concept that seems to be taught and thought about less often now than in the time of So Long A Letter. How has morality changed in the United States since the 1950's? What is considered acceptable now that was considered immoral then? What is still considered immoral now as then? Should morality change? Is the differences between what was considered moral behavior then versus now that significant? Has the United States been negatively impacted by the changing moral climate of the country? Has it been positively impacted? Such areas to consider might be marriage vs. living together; gay relationships; cheating or stealing; parent-child relationships.

Essay Topic 2

Women have little economic or political power in Senegal at the time this book is set in the 1950-1960s. Research how if at all, Senegal has changed since the time of the setting of this book in terms of the equality between men and women. Would you want to live in a culture as that of Senegal of that time? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Ramatoulaye, the narrator is dealing with the grief of the death of her husband, whom she still loves, though he abandoned her. Grief is an integral aspect of every culture, though different cultures have different ways of dealing with grief. Choose three cultures from three different continents around the world and research the concept of grief in each one. Explain how each culture has traditions in place to deal with grief. Compare and contrast the three cultures and their attitudes about grief and the ways their people deal with grief.

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