Polygamy is against the law in the United States, but many other countries, including Senegal, allow men to have multiple wives but not wives having multiple husbands. What does it say about a culture that allows men to have several wives, but not the reverse and how do you think women are viewed in these countries? Should polygamy be controlled by law and what are the advantages and disadvantages of allowing polygamy?

Discuss the way you think a household with multiple wives would work, i.e., would one wife be in charge of the others and what about the children?

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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