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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 Marie?

2. In which month does Camara return to Conakry?

3. When does the ritual procession around town finish?

4. In which country does Camara have an opportunity to finish his studies?

5. Who gives the boys a handkerchief for their ceremony of circumcision?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the end of Camara's third year of school, he takes his proficiency examinations. Describe what happens.

2. What happens when Camara and his father go to talk to Camara's mother again, hoping to convince her to let Camara finish his studies in Paris?

3. Following their encounter with Konden Diara, the young boys face the real test of circumcision. How does the ceremony in Kouroussa proceed?

4. Describe the character of Marie.

5. What happens during the first year Camara is supposed to attend school in Conakry?

6. What does the director of the Technical College ask Camara before he leaves Conakry upon successfully completing his exams, and what is Camara's reaction?

7. How do the boys spend the rest of the night of their rite of passage after the roaring ceases, and how does it end?

8. How do Camara and Marie spend time together as teenagers?

9. When Camara is a teenager, he must prepare for his culture's important rite of passage: circumcision. How and when does his ritual begin? How does Camara feel about it?

10. What happens in the special hut where the young men are gathered before the actual circumcision takes place?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Towards the last chapters of the book, the ocean plays an important role in Camara's life. What does the ocean symbolize? What happens at the ocean? How is love related to this theme? Why is the ocean special and different from what he knows? What does his love of the ocean foreshadow? How is the ocean important in the last chapter? Relate Camara's actions in chapter 12 to his aspirations in chapter 10.

Essay Topic 2

After the gold work of Camara's father is finished, the praise-singer bursts into a douga. Describe in your own words, based on the context of the book, what a douga is. What is its influence on the people of Camara's community? Why is it sung? How do the characters react to it? What is its negative side effect? Why is it important in the African culture?

Essay Topic 3

One day Camara finds a little black snake with a strikingly marked body. This snake is special and plays an important role in the first chapters of "The Dark Child." What is the role of this snake in the family? How did he become important? What does his presence mean to the different main characters? Relate this snake's significance to the community, to Camara, to his mother, and to his father? How does the snake add to Camara's father's influence and status in the community? How is the snake involved in the work environment of Camara's father? Support your answers with examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

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