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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 accompanies Camara to the airport?

2. How long do Camara, Kouyate, and Check sometimes disappear together during holidays?

3. How does Camara feel about his mother's behavior each time he comes back home to find she has made improvements?

4. How do the other boys feel when Camara puts Marie on his bicycle?

5. What do the women and the girls do after the procession?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who or what is Konden Diara? What does Camara's father tell him to do?

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. Describe the character of Marie.

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

5. What happens in the special hut where the young men are gathered, after the actual circumcision takes place?

6. How do Camara's parents initially react to his news about going to Paris?

7. What happens towards the middle of the night when the initial procession around town finishes?

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

9. When Camara returns to Conakry in October, what does he find out about the Technical College, the school he attended the year before?

10. What happens on the way to and at the train station before fifteen year old Camara sets off to Conakry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In chapter 7 Konden Diara is introduced. What or who is Konden Diara? What does he represent? Relate Konden Diara to the rite of passage. Describe his presence in detail, using supporting evidence from chapter 7. How does he influence the boys' feelings? What do they know about him? Does he show up during the ritual? How? When? What is the secret behind him?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Camara's transition from childhood to manhood. How does this manifest in the book? How does this transition affect his position in his family? Give supporting evidence from the chapter. How does this transition further the plot? What is the author trying to point out with this episode? How has the character of Camara changed? How does his transition affect his mother?

Essay Topic 3

In chapter 3, the author introduces two characters of a different nature that are very closely related. Who are these characters? How do they differ? What do they have in common? What is their importance to Camara? What is their involvement in the community? What are their contrasts/comparisons to the previously mentioned characters?

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