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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. In the opening of "Noon," to what does Sidi compare Lakunle?

2. Why does Sidi not want to spend any time alone with Baroka?

3. In the opening of "Noon," what is Sidi doing while Sadiku tries to talk to her?

4. What is happening onstage while Lakunle tells the story of Baroka's corruption?

5. What is the setting for the opening of "Noon"?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Lakunle tells the story of Baroka's corruption, what conflicting emotions does he display?

2. What argument does Sadiku present to Sidi for marrying Baroka?

3. When the scene in "Noon" shifts to Baroka's bedroom, what is his favorite wife doing, and how does she use this task to communicate her feelings?

4. When Sadiku conveys Sidi's refusal to Baroka, what is his first reaction, and what changes his feelings?

5. What evidence is there in "Noon" that there might be genuine affection between Baroka and Sadiku?

6. When, in the beginning of "Noon," Lakunle compares Sidi to women in the Bible, what message is he trying to send, and what is Sidi's response?

7. Describe Baroka's bedroom.

8. Explain how Baroka diverted the railroad, and why.

9. When Sidi says, "The stranger took my beauty/and placed it in my hands" (20), what claim is she making for the power of the photographs?

10. What is Sidi's reasoning for turning down the proposal that Baroka sends to her through Sadiku?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay explaining how Soyinka uses both language and action to create comic effects in The Lion and the Jewel. Be sure to offer textual support for your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Choose two symbolic objects from the play that have opposed meanings; write an essay that explains their significance and uses textual support to demonstrate why their meanings stand in contrast to one another.

Essay Topic 3

Wole Soyinka won the 1986 Nobel Prize in literature. Read the Swedish Academy's press release upon the occasion of Soyinka's receiving the award (available online) and read Soyinka's banquet speech given December 10, 1986 upon receiving the award (available online). Write an essay in which you consider what characteristics are considered to have made Soyinka an important writer and then compare how his speech and the play The Lion and the Jewel reflect these characteristics. Use textual support from all three sources in support of your claims, and be sure to cite your sources in MLA format.

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