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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. Besides her own beauty, what does Sidi point out to Sadiku about the photographs?

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

3. Near the end of "Noon," what does Sadiku say that angers Baroka?

4. Whom does Baroka call "the queen of them all" (31)?

5. Whom does Sidi credit with having taught her to value herself and think critically about her choices?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Describe Baroka's bedroom.

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

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. 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?

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

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

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.

Essay Topic 2

To what extent is The Lion and the Jewel a play about the consequences of colonialism? Write an essay in which you trace the impacts of colonialism on the characters and events in this play and come to a conclusion about the significance of colonialism to the play's overall meaning. Be sure to offer textual support for your ideas--and if you use outside sources, cite them in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Write an analysis of Sadiku's character. How does the viewer's understanding of her change from "Noon" to "Night"? Is she a good person in a difficult situation or just a terrible human being? Be sure to support your claims with evidence from the text.

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