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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 Nkoloso?

2. Who is Isa'a father?

3. What is Agnes's role in her club?

4. Why does Agnes get kicked out of her club?

5. What does Balaji own?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Isabella reluctant to have more children after the first one?

2. Who was Matha's schoolteacher?

3. Why does Edward Mukuka Nkoloso get sent to prison?

4. Why does Cookie take in a child?

5. Who is Loveness?

6. Who is Adrianna, and what does she do?

7. What happens when Sibilla leaves the house for the first time?

8. What does Isabella fight with her husband about after their marriage?

9. What is special about Sibilla's hair?

10. Who are Isabella's parents?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you examine the theme of money in the novel. What role does money play for families across generations? Choose one or two families or individuals in the novel and explore the function and significance of money in their lives. Use evidence from the text to explain your thoughts.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you examine the motif of mosquitoes. What function does the presence of mosquitoes serve in the novel, either narratively, figuratively, or both? What is the significance of mosquitoes in this story? Use evidence from the text to explain your thoughts.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you examine the concept of land/land ownership in the novel, particularly as it pertains to settler colonialism in Africa throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In what ways does this issue present itself in the novel, and how does the novel's characters interact with or interrogate this concept? Use evidence from the text to explain your thoughts.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 558 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample