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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 comes home to Matha for the first time?

2. Who is Matha to Jacob?

3. Who gets into a harness?

4. Who is Farai?

5. Why is Sylvia upset about her house?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who teaches Jacob to read?

2. Who dies at Matha's house?

3. Who does Thandi meet on a flight?

4. What does Naila want to do to the STOP signs in Lusaka?

5. Where does Naila work after university?

6. What is Thandi's first job of out school?

7. What does the General want from Jacob?

8. Who is Naila's boss at her office?

9. Where do Jacob, Naila, and Joseph spend most of their nights together?

10. Who comes home to Zambia to die?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you examine the occurrence of power cuts in Zambia toward the end of the novel, which takes place in the present day. What is the greater significance of these power cuts? Why are they happening, and who is having to suffer for them? Use evidence from the text to explain your thoughts.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you examine the concept of Beads in the novel. What are Beads, and what do they do? Why does everyone in Zambia have one? What function do they serve? In what ways do they both hinder and benefit their owners? Use evidence from the text to explain your thoughts.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you examine the physical struggles that come with being a woman as they are presented in the novel. Which women are hindered somehow by some kind of physical or medical ailment, and how does this hindrance affect their lives and understandings of themselves as people? Use evidence from the text to explain your thoughts.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 518 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample