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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. When does "Invisible-Pawn" do his work?

2. In the second case, which wife does the husband first pick when he is brought back to life?

3. What does Faithful-Mother NOT give the drinkard and his wife when they leave?

4. What must you do to make the tapster's gift to the drinkard work?

5. From the second case the drinkard tries, what did the first wife do when her husband died unexpectedly?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the drinkard let the hungry-creature eat him?

2. How does the drinkard escape from the hungry-creature's stomach? Is this realistic?

3. When can the drinkard and his wife enter "Dead's Town"? Is this symbolic?

4. Describe the "Red-Lady" and her fashion taste.

5. Does the wife's prophecy about the "Invisible-Pawn"--"wonderful hard worker, but he would be a wonderful robber in future"--come true ?

6. Does the drinkard give a satisfactory reason for fighting and then killing the bag creatures?

7. After fighting fantastical monsters for ten years, what new hardship does the drinkard come home to? Could this be considered a real life monster? Why?

8. While living in "mixed town," the drinkard is asked to judge two separate cases, but he leaves them unresolved. How are they similar and what makes them hard to resolve?

9. How could the magic egg be seen as symbolic?

10. Why is the king from "We and the Wise King in the Wrong Town with the Prince Killer" described as wise?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There is a didactic nature to many of the episodes in The Palm-wine Drinkard. Choose three examples and explain why they can be considered didactic.

Essay Topic 2

The drinkard kills the red fish and red bird with the gun that Faithful-Mother gave him. Afterward, all the red people ran from him in fear. Earlier in the story, the drinkard used his juju to defeat opponents and instill the same fear in people. Please address this shift in how the drinkard deals with challenges. Be sure to discuss whether this shift is symbolic or not and why.

Essay Topic 3

Explain why "death" is an important theme in this novel. Using three examples, demonstrate the different ways in which death is present in the novel and how each of these examples are significant (symbolically, morally, plot-wise, etc.)

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