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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. What pastime does the drinkard take up while in the white tree?

2. Why does the wise king dress up the drinkard and his wife and parade them around town?

3. What happens when the drinkard offers the "Invisible-Pawn" yams and corn as thanks for his work?

4. What does the man do on the morning of the seventh day of the parade?

5. When the drinkard and his wife are captured and put in a bag, what are the other creatures in the bag like?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the white tree.

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

4. Describe how the "Invisible-Pawn" gets his work done.

5. What does "Faithful-Mother" give the drinkard and his wife when they depart?

6. Are plants important in this story?

7. Explain why some might consider the drinkard to be a "good" character in the end and another might see him as a "bad" character.

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

9. 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?

10. What did the drinkard and his wife do with their death and fear? Why is this significant?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Palm-wine Drinkard is a circular story in that the main character ends back in the place where he started, his hometown. Explain three possible motives for developing and ending the story like this.

Essay Topic 2

Comment on the grotesque elements in this novel. Give at least three examples of the grotesque and explain their significance within the novel. How would the novel be different without these grotesque elements?

Essay Topic 3

Although written in the folktale fashion, The Palm-wine Drinkard is a product of an educated Nigerian man who wrote for an English speaking publisher, during the 20th century. Discuss the balance between African tradition and Western modernization. Use at least three distinct examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 741 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample