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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. How does the drinkard get his thirst quenched?

3. What do the dead babies do?

4. How long is the parade requested by the king supposed to last?

5. On the way to Dead's Town, the drinkard and his wife get lost and ask to follow a man with a sack. What is in the sack?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the feud between Heaven and Land.

3. How do the townspeople treat the drinkard after the egg breaks?

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

5. Are plants important in this story?

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

7. 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?

8. What new power does the drinkard's wife develop during pages 248-264?

9. Describe the group of four hundred dead babies the drinkard and his wife meet on the road.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Fantasy and Magical Realism are two distinct but related literary genres. Discuss:

(1) The differences between the two genres.

(2) Can The Palm-wine Drinkard be considered a fantasy? Why or why not?

(3) Can The Palm-wine Drinkard be considered a an example of Magical Realism? Why or why not?

(4) How would you classify The Palm-wine Drinkard?

Essay Topic 2

The drinkard shares many qualities with the epic hero model. First, address what the epic hero model is. Second, suggest characteristics that the drinkard shares with the epic hero. Finally, discuss whether you consider him an epic hero or not and why.

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 746 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample