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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 do the dead babies do?

2. What do the drinkard and his wife first give "Hungry-Monster" to eat?

3. What do the "mountain-creatures" love to do?

4. Why do the drinkard and his wife leave the town?

5. What does "Hungry-Monster" cry?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. Comment on how the drinkard sums up his journey, "And so all our trials, difficulties and many years' travel brought only an egg or resulted in an egg." (Chapter 32, p. 295)

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

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. How could the magic egg be seen as symbolic?

8. What themes do we find in "The Invisible-Pawn" chapter that we have seen in earlier chapters?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Comment on how the story ends. Be sure to address the following questions:

(1) What type of ending is this? Why?

(2) Is there closure? How so or how is there not?

(3) Why might the author have ended the story this way? What is significant or symbolic about this type of ending?

(see the answer keys)

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