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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 is the name of the mountain Waiyaki and Chege can see in the distance at the end of Chapter Four?

2. What rumor circulates about Joshua?

3. What does Joshua's house look like?

4. What animal was slaughtered for the ceremony?

5. What does "tene na tene" mean?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the village where Joshua's family lives.

2. What is the second birth ceremony?

3. How are the two ridges, Kameno and Makuyu, described?

4. Why does Nyambura leave the village at the end of Chapter Eight?

5. Why are the two boys fighting in Chapter Two?

6. How does Nyambura feel about the river?

7. Describe the festivities of initiation eve.

8. How does Waiyaki feel toward Muthoni?

9. What are Sundays typically like for Joshua?

10. How does Joshua feel about the rite of circumcision?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose at least two of the female characters from "The River Between"--Muthoni, Nyambura, Waiyaki's mother, Miriamu-- and discuss in an essay how Ngugi portrays the role of women in the tribe using these characters.

Essay Topic 2

One of the concepts that is made much of throughout "The River Between" is purity. Discuss the meaning of purity and what it means to different characters.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the idea that knowledge is power and how Ngugi addresses it in his novel.

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