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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What medal is Alfa told he will be awarded in Part II?
(a) The Gold Star.
(b) The Croix de Guerre.
(c) The Wallingford.
(d) The Purple Heart.

2. Why are the fires the men make in the trenches so small?
(a) To make bigger ones would risk giving away their position to the enemy.
(b) No one knows how to make proper fires.
(c) The men are afraid of the heat.
(d) They only have a little wood.

3. What does the voice inside Alfa's head tell him about his role in Mademba's death that continues to haunt him?
(a) He is going to have to pray very hard to redeem himself.
(b) He is going to hell himself.
(c) He is responsible for Mademba's death by mocking Mademba's totem.
(d) He is going to have to kill many men to make up for Mademba's death.

4. How do Alfa's fellow soldiers react when he brings his first few "trophies" back?
(a) They shun him.
(b) They are indifferent to him.
(c) They are pleased with him.
(d) They write letters to his mother about him, concerned.

5. How does Alfa always kill the enemy soldiers?
(a) He shoots them.
(b) He hangs them.
(c) He disembowels them.
(d) He poisons them.

6. What does Alfa always come back to the trenches with after Mademba dies?
(a) A severed hand and the rifle it carried.
(b) A flower.
(c) A head.
(d) A pig.

7. What forces Alfa to ignore Mademba's suffering as Mademba is dying?
(a) His own prayers.
(b) His commander's whistle.
(c) Jean-Baptiste's songs.
(d) The voice he hears in his head, telling him not to kill Mademba.

8. What does Jean-Baptiste do with the hand he steals from Alfa?
(a) Buries it.
(b) Puts it on a German flag to humiliate the Germans.
(c) Burns it.
(d) Wraps it in bandages and sticks it to his helmet.

9. What entreaty to Mademba does Alfa finish Chapter I with?
(a) He asks Mademba to tell his mother he loves her if he sees her in heaven.
(b) He asks Mademba to avenge him.
(c) He asks Mademba to forgive him.
(d) He asks Mademba to pray for him.

10. Why does Mademba leave before the others on the day he dies?
(a) Alfa tells him he will run faster than he can.
(b) Alfa tells him he is about to run away and desert the war.
(c) Alfa teases him about his totem.
(d) Alfa tells him he is sick.

11. When do Alfa's trenchmates begin to really fear him?
(a) After he starts praying all the time.
(b) After he brings back the fourth hand of the enemy.
(c) After he starts talking to his dead mother.
(d) After he starts writing spells in his journal.

12. When does Captain Armand finally call Alfa in to have a serious talk about his conduct regarding enemy soldiers?
(a) After Alfa brings back a severed head.
(b) After Alfa stops speaking to anyone.
(c) After Alfa brings back his seventh severed hand.
(d) After Alfa is missing for three straight days.

13. How does Alfa repeatedly refer to Mademba Diop?
(a) My more-than-brother.
(b) My cousin.
(c) My nemesis.
(d) My soul mate.

14. When does Alfa always kill the enemy soldiers he kills?
(a) Once they have said a prayer.
(b) Once they have made their second plea to him with their eyes.
(c) Once they have lost all their blood.
(d) Once they have called for reinforcements.

15. Where does Alfa often kill the enemy soldiers in Chapter III?
(a) By the river.
(b) No-man's-land.
(c) His own trench.
(d) The forest on the German side.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old is Alfa when the novel starts?

2. What does Captain Armand wish to know the location of in Chapter VIII from Alfa?

3. In Chapter V, who does Alfa confess he was listening to right around the time when Mademba dies?

4. What work of Cheikh Hamidou Kane's does Diop reference in the beginning of Part I?

5. What term does Alfa's unit use to refer to Black soldiers?

(see the answer keys)

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