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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 does Alfa do when a retreat is called, in the wake of Mademba's death?

2. Why does Mademba leave before the others on the day he dies?

3. Why are the fires the men make in the trenches so small?

4. What does Alfa do with Mademba's body after he dies?

5. What is the Diop totem?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Alfa feel almost entirely responsible for Mademba's death?

2. What is the cultural attitude from Alfa's culture towards the symbol of a totem?

3. What does Alfa say he becomes when he goes out to seek the vengeance on German's for Mademba's death?

4. What does Captain Armand want Alfa to do in Part II?

5. What does Alfa suspect about Sack's translation to him from Captain Armand?

6. Why does Alfa think both the Germans and his own allied soldiers flee from him?

7. Why does Alfa receive the Croix de Guerre, a medal of honor?

8. How does Alfa always kill the German soldiers he kills after Mademba's death?

9. Why does Alfa think the mad are useful on the battlefield?

10. How does Mademba Diop die?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are some of the barriers that would realistically prevent Alfa from ever being able to be with Fary Thiam for the long-term? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How does Alfa begin to work through the horrors of his trauma from the war, and to what extent does he seem to successfully manage to address some of his deep psychological damage from the war at the hospital? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the language and tone Diop uses throughout this novel, especially as he depicts scenes of war and conflict.

(see the answer keys)

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