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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. Where do Alfa and Mademba fantasize about living after the war?

2. Who is Mademba's father?

3. What does the doctor have Alfa and the others do to help them through their trauma?

4. What do the villagers believe happened to Alfa's mother on her journey?

5. What does Alfa think about his own physical appearance?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Alfa suspect his father lets him be adopted by another family?

2. What is the first thing Alfa draws for the doctor?

3. What method does Doctor Francois use to help patients work through their trauma?

4. Why does Captain Armand tell Alfa he looked the other way at first when Alfa brought the severed hands back?

5. What does Alfa think his fellow soldiers think of his intellect?

6. What is the relationship between Penndo Ba and Alfa's father like?

7. Why does everyone think Penndo Ba never returned to Gandiol?

8. What did Alfa do to try to catch the person who killed his friend Jean-Baptiste?

9. What does Alfa think the war has done to him, as he explains in Part III?

10. What does Alfa bring to the hospital with him, and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How and why does Alfa feel Doctor Francois's attitude shift towards him in the aftermath of his own drawing of the severed hands? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What are Alfa's own feelings and beliefs regarding black magic and sorcery throughout the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Alfa feels that his white commanders in the army want him to act the part of the savage, but only when and if it is convenient to them. Write an essay explaining Alfa's feelings about his commanders' perceptions of him as a "savage," citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 588 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample