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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 second drawing Alfa makes for the doctor?

2. When do the white soldiers suddenly decide to stop obeying Captain Armand?

3. What does Captain Armand tell the traitorous soldiers they can have if they put themselves over the top of the trench to be killed by the enemy?

4. Who is Alfa trying to avenge in Chapter XII?

5. What does Alfa think Fary Thiam started doing before he did?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the circumstances of Alfa's first sexual experience with a woman?

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

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

4. What does Alfa come to believe about God's role in what happens in war in Part III?

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

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

7. Why does Alfa suspect his father did not let him go with Penndo Ba when she left?

8. How does Afla think he wins over Doctor Francois at the hospital?

9. What is one convention of romantic relationships in Gandiol?

10. Why does Yoro Ba want to "give" Alfa's mother to his father in marriage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When and how does Alfa express remorse for his brutal acts of vengeance against German soldiers in the wake of Mademba's killing? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why does Alfa believe it is so critical for him to keep the severed hands of the Germans he has killed concealed from Captain Armand, and how does he manage to do so? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Alfa describe his own belief in God and his own feelings about spirituality? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 655 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample