View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was the conference on "The Teaching of African Literature in Kenyan Schools" held at the Nairobi School?

2. Who wrote the novel Mister Johnson?

3. Where was the author working as the Chairman of the Literature Department when he was arrested?

4. Who is the trickster that is featured in Hekaya Za Abunuwasi?

5. Along with what other two lecturers did the author present a rejection of the primacy of English literature and cultures at Nairobi University?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the three broad categories of literature available to African children described by the author in Chapter 4, Part III?

2. What about George Lamming's work impressed the author?

3. Who is Wole Soyinka and what works has he written?

4. What is the meaning of the author's metaphor of the blind men and the elephant in Chapter 4, Part I?

5. What two factors have adversely affected the African novel and its development?

6. What does the author say about critical reception of literature in Chapter 3, Part IX?

7. How does the author describe his prison cell in Chapter 3, Part I?

8. What reasons does the author give for Africans studying Caribbean and Afro-American literature?

9. What does the author remark about Joseph Conrad in regards to narrative perspective?

10. What questions did the author face regarding linear versus nonlinear plot development when writing Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the relationships between human experience, culture, and perceptions of reality. What role does language play as a means of communication and as a carrier of culture? What are the different subcategories of language as a means of communication and as a carrier of culture? How are culture and communication related to one another?

Essay Topic 2

Who were Léopold Sédar Senghor and Chinua Achebe? In what languages did they each write? What works did they publish? What criticisms does the author observe of these authors?

Essay Topic 3

What relationship between the peasantry and the languages of Africa does the author describe in the book? How is the peasant's relationship to his native tongue different than that of the petty-bourgeoisie? How does language change as a result of this relationship?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 802 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample