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. From whom do Kenneth’s Wanjai and Leonard Mbũgua promise to protect Ngũgĩ during his first year at Alliance?

2. Government officials screened students at Alliance to ensure no student had pledged allegiance to whom?

3. The opening of which college in 1948 meant that secondary schools began to shift their focus on preparing students for college?

4. What is the title of Part II?

5. What purchase restores Ngũgĩ’s pride in Kikuyi?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the 1955 amnesty offer for the Mau Mau guerillas.

2. In what ways did Edward Carey Francis change the education model of Alliance?

3. Describe Ngũgĩ’s feelings about volunteering at Sunday School and the words or phrases he uses to express these feelings?

4. What were some of the differences Ngũgĩ notes from when Edward Carey Francis was not on campus to when he returned?

5. What does Ngũgĩ unsuccessfully attempt to do as part of his spiritual journey, which E.K. seems to do with great success?

6. Who were the Mau Mau guerillas and for what were they fighting?

7. What events began which Ngũgĩ describes as his spiritual upheaval?

8. What are some of the things that make the new village feel like the old village when Ngũgĩ returns home for Christmas?

9. Why is Charity arrested? What is she accused of doing? Does Ngũgĩ think she did it? Why or why not?

10. In what ways does Ngũgĩ say Alliance used schools of the American South as a model when it first opened?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ngũgĩ sees his first full length play, Maisha ni Nini, which he describes as “the foundation for my lifelong respect for students’ efforts and for my own interest in theater” (34). Write a short essay on why this brief moment is important to the text. How is theater important in other parts of the story?

Essay Topic 2

What is Ngũgĩ ‘s tone when describing villagization? Use examples of word choice to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

Ngũgĩ’s English class was given a tour of a real “Englishmen’s house” (20). Describe the house and compare it to Ngũgĩ’s home. Why do you think this was one of the first things the teacher does with new students?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 699 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample