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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 part of his dream does Ngũgĩ relate to the performance at Kahũgĩnĩ school?

2. Which book, by Booker T. Washington, did Ngũgĩ read that exposed to him connections between Kenya and the Nineteenth Century American South?

3. What did Ngũgĩ say that Edward Carey Francis' final School Assembly speech represented?

4. When Ngũgĩ‘s brother held his hand in Chapter 74, Ngũgĩ said it was clear that he was his what?

5. In Chapter 64, as Ngũgĩ was in and out sleep in the prison, where did he dream he was with a cruel overseer?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Good Wallace visited Ngũgĩ on Sunday, alone this time, what did he tell him that made him feel hopeful? was it true?

2. What did Ngũgĩ find in common with Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights?

3. What is the “partnership in crime between criminals and crime busters” Ngũgĩ refers to on page 206?

4. How does Ngũgĩ describe Thĩmbĩgwa post?

5. How did Ngũgĩ’s conversation with Lady Teacher help him with his own spiritual doubts?

6. To keep their minds off of the things, what did the prisoners do that made the day go by faster according to Ngũgĩ?

7. When Good Wallace and Kabae visited him at Thĩmbĩgwa, what did Ngũgĩ remember of his last meeting with Good Wallace?

8. What good news was Ngũgĩ bringing home to Limuru when he was stopped on the bus?

9. How does Ngũgĩ describe the manner in which the inmates describe their crimes?

10. What did Ngũgĩ say in reference to his court appearance that foreshadows what happened after the memoir ends?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Mugumo tree is a recurring symbol throughout the book. Consider its meaning and particularly what Ngũgĩ’s mother says of the tree on page 99. Write an essay on its significance.

Essay Topic 2

Ngũgĩ discusses how his teachers at Alliance were both white and Black and were seen as equals. Research the effects on students of having a teacher body that is representative of the students race and gender.

Essay Topic 3

Define memoir and discuss why it is used for this type of story.

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